Cycling UK Forum

I agree with all those of you who argue for the reasonableness of cycling solo. That’s what I had planned for Sunday morning, but then these regulations came in force. Riding solo wouldn't have affected anyone, I never meet anyone anyway. The same is true in France as francovenee says. When I lived there, on a two hour ride along normal country roads I might have seen around ten vehicles and not a single person that I might have exchanged a few words with.

As for all of your very helpful questions, I was going to take a photo this morning, but it is raining quite hard, so I will have to leave that until this afternoon. But I can give you information about my setup: I have two bikes (a Specialized and a Cannondale); I am trying to fit the Specialized, a 2006 Giro, onto the turbo trainer, which is made by Volare; as for the spindle it is 6 inches (15 cms) long, excluding the quick release mechanism at the end. When I put the spindle through the axle not enough comes through the other side for me to screw the other end on. Vorpal mentions the need for a turbo tyre. I have wondered about this before. Do I need a turbo tyre?

I live in Southern Spain. Yesterday a lock-down was imposed, which prevented me from going out on my bike. So, for the next few weeks I will not be able to ride my bike. To deal with this problem and get myself some regular exercise I tried to put one of my bikes onto my turbo trainer. I took the metal 'spindle' that I have and put it through the back axle, but it isn't long enough, so it won't work. I can put my bike directly onto the turbo trainer, but the quick release on the wheel appears to be made of plastic, not metal, so I'm not sure it will be strong enough to hold a person's weight sitting on the turbo trainer, which is why I think I was given the metal spindle by a bike shop in the first place. Am I right about that? If so, can anybody think of an alternative so I can get some regular exercise?

Thank you everybody for all your very useful and encouraging comments. Many of you ask for more details about my age, fitness, type of bike etc.
Briefly, I am 73, very fit, a kilo or two overweight, and I ride a Cannondale Synapse. I go up a 12 kilometre hill with gradients of around 12% two times a week. My bottom gear is 27 inches, which I think is a little high for me. As a result I grind my way up the hill at a cadence of around 70, except for some stretches where I can put very little power into the pedals and try to spin as much as I can. I am frequently passed by other cyclists, who are going just a little faster than me, but they seem to be spinning at a much higher cadence than me.
I have been a serious cyclist for over 30 years and still love it. I also love the challenge of tough hills, which accounts for my question, because I would love to get better and feel that I can manage 12% gradients without feeling that I am on my limit.

Thanks again for all your help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

I would like to improve my ability to climb hills. I cope with most hills quite well, but I would like to improve and, as I haven't read anything significant about the topic, I would like to read anything out there that might be useful.

Thanks for your help.