I got my new trainer yesterday. It's the Saris H3 Direct Drive Smart Trainer. It's fresh out of the box. Yesterday, I updated the firmware and ran the calibration on the Saris android app. The trainer paired with Zwift with no problems. Hardly had to do a thing. I put a mouse pad underneath the front wheel riser block to keep it from moving and getting scraped against the ground. My body felt good today. The knees are good. No muscle pains. By the time I reached the start of the KOM climb, I had an idea of the characteristics of the trainer. It is definitely more realistic than the Elite trainer. The wattage reading is about 5% to 10% less. Selecting gears feels more natural, especially going uphill. I didn't have to put it in my big ring to get the proper wattages. It is very quiet! For the most part, whatever noises your bike makes is what you'll hear. When the climb started, I could tell immediately, that the W/kg reading was about 2 to 3 tenths less than the Elite trainer. A bit discouraging, but I'll get used to it. So, say goodbye to beating my KOM times from when I used my Elite trainer. My body behaved well on the climb. I was out of the saddle most of the time. I was using my little front and big on the back. It felt natural. The trainer is very stable. It feels like I can sway side to side without compromising the stability of the trainer. The riser block was glued to the floor after having put a mouse pad underneath. Worked like a charm. So, the question I was wondering... How much different in terms of time going up the mountain on this course. When I reached the tunnel I could tell I was about two to three minutes off my usual time. A bit discouraging, but it had to go one way or there other. It just means, I 'll have to get used to posting different times but getting the same workout. I was off my 30 day PB by about 2 to 3 minutes after reaching the summit. From there, did the bonus climb. More of the same. The wattages were off by about half a W/kg. Sounds minimal, but makes a difference in time. I was using my smallest gears. Fortunately, my 32 was enough to get over the summit. The downhill was next. I was mostly soft pedaling, stretching as well. The flat sections felt realistic. I found the right gear and cadence. I was in and out of the saddle as the gradient changed ever so slightly. The sprint zone was the next test. On the Elite trainer, I run out of gears. I had to put it in my 52/11 and that was maxing it out at over 100 RPM. With the Saris trainer, I was able to find the proper gear without spinning out. I posted a PB on that part and about 30th overall. Somewhat of a surprise. From there, it was back to the start finish. During the cooldown phase I noticed that as I approached 35-ish watts, that my avatar would stop pedaling and sometimes come to a stop. I'm not sure why. Was it Zwift or the trainer? Will have to investigate that later. Concentration was good. Of course, my mind was occupied by the new trainer and riding it for the first time. Balance and form felt good. The trainer was very stable. No wobbling back and fourth while out of the saddle, putting the power down. Ailments were minimal. No sore hands today, perhaps hints of knee soreness that never escalated. Gear worked flawless. With the exception of the speed dropping out at low wattages. Nutrition was good. I fed a Cliff Bar before the ride started. I think it helped.
Other notes, there were about 8 or 9 thousand riders at the start of the ride.