CompuTrainer - Indoor Bike Training

I would like to introduce you to the two newest gadgets in my arsenal of triathlon training tools. With many thanks to the Triathlon Gods, I have been blessed with a CompuTrainer bicycle trainer and an Edge 305 Garmin GPS bike computer.

You might be asking yourself, what is a bicycle trainer?... let alone a CumpuTrainer? A bicycle trainer is a rear wheel bike stand with a load generator that engages the slightly elevated rear tire of your personal bike. The load generator provides spinning resistance to simulate riding on the street. The trainer essentially allows any bike to be used as an indoor stationary bike. The amount of spinning resistance produced from this type of trainer is a function of the gear size being pedaled and the riders cadence (RPMs).



Conversely, the CompuTrainer's load generator is controlled entirely by a home computer and product specific software. The 3-D CompuTriainer software allows a rider to select from a complete menu of pre-loaded courses. There are short and long courses with many kinds of terrain and even famous race courses such as Ironman Hawaii and Tour de France Stages. After a particular course is selected and launched within the program, you are ready to ride or race the course by yourself or against a ghost rider. The ghost rider can be programmed to ride next to you like a friend. Or the rider can be programmed to perform at a certain Watt level or can be programmed to be your previously saved effort on the same course.


While ride a course, you are able to see the course unfold in front of you on a TV or computer monitor. The screen displays the profile of the course, watts, heart rate, cadence, % grade, speed, distance, & overall time. The ride feels very realistic since you are on your own bike. As you start up a hill the load generator increases its resistance just like a riding a real hill. When the terrain flattens out the resistance becomes easier. This continual change in load requires you to change gears like riding outside on the street.



As an added bonus the 3-D software has a split screen Spin Scan that analyzes your pedal stroke efficiency. "SpinScanTM Pedal Stroke Analyzer is an exclusive feature of CompuTrainer that helps you increase power and efficiency. The multi-color torque graph represents one full 360° revolution divided into 15° segments. The left/right leg percentage power splits give you the feedback needed to pedal in "circles". It will identify "flat" or "dead" spots in the pedal stroke where optimal power is not transferred to the drive train. The ATA (Average Torque Angle) displayed on the Polar Graph helps you adjust your position for optimum power."

My second training gadget is the Edge 305 GPS bike computer by Garmin. The Edge 305 GPS computer can be used to record key training routes and or courses from either a bike or from a car. After the GPS information is captured, it can then be down loaded into onto a computer and then saved as a course file that can be ridden anytime you want from the comfort of your home. This is a nice benefit to have if the course is far away or if the weather outside is foul.



I will use the bike computer in the near future to record the "World's Toughest Half" 56mi bike course in Auburn California (350 miles from my house). Next years race will be on May 20th. Having this course on my computer will allow me to train in Auburn anytime I want during the cold winter months from my warm L.A. home. Additionally, I will also be training on the pre-loaded Ironman Coeur d'Alene course in preparation for that race on June 24, 2007.