Transitioning from Inside to Outside Riding

atasic

 I did notice on several occasions, folks here mention something along the lines of transitioning/ adjusting to outdoors riding vs. indoor. Can someone sum it up for me. What does that mean, what is the implication of that to power generation from your experience.

I am noticing that after so long on the trainer, it is becoming scary easier to generate power and maintain steady output (that is no surprise as no terrain and wind) on the trainer.

As I am always aero on the trainer, neck and shoulders are going through a little adjustment, but not much.......What can I expect, how do I go about it.

Thanks

Joe Matchette

Aleksandar,
I can't speak to the difference in power generation abilities. But I can speak to the difficulty of maintaining steady output. By the end of the OS, I was getting pretty good (if I do say so myself) at hitting and holding whatever power number was my target. That is soooooo not the case outside - even with 3s average, my numbers are 'bouncy'. It is obviously a learned skill, and I am on the steep learning curve for now.
Like you, I was down on my bars for every work interval on the trainer, so my neck and shoulders are pretty much a non-issue.
The biggest downsides are cars, dogs, and stoplights.
Joe

Keith Wick

Learning to maintain consistent watts by shifting gears to keep a good cadence is one adjustment. The other adjustment is figuring out your outdoor FTP, which is usually 10-20 watts more than your inside FTP. Have you done an outdoor test yet?

mancona

This year I did my last 8 weeks of indoor riding on the TT bike and100% in the aerobars. The transition from indoor to outdoor was not even noticable other than FTP feels slightly easier outside. My guess is that i could probably hold 10-15 watts higher outside than inside but I'm not due for an FTT yet.

Previous years i did my indoor training sitting up and transitioning to outside riding in the aerobars took some time, maybe about 6 weeks.

FWIW, I did an indoor FTP test on my roadbike and then an indoor FTP test 100% in my aerobars on the TT bike and I was 19 watts lower on the TT bike (6.5%). Based on previous years, I typically can reach the same power level outside in aerobars as inside sitting up, once I have fully adjusted.

Unlike Joe and Keith, I find holidng steady watts inside vs outside is something I can turn on and off and don't need to adjust to. My first outside ride this season was Oceanside 70.3 and I had a VI of 1.05 which i consider really steady on that course.

For you I would expect very little need for adjustment other than maybe bumping your FTP a little bit. For folks that haven't been in their aerobars for 5 months, it will likely take a few weeks of outdooring riding.

Al Truscott

Over the last few weeks, as the skies have cleared, I've been transitioning from the trainer to roads for my FTP interval rides. I don't have a road bike per se, so I train on my TT "Cash Cow" in and out. Like Matt, I don't seem to have a problem with VI, as long as I do the work on a straight, quiet, stop-light free road. My most recent VI was 1.02, so OK there.

But I started wondering why the FTP work might seem "easier", or, corallary, why outside FTP is higher. And one factor might be the lack of sweat. The cooler core body temp might allow for more blood flow available to the muscles. Even at 80F (amd I'm riding in the 50s now), @ 20+ mph, there's a good wind chill factor going on. Also, of course, the view is always changing, and obstacles must be avoided, so the brain is more engaged, and thus one's conscious mind, otherwise engaged, gets out of the way of letting the motor neruons recruit maximum muscle to the task.

atasic

 Thank you guys. All helpful. I have a variety of roads for variety of work, just the weather has sucked here so bad that I am finding myself still more on the trainer than outdoors.

My FTP indoor test in week 8 gave FTP 277W. The outdoor location for my FTP intervals is a flat 15min loop around an airport with 3 corners where I have to stop pedaling for a few seconds at a time, not bad. I just have not been able to easily hit that indoor wattage outside yet. That could be a whole another issue in itself, chronic fatigue piled up in week 16. 

I can ride very steady outside as I learned that skill last summer on EN HIM plan+Branson race. Matt, I can definitely understand what you mean by turning it on and off, I can do that. 

Thanks for all responses, it helps understanding the process.

mgraffeo

One other thing to consider. The worse the quality of roads, the more I tend to ease off the pedals (to take some weight off the seat) sub-consciously. As a result, my numbers on crappy roads tend to suck (like this morning). This may be something that can be 'un-learned', but for the life of me, I haven't figured out how to do it.

William Jenks

I'll confess - I tried the "glue in aerobars" thing for the first half of OS, and then started bailing on it as we got late into VO2 and I felt limited by breathing. I am now paying for it. My outdoor FTP (glued to bars) is considerably lower than my final tested indoor, at least right now. We ahve lots of very small rolling hills in my neighborhood, which contribute to unevenness and/or lots of shifting, but I really don't blame that.

This said, my A - HIM was July last year, and my HIM is mid June this year. Today's 3 hour ride was 20 W higher than rides in May, 2010 (and my drop is another 4 cm or so, compared to last year). So there may be hope for me yet.

chris malone

I raced a circuit race yesterday.

SRM #1:

Duration: 39:16 (41:16)

Work: 764 kJ

TSS: 78.1 (intensity factor 1.099)

Norm Power: 341

VI: 1.05

 Min Max Avg

Power: 0 912 324 watts

Heart Rate: 74 162 157 bpm

Cadence: 20 124 89 rpm

Altitude: 89 121 104 ft

Crank Torque: 0 924 303 lb-in

Temperature: 48.2 50 49.5 Fahrenheit



The IF here is skewed high bc I'm working from indoor ft settings from the winter. Each year I find moving when moving outdoors a really good and accurate ft number is derived from rides like this, and 60 and 30 minute power numbers. There's just no way to get this intensity from a trainer ride, for me anyway. I need the competitive stimulus. Even outdoor, non race, up a 2% grade tests come in 15-20 points higher than the trainer data.