Training Dilemma

[JayPee]

Hey all,
It's a lovely Sunday Afternoon and I am sitting in the library. This is a pretty common occurrence at the moment so I am finding it pretty hard to do any training in the day time, although this may get more feasible with the later evenings. L2B is coming up and the most I am finding the time to ride properly is 2 or 3 hours a week, with the rest being short journeys around town. So I am looking into alternative ways to get more hours in on a bike. These are my options-

-Join the Uni Gym (Cheap) and use exercise bikes there

-Buy a Turbo Trainer (Sub £100 ideally)

-Cycle at silly hours of the day

I am open to any of these ideas and anybody's experience of any of these would be much appreciated.

[anonymous-user]

there is no real alternative to just riding so i would go for silly hours option. failing that, if its not going to happen - eg you are just not going to build up the enthusiasm to do it - joining the gym at least gets you onto a bike and you can also do other useful stuff like upper body weights. turbo trainers/rollers are good but you need to follow a training programme reall to get the benefit (there are loads on the web)

[b2hbm]

In terms of the fitness return vs time spent, a turbo is probably the best option. 30-45 minutes on a turbo will give a really good workout but it can be boring (mp3 player essential) and some of the fan turbos are noisy which might restrict where you use them. Fluid/Magnetic ones are quieter but there's still some noise & vibration.

In summer with dawn around 5am, then riding between 6 to 8am is quite practical and totally different from riding late in the day. The air is cooler, little traffic unless you're on a commuter run, and whenever I've done it I find it really sets me up for the day.

I'd go for a combination - buy a fluid/mag turbo and use that as a backstop on rainy days but when it's clear I'd aim for an early morning ride.

[MattYorke]

I do/have done all 3.
The gym, if they do spinning classes, is good.
The TT is a great backup if you can't do either of the other 2, but can be difficult to stay focused.

[superlightr]

b2hbm said:

In summer with dawn around 5am, then riding between 6 to 8am is quite practical and totally different from riding late in the day. The air is cooler, little traffic unless you're on a commuter run, and whenever I've done it I find it really sets me up for the day.
.

I normally zip out at about 7am for an hour down the lanes. At the moment its lovely - perfect weather. Bit chilly to start but be bold start cold.

[NitroNick]

I find running is a great alternative if you haven't time to get out on the bike.
An hour of running will give you a very good cardio workout (as long as you push it).
You can work on bike strength on the days when you can get out on the bike.