2010 Night at the Races

PPTC member Carol Lyndell competed in the the CTS Night at the Races computrainer series and had this to say about "going nowhere fast."

Wintertime and it’s time to go nowhere fast on that confounded indoor trainer – ugh!

Over four Friday evenings in November and December I broke out of my indoor rut and joined other cyclists at Carmichael Training Systems for their night at the races. Each week the theme of the races changed, from time trial to criterium to road race. The last week was a bit of all three. I missed the first week, but I was there every other Friday evening.

With bike tightly clamped into the brackets of the computrainer, I set out to tackle some challenging rides. These rides tested my training. The races were short, usually three to five miles (as measured by the computer program we were riding). But short doesn’t mean easy. I tackled the criterium course that Colorado College used this past summer. It was a short loop repeated about 12 times. I came to hate that hill with its 13% grade. I was hurting as I “rode” up it that final time. Riders who had already finished cheered on the slower riders, and as in a real race, those cheers propelled me onward.

Progress was charted on the overhead screen. I was that little blue bike inching its way across the monitor. I received feedback on my mph, watts, miles covered, race position, and time. Sometimes there would be a battle as riders passed and repassed each other as shown by those little bikes moving on the screen. If there was any more to give, the passee would up his/her speed and try to pull out of harm’s way. Those bikes were our alter egos and it was a great way to get a good workout in with friends