The Longest Turbo Session

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Training has been going steady. I am now back home in Northern Ireland and things seem to be looking up. I am able to eat well again and I have my setup at home back. There is more space in the garage or the front room for the strength and conditioning sessions and I have the turbo constantly set up which, stops a lot of faffing about.

When I got back to NI, I had to isolate due to the Covid travel restrictions. I had planned it so I would get out of isolation on the Saturday ready for the long ride. I had a 3 hour 20-minute ride followed by a 20-minute run. I am not a lover of the turbo trainer and use it for ease and convenience. I am good up to about an hour and a half on the turbo but anything over that, really starts to become uncomfortable.

The turbo has no give, its rigid and doesn’t move. When you’re out on the road, the bike moves your constantly making micro adjustments to keep balance and you can come out of the seat whenever you want. I know you can do this on the turbo as well but it’s just not the same. My backside starts to hurt after a while and there is nothing to take your mind off the fact that you’re stationary in a garage. At least on the road you have a goal, you’re going somewhere and there is normally beautiful countryside to look at.

On the Saturday in question, I woke up and read the weather. I was not making the same mistake as I did a couple of weeks ago. The readings were dire, it was cold with potential of snow and high winds. Not cycling weather. I was going to have to do the session on the turbo after all…

To keep my mind occupied, I set the laptop up with a film to watch on the mammoth session. The film of choice, Titanic on Sky Go. It’s a 3-hour film and good enough to keep me stimulated for the ride. I set up in the garage and started. The first hour wasn’t too bad. At the hour point, I got off to take my standard toilet break. As I walked outside to get back to the house, it was white with snow. I had made the right choice by not going out. 


I plodded on for the next hour and twenty minutes, Titanic doing a good job of keeping me focused. At this point I decided to have another little break. I needed to get off and have a little walk around. I only took 30 seconds or so, but it was enough. I got back on and struggled through the last hour. It was really uncomfortable, I had to keep coming out of the seat, just to give myself a break from sitting.

I managed through the last hour and then went for the 20-minute run. I’m so glad I suffered through the turbo trainer because it was bitter cold outside. My hands were numb just after 20 minutes, I would not have been able to survive for three hours out on the bike.

 

Location: Swindon, UK

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