bikeseattle.org

If you haven’t tried the indoor time trials that CycleU offers, you should really consider giving it a shot.

It is actually quite fun. Well, let me rephrase that a bit. You’re gonna be hitting it hard, but it is fun. Basically they have seven computrainers setup and networked together so you all race against each other.

Projected onto a big screen is the course (see image), including an elevation profile. Below that is a little bar section that shows your relative progress in regards to everyone else. Think of a horse race type of thing. Finally seven vertical strips that coorespond to each racer that show current/max speed,wattage and distance.

You’ll want to show up about 20-30min before your start. The idea here is you spend a few minutes getting your bike attached, sign up, weigh yourself, and then warm up on the trainer.

They had some music going, and a stage from some road race to keep us motivated until the start.

It takes about 16 minutes to do, all depending on what kind of shape you’re in. You’ll also get an email with a bunch of interesting numbers all broken into max. and avg. (heart-rate, power, speed )

Here’s the description from the CycleU website:

Raining? Want to get a great workout, with other riders to push you to new heights? Bring your bike and dress light, because we have a race that everyone will finish, and learn how hard 6.2 miles really can be! The course is rolling, moderate hills of 3% and you will get your average wattage and finishing time to compare as your fitness improves. The results can be used to set your training zones, either heart rate or wattage, and is a great place to practice a good hard 15-20 minute race simulation. Arrive 30 minutes early to register, weigh in and warm up. We crank tunes and watch race video’s while you race. E-mail for full details on what to bring and the exact proceedure.

$7 each race

Go check it out sometime.