ducati hyp

The weather has started to turn and my coach still has doing most of my rides indoors .. I must say my fitness has improved a great deal since I've been coached..

valygrl

Never for pure-bike workouts. in Jan/Feb I was doing plyo/sprint workouts that required a box for jumping on and a shoe change, so I did those indoors even if the weather was OK.

Talk to your coach about this. if you have appropriate terrain for your workouts and enough time in your schedule, I don't know why you would train indoors.

Weatherby

I think my coach conspires with the mechanic.

Rollers in the summer?

Fire the bum.

Hermes

I wonder why you ask. You state that your fitness has improved a great deal - res ipsa loquitur.

I am a track racer and I workout at least twice per week on rollers at my coaches' cycling gym. And there are several roadies that do as well. My coach is there with me when I am on the rollers calling out numbers and encouraging me to go harder. I could not / would not go as hard or as long if I were alone on the road or track.

IMO, riding the rollers develops better power development from the core with less input from the hands. I have been doing max effort intervals on the TT bike on the rollers and it has helped dramatically in controlling the pursuit bike on the track holding the black line.

IMO, riding on the rollers, independent of weather, is a competitive advantage to those who know how to use it.

ftwelder

My coach instructed me to ride rollers on Mondays and/or times I need to spin a bit without hitting any hills. There are few level roads around here.

daven

I am my coach. All interval sessions are done on the trainer so that I don't have to deal with environmental variables. That means 2-3 rides per week. Everything else is done on the open roads.
@ftwelder - the idea of using rollers for recovery rides seems like a good one. Again, no variables and greatly reduced temptation to nail a Strava segment!

Carbonfiberboy 

My coach (that would be me) has me ride all my real recovery rides on the rollers, all my pedaling drills, and some of my intervals. So I'm on the rollers about twice a week in the summer, more often in the winter. I've also had periods when I'd get up a little earlier and do 1/2 hour of zone 1 every morning before breakfast. That worked well. I have a resistance unit on my rollers, highly recommended.

GeorgeBMac

Perhaps the core answer to this question rests in the question: "Why do you ride?"

For myself it is mostly because cycling is an enjoyable path to better health, well being and fitness...

I think the enjoyable part is critical: for most people, they want the health, well being and fitness -- and then start doing dreary, painful things to get there -- and soon drift away from it and return to the TV and video games. So, enjoyment is part of the equation.
... So, because I find training indoors generally boring and dreary -- something to be endured, I will train indoors only when I cannot do 'real' cycling outside...

For others, to whom performance is main goal, inside or outside only matters as to which is the "better" workout. And, I would think one could get a better, more controlled workout and training routine indoors (such as on rollers) than the less controlled and controllable outdoors.

ftwelder

I actually enjoy using my Computrianer or rollers even when the weather is decent. I have 45 years of riding outdoors under my belt and sometimes I just want to do the leg work without the ritual. And yes, you can get a pretty darn good workout indoors but it's still not cycling.

I think I got about 600 miles of riding in that my summer riding partner isn't aware of.. some things are priceless.

ducati hyp

at the moment of my life its about racing