My fans are too noisy to hear tv & movies at anything above active recovery 
That is why God created headphones!!
Such a useful chart, definitely agree with most of it - i’d personally add podcasts in to the Active Recovery category.
My ears must be the wrong shape for them I can never get them to stay in unless it’s the type with a band which I don’t really want un a sweaty work out
I think I would put podcasts against all types of ride The time I spend on the trainer is time I get to spend learning as well as getting fitter, faster and stronger.
I spend most rides plugged into a podcast of some sort focusing on sports science to feed my craving to learn. So many good ones to choose from.
That being said I do turn to music for vo2max stuff when it gets really hard. I am normally a classic music listener but I find the most aggressive rap music I can when it comes to the hard stuff
I have Jaybird x4s and they come with 2 types of ear tips. One is a regular kind made with some type of rubber material, but the other tip I use for indoor sessions and those are made of foam. Similar to ear plugs you use at night to block out noise. They help block some loud fan noise!
The bone conduction earbuds (Shokz, formerly AfterShokz, not sure if there are others) work pretty well for this. On rollers I’ll wear just regular earplugs and I can hear it just fine (and nothing else). Also handy for listening to podcasts while out riding and still be able to hear my environment.
Buy some power beats pro - wireless, goes over the ear - flawless for the trainer IMO
As for the actual topic of the thread - I regularly (4 days a week) do 2-2.5 hours on the trainer and less regularly (1 day a week) spend 3-5 hours on the trainer. Movies, tv, races - not much else to add on the entertainment side.
I find intense workouts go by very quickly compared to endurance. For endurance I need to balance my entertainment carefully. The first hour or two can be garbage, stuff I don’t care about, but I save something I’m looking forward to watching for the back half, usually ending about 30 minutes before the end of the ride. Then when I’m in shut it down mode I watch random (relatively) short stuff on youtube because I have to browse and it distracts me to get me home
A out of times I watch old bike races, but I also use Amazon Music. Two reason: the commentary during most of a long race is inane filler, plus having songs change every about 3 1/2 minutes is another “count down” item can use if I’m not feeling the ride mentally
Thanks for all the good advice. I did a 2.5 trainer ride today and it worked out great. I just loaded a workout into Zwift and listened to a TR podcast. Took a few minute break midway through just to use the bathroom and refill a bottle.
On top of all the great tips and distractions, it’s also worth noting that it gets easier over time (at least for me). The first time I did a 2 hour training ride, I had it in my mind that it was this big thing. Many 2+ hour trainer rides later and I don’t give them a second thought and they just seem to go faster if you aren’t building them up in your mind.
As I posted previously, I’ve been doing Saturday morning 3:45ish zwift endurance/tempo rides this winter when the weather isn’t good. I had never done anything over 2:30 in the past, so these seemed daunting at first and I was suffering mentally by the end of the first one I did in mid December. Today was 3 weeks in a row doing this ride and it just seems like a normal saturday outdoor ride at this point. No dread, no counting down every minute until the end, just a ride/workout.
i’m not sure why, but on the trainer if you get behind on fuel it just seems to hit me SO MUCH harder than outdoor riding. I am religiously eating/drinking every 15min to make sure i stay ahead of it and never fall behind as mentally it just destroys you.
get your entertainment sorted out in advance. you can waste a ton of time sorting out order of shows, movies, youtube, etc. if you try and do it right before you get on the trainer. long rides (3+hrs) this is even more important as you can get through two movies or multiple episodes so lining it up is important.
For some media watching races is good, it really helps if a stage is say 4hrs long and you have a 3.5hr ride to figure out when the end is (time stamp) and go back 3.5hrs from there. It will give you naturally something to work towards. There is nothing worse than a race finishing and you still have 30min left or something dumb.
A bit off topic but how often do you clean/lube drivetrain on weekly basis with such a high indoor volume. I’ve been doing a bit less than 20hour weeks and have the feeling i need to lube more often.
During the close season (mid Sep - early Mar) when my TT bike is indoors all the time I’ll inspect it often but find I only have to lube it once at the most (I’m on a LV plan though, 167h on a MV plan 20/21, 62h on the LV plan so far 21/22). When it gets outside again its just lubed at the same time I clean the bike which is usually weekly.
when it gets noisy. I mostly ride in erg mode so if I leave it there forever I think it’s be awhile before it became an issue. I just occasionally wipe it clean when I think about it. I don’t have any sort of schedule
Bobba fett on Disney + has been great to past time on the trainer.
I watch different things for different occasions:
- Z2: Long technical presentations on YouTube
- Z3: Episode of a series on Netflix
- Z4: Soccer games
- Z4+: My stem
I have a dedicated bike on my trainer, an old 26in MTB. I only use the cheapest drivetrain components on it. Therefore, I don’t really care that much about maintenance. I only lube the chain every few weeks.
I try to plan my long trainer rides on the weekends around something. During the NFL season, I found it really easy to crank out a 3 hour ride while watching a game and the Redzone channel. I’ll also watch soccer on the weekends (I usually throw a towel over the spot on the tv that tells you how much time has elapsed in the game).
I’m also really fond of reading while riding indoors-yes I am one of those weirdos. I will read on anything up and through SS intervals. I find it really makes the time of the efforts go by much faster.
How do you deal with the commercials? That alone has converted me to soccer on the trainer—subsequently off-bike as well. 