First of all, I have to admit a couple things. It's getting close to outdoor road cycling time in Chicago (high 30's today) and, secondly, I HATE riding on the trainer indoors. I have a commercial spin bike, Kurt Kinetic on my road bike, and TV with DVD player in my workout room and ride the trainer 3 times per week.
No matter what I do, it's difficult to make my time on the bike trainer feel like anything but torture. Nonetheless, I am committed to improving my speed on the bike by training indoors when it's too cold to train outside. I recently picked up a couple DVD series that have really helped make indoor training more productive and less tortuous. All three series have strengths and I plan to use them during the season, between group rides to improve my fitness level and speed.
I picked up DVD's from Carmichael Training System (Cycling Power, Hill Riding, Cycling for Fitness), Spinervals (time trials) and Sufferfest. So far all three are great but the time trial DVD (with a 20 minute all out cardio test) is the most brutal I have tried. This isn't necessary good but my HR was over 180 bpm and I was light headed at one point. Will keep you posted on how much these programs have improved my outdoor riding. If I get dropped on the first ride, these are going on eBay!
Cheers,
Jack
