I decided at the start of the year that I wanted to be able to complete a sprint triathlon and bike a full century (100 miles). Ambitious fitness goals for 2017, but I always like to push. I don’t have any desire (at the moment) to compete, but the triathlon seemed like a reasonable framework for some fitness goals. Obviously, I have a lot of training to do, given that I don’t know how to swim, cannot run, and have never biked more than 20 miles at 15 mph. But, whether I succeed or fail I will be a much better athlete than I am now.

So running- obviously, I’ve posted a lot about my Couch to 5K progress here (and here and here). Next run is week 8, day 1! Almost done! But I wanted to talk a little about biking. I was finding it really hard to get either the mileage or the speed I needed. There are some nice, flat, 20-30 mile, recreational trails around my house that I tried to use. Technically, trail rules state that you must keep your speed below 15 mph. I thought I could just ignore this. But in practice, the trail is so crowded that you really cannot go fast, even if you wanted to. I tried going during the middle of the week, figuring there wouldn’t be that many unemployed bicyclists, but I was wrong. I don’t have a problem passing people, but when you have to pass four people in a row, and you have traffic from the other direction, you end up waiting. A lot. And then you end up with a bunch of time at 7 mph and a bunch of 20 mph bursts. I’m sure the sprinting is useful for something, but it was more frustrating than anything else. And all those people on vacation on rented bikes riding side by side across both lanes… well, I only heard them get cursed out once, but I’m pretty sure most of us were thinking it.

But I wanted to talk a little about biking. I was finding it really hard to get either the mileage or the speed I needed. There are some nice, flat, 20-30 mile, recreational trails around my house that I tried to use. Technically, trail rules state that you must keep your speed below 15 mph. I thought I could just ignore this. But in practice, the trail is so crowded that you really cannot go fast, even if you wanted to. I tried going during the middle of the week, figuring there wouldn’t be that many unemployed bicyclists, but I was wrong. I don’t have a problem passing people, but when you have to pass four people in a row, and you have traffic from the other direction, you end up waiting. A lot. And then you end up with a bunch of time at 7 mph and a bunch of 20 mph bursts. I’m sure the sprinting is useful for something, but it was more frustrating than anything else. And all those people on vacation on rented bikes riding side by side across both lanes… well, I only heard them get cursed out once, but I’m pretty sure most of us were thinking it.

So, I went old school with a new school twist. I bought a bike trainer, which is a device that you mount your bike in so you can ride it indoors. The trainer provides resistance, so you can get a good workout. The modern era version of a trainer provides detailed feedback about your efforts to a computer on a second by second basis. Useful. Boring. The old school solution was to set yourself up in front of a tv. But the new school spin on this is a smart trainer and a gamified riding environment. With the right program, your trainer can talk to the landscape you are riding through. You see a hill on your screen? Your trainer cranks the resistance so you actually have to climb. You want to race? You can join one with everyone else logged in at the same time. Currently, I’m using  Zwift for the virtual ride environment.   It is humbling to discover exactly how amateur a rider I am; the world is populated by extremely powerful bikers. But, I am enjoying myself. It isn’t as fun as riding outside, but I am more confident that I am making progress towards my 2017 fitness goals.

This is what my setup looks like. ( Yes, I have a fluffy saddle that indicates that I am not serious.  I don’t care. And yes, I have the coveted and now discontinued Jerker Desk.  There is apparently even a facebook group devoted to pressuring Ikea to bring them back.)