#5: Go go gadget trainer

For the most part, I'm a gadget guy.  iPhone junkie, HUGE fan of the iPad and even though not much of a "gamer", that kinect thing that Microsoft came up with looks pretty unbelievable.

When it comes to my endurance training.....it's no different.  At this point, I don't think I could live without my Garmin 305; 

I think our remote coaching software (powered by trainingpeaks) could be one of the easiest and most effective training tools around.....but when it comes to gadgets, I think one of the coolest for anyone training for a long bike-ride HAS to be the COMPUTRAINER. 

If you haven't used one of these things and you want to see fast gains in your ability......find one to train on.  They are definitely not cheap (got it on eBay), but between the spinscan analysis which gives you an incredibly effective way to help you understand your pedaling mechanics to it's courses, the thing is awesome.  But it gets better.  In my stocking this year was my first "real course video" literally a high quality video of the bike course in St. George which interfaces with the resistance that the trainer puts in place......when I'm riding uphill, it gets harder.....when I speed up, the video moves faster.....the thing ROCKS.  The most wild thing on Sunday when I used it for the first time had to be that when looking down I was in the red rocks of Utah and then when I looked up I was looking out the window into a blizzard......really cool.  How long is that hill going to last?  What gearing should I go with?  High cadence vs. mash down?  Yeah, you still have to do the work (this weekend 3.5 hour bike + .5 run), and no raceday is the same, but I find that knowing the course is a huge mental advantage.

No this isn't a racermate commercial......but I think it's the real deal and might be worth checking out if you're serious about improvement.

Remember, whereever you are and whatever you're doing, it's only the beginning,

Mike E.

Have you figured out where this edition's cheesy sign-off came from?