Dave Retreats. And Then? A Tacx!

It even came with a trainer tire!

I’m back in West Bend after a week in eastern Pennsylvania. While it was great to be with my mother on Thanksgiving and great to have dinner with a couple of my cousins on Black Friday, the trip was something of a disappointment. There was only one day of nice weather: 61° and dry last Wednesday. I did a 4-mile outdoor walk and hoped for more days of the same sort. But those days never came. The temperature dropped, the wind roared, and day-long rains arrived. With the great outdoors rendered off limits and with no treadmill at my disposal, I kept my walking streaks alive with hundreds of ridiculous circuits around the interior of Mom’s house. During the last week I ate too much, exercised too little, and missed West Bend even though I knew it was getting pounded with snow and bitter cold.

Now that I’m home again, it’s time to get back into regular workouts. But as I resume turbo trainer rides, there is a noteworthy change. In Pennsylvania I unexpectedly picked up a second-hand Tacx Vortex smart trainer. On Facebook Marketplace, it was listed for $20 and I gladly would have paid that price without haggling, even though I had no way to test its functionality before returning to Wisconsin. As things turned out, the owner simply wanted it gone and let me have it for free! You can’t beat that deal, but you might wonder why I wanted it when I already had a newer and arguably better smart trainer. The answer is Garmin Connect.

When Garmin acquired Tacx in 2019, it integrated the Tacx training app with its Garmin Connect platform. Since that time, numerous Garmin Connect challenges have been available only to users of the Tacx app. I intend to pursue those challenges to add some spice to my indoor trainer season. The app has features similar to Zwift, Rouvy, and MyWhoosh, so it should be more engaging than the handful of ride stats that come from my Garmin Edge cycling computer.

I got my first taste of the Tacx training app today. I did not, however, explore the many virtual environments. I contented myself with a simple display of ride stats and it looks like I might need to make some adjustments. Tacx said I averaged only 74 Watts for a 30-minute ride at 13.4 mph. It was an easy, get-to-know-you ride, for sure, but that power output seems low. At least I could count on my heart rate monitor, which paired easily with the Tacx app. And Garmin Connect rewarded me with my first two Tacx badges, so I’m satisfied with my first ride.

My next step should be to explore those virtual environments, the cornerstones of the Tacx platform.

And I Would Walk 500 More?

Walking 1,000 miles this year was not in my plans. In my New Year’s Eve statistical review of 2024, I wrote that I would shoot for 500. And we should remember two things. First, I was still recovering from surgery when I set that goal. I could not be certain how my body would respond. Second, I had set a personal record of 554 miles in 2024 and didn’t want the pressure of extending my record every year just to feel accomplished.

I surpassed 1,000 miles today. With 42 days remaining in 2025, I might get another 100-150 miles. I expect to keep going at approximately the same pace, and that means walking every day. The streak is still alive: I have walked at least 1 mile expressly for fitness every day since last December 13. Achieving that consistency might be a more worthwhile accomplishment than the big mileage total.

I still won’t want the pressure of chasing a new PR for walking in 2026, so I probably will set no mileage goals outside of Garmin Connect. Garmin’s “Walk Streak” challenge requires a single, 1-mile walk every day for 30 consecutive days. Garmin also has quarterly walking challenges that reward the 1-mile-per-day minimum, so those are automatic for anyone who keeps the “Walk Streak” challenge going. And then there’s the annual “Ultimate Walking Badge,” a reward for completing all four quarterly challenges. Again, simply meeting the “Walk Streak” minimum will yield the “Ultimate Walking Badge.”

Walking 1 mile every day has some general health benefits, but it isn’t enough by itself to build real fitness. Hitting my minimum standard of 10,000 steps per day goes further. On recent 1-mile walks, I have averaged about 2,000 steps. I have to walk the equivalent of about 5 miles per day to hit 10,000 steps. So, is 5 miles per day my real standard? I didn’t become a 10,000 steps-a-day guy until this year was well advanced. Am I going to surpass 1,825 miles in 2026, 5 miles per day for 365 days? That doesn’t seem likely. I’m getting some of those 10,000 steps from ordinary daily activities and not from measured walks. But I sure didn’t expect to double my PR this year, which I am on pace to do. So, never say never.

