It may seem a bit counter-intuitive to buy a trainer in spring, but I’ve come to the conclusion that if I’m going to be better on the bike, then I need to spend more time on the bike. With my responsibilities of being a full-time job and being a husband and father-of-three-boys, it’s really hard to get as much riding as I would like. I’ve been borrowing a friend’s trainer for a couple of weeks, and I’ve ridden it a few times. I set it up in my family room (conveniently just off the garage) and watch TV while riding it. Unfortunately the best time for me to ride the trainer is at 5 in the morning, so that presents the challenge of actually waking up. However, once I’m on the trainer, it is generally fairly easy to wake up in a matter of minutes. To keep from getting too bored, I’ve been watching the first season for Heroes streamed via Netflix on my Xbox 360. I generally ride for about 30 minutes, but I would like to start riding for longer. That also means getting up a bit earlier as well, so we’ll have to see how that goes.   I’m also still going to the gym on my lunch break during the day, so riding the trainer is not replacing my normal weight/cardio workouts at the gym.   On the days that I have ridden the trainer at home, I’ve done weights at the gym (upper body only).   Once I get into a more regular routine with the trainer, the gym routine may change slightly.

I wound up buying a new Minoura Mag M50 on ebay (pictured).   It is the newer model to the one I’ve been borrowing from  my friend.   I’ve found the one I’ve been using to be relatively quiet for a magnetic trainer, so I’m hoping the newer model works just the same.   It should arrive later this week, so I’ll be sure to give a review in the future.