I had my first experience with Computrainer yesterday, and let me tell you, it was much harder than I thought!  Me and my friend Ben, a two-time Ironman finisher, road the first 60 miles of the Ironman Texas bike course.  I averaged 18.6 mph, which is faster than I plan to ride during the actual race, however, I was at 85-90% of my RPE (rate of perceived exertion) the whole time.  Usually, at 90% RPE, I would be averaging between 20-23mph!!

That is SCARY!!!  It means that I would have to ride the course at about 17mph to keep my RPE at about 75%.  Ben tried to calm me down, telling me that I need to add at least 1mph, and maybe 2mph to what I was seeing on the screen.  I pray he is right!  Regardless, it gave me a chance to “ride” the course, and get a feel for the inclines and hills.

I plan to ride the last 60 miles next week, and fortunately, it looks like it will be much easier than the first 60!  Anyone out there have experience with computrainer and can confirm that it is more difficult than the actual road?