Pretty Doesn’t Begin To Describe 11/14/25

Losing fitness already! Today's ride would have been all Zone 2 a month ago.

Yes, I rode outside today! West Bend reached 60° for the first time since October 20 and came up just a little short of its first 70° day since October 18. I missed the last 60° day; October 18 was my last outdoor ride before today. Under sunny skies and with only light winds, today I went up the Eisenbahn State Trail to Campbellsport and back … plus a couple of bonus miles around town. I might have stayed out for another 30 minutes or so, but my water bottle ran dry. The high winds that have been so common during the last week will return tomorrow, and they might keep me off the bike. My lawn needs one more mowing before winter. There probably won’t be a better day for it than tomorrow. If today’s ride was my final outdoor ride of the year, then at least it was very satisfying.

Stopping The Slide

Last week’s rewards from Garmin Connect.

I wanted to create a training camp atmosphere for myself last week, combining different activities to pursue multiple Garmin Connect challenges. Adding interest to my workouts and arresting a month-long decline in exercise time was imperative. As recently as September, I was cranking out 20-hour weeks split between cycling and walking. For the week that ended on Sunday, November 2, my total volume was down to 11 hours, 45 minutes. Fewer hours of daylight and falling temperatures were mostly to blame, but it’s also true that my remaining fitness goals for 2025 are well within reach even if I abandon outdoor exercise.

Anyway, for the week that ended yesterday, I was determined to devote more time to my workouts. The result was 17 hours, 8 minutes of total training volume. I took advantage of time away from work. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were vacation days; Thursday and Friday were my regular days off. My new work week began at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Yes, it’s weird. My family and friends can’t remember my work schedule, even after five years.

With my training camp enthusiasm running high on Monday morning, I decided to go for a Garmin Connect challenge that I mentioned in an earlier post but thought I might never attempt: Stepping Up 40K. That’s 40,000 steps in a single day, a big increase over my personal record of 30,042. In that earlier post, I said I wouldn’t try to earn the Stepping Up 40K or the Stepping Up 50K badge with only indoor activities, as the tedium would be almost unbearable. Well, I did complete Stepping Up 40K indoors but yes, I was perfectly sick of walking by the end. I won’t say now that there’s no chance that I will complete Stepping Up 50K indoors, however I will need time to think about whether it’s worth the effort. My new personal record for steps in a single day is 41,635. Garmin says I walked 21.4 miles and burned 1,113 calories above baseline to get it, pushing my total calorie expenditure above 3,000 for the day. I spent more than 5½ hours on the treadmill spread over 11 sessions, with meals, bathroom trips, and laps around the house to break the monotony.

Last Tuesday was the anniversary of the bike crash that led to my hip replacement surgery the following day. On this November 4, I was disappointed with my energy. The problem wasn’t the huge walking effort of the previous day; the problem was sleep. In an ill-fated attempt to adopt a daytime schedule for the entire week, I went to bed at 9 p.m. on Monday. By 3 a.m. on Tuesday, I was up again. I passed the day somewhat aimlessly and went back to bed from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., getting another round of sleep that wasn’t especially restorative. By midnight, I had done just enough not to consider the day a total failure: 11,033 steps and a 30-minute upper body strength training session in the home gym.

Wednesday should have been a bounce-back day. It was only OK, not special. The highlight was a 4.3-mile treadmill walk. I finished the day with 13,715 steps, which isn’t bad but it’s actually a slightly smaller effort than my average over the last four weeks. Thursday was more of the same: 12,769 steps and a 30-minute lower body strength training session in the home gym. That’s hardly “training camp” stuff.

Friday began more ambitiously. I spent an hour on the treadmill before visiting my surgeon for a final follow-up visit. My new X-rays looked great and the doctor was very pleased with my recovery. After the visit I did an outdoor walk for the first time since July 5. Yikes! I guess you could say my hopes for a big autumn of hiking haven’t been realized. Friday’s step total was a respectable 16,210. Still, I didn’t do everything I had planned. When the day ran out of sunlight, I ran out of giving a damn and went to bed.

