Indoor vs Outdoor Observations

I spent a good amount of time on the trainer this winter. It had been years since I had ridden one before the fall I broke my collar bone a couple of years ago. By the time I got cleared for indoor riding I was so anxious to get some exercise that the trainer I borrowed from Secret Steve felt amazing. So good in fact that I bought one from Ed at Touring Gear pretty quickly. I got it set up out in the shop, and since then it's been a pretty helpful tool in my training. As with most things, there are pros and cons. Pros: It's quick. Especially in the winter when you need to bundle up and drive to a trail to fat bike. I leave a wool jersey and towel out there so all you need to do is throw on a pair of bibs and walk out. This also makes it easy for early morning quick workouts before work. I get to watch some Netflix on the laptop and listen to some tunes with nice headphones. I like to mix it up between tunes and tv during the ride depending on my ride mood. More music=More up tempo riding for me. I like to have a cold brew coffee on the bike if it's early morning or earlier in the afternoon. Can't do that outdoors. I can incorporate indoor riding into my light therapy in the dark months. Two birds one stone. Overall it's just a good way to keep up a good consistent base of fitness. Cons: Being outdoors is better. There's really no comparison at the end of the day if I had to pick one or the other it would be outdoors. Fresh air, trees, movement. It's a thing in the winter but especially now, seasonal allergies are much more of a pain to deal with indoors. You can't just spit and clear out the nasal passages all willy nilly. Well you could but it would be gross. Instead you need to blow your nose proper like and/or dispose of lung stuff in a sanitary manner. You can only go so long on the trainer. Today I managed 1.25 hours only because I had fired up my old laptop (because Sarah needs the new computer for work during the day) and was rocking out to some tunes I hadn't heard in a long time. I only got to the Black Crowes after going through a song each of Adam Ezra, Ani DiFranco, Assembly of Dust, Beastie Boys, Ben Harper, and Billy Vera. That was after a 20 minute warm up with episode 1 season 1 of Jericho. Interesting show in the time of a pandemic. So like I said. The trainer is like most things in life. Good parts/bad parts. Best to be used in Moderation. Desired results tend to depend on consistent and steady effort. With the weather we had today, 34 and windy AF with occasional snow showers, riding indoors was an easy choice. That said it's supposed to get up close to 40 with some sun by the end of the week and that will be more than enough to get me back outdoors. Over and out.