Mrs M and I went over to watch some of the Ghent 6, combining the trip with some sightseeing of the city and its close neighbour Brugge, We had a great time, the event and both cities were wonderful.
A stand at the 6 had a Tacx virtual reality trainer on show for a bit of fun. I was very impressed with the idea (a bit less so by the trainer itself which seemed to have given up the ghost after a couple of days of hard use).
I was sufficiently enthused to do some research when I got home and found out CycleOps do an equivalent, the "Power Beam Pro". Powertap reliability aside I like the build quality of CycleOps products so I took the plunge and bought one.
Gosh I am happy I did.The trainer itself delivered on the quality front, its reassuringly chunky and solid. But the best thing is the Virtual Training software that comes with it. You can download routes that simulate the actual thing.
I tried it out on Alpe D'Huez and it was great fun, very close to the real thing. The unit seems to be about 10-15W higher in terms of power vs my Powertap and is a bit optimistic in terms of VAM for power so you climb pretty quick. But that's not too much of an issue as it seems quite consistent.
The drawbacks are minor compared with the experience the unit gives you. I have downloaded more routes, yesterday I did the Stelvio climb from Bormio that I did on my Italian Raid. It was nice to see it in the sun.. sure beat the rain I did the real thing in and it wasn't snowing when I got to the top either!!
Other interesting thing is that the pedal stroke feels very authentic. I am using some different muscles and the sensation I have is pretty much exactly how I feel when climbing. So think it will be very good training for my return to the mountains next year.
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