Indoor Trainer vs Outdoor Bike Rides

Indoor training doesn't have wind or stoplights or coasting, but it can be structured to simulate hills or any other workout you desire.  If you want to simulate riding up a hill, shift into a harder gear.  If you want to simulate riding downhill, shift into an easier gear.  

You have access to HR while you're doing virtual watts indoors, why would you think you couldn't correlate HR outdoors to watts?  Wind and hills don't matter for watts, only how fast you ride at a particular watt level.  

Weather is the primary reason to choose indoor over outdoor.  If you're rigorously following a training plan and it calls for staying out of zone 3 but you live in a very hilly area, you might opt to ride the trainer to more easily stay in Z1/2 the entire ride.  

Ya...I was living in the Texas Hill Country this time 3 years ago doing rides over rolling hills around the highland lakes with the wild flowers in full bloom.  I would race up the hills then go as fast as could down the hills (40+ MPH) and then recover on the flats. Those rides are what made me want to stick with Triathlon rather than going back to running after what might have been a one time triathlon race.

I didn't have structured rides but I did take time to work on cadence while I was riding, I did take time to focus on pedal efficiency while I was cycling, and I did ride and different power levels to where I was increasing my FTP and my endurance. 

I don't want to structure my indoor training ride to simulate an outdoor ride.  All the training I have been doing since November has been indoor power based interval training.  The work outs are highly controlled and targeted to work me as hard as possible without my recovery time every exceeding what I have before the next scheduled workout.  The reports I have been reading say that there is a high percentage of athletes that loose their winter fitness if they stop doing workouts indoors all together.  What I want to do is to cycle out doors, because it is something I enjoy, but not to fall into a pit fall all my outdoor rides turning into joy rides to where I loose fitness gained from indoor training.  

My HR data won't allow me to do what I do indoors on the trainer.  Below is a clipping of the trainer ride I did this morning.  As you can see I was taking pretty good size steps above FTP and below FTP but the HR was pretty much a flat line. 

So... I think I need to approach outdoor rides with different expectation and different goals.  I am curious as to how other approach indoor vs outdoor rides, what their goals are for each, and what their balance between the two is. 

Speaking specifically about age-group triathletes - because they typically have to train around careers, kids, spouses, and life in general thus don't have time to ride their bike all day long - riding indoors on the trainer will often provide a higher quality workout.  Obviously riding indoors is safer than riding outdoors which is increasingly becoming a concern.

However, and this is a BIG however.  Riding indoors on the trainer does nothing to improve bike handling skills.  On top of that, riding on the trainer for more than 90-120 minutes quickly approaches "cruel and unusual punishment."

The balance I have found is indoors on the trainer doing interval work - i.e. threshold intervals, VO2 MAX intervals, SS intervals, etc. - during the week and long rides outdoors on the weekend.  In areas where weather is a concern during the winter months, the long ride can be abbreviated and done as a tempo ride or sweet spot intervals on the trainer.

The real important things is, once the weather breaks, you need to be outdoors working on handling skills, riding actual hills, being exposed to wind and sun and all the other things you may encounter on race day.

Ride on!

Long rides on the weekend out doors and indoor rides at O'dark thirty in the morning on weeks days seems to be the most common solution/balance for people in my situation.  Training in adverse weather is nice to have under your belt when it is windy and raining on race day (i have had that in two of my A races), but I think I will forego out door rides on those days too since I now have a convenient option indoors on those days (Note: I will still be running outside in the rain and wind on may days since I don't have any indoor options at home for running.  Just at the gym in town. 

Yes, handling skills was the one big advantage that was glaring at me with out door rides (that and outdoors are just more fun for me).  I do have a hidden fear that my first time outside I am going to get a flat tire though.  I have never been stranded 10 miles from civilization with a flat tire when I ride the trainer.  :-)  I am just hoping that I am faster out doors now as I was 4 months ago.  I used to have every bump and every crack in the road memories and hope that I haven't lost me feel with the road.