Do Trainer Miles Count?

[King Boonen]

That bloody well counted!!

 

[Jacques de Molay]

This made me chuckle.

CyclingTips is currently offering a limited-time, free viewing of the latest Thereabouts film.
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/12/thereabouts-2-is-now-live/

Thereabouts: a series of adventures designed to get back to the very essence of cycling. It’s all about riding for riding’s sake, enjoying the process of moving from A to B, learning something about yourself and your mates, and riding hard just because you can.

Gus and Lachlan Morton were joined by fellow professionals Cam Wurf and Taylor Phinney as they made their way from Boulder, Colorado, to Moab, Utah.

But then I saw this in the comments.

Utah72
So looking forward to jumping on the trainer and watching this tomorrow in the US

I really think he's missing the point of the film altogether.

 

[King Boonen]

I would guess sarcasm but then it is from someone in the US...

 

[AcademyCC]

Absolutely trainer miles count. Put a bit of sufferfest on and you can get in some of the best training sessions going.

Would rarely reach that level of brokenness out on the road

 

[Jacques de Molay]

Re:

Absolutely trainer miles count.

...as trainer miles.

Let's revisit the OP for a moment.

Periodically I will ride on my trainer (Bad Weather / Darkness). I have two friends who share different points of view on this subject of weather or not the trainer miles count towards my total miles ridden in the year.

I would never dispute the fact that aggressive and brutal training sessions could be experience while on a trainer.
But one could stay on that thing for days on end, and never actually cover a single mile. Know what I'm sayin'?

Now if Doug, from the OP, who started this little back-and-forth would just jump in, I'd like to know what else his friends had to say on the matter.

 

[Lynton]

I hope they count. I am a paramedic that is about to go to a rural station that has a roster of 8 days on a 6 days off. During the 8 days on I work 8-6 each day and on call after hours. During the on call I have to be able to respond to an incident immediately so I will not be able to ride on the road. My only option will be an indoor trainer, I hope my legs accept the pretend miles.

 

[chuckmicD]

I think it counts for miles and fitness...less for developing bike skills. Nevertheless, being fit will help you make good decisions on the road cos your brains won't be all blotted from the effort....

They count

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I certainly upload my trainer sessions to Garmin Connect, so in the broad picture trainer sessions do count for me. I also think being on the trainer can be much tougher mentally, if you have no visual distractions like there is on the road all the time and since there is no one to talk to. The way I ride on my home trainer, staring into a white wall with only music as a slight distraction, it is by no means easy-earned kilometers.

 

[Ibbo68]

I upload my Wattbike sessions to Strava/Garmin Connect for my own record.They count for me.Whether anyone else counts my Trainer miles or not is irrelevant

 

[42x16ss]

Re:

I upload my Wattbike sessions to Strava/Garmin Connect for my own record.They count for me.Whether anyone else counts my Trainer miles or not is irrelevant

I'm pretty sure they count - just ask Matt Hayman

 

[dhungerf]

Good discussion. I ride for fitness and during the winter months (in the past) I lost some fitness due to a lack of riding. Last season i joined Zwift and rode on the trainer about 5X per week (about 5 hours per week in total). This spring I noticed a definite improvement in fitness over previous years. I was able to head out on my early road rides (March or so) with the same power and stamina as my peak fitness the previous season. I actually raised by functional heartrate.

I say yes

 

[Cookster15]

Of course trainer miles count assuming you do it properly. In fact often trainer miles are more effective as you don't spend time coasting or spinning gears at less than 50 watts and low heart rates. When I was racing I used my trainer when it was too wet and dangerous to ride on the road. One thing is you need a power and/or heart rate monitor to make it effective. Interval training never fails and with a trainer you don't have to worry about slowing for traffic. The downside is of course dying of boredom.

 

[avanti]

I log the mileage as recorded on the trainer bikes computer. This mileage is more like riding the track as it is fixed gear; as noted above no freewheeling.. After a trainer ride my subsequent road bike ride takes less energy.

 

[Tigerion]

If there is debate here it sounds like there is a bit of competition going on about who can do the most miles in the year.
So the question isn't so much if they count but are the equal to road miles.
The different opinion probably comes down to how has the trainer or the percentage of use on each

 

[Jspear]

Anyone with a Zwift trainer can't add those miles to their year total....sorry.