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.