Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Computraining

I've been on it twice now, once on the road bike, then finally the tri bike when I got the race wheel off of it (yes, it's been on there since September, along with my race number). I usually get bored and/or sore in the saddle region quickly on the trainer, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. But I have to admit that this computrainer makes it much more interesting. Not only can I get whooped by the silver bullet man who obviously outweighs me by a few stones, but I can also get whooped by the ghost of my husband who has just done the same course a few hours before more, and whose large red-jerseyed image pulls out much higher wattage than I can dream of (but um, not per kilo of body weight, ahem).

I'm not going to embarrass myself by admitting to any actual wattage marks I've hit (or not hit), but I will say that I probably won't be asked to ride for any pro teams anytime soon. I was surprised at just how slow my reported speed was given my effort, as well as how pitifully my left leg performs compared to my right. It seems to always be performing 48% or less of the work, even though I know it's my more muscular, less fat let. That fact was confirmed several years ago by DEXA. Yes, it breaks down exactly how much fat, bone, and muscle is contained in each appendage. Pretty cool. All I can figure is that my fat heavy right leg puts forth more work in the form of giving in to gravity. 

I keep working on that, as well as the efficiency of my pedal stroke. Anywhere close to 90% seems to be possible only when pulling up on the pedals as hard as possible and not letting it fall down again with any speed. Real efficient seeming. 

I'm so excited about this new toy that I'm actually planning on getting up to ride in my little virtual pink 2 piece outfit on my virtual pink bike, chasing the silver bullet man, before work tomorrow. He's going down this time.

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