What on earth does ‘Turbo’ have to do with triathlon?

A ‘turbo’ is commonly used to describe a ‘turbo trainer’ or static bike - either of which allow you to train indoors in a small space. A turbo is a mechanism for mounting your bike which allows the rear wheel to turn & adds resistance to this to mimic the effect of riding outdoors. These come in many shapes, sizes, levels of complexity and price tags.

The simplest just holds the bike and adds resistance with a fixed or consistent amount of friction (sometimes termed ‘analogue’). The most complex allow a computer simulation (like Zwift) to dynamically vary the amount of friction to mimic the variations of a ‘real world’ road or course (called digital or smart turbos).

The next level is a fixed bike - or dedicated trainer like a WattBike, these can only be ridden indoors and allow the user to copy the geometry of their race bike - without adding miles whilst training, to the real thing.

When?

In the Winter typically - we supplement the weekly sessions with turbo training. Usually on a weekday evening, the program for this is announced in the Autumn and varies depending on who’s leading the sessions or program and how many participants want to join.

Where?

Most often these are held together (virtually) in a group simulation on Zwift - or sometimes physically together in the same place. If not in person - groups will also use a netmeeting platform like Zoom or Teams.

What?

Sessions are led by the club’s volunteer ride leads (or sometimes by coaches) - there will either be a timed set of workout patterns, or if everyone is using Zwift a group ride using the session plans available within this platform. If you’re interested but not familiar with this type of training - talk to one of the coaches, committee or experienced members to find out more.

More Info…

Every week an update on “what’s happening this week” is put out on the group facebook page - this includes the start time and session summary for any turbo sessions this week along with all the other details. During the week this is usually followed by a specific post about the turbo - asking who’s planning to attend to allow the leads to plan accordingly.