2hr rides... Inside or outside?

I definitely like riding outside on nice days and usually add 30 minutes to a 2 hour ride. It is so good for me mentally. I am having motivation problems now with indoor training. The short hard intervals are okay but the longer ones require a lot of mental strength to finish.

exactly :man_shrugging:

Personally nothing is better than going outside for a ride. I’ll choose that over the trainer any day of the week.

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Pre-pandemic I rarely tried doing anything > 90 minutes indoors. One hour was my limit, partially because of saddle discomfort, but mostly I had a mental block against it. NYC went into shut-down around mid-March, and although outdoor riding was still allowed, I decided to move all my training indoors by the end of March.

Since then, 90 minute indoor rides have become fairly routine and 2 hours every Sunday is totally manageable. I’m glad to have finally developed the mental toughness to get though something like a “Tallac +3” indoors, and imagine that’s going to translate well once I’m outdoor again.

If the weather is good and I have the time I will ride outside. I do feel that I get a stronger training impulse from an indoor ride for equal time so I try to make my outdoor insurance rides 50% longer at least. If I know I can squeeze in a really long ride outdoors I will, this is my preferred option.

I was always a ride outside whenever kind of guy until recently. Just got a solid direct drive smart trainer and that makes a big difference. Now that it gets dark so early in my part of the world, I don’t feel safe out on the road for 2+ hours. Doesn’t leave me with much choice…

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Weather and light permitting, I’d nearly always choose outside.

I don’t race, much less earn my living from cycling: it’s a hobby. Part of that hobby is spending time outside, in decent scenery, sometimes with people I like and sometimes on my own (a kind of escapism/meditation).

I must admit (without criticising anyone’s choices, and in general, rather than specifically in this thread) that I find the number of people who consider themselves primarily or mainly indoor cyclists a touch strange.

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So far I have not been able to come close to two hours of inside rides. 1.5h was max, not because of physical fatigue but mental fatigue… even watching movies or nfl or listening to podcasts… after 90min the mental motivation just goes downhill rapidly… probably mostly because i feel missing out on family life.
Now I dont know how I would do 2h rides at 5am when everyone is asleep… that would probably just kill me during the day and make me super sleepy.

So far I stick to 1h rides in average. Even z1 and z2 cant carry me further… it is just boring after a while despite using super interesting rollers

OK due to the lockdown in the UK I now have a choice. Previously it was 2hr sweetspot indoors (no problem and increased my endurance)
However as my there’s no need to get the rides done by 08:00 I could instead do 4hr outside rides instead. (I don’t have a pm and they would be Z2 instead of sweetspot)
For 4 weeks would this affect my plan (current SSBMV2 going into MV sustained build) or doesn’t it really matter.

You could always ride to ‘feel’ outside so still performing those SS efforts and then finish off with some Z2 work.

I’m assuming you’re doing one of the tri plans, and in that case I think doing it outdoors might actually have some advantages over the trainer. Most of the 2hr rides on those plans are tempo, or somewhere around race pace, so they’re a great opportunity to test out your equipment, fueling, position etc at a similar intensity to how you’ll be racing, and with the opportunity to see how it affects your run afterwards. I also think pacing by feel and the ability to hold the power steady over variations in terrain is hugely important in tri, and that’s not something that can be replicated well indoors IMO.

I think it’s always important to consider the purpose of the session when you’re deciding if you should ride indoors or outdoors, rather than thinking of one or the other as “better” as a blanket thing. And I wouldn’t underestimate the power of feeling mentally stronger- if your surroundings motivate you to get more out of yourself, that’s another thing you can use to your advantage.

No not tri but sustained build for an A race next July.

Guess my question is, considering I’m still 32 weeks ago would 2hrs of solid sweetspot be better for my base than a 4hr ride (2hr sweetspot by RPE)

Or as I’m 32 weeks away doesn’t it really matter.

If you can amass 2 hours of SS in a 4 hour ride and you’re going to enjoy that more than sitting on the trainer for 2 hours then I’d say that’s a win win. Ideally most of that SS would come in fairly big uninterrupted chunks of 15-20 minutes or more at a time where you don’t have to brake or coast for traffic, lights, descents, etc. If it’s the kind of ride where it’s hard to keep steady pressure on the pedals for more than 5 minutes at a time without some kind of interruption then I’d still do it but would make sure you’re incorporating some longer uninterrupted intervals on the trainer as well. Do think those long SS intervals are really beneficial both mentally and physically.

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I’d always ride outside if given the choice. I really don’t see why the choice is 2 hours indoors vs. 4 hours outdoors. Given the choice though I’d do more Z2 and less sweet spot. A lot of sweet spot is a hack for people that don’t have a lot of hours to train. If you have time and desire to ride a lot then the balance shifts to more Z1/Z2 especially in the early base season.

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Zone 2 is 135-182W for me. Heartrate goes up to about 160 of 190max, in average i have a 135+/- heartrate.

Is Zone2 really the zone which you guys spend most time in?

If yes then for me insiderides would give much more control over efforts and for zone-focus than my hilly environment would offer me going outside.

I was the same way. Eventually I succumbed and decided to try Zwift. I found it to have the right combination, for me, of immersion, gamification, route variability, etc. and quickly found myself easily getting into the 2-3hr range. I use Zwift for all indoor rides now and TR at the same time when I want to do a structured workout.

But no sense punishing yourself with long trainer rides you hate. 1hr might not be as good as 90 or 120min or whatever, but it is better than 0 or 30 or 45min.

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