Correlating Gym Bike Miles/Effort to Real World Miles/Effort

mjbnj0001

Hi all, and Happy New Year to you (a little late).

I'm an over-60 guy who got a nice bike as a Christmas/Retirement gift this season. With the recent winter weather on the US East Coast, I've been doing way more gym miles than road miles. I'm pretty much starting from zero, which is why the bike is a great gift of health. I was also a "ghost member" of my gym for the past couple of years, and I'm in the throes of a near obsession with the bike, so I'm doing one or the other nearly every day. It's a good obsession, I think, at least better than sitting at a computer desk and rotting into jelly.

I've got the "Training Zone" theory down pat pretty well for setting cardio goals, and am measuring things on the gym bike with my own monitor. Data points on the real bike are more sketchy of course. But as I read the numbers the gym bike gives me ("'x' miles, 'y' cadence average, 'z' effort level, 'c' calories"), is there any rule of thumb for how that might translate into real-world bike results? Before I set off on a ride, I'd like to know if I'm generally up to completing it.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I know it's going to be a long developmental effort. Right now, my brain is going lightspeed, my legs not so much, LOL.

Machka9

1:1

But in general indoor cycling is easier. No wind resistance. No fluctuating terrain. No dodging potholes, pedestrians, and cars. No weather issues.

However it's hard to say how much easier it is because all these things are variable.

So ... 1:1.

mjbnj0001

ok, thanks, thought so. hard to quantify those variables. just came in from a ride, getting used to a bike again, gradually, after about 25 years. snuck it in - snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow, might not even make it to the gym, let alone riding on the street (for a couple days). we live about 4 miles from the beach, about 6 from a beach national park (sandy hook gateway national seashore) that has some bike trails. my goals include summer proficiency to ride on over a couple of days/wk. it may not seem like much, but i have my issues to work around. getting older is the worse part of getting older, lol.

brendanwhite84

You could always get a fluid trainer for your bike at home; that plus a speed / cadence sensor should do the job, and you get the added benefit of having your hours in the saddle take place on the same machine you'll be riding.

Edit: I should clarify that this will be closer to the real thing, not still 1:1 of course. There's no accounting for wind resistance, right!

Roobyzooby

Don't forget the free wheeling on a real cycle, coasting along down a slope. Not an option on an indoor bike.

NorthCascades

If the bike trails aren't paved, I think you'll find they're much harder to ride on them the roads to get there. In the sense of requiring more effort, not necessarily skill. So try a shorter trail first.

What kind of bike did you get? You should post a photo here.

So you know how to change an inner tube to fix a flat tire? YouTube has guidance if not.

Strava is a free phone app that's popular with cyclists, it can tell you thinks like how many miles you rode this month, if today you were faster than you have been, etc. Sooner people find that kind of info motivating.

Resistive

NorthCascades wrote: »

If the bike trails aren't paved, I think you'll find they're much harder to ride on them the roads to get there. In the sense of requiring more effort, not necessarily skill. So try a shorter trail first.

What kind of bike did you get? You should post a photo here.

So you know how to change an inner tube to fix a flat tire? YouTube has guidance if not.

Strava is a free phone app that's popular with cyclists, it can tell you thinks like how many miles you rode this month, if today you were faster than you have been, etc. Sooner people find that kind of info motivating.

BrianSharpe

While there are variables like terrain, wind etc that you don't experience in the gym or on a trainer it's still a great way to build or maintain your bike fitness over the winter.

My only real advice come outdoor riding weather is dial things back a little and approach the outdoor riding a little conservatively until you've got a good feel for your capabilities.

As another 60+ guy all I can say is keep it up, your body may complain from time to time but the investment you make now will pay off big time (as you have a gym membership don't neglect your strength training either: starting at age 40 or so men start losing lean muscle mass, strength training and getting enough protein can help mitigate the decline and it is the closest thing we have to a fountain of youth)

_mr_b

Hard to say, there’s little undulation or weather indoors but equally there’s no downhill recover periods either.
I find indoor training beneficial when I structure it, maybe sprints or simulated hills (high resistance/big gear/low cadence).

sijomial

I can't ride outdoors much in the cold months (Raynaud's badly affects my hands and feet) so I'm doing a lot of indoor bike training at the moment....

