cycling mileage on trainer

[cyclinginmd]

hello everyone :) i have been lurking on these forums for a little while now and have just decided to join. i have a question about how you keep track of cycling mileage when using a trainer. i have something mounted to my bike (name slipped my mind, i guess a cycling computer?) that keeps track of mileage, pace, etc. it is not wireless and it's attached to my front wheel. obviously, it doesn't record distance when i use my trainer. i;m happy with the cycling computer (?) that i have and i don't want to buy a wireless one just because of my trainer. how do you keep track of mileage when you use a trainer? do you approximate? just go by time? any suggestions are great

thanks,
kim

[Roadtrip]

This won't really help, but I bought a wireless and attached it to the rear wheel, but if the wire is long enough you may be able to route the sensor/cable back to your rear wheel and zip tie it in place along the frame. Some trainers have computers that work with them, but that's specific to the trainer, so not sure what options your particular model might have.

Before I got my computer I would go about a half hour at a pretty steady high tempo pace and because my trainer is a fairly "budget" mag trainer, I would have the bike in the biggest gear in order to max resistance for a decent workout.

Shannon

[LivetoRide]

I had my previous computer mounted on my rear wheel so I could keep track (I put the computer on my top tube becasue the distance was too great for my wireless Cateye - and not being able to look at my computer all the time while riding helped me a lot). That computer went bye-bye and I'm now using a Sigma (speed sensor on front wheel, cadence on back) and I plan to just use time and cadence for this winter.

[abejita]

It doesn't have to be wireless to attach to your rear wheel. I have a wired cadence and wired speed sensor which is attached to the rear wheel. I can send you a pic of my setup if you would like. If it is on your rear wheel, it will still be able to read your speed and distance while on your trainer.

[chicagogal]

I don't keep track of mileage on the trainer. I use a computrainer in erg mode, where the distance information is pretty useless (but power data is great).

I like it this way, because then all the miles on my bike computer are "real" miles instead of nowhere miles.

[abejita]

I debated on whether to 'count' my trainer miles or not...then I decided that the trainer miles are way harder than the 'real' miles, so I was counting them ;-)

[Crankin]

I don't count mileage on the trainer, just cadence and time.
And the time is never more than 45 minutes!

[cyclinginmd]

thanks everyone :) maybe i will see about switching my wired one to the back wheel.