As I clipped into the pedals of a new carbon-fiber Look demonstration bicycle from The Elephant's Perch, Zenergy athletic trainer Kyl Samway booted up a modest three-mile warm-up ride on a laptop computer in the Ketchum health club's weight room. Calibrated for my weight and type of bicycle, the mechanical parts of the Racer Mate CompuTrainer regulate the rolling resistance on the back wheel of a bicycle based on the scenario keyed up on the computer.
My tire is singing. I power up to 150 watts with my pedal cadence between 80 and 90 rotations per minute.
"There is software for team training," Samway said, describing the interface between machine and man.
I click down a few gears and climb out of the saddle to pump up my speed that is being displayed and recorded on the laptop screen. The program we're running is also keeping track of my heart rate, pedal cadence and efficiency as well as my peak speed and watts over the 10 minutes it takes me to ride the mildly hilly course.
Like a video game, the computer displays an action figure that does what I do in the saddle. Samway said I could come back later and race myself. The program keeps track of my statistics for the ride and I can test my improvement or the impact of the night's revelry.
There really is a ghost in the machine. In fact, in addition to my own shadow, I can race up to eight people at a time using multi-rider software.
Samway said the computer keeps track of everyone's current average and peak heart rate and wattage, which is a way to monitor athletes' progression during their training. Another advantage of the system, when compared with a traditional spin class, is that participants can "ride" their own bike.
After mopping up my sweat and recapping with Samway on the potential of the CompuTrainer for physiological testing, I went away with a head full of information in search of a pair of riders I could watch in a head-to-head ride.
To my good fortune, I bumped into John Tormey and Muffy Ritz in their cycling clothes at a grocery store in Hailey. I told them what I had been up to and they agreed to come to Zenergy the next day to test out the new gadget.
Like ring tones on a cellular phone, riders can choose from any number of pre-programmed rides. The basic list includes Ironman courses, sections of the Tour de France and many less-grueling spins. Samway said in combination with DeLorme maps a rider can customize any course, although the computer only simulates road-riding conditions.
"You could do time trials on Fox Creek in the winter time," Samway said. Outside it was a gloomy, cold and wet day. Fox Creek would indeed be impossible to ride.
As Tormey and Ritz warmed up, a hill kicked in and they began to believe in the reality of the stationary trainer.
"Sixty-inch plasma," panted Tormey, as he began to huff and spin up the first programmed hill. The screen showed him neck and neck with Ritz off the start.
"Look at that little pony tail," Ritz said, observing her character on the laptop screen.
"See you later John," said coach Samway, as Ritz began to pull away.
"It won't last long," Ritz said.
Having chosen a 10-mile course, Tormey and Ritz studied spin graphs to evaluate the efficiency of their pedal strokes, a favorite training feature of the program for Samway.
Several minutes into the course, Tormey began to close Ritz's lead and overtook her on a downhill. Samway explains that coaches for performance athletes enjoy using the CompuTrainer because it can provide a totally controlled environment for training.
Observing the riders' faces straining with exertion, listening to their labored breathing and watching the sweat pool on the gym floor, it is obvious that there is something very real in what the trainer provides.
Ritz gains on Tormey on the uphills, but Tormey maintains his lead. Ritz finishes only a minute and a half behind Tormey, who finished the 10-mile course in just under 34 minutes. Checking the statistics, the couple is obviously very fit. Ritz had a heart rate of 170 beats per minute for nearly the entire ride.
"It was fun. I love this stuff," Ritz said, congratulating Tormey on his victory. Her rate was 10 beats below her maximum heart rate, which she said means she was riding at about 86 percent of her capacity. In ski races, she said her heart rate averages about 163 beats per minute.
"I was working harder than a ski race. It really felt like being on the road."
Tormey said he looks forward to taking the 10-mile challenge again later in the year when he is more acclimated to cycling.
Perhaps we can do that Fox Creek time trial before mud season ends.
Riders looking to test the new technology can check in with Zenergy for more upcoming clinics, said club marketing director Kerry Sanudio.
Muffy Ritz and John Tormey duke it out with the newest in computerized bicycle training technology. Here the couple is battling the mental and physical fatigue of riding uphill. Although their bicycles are flat on the ground a resistance mechanism on the rear wheel is simulating the effect.
Fitness trainer Kyl Samway describes the data his laptop will collect about distance, speed, heart rates and watts generated by John Tormey and Muffy Ritz. The pair watches a virtual representation of a 10-mile bicycle ride they tested at Zenergy. Photo by Willy Cook