But as I read the numbers the gym bike gives me....
'x' miles,
Very different (far higher) indoors for me compared to what I can achieve outdoors. Maybe if I was on a time trial bike, in a velodrome, wearing a skin suit (eeeewwww - at my age?) then I might be able to hit those numbers but on the road, fighting aero (I'm not at all aerodynamic) and traffic - no chance

'y' cadence average
Same, but far easier to be consistent under controlled indoors conditions. I saw a big jump in power just from getting my cadence up to a more efficient level. 85rpm is my personal sweet spot but may not be yours.

'z' effort level,
Same but in different ways, can't stay cool indoors. I drive the intensity indoors but sometime terrain drives my intensity outdoors, I live near some testing hills.

'c' calories
Similar. I use a power meter indoors but not outdoors but both Garmin & Strava do attempt to guesstimate power.
Certainly accurate enough for weight management but probably outdoors estimates aren't that empirically accurate. On average pretty good though.
Indoors the power meter can convert pedalling power to calories very accurately but can't take into account the extras such as thermal load and also doesn't know what duration I'm standing cycling which messes up the calculation. My indoor trainer also uses a weird formula for power to calories which I have to override.

is there any rule of thumb for how that might translate into real-world bike results? Before I set off on a ride, I'd like to know if I'm generally up to completing it.
I can comfortably and enjoyably cycle far longer outdoors. Two hours is an eternity indoors but nothing outdoors. Ramp up your distance/duration steadily.

You can do technical training far more effectively indoors as it's so much more controlled, I've seen good improvements in cadence, sustained power and pedalling efficiency since I've come indoors for December and January. It's all going to help when the weather improves.

Suggestions:
Convert to cleated cycling shoes sooner rather than later.
Money invested in good cycling shorts is money well spent.
Join Strava if you like stats and being self-competitive.
Get a Garmin (or similar) for outdoor training and navigation - makes life so much easier.
Once you are hitting 2hrs+ start to learn about sports nutrition and fuelling.

NorthCascades

sijomial wrote: »

I can't ride outdoors much in the cold months (Raynaud's badly affects my hands and feet) so I'm doing a lot of indoor bike training at the moment....

I haven't tried these and can't vouch for them, but they may be of use during the spring and fall:

https://45nrth.com/products/jaztronaut

What interests me about those is they use an aerogel for insulation, like NASA does in the Mars Rover. Aerogels have the best resistance to heat transfer of any solid known to man - much better than goose down. I also hike and camp so I've been fascinated with the technology and waiting for it to change a lot of things. (I don't know whether these insoles do a good job of using the stuff or not.)

sijomial

@NorthCascades

Thanks for that - interesting.

mjbnj0001

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - I had a computer crash, and it's taken a few days to get it sorted. Well, as much as I can, so far. Some of the software re-installs and recovery are a work in progress. Thankfully, I have a lot of my content replicated in various cloud stores, although I've lost a ton of bookmarks and incidental notes and things.

Summing:

1. Agree with all comments that indoor training is useful and synergetic with the real world, although different, for all the environmental/physical factors mentioned. Since I'm (so far) using a recumbent stationary cycle (not the upright spin-class cycles) there's that, too. Although I've been working through the computer crash recovery, I haven't let the days go by without either the gym or riding outdoors especially with the warm days we've had this week (4 outdoor rides this week). Miles in the saddle is best, hours in the gym helps. And on the bike, I'm of course transporting my own body and the bike, versus being all relaxed in the recumbent. I'm so far using essentially flat level effort in "bike mode" for the gym (to build a basic fitness level), ratcheting up as time goes by (actually, bi-level: 5 min lower resistance warmup followed by the main workout at a higher level). As the weeks progress, I'm going to add in more "variables" on the gym bike. @_mr_b and others, I'm hoping this is a decent, structured training plan. The origin of my original question, "what correlation between gym and realworld?" came from several experienced riders asserting about 40% difference with no science facts to back them up. From my self-assessment, I was thinking it was an even greater difference, or that maybe good, trained athletes get a closer correlation.

