Glad you girls are having sucessful rides...I know many of you did spin classes this winter and are now reaping the benefits in spades. Yep, I think spinning is the best kept "secret" to sucessful cardio-vascular training, perfecting form, and all around cycling performance. Congrats, ladies...Woo-Whoo!

I'm hoping for the same results this fall as you all are seeing now.
I'm at the opposite end of the riding season from most of you and I'm inside all the time. I spin 3, sometimes 4 times a week. I work on pedal stroke, cadence, my heart zone, posture, ect. and I know it will all pay-off once I/we can get back to riding ourdoors.

My riding buddies and I take class together; we all sit up front! We ride in a row facing the mirrors and try to keep pace/ cadence with one another. There are classes where other road cyclist come and sit with us; a couple of them are very strong and pace us, so I learn from them...it's really amazing. It takes focus on what I'm doing as well as the "team" effort. (In mountain biking, you really don't ride "together" in a line/peleton formation) For sure, we are all doing our own "ride" but spinning provides comradere, someone who will ask, "how are you doing/feeling/watch your left foot"...ect without it interfering with the ride. This must sound awfully serious or intense to some of you, but, we really have a lot of fun.

I wonder if teams use some sort of a similar technique? I wonder if they use mirrors to ride in cadence, or see how they perform together/not together? I'm not a roadie, but, from what I'm discovering, I'm beginning to think that if you spin together with mirrors, there are more benefit to the actual ride outdoors than anticipated.
Well, I guess we'll find once were back on the trails...
Terry

Oh yeah, Trek420, the heart moniter thing has become and opposite for me...I'm doing phenomenal things in class that I hadn't done outdoors as far as heart rate goes...good times, good times. Either way, training works!