Saying goodbye to erg mode - advice please

Training
23

yes it is! I usually end up with one or two handfuls of indoor rides a year.

All of my workouts have been coming from TrainingPeaks, so same as you, inside and outside rides are the same on my bike computer.

24

Thanks. Did my first VO2 session last night on standard mode as my trainer doesn’t have Sim mode and it felt great. I was able to control the power pretty will and the 10/30s went well.

Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep going with it to get better and keep tweaking to get the best out of my workouts.

25

It does, but the mentions of Sim mode above left some unstated assumptions. This isn’t quite a “mode” in the same way as Resistance or Standard. Those latter two are sort of “dumb” modes with a basic resistance profile applied to the trainer. Sim mode requires a controlling device at the least, and a device + app in most cases, and some form of course to ride.

  1. It’s possible to load a GPX course onto a head unit (like Garmin or Wahoo) and “ride” along that course virtually. It will replicate the road pitch changes in resistance at the trainer. It is sort of blind but I think you can see the profile on the head unit during the ride.

  2. The more common Sim use is with a virtual app like Zwift, My Whoosh, Rouvy, FulGaz, etc. Those connect to your trainer via a device and control similar to above. The big difference is you get a better representation of riding through a virtual world or replayed video section.

26

Ah, thanks for the clarification. So if I loaded my TR session to my Garmin and had the Garmin run the session that would be ‘sim’ mode?

27

No, that is not the same. That is still “doing a workout” and would likely default to ERG mode. Or it may allow use of Standard / Level or Resistance modes on par with your TR experience.

Here are the 2 best videos I know about re-riding a course (essentially Sim mode) on a head unit:

Sim = shorthand for “Simulation”, which means a reproduction of a road course profile via controlled resistance changes on the trainer, mimicking the resistance that might be felt if you were outside on that same course.

28

Ah yeah, I get you. Thanks for clarifying.