2. One thing (esp. for @brendanwhite, @BrianSharpe, @sijomial), I am measuring cadence precisely in the gym. On the bike, I'm making guesses based on short-count intervals. I have cadence/endurance goals for the gym bike for midyear (June 30 targets) that are a stretch from where I am now. I expect the gym will continue helping the real world. Besides my excess weight, I have AFIB (the bane of a lot of older folks), so my training revolves around cardiac conditioning/limits as well. There's an Eliquis commercial I see a lot of an older guy with AFIB riding around somewhere in the Southwest (Sedona, maybe); he's my guiding light, LOL.

3. (@NorthCascades and others) Besides the beach commute-type rides I mentioned, my 2018 goals are gradually expanding my radius from home on the broad variety of trails and destinations available to me in NJ. We have a lot of rail-trails and such. Additional areas where I'll be this year for extensive riding time include Maryland Eastern Shore and Ottawa, Canada. I may be newly retired, but my wife is still working, and she is attending a continuing-ed conference in Clearwater, FL, early this spring. In my new obsession, I mapped out a leisurely drive down for me (she's flying) with stops in destinations such as Jekyll Island, GA, Chincoteague Island, VA and St. Augustine, FL (for bike riding of course), but my forecasts of my road capabilities by then combined with the logistics of hauling the bike down to FL and back have caused me to rethink this part of the plan (I will rent while in FL for some modest riding). It's a pity; the Clearwater/Tampa area has tons of good paths and trails to explore, and a rental beach cruiser won't cut it.

Overall, I'm expecting about 75% paved trails/paths/<sub>urban, 20% crushed stone/stonedust, 5% dirt/gravel in my travels. I got a bike to fit this profile now and be open to more gravel riding later (see below background tale for details). This is a change for me; when younger, I rode a classic touring bike (picture below). I've included a photo of one local multi-use trail adjacent to the Bay; in this section it's mostly crushed stone, but runs about 22 miles total, mostly paved.

Right now, for early in the year, I'm focusing on primarily evaluating nearby trails for their potential training benefits (level or nearly so, paved [at least until I can turn on my outside faucets in the Spring and I can wash grit off the bike], etc. - less a "destination," more a workout.

4. We bent the Christmas budget a bit with the bike (see below) so I'm "making do" with my cellphone doubling as a bike computer. I've been trying a few apps, and am settling on "Ride With GPS (Android)" as something I like. It has all the basic stats, GPS tracking and other management tools, including a neat integration website. Being an old guy, I remember when a basic computer on the handlebars was high tech, LOL, so there's a lot to learn/evaluate in this area. There'll be time to get a proper computer. The phone isn't a good long-term solution due to battery issues. "Map My Ride" ties in with MFP. Strava is also something I'm looking at for potential, but I'm not so competitive.

5. @sijomial, @NorthCascades - the aerogel concept is interesting (sorry to hear about the Reynaud's). I wasn't always just an IT guy; when younger I also taught scuba nights and weekends. In those days, 90% of diving was wetsuit, not drysuit, so we used a cream for cold-water resistance on our feet and hands. This sort of stuff is still sold ("udder cream" or "bag balm"). It worked for us then (we had an 11-month season in NJ). I think old-time skiers also used this type of stuff. This is *NOT* an "embrocation cream" which I didn't know was a "thing" and sounds a bit like spreading napalm on your tender spots, although some bike racers do it (I'm not suggesting it either). I've also gotten some sketchy advice from serious cyclists, such as alum foil under the insole inserts of your shoes as a body heat reflector, or wrapping your feet in plastic grocery bags inside your shoes; I have no idea of these working or what.

