Newbie TrainerRoad questions - Plans and ERG

jarsson · February 21, 2021, 10:39pm

I am using level mode and have no problem following biochemistry classes in foreign language it is a matter of tuning your legs - I was doing all my workouts on erg mode and currently I completely forgotten about erg. Not to mention that I like doing whathever I want during workout. My main reason for a change was a surprise that outdoor there is no erg mode and I was little confused what to do (I am serious). And my anegdotal observation is that I during threshold I put the power differently than on erg mode, similar to real feel.

Probably either mode is ok, but level/resistance do not require any more concentration than erg after some time.

Pbase · February 22, 2021, 12:03am

I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I don’t see how you can state that going from using erg to having to constantly watch watts is no change in concentration level. You can do it, good for you, but telling someone new that it’s just as easy to ride in resistance mode as erg mode is just not true.

MarioPereira · February 22, 2021, 1:06am

Ok, to follow up on this.

Today was Glassy workout day.

Began as usual; Zwift with Ant+ and TR with Bluetooth, except tried to use Resistance (and ramped up to 100% instead of the default 50%) instead of ERG to see what was the thing about.
I couldn’t. Ran all the gears out (50 and 11) and barely could reach the warmup target power…thought it might be my Elite Evo aka Qubo Digital Smart+ .

Any reason of why i couldnt do anything on Resistance mode ? Might be due to the trainer itself ?

Anyways… no Resistance, so I choose ERG once again… and nothing, no automatic resistance that is usual from ERG.
Everything was as usual: Trainer and HR monitor paired via Bluetooth.

Restarted TR but started with ERG, once again, nothing. No resistance. Restarted PC, restarted the workout and nothing again. I was desperate.

As the last try, i brought up my Garmin Edge 830 head unit and turn it on while warming up Glassy for the 4th or 5th time and the resistance simply came up…i really don’t understand. I don’t even put the timer on the garmin, just powered on.

I’ve always did my indoor training with Zwift with my Garmin head unit, but now, with TR, since it syncs automatically with Garmin Connect, i thought there was no benefict of having the head unit with me.

So, i did Glassy and finished it while charging my Garmin head unit and after it, I tried to load up the workout once again without the head unit ON and no resistance was adding up…discarged the workout, load up once again with head unit ON, the resistance was adding up.

So confusing…

jarsson · February 22, 2021, 8:13am

I didn’t want to sound that way - I am just simply saying that Reaistance/Standard mode is teachable in term of holding steady power without much need to constantly looking at wattage. I do not argue that ERG is easier, because removes one variable but standard mode is not so mind engaging after some time.

Pbase · February 22, 2021, 11:47am

This is totally just a guess, but it sounds like maybe your connections are having a hard time jumping from one device to another and getting “stuck”. I would suggest shutting off every device, including the Garmin, at the same time. Then start up your trainer, then just the one device that you want to control TR and do that workout and make sure it works without using Zwift. Then you will have singled out that it’s the Garmin creating the connection.

In the past, I had issues with using Zwift and TR together because trainer control would bounce between the devices. I fixed that by using #2 here. It’s critical that you start Zwift FIRST, connect Zwift to ANT+, and TURN OFF “Controllable”. Then you connect to TR with Bluetooth. For me, this required buying an ANT+ dongle for my MacBook : https://www.smartbiketrainers.com/run-zwift-trainerroad-simultaniously-1948

Alternatively, you could re-create the TR workout in Zwift and just use Zwift for everything.

Hope that’s not confusing and addresses what you’re trying to do. Good luck!

Craig_G · February 22, 2021, 3:13pm

Just a FYI, I believe that would violate the TR Terms of Service agreement.

MarioPereira · February 25, 2021, 10:37pm

Hey guys,

So i’ve tried Resistance mode and it worked fine this time with 50% but since the workout was steady i left on ERG and maybe use Resistance for shorter and powerfull intervals.

That’s one thing.

Second thing and I want your opinion on this and every input is highly valuable:
As Im doing 2nd week of SweeSpot Base Mid Volume and my rest days are Mondays and Friday and the bigger Workouts are on weekends, how would you rearrange the plan so I can fit my social Ride on, usually, Sundays (road or MTB) ?

At this moment my country is on lockdown due to Covid but on normal schedule, I do some social and more longer rides with Friends on Saturday or Sunday but i dont want to stress myself by not doing the scheduled workouts or something.

Any ideas/suggestions would be awseome !

N8lewis · February 26, 2021, 1:27am

I would just sub your social ride for the Sunday workout

Pbase · February 26, 2021, 2:29am

I would switch to the Low Volume plan, add a very easy ride on Wednesday and add your group ride to the other weekend day.

MarioPereira · February 26, 2021, 9:25am

Sub = replace right ? (Sorry, snglish is not my primary language so some acronyms are not clear).

If that’s the case, i also do believe that’s the way i would go, since I don’t have any event schedule and my training plan is just to get better FTP and Fitness overall for longer and social rides (i’m at the GranFondo model).

The only thing that will go through the roof is my TSS for that week, even without PowerMeter, if they measure or simulate TSS based on HR, is going to be huge, but no structure envolved.

N8lewis · February 26, 2021, 12:19pm

Yes sub=substitute. I would say give it a try for a week and see how you feel the next week going through the workouts. If it feels like it was too much you could scale back to LV and add extra workouts during the week where you feel comfortable.

Pbase · February 26, 2021, 1:09pm

New riders never want to use the LV plan. I think it’s stigma against “low” meaning “weak”. This is entirely untrue, and the TR team frequently points out that LV is the right plan for most people.

MarioPereira · February 26, 2021, 3:02pm

I do understand what you are saying and I also agree with that, but from where I come from and the TSS i’m used, the days i ride and whatnot the Plan immediately appointed to MV and, until this point, it feels correct.

I don’t have any ego issues in changing to LV, but that has to mean that i usually ride more often outdoors during the week and it’s not usually the case, as I work in shifts. So, in normal circunstances, i only get one social ride guaranteed, on the weekend.

MarioPereira · February 28, 2021, 10:27pm

For example.

Ive got some screenshots of my Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays workouts for the rest of my Base and Build phase MV.

My question is, and again, all input is welcome:

Since my social rides are usually on weekends, Sundays ou Saturdays, would you replace any day for another and then sub that workout for the social ride ?

Example: Thursdays and Saturdays seems to always have more power intervals workouts while Sundays have more sweetspot intervals.
Should I then replace the Sunday workout for the social or replace the Thursday/Saturday workout for one the Sunday sweetspot one and then have the social ride instead of the replaced power interval workout ?
Hope that is not a mess to understand…

Cheers!