George's Weblog

My basement pain cave is working out pretty good this year.  I find I'm getting a better aerobic workout than riding outside; at least that's the excuse I'm using for not going out in the cold as much.

The first enhancement was to remove the flimsy trainer mat that I originally got with my Kurt Kinetic road machine and replace it with something more durable. After scouring the web for suggestions and reading all the reviews on what people have tried I ended up going with a very inexpensive solution that is working out well. I purchased a stall mat from Tractor Supply Company. It's made from recycled rubber (probably tires) and is 3/4" thick. The 4 x 6 foot piece lays completely flat on the floor, does not move, buckle or puncture unlike the thin excuse for a trainer mat that it replaced.

There are a few caveats though. First of all, this thing is very unwieldy to move around. I didn't weigh it but it could easily be 80-100 lbs. It doesn't like to be rolled or folder very easily either. So moving this thing around is a real challenge. I did manage to get it into my basement by first rolling it up outside and putting some tiedown straps around it to hold it (without them it would just unroll immediately). Then I strapped it to a hand truck with a bungee cord and wheeled it into the house. If I didn't have the hand truck I would have needed help from someone to move it for sure.

The second issue is that it smells a bit. It's kind of like having a bunch of new tires sitting there. The smell doesn't really bother me in any way other than it's noticeable when I'm nearby. When I'm working out I don't really notice it that much as I'm concentrating on other things. I suppose with time the odor will decrease somewhat. Maybe I could have washed or coated it when it was still outside but I'm not hauling it back out there to try that.

So now I have an extremely stable floor for my pain cave. It is impervious to sweat and anything else that might get spilled on it and it holds up well to the heavy weight of the trainer and impressions from my desk chair when I'm using the computer for other purposes (like now). I'm so glad I got this mat. The other one was driving me nuts between moving around and refusing to lie flat. I even put a small hole in the old one with my chair leg because the rubber is so soft. Maybe I'll keep it for doing core exercises or something like that. I could see getting another stall mat and increasing the workout area a bit so that I could use free weights. Maybe next year.

The second enhancement for this year is the addition of a Wahoo Fitness Desk. Although I have been using a desk that is adjustable in height, it wasn't really suited to the task. I couldn't move it and it also didn't adjust high enough that I could position it over the handlebars to reach the keyboard and mouse. I bought the Wahoo desk with a little hesitation because the pictures showed someone using a laptop with it. I use a nice big 27" diagonal monitor for my workouts. The desk is not real wide and I wasn't sure there would be enough room for the monitor and keyboard. More on that later.

So this desk is very well designed and built. It is built of 12 gauge steel tubing so it's very durable. It went together easily with a few hex keys. It has three wheels on it so you can actually push it out of your way or pull it closer while you're riding. I personally found it rolled a bit too easy so I usually put something in front of the middle wheel so it doesn't go anywhere during use. It looks like it would be easy to remove the wheels too if you wanted it more stationary.

The desk is very adjustable in height. You push down a button at each end of the desktop and you can adjust the height up and down. It's a little harder to adjust it in the upward direction with a monitor on it but it works. The center of the desk has a non-slip rubber mat. That keeps stuff from sliding around (or off) when riding. The keyboard doesn't move at all. My optical mouse works on that surface too, although it is not easy to slide. I may put a smoother mouse pad on the right side eventually.

I should comment that the height adjustment of the desk does not allow it to drop as low as a normal working desk height. The desk is designed to work from an elevated (training or standing) position. I still use my normal desk for other work so it's not a problem having a secondary monitor up on the higher desk. I don't think I would be comfortable using the Wahoo desk as a normal desktop unless I got a higher stool to sit on or something.

The other features of the desk that are handy are that it has a groove in the front and back that you can fit your tablet or cell phone in. There groove width is variable between two sizes so hopefully your phone will fit one of them and be at a good angle for viewing while you ride. My iPhone 6 with waterproof case fits into the wider segment of the grooves. If you have a really thick case your phone may not fit though as mine fits a little snug.

The other nice thing is that there are loops for power cords on the back. That keeps the cords routed to the side and out of the way. There are also holes under the grooves so that a charging cable for your phone, tablet or otherwise can pass through to the device. Very nice.

As far as the width of the desk, it turned out to be a little too narrow for me to set it up the way I wanted with the monitor in the center and the keyboard directly in front of me. So I had to make a small modification so that it was more stable with the monitor sitting way back on the desk (actually hanging off the back a bit). Although the monitor would sit back that way okay I didn't feel it was stable enough to stand up to desk movement. The center of gravity of the monitor was very close to the edge and it wouldn't take much to send the monitor to the floor. What I did was to make two small holes in the desk and used a heavy-duty wire tie to strap the monitor down. That little extra bit of assurance was all that was needed. So now the screen is toward the back of the desk and the keyboard fits nicely in front. Plenty of room on the sides for anything else I might want to keep handy too.

Turns out that the desk is just wide enough to allow me to put my fan underneath and aim it slightly upward to get plenty of air. That was always a drawback with the other desk.

I've done a few workouts so far with the new setup and I'll probably tweak a few things as time goes on. For now I am really pleased how everything came out and it just makes my indoor workouts that much more enjoyable.

See you all on Zwift!

George