6. @sijomial - cleats? I've already bought flat, mountain-grade pedals (the kind with little spikes to hold your soles) and matching shoes; in the old days, I rode the touring bike with pedal clips (now considered, rightly, dangerous) and stiff sole road-touring sneakers. Cycling shorts - I have a good pair (AeroTechDesigns.com for big/tall folk), and there's a story to go with them below.

7. @NorthCascades - Yes, I have fixed flats. As a big guy on a touring bike years ago, I used to get flats. I finally got the then-exotic kevlar tires and my problems went away. With the new bike, I've got what I hope are appropriate tires. Since I've also not changed a flat in years, I'm scouting for roadside repair/maint type classes to sharpen me up. My county park system has them in the spring, and REI in my area has a couple in springtime as well. Plus, all the tech is new since I last rode, so classes are good (as well as youtube).

Again, thanks, all. I "liked" all of your responses earlier to say it.

* * * * *

Now for a personal tale of this journey to a near-obsession with cycling. Skip if you want.

As you've probably surmised, I used to ride a bit. But then life intervened, adversity and choices made me twice the man I used to be, and I got to the here and now less than great shape. I'm 50+ lbs. down from my max, with about another 50 to go, and seem to be stuck at this level unless I step up the metabolism with some exercise. Calorie control isn't moving the needle any. I'm hoping cycling is the key.

I'd been moving towards getting back into shape with my pending retirement. This past summer, I got further inspired by supporting my daughter for a local women's mini-triathalon for charity. Without being sexist or judgemental, many of the participants were not "obvious" triathletes, and I realized I could/should get a move on myself. I took my old touring bike (picture below) down off the hooks in the garage, and cleaned it up preparatory to a full overhaul at the bike shop. When I saw the tires were holding air quite nicely, I thought I'd take it for a spin around the block. All was fine right up until I crashed. My modern, longish, khaki cargo shorts got hung on the horn of the saddle and I dropped like a sack of rocks. Took the entire fall on my knee. Funny thing - I had a pair of proper cycling shorts on order from Amazon; had I waited another day, maybe none of this injury - or new bike purchase - would have happened.

OK, nothing was broken, except my pride, and of course my knee was a bloody, mangled mess. I cleaned it up, dressed it, and thought I was all done except recovery. Wrong. Massive infection followed with potential other effects. Antibiotics were prescribed, and then the real problem began - I had a reaction to the antibiotic, a med which I had had numerous times before (this reaction is not unknown, but is not common). This caused "coelestatic jaundice" - my liver and gall bladder were fouled up. I turned as yellow as Homer Simpson, lost all energy, 30 lbs in 6 weeks, and surprisingly, a lot of my thinking capacity (temporarily). It took weeks to discern the cause (there's no test for the problem, can only rule out the more nasty potential things such as cancer, stones, etc., until my problem was the obvious choice left). Six weeks after that, the 30 lbs were back on (without mass eating - a disoriented liver effect), I had improving energy, and we were heading into the holiday season. Oh, and the leg wounds healed over time.

As I healed, with leg elevated and flat on my back due to the illness, I became a youtube cycling videos fanatic. My resurgent interest in cycling became near-obsession, yet I was also plagued by thoughts (fears) from the crash and concerns over age and fitness - that my bike days were over. My wife and I realized the days of the touring bike were probably over in any case, and something more age-appropriate - a hybrid, upright bars, maybe even with a step-through frame - might be called for. Over several visits to the bike shop, and lots of research we settled on a trail-oriented, "hardtail" mountain bike with a couple of mods. Trek X-Caliber 9, 2018 model, with 29x2.35 most-surfaces tires (see picture below, esp. for you, @NorthCascades).

So now I ride. For health, for life. Both in the gym and on the road. I'm going in for my post-sale 30-day adjustments this week with some good miles to reference. Looking forward to a good year.</sub>