winter warmer training plan

Why Ride/ Train Indoors

Sep 2022

Time to dust off (or buy!!) your turbo!

Smart trainers and virtual platforms have completely changed indoor training from the dreary, depressing and soul sapping drudgery it used to be where you’d sit staring out your garage wall following scribbled instructions on a piece of paper to a far more palatable, even enjoyable and interactive experience.

You’ll still get the nay-sayers blithering on about it “not being real cycling”, “for wimps who can’t stand a bit of rain” etc etc but it’s not a substitute for getting out on the roads or trails, it’s a complimentary activity. Come the spring, I can pretty much guarantee that the riders who have been putting in consistent turbo sessions will be dropping the “outdoor purists”.

Here are five(six) reasons from our in-house coach Nikalas Cook - former coaching consultant at British Cycling, author of the Road Cycling Performance Manual, Hotchillee Ride Captain and regular Ride Leader on the Hotchillee Gain Train, for loving your turbo:

It’s convenient

If you’re looking to squeeze in a workout either before or after work, jumping on a turbo takes far less effort and preparation than getting all togged up to ride outside. There’s no lights to charge, gloves to find or child-minding to arrange, you can just saddle up and ride.

It’s time efficient

Even if you just have 20-30 minutes, you can still do a worthwhile session on a turbo. Little time is wasted pre-ride with preparation, you’ve far less chance of mid-ride time wasting due to mechanicals or punctures and there’s practically zero post-ride faff such as bike cleaning. There’s no freewheeling during the ride so you can really make every pedal stroke count.

It’s effective

With no other road users, junctions, pot-holes etc to distract you, turbo sessions can be far more focussed than riding outside. Every interval or effort can be at exactly the duration and intensity you planned, so you know exactly what you’ll get from each session.

It’s safer, warmer and drier

Dark, wet, icy or even snowy conditions can be safe to ride in with the correct kit but super high powered lights, waterproofs you don’t sweat to death in, ice tyres or fat bikes are all expensive and you’ll probably get fairly limited use out of them. Your turbo “pain cave” will always be welcoming and yeah, I’ll admit it, if no-ones paying me to do it, I’m not going out of my way to ride in poor conditions!

It’s fun

I’ll admit it, I was a real skeptic about platforms like Zwift and RGT but, once I tried a few races and group rides, I was hooked. Turbo training went from a necessary evil to something, dare I say it, I looked forward to. Chat and banter with ride mates on Discord adds to the experience and really help the virtual kilometres fly by.

Also…..you can join the Hotchillee Winter Warmer Training Plan 22/23!

Starting at the beginning of October, whether you’re signed up for one of our 2023 events, thinking about it or just want to get the most of your winter training, the Hotchillee Winter Warmer Training Plan 22/23 is for you.

It’s a 16-week plan, focussed on three key sessions each week, perfect for time starved cyclists, great for all levels of rider and it starts at the beginning of October.

There are 16 brand new fully built and scripted workouts that will be available for Hotchillee members and event riders to download and use on both Zwift and RGT if you can’t make the WOT (Watts on Tuesday) and Gain Train rides on Zwift.