CompuTrainer
For most of 2000-2004 I tried concentrating on running as a member of the cross country and track teams at Stanford. I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped, but I had always planned on returning to triathlons. So, in January 2005, I decided to return to the sport. I had a goal of winning the Triathlon Collegiate National Championships, less than four months away. With very little swimming and biking over the previous few years, this was quite a daunting task. In the end, I fell just short of my goal, finishing second, but I had a phenomenal race. After finishing the swim 1:21 behind the leaders, I started the run over 1:15 ahead of second place and future Olympian, Jarrod Shoemaker.
How did I go from very little bicycling to riding nearly 2:00 faster over 40km in a National Championship Race in less than four months? One of the largest reasons behind this success was near exclusive use of CompuTrainer by RacerMate, Inc. CompuTrainer is one of the best training aids for improving your cycling technique and fitness. For those of you that haven’t heard of it, CompuTrainer is a bicycle trainer that hooks up to an electrical outlet, monitor, and optionally, your computer. The physical trainer makes use of a magnetic resistance unit that either lets you ride at a specific wattage or vary the resistance to simulate hill climbing and descending. The optional software lets you visualize your pedaling efficiency and ride simulated road courses in 3-d. Here are some of the key features I’ve used over the years:
Calibrator
After warming up your tire by riding for 10-15 minutes, you can easily calibrate the device by spinning up to 25mph with no resistance and then coasting. This procedure helps create a more laboratory-like environment. With regular trainers, how much you tighten the resistance unit can make a huge difference in the effort required to ride a specific speed. The calibrator minimizes this effect by normalizing the resistance placed on your tire.
Spin Scan
The Spin Scan is part of the CompuTrainer software. With a small magnetic device placed on your bicycles crank arm, the Spin Scan helps you visualize how efficient your pedal stroke is by showing which parts of the pedal stroke generate the most power. Ideally, you would like to have a smooth pedal stroke. In addition to doing drills, you can use this visualization to provide positive reinforcement as you get real-time feedback on how smooth your stroke is. After using this feature extensively, I had my pedal stroke analyzed at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I was told that I had one of the most efficient pedal strokes they’d seen and that it was obvious I had put work into it. With CompuTrainer, it was much easier to improve this skill.
Fixed Wattage
It is often useful to see how you are improving over time at a given effort. Conditions outside often change and even on a regular trainer, resistance changes can make comparisons difficult. After calibrating your CompuTrainer, you can set it to produce resistance that corresponds to a specific wattage level. For instance, you may ride at 150 watts for 2 hours and monitor your average heart rate. After a few weeks, you can duplicate the ride and hopefully have a lower heart rate. As given wattages become easier, you can gradually increase the wattage level. Or, you can do interval work an alternate wattages. Either way, you can feel confident in making comparisons between workouts because you are able to set the specific effort level.
Course Creation
The standard CompuTrainer software comes with some predefined, well-known cycling courses in 3d. As you ride the courses, turns show up in exactly the right places, and the hills and descents feel remarkably life-like. With the optional DeLorme Topo USA software, you can even create your own courses! I’ve done this several times in preparation for key races to help build physical muscle memory and visualize what the course will look like. I’ve attached some sample images of this technique using an ITU Continental Cup bike loop in Geneva, NY. The CompuTrainer software will let you ride the loop as many times as you want.
Flexibility
While in school and now while I balance a full-time job on top of training, flexibility in scheduling workouts is key. With CompuTrainer, you can ride any course, day or night, whenever you have time. So, there is no need to cut a ride short because the sun is going down - just ride on a CompuTrainer and ride the full course.
Other Features
There are several other add-ons and features of CompuTrainer that can be seen on their website. The above features are what I’ve used most frequently, but I’ve also used the coaching software to easily view a time series of data (speed, rpm, wattage, etc.) for a particular ride and make comparisons. You can also hook up multiple CompuTrainers and train/race together. They also are even starting to have interactive real videos so that you can see the actual course scenary in your preparation.
Summary
I first started riding a CompuTrainer 10 years ago, before they even had PC software associated with it. The original CompuTrainer actually used a Nintendo cartridge where you could ride at fixed wattages or predefined courses and see your Spin Scan barchart. Since then, they have continued to innovate on their original idea, and the progresses they have made make riding inside much more enjoyable. In fact, because of the consistency, flexibility, and features of CompuTrainer, I do almost all of my winter rides and key workouts on one. If you don’t have one already and want to improve you cycling power and efficiency, you should really think about getting one!
