Tech Podcast: ‘Ride Inside’ offers indoor riding pointers

Indoor riding season is upon us — whether we like it or not. Those indoor riding miles don’t have to be as painful as they used to be in the days of the basement pain cave. Staring at the washing machine while you mindlessly count the minutes until the end of your training session doesn’t offer you much benefit physically or mentally, so Joe Friel and Jim Rutberg wrote “Ride Inside” to realign your indoor riding goals and processes.

Sure, you can simply go out and buy a trainer or smart bike and start spinning away. But Friel and Rutberg have a better way: Take advantage of Zwift for racing and training; wrap your head around what gear you need to make the process not only bearable but also fun; and learn what you need to do to transition all those indoor miles into outdoor success.

Friel and Rutberg also give some pointers on how to adjust your strategy for Zwift racing, which is a completely different beast than any race at which you’ve toed the line outdoors. (Hint: Most Zwift races start an awful lot like cyclocross races, which means you’re in the red from the gun.)

Perhaps most importantly, Friel and Rutberg give concrete steps to take to ensure you’re building fitness rather than wearing yourself out with endless miles on the trainer. In other words, those indoor miles have value, and if you don’t use them properly, it could cost you fitness or risk injury.

If that’s enough to whet your indoor riding whistle, you can order the book here and use the code RIDEINSIDE for 15 percent off.

As always, if you have questions about this episode of the VeloNews Tech Podcast, or if you have suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover on a future episode, you can reach out to Tech Editor Dan Cavallari via email, Instagram, or Twitter.