I have been training all off-season with TR and was excited to see how the results would translate to the trail. Some of the trails are finally dry enough to ride in Salt Lake City today, so I decided to try them out. I was surprised with how difficult it was vs my expectations. Is this normal? Is it due to all the other muscles I have to use on the trail vs on an indoor trainer? Was it because I couldn’t resist a Taco Bell Cheesy Street Chalupa for lunch 2 hours before my ride?
Can you tell if you have more watts on tap now?
I am well ahead of where I was this time last year with my first offseason on TR. It’s my first time training with power, so I don’t have any hard data to compare to from a year ago, but I’ve been more consistent and done more varied and higher intensity workouts this offseason than last year by far. I’ve made it out on dirt once this spring so far, and my average speed on these familiar trails was about the same. But too many external factors can affect average speed. I would think I’ll see some quicker averages this year overall, but any given ride has widely different conditions.
And with training, the adage goes: it doesn’t get easier, you just get faster. The true test will be me racing against some of the same guys or at least the same class as last year, and seeing how I stack up now.
I’m also an MTB rider, but have started using an indoor trainer for a few months each winter in 2021. (Originally following Zwift training plans, but switching to TR last year.) And yes, your experience is normal - the first few bike rides feel harder than expected. I attribute it to a different pedaling position and much more varied power profile of unstructured rides (compared to TR workouts). I promise it gets better soon enough 
If you want to see your newly gained fitness, try a long-ish steep ascent. You will notice that you can now finish some ascents where you previously had to get off the bike and walk, and the ascents you could (just) finish have become easier. At least that’s my experience 
1 Like
Have you been riding at the same cadence all winter? Maybe next year ween yourself off erg mode and do some varied cadence work, low and high cadence.
Plus, you haven’t been doing anything resembling climbing over rocks/roots, with your bike moving under you, all winter. Hopefully you’ve been doing some glute and single leg and lateral motion work to keep all the stabilizers strong.
1 Like
Similar here, I’ve had a 6 month MTB hiatus, but I went outside on Wednesday for the first time this year. I think motion has a big influence on things feeling a bit weird at first, along with weight shift and trail feedback.
From a Power/Feel point of view, I was pleasantly suprised at how easy the watts felt. My turbo bike is another MTB, set up to the exact same spec as my outdoor bikes, so this always makes the transition easy.
I always go pretty hard when I ride outdoors. If I’m fitter, it still feels the same, I just wind up being a little faster. It doesn’t feel faster, I just see it Strava after the fact.
1 Like
For me, pedaling dynamics on the trainer can be very different compared to pedaling dynamics outside. Particularly when it comes to steep climbs and off road. I’ll naturally drop to a lower cadence in those situations and it just feels harder. But the aerobic engine you have built on the trainer is still there, so it’s just a matter of getting some hours in and working through it. At least that’s my experience.
Strength training will help with this.
Difficult pedaling, or difficult due to overall body fatigue? I think the latter can be helped by strength training in the offseason. The former can take a bit of getting used to - surges on the trail, vs steady state pedaling on the trainer. But appropriate strength training can help with this also - eg dynamic squats.
Technical skills can get rusty in the offseason, but I find those come back quickly after a few hrs on the trail.
In my experience, once I get back out on the trails, I’m generally feeling back into the swing of things after an hr or two of riding.
Difficult overall body fatigue. Sounds like I need to incorporate strength training more into my offseason.
2 Likes
Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like this is normal and I can keep eating Taco Bell 
I’ll also start adding strength training into my regimen in the offseason and changing pedaling cadence.
1 Like