That decision to go to bed when darkness arrived may prove to be the start of a better sleep schedule for me. It’s certainly more in line with what nature intended. I slept well from about 5 p.m. until about 12 a.m. on Friday night. In my many years of working nights–my current job is only the most recent to require overnight hours–I always have preferred a bedtime soon after the end of the shift. This has meant trying to sleep during daylight hours. I may revert to that schedule when Daylight Saving Time returns, but at least for now I will try to stay awake after work. Morning exercise, a quietly productive afternoon, and a bedtime of something like 3:30 p.m. probably would be beneficial. I have averaged only 5½ hours of sleep per day for the last year, and that’s not enough. Every effort to fix my sleep eventually fails, but I must keep trying.

Saturday was another day of fleeting motivation. I did a solid upper body strength workout, but I couldn’t talk myself into a turbo trainer ride. I finished the day with 10,768 steps. Getting 10,000 steps, 1 mile of walking expressly for fitness, and 30 consecutive minutes of walking have become my non-negotiable daily minimums. More is better, though!

With a mix of televised NFL and NHL games to alleviate the boredom, on Sunday I earned Garmin’s Indoor 50K Ride badge (50 kilometers / 31.1 miles). The next step is the Indoor 50-Mile Ride badge–roughly a 3-hour commitment–and then comes the final boss: the Indoor 4-Hour Ride badge. I have no target dates for those; they sound terrible. I finished Sunday with 15,499 steps.

Last week’s 121,629 steps were more than average but not a record. I somehow amassed 152,122 steps during the week of August 25-31. I spent 13½ hours on walking last week, 2 hours on indoor cycling, and 1½ hours on strength training. As my offseason progresses, things won’t be so out of balance.

My next trip to Pennsylvania is now just two weeks away and I will spend much of that time getting my home and yard ready for winter. Indoor cycling will be a priority too, as I don’t plan to take a bike to PA and these two weeks may present my last opportunities to grab Garmin Connect cycling badges in 2025.

The 2026 WORS Schedule

A Solution, Not “The” Solution

I dusted off the smart trainer today. It’s that time of year. If I can do two or three sessions per week, then I think I’ll be satisfied. Trying to replicate my mid-summer outdoor cycling volume with offseason trainer rides is too terrible to contemplate. The plan for this offseason is to keep my total exercise volume consistent with a mix of activities rather than to rely so heavily on cycling.

While I don’t count trainer miles in my yearly totals, I will use them in pursuit of Garmin Connect goals. That’s good motivation to do something I won’t always want to do. Let’s be honest! Even when I was a Zwift user–despite all of Zwift’s features, challenges, social connections, and so on–there were many days when I simply couldn’t find enough motivation to pedal to nowhere.

And yet, Zwift still tempts me. I am not ruling out a return to it in early 2026. It’s not a good fit right now, though. I have travel plans in November and December, and the trainer isn’t coming with me.

Andiamo!

See that Lamborghini Countach? I had that poster on my bedroom wall back in the 1980s. It was a more than suitable replacement for the poster of Farah Fawcett, whose stock was already falling by then. Next to pizza, it was my favorite thing to come out of Italy … until now.

In late September, I invested in a pair of Favero Assioma Pro MX power meter pedals.

This is the mountain bike version, not the road bike version. But I use mountain bike pedals on all of my bikes, as it always has made more sense to me to wear shoes in which I could actually walk if it became necessary. So, the new pedals went on my new Scott Addict. I am still learning what they can do for me. Right now, they are expensive toys that delight me with a few statistics I didn’t have before. When the 2026 outdoor season begins, they will be key components of a refined training plan. During the 2025-26 indoor season, I hope to get more in tune with my FTP and VO2 max. Those numbers will come from turbo trainer rides and should transfer pretty accurately when outdoor rides resume in the spring.

My 2025 outdoor season is not over yet, but the end is in sight. Earlier today, I surpassed my mileage goal. There is now no incentive to ride unless the weather is fair.

But to get back to how additional performance statistics fit into my future plans … I have taken a particular interest in VO2 max, which is strongly correlated with longevity. You’ll probably see a lot more discussion of longevity here in the future. My serious injury last November and my 60th birthday in June combined to bring longevity to my attention in an urgent way. And just as I was beginning to explore the subject, I found a study from August 2024 that determined the effects of aging can spike rather than appear gradually. Making matters worse, 60 is one of the ages associated with a spike.

