- By Renée
- In Blog Post Pro Tips Training
- With No Comments
- Tagged with bike racing femme trans women cycling indoor cycling koochella koochella racing
- On 29 Mar | '2019
I thought we might have a mild winter this year in Minneapolis. (So hopeful, so naive.) I’ve spent most of my life in Michigan and upstate New York, insulated from bitter temps by giant lakes. I can blast through looming snowdrifts in my little Toyota Corolla without flinching. I have mastered winter? Not in Minnesota and not on my bicycle. So in January I signed up for an 8 week spin class led by a local cycling coach. The class would be 90 minutes long and structured by intervals for building endurance, power, and mental focus. It would be for cyclists by a cyclist.

I (my name is Anna) could ride in this snow, or I could not [image description: full shot of woman standing in freshly fallen snow in bike shorts and winter boots, laughing]
In class we use the STAGES training platform, bike, and power meter. The class is located at a YMCA and registration was open to nonmembers (me). I spent a couple of classes dialing in my fit on the spin bike. Everything is adjustable, so you can wiggle and slide all the components around to approximate the feel of your IRL bicycle. I’m in the middle of my second 8 week session right now and I finally feel like I understand how all the numbers we train with work together. My power numbers have finally improved! I don’t want to admit how much I’ve fallen for the numbers . . . To my surprise, I felt fine working out with a bunch of other folx. (Usually I ride alone.) The bikes are well-spaced, and everyone in class is working/suffering by their individual metrics together, which I find motivating. Spin class is like riding a bike! But there are no weather or scenery or bumps or stops affecting my ride.

Warm-up [image description: shot from above legs in bike shorts on a spin bike]
I figured out my preferred numbers about a month into class: my favorite cadence, when to focus more on pushing or on spinning, etc. Each session I complete a three to four minute FTP test. I ride as hard as I can sustain for that period of time, which determines the maximum 100% power (measured in watts) I can sustain for 20-60 minutes (there is an equation for this; STAGES calculates). That’s the number that the intervals for the rest of class will dip below and above. I’ll ride for a period of time at 80% of this wattage, then 90%, then 100%, then 50%, then 120%… You get the idea. And then I leave class feeling like a wet noodle, yet refreshed by own sweat and endorphins.

Bri and I smiling and sweating after spin class [image description: close-up of two smiling people in a room of spin bikes]