How to train while away on business

Training
3

I also travel a bunch for work and this is what I do. It requires some investment, but I enjoy it.

First off, I bought a set of power meter pedals. I purchased the Garmin Vector 3’s, but from what I gather all the pedals are pretty darn close in regards to quality.

DC Rainmaker Power Meter Overview

Second, I purchased the Feedback Sports Omnium Portable Resistance Trainer. If you buy this, be sure to buy the “resistance” trainer. Without it, there is no variable resistance and you’ll have a wattage peak that may not suffice for a TR workout (depending on gearing). Another item of note on this. If you’re in a hotel room, you have to have a slick for a back tire. If you use anything with knobs, it will be WAY too loud and you’ll have unhappy neighbors. Another benefit to this trainer is its awesome for pre-race warmup. The TR guys talk about this multiple times on podcasts. I also have a Kickr but opted to purchase the Omnium as well because lugging around the Kickr was miserable up and down hotel steps/elevators.

Ominum Resistance Trainer

Thrid, I bought a good fan. I purchased a small-size Vornado fan. Small enough to travel, but does a decent job of cooling. If you don’t mind lugging around something bigger, go bigger.

Vornado Small Fan

Now, here is my order of operations depending on the type of travel:

  • If I can drive, I bring my road bike, trainer and fan. I set this up in my hotel room and knock out a workout when I can. This is optimal as it keeps as many of the variables consistent with your home workout.

  • If I fly, I bring my pedals and a pedal wrench/allen keys. @Nate_Pearson discusses this on one of the podcasts as well. You can use the pedals on most stationary bikes by swapping out the pedals. This is kind of a pain, but worth it if you’re really serious about getting the workout in.

  • Another investment needed here, but I travel to SC once a month for a week. Since the weather is usually pretty decent year round, I bought a cheap used road bike ($600) and I leave it at my office there. Bring the pedals and I can do outdoor rides, which is awesome. This investment was totally worth it for me as it gives me a reason not to just hang out in a hotel bar after work.

Hope this helps.

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