The safe assumption is that I am at risk for one of those spikes, and the best response is to eat better, sleep better, and exercise smarter. In each area, I have made progress this year. I have not been especially restrictive with my diet, but I have cut out a few things and it’s hard to argue with the results: at my October 1st weigh-in, I was down 17.2 pounds from my peak weight this year, which I reached on April 16. I still have setbacks with sleep, but the overall trend has been for longer and more restorative sleep. Exercise is something I have had in abundance for decades, but I didn’t trouble myself too much about its quality. That’s changing. Cycling is going to continue to be hugely important to my cardiovascular health. I expect giving more attention to FTP and VO2 max to provide big benefits. The biggest benefits, though, may come from a greater focus on strength training.

My statistics from last week furnished proof that the offseason has begun, even though I expect to do a few more outdoor rides this year. For the week of October 6-12, I spent 2½ hours on strength training, 11 hours on walking, and only 3½ hours on the bike. All of that walking was inside, which was convenient but hardly inspiring. I need to get back on the hiking trails soon. And that reminds me of something: my 30-year-old hiking boots were made by hand in Italy and are still as good as new. Maybe they deserve the No. 2 spot after pizza. I need more time with the Favero pedals to make up my mind.

Blevins Makes History In Lake Placid

Congratulations to Christopher Blevins, who had an amazing weekend of UCI World Cup mountain bike racing in Lake Placid NY. Last Friday, Blevins clinched the 2025 series title in short track (XCC). On Sunday, Blevins clinched the 2025 series title in cross-country Olympic (XCO). In each race, Blevins used a powerful sprint to secure victory. Bevins is the first American man to win the XCO title since John Tomac in 1991. American Ned Overend was the inaugural champion of the series in 1990. Additionally, Blevins is the first man to win both the short track and cross-country Olympic titles in the same season since the series added short track as a separate discipline in 2022.

Last Big Week Of 2025?

Warm, but windy!

Our remarkable run of good weather continued today with more sunshine and another afternoon high in the 80s. I knocked out 30 easy miles today to surpass 200 miles for the third week out of the last four. On Thursday, I reached 3,000 miles for the 21st consecutive season. Going into the new week, I’m only 70 miles away from my goal for the year: 3,161.

I won’t stop on 3,161 miles, but I will allow myself the occasional break. Including today, I have ridden on 11 consecutive days and on 27 out of the last 28. I wasn’t about to waste days that were 10-20° above normal for this time of year. In the week to come, temperatures will drop into the normal range and my rides will get shorter. I may hit my mileage goal on another slow roll around town that is noteworthy for no other reason. And after I hit my goal? Only the warmest days will remain in play.

Overreaching?

I ride more miles on the Eisenbahn State Trail than anyone I know. Almost every ride includes it in some way, even if I’m just taking a brief ride on the trail to reach the start of a road route. And almost every week, spring through fall, I do at least one ride to Campbellsport and back. From my house near the south end of the Eisenbahn, that’s 32 miles. But I rarely go to Eden, the northern terminus of the trail. It’s 14 extra miles, roundtrip. For whatever reason, that relatively short distance makes a big difference.

Today was so sunny and warm and time was so plentiful that I couldn’t resist taking my first trip to Eden since September 12, 2024. It was slow going, if I’m being honest. I couldn’t seem to stop my heart rate from drifting into Zone 3 on what was supposed to be a Zone 2 ride. I kept dialing back my effort, but I never found an easy groove that allowed me to stay in Zone 2. After the ride, Garmin expressed its disappointment in me:

Overreaching? With a couple of short detours to reload my water bottle, today’s ride was 47 miles. I finished it in 3:11:35 for a 14.7 mph average. What’s the big deal? I had a rest day on Wednesday. Today’s ride gives me just a little more than 10 hours in the saddle this week with one day to go. That’s normal stuff for me, so I’ll be back on the bike again tomorrow. It won’t be another 3-hour day, fair enough, but I bet I won’t be unusually fatigued. Overreaching …