Winter on the bike??

[Rd]

I live in Toronto (where its presently too chilly to ride outdoors). Im training for my first half
IM and my program calls for 1.5 hour bike rides.

So --- whats the best way to approach this? I belong to a Bally's which offers spin classes - was
thinking of getting on the Lifecycle for 45 minutes then on the Shwinn for a spin class (which I
would take ez to avoid injury).

What sort of program does one select for the Lifecycle (when you're doing a long endurance workout)?
Does the spin part make sense as an anti-boredom strategy - or should I stay on the Lifecycle?

Thanks!

 

[Chris Maginn]

I did spin classes the past 2 winters before switching to a Computrainer this year. They are great,
except that it's very easy to get caught up with the group and the instructer (and instructers are
all different). I found myself riding well over aerobic threshold in many of these rides. If you're
building base now, just make sure to do your own workout during these classes and don't crank the
heart rate (unless that's your plan going in for that day). The other option (without getting a
$1200 Computrainer) is to buy a decent trainer for a couple of hundred bucks and order a few
Spinervals videos and do it at home. In the end this might be a better way to go as you'll be
putting the time in on your own bike.

"BillyG" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I belong to a gym that provides spinning as part of membership without additional expense. My take
> is that riding a bike like Lifecycle is every bit as effective (or more so) than spinning because
> the Lifecycle has a gauge that allows you to compare performance between workouts. With spinning
> it's pretty much self subjective unless you are lucky enough to ride the same bike each time as
> the resistance mechanism varies by bike.
>
> rd wrote in message ...
> >I live in Toronto (where its presently too chilly to ride outdoors). Im training for my first
> >half IM and my program calls for 1.5 hour bike rides.
> >
> >So --- whats the best way to approach this? I belong to a Bally's which offers spin classes - was
> >thinking of getting on the Lifecycle for 45 minutes then on the Shwinn for a spin class (which I
> >would take ez to avoid injury).
> >
> >What sort of program does one select for the Lifecycle (when you're doing a long endurance
> >workout)? Does the spin part make sense as an anti-boredom strategy - or should I stay on the
> >Lifecycle?
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >