It’s Groundhog Day here in the U.S. and Canada and we’re all waiting for the little prognosticating rodent to stick his head out of his burrow and let us know how much longer we’ll have to endure riding indoors this winter!  I’m hoping not too much longer!  But, in honor of Punxsutawney Phil’s moment in the sun (or hopefully not), I thought I’d share some pictures of what my training cave looks like.  If you want to spread the winter cheer, poke your head out your burrow and let me know what’s in your training cave or better yet, send along some pix and I’ll post them here.

1. My very old LOOK Kevlar 2000 Carbon fiber bike.  The bike fit and gearing exactly match my current road bike.  I still love this bike!  It’s old but it’s so comfortable.

2. Cateye Cyclosimulator CS-1000.  This is another oldie but goodie.  This trainer is so stable.  I love it because I can really do some good sprint workouts on it and never feel the slightest wobble.

3. The weight room.  The people who lived in our house before us left these here (guess they didn’t want to try moving it…I don’t blame them!). It has just about everything I need for some basic weight training.

4. The big blue exercise ball.  This was originally my wife’s but I’ve commandeered it for doing core training and lower back extensions.

5. Yoga mat.  I do lots of stretching, yoga and core work on here and it makes the floor much more comfortable to be on during those tough core training days.

6. Yes, those are tiny weights.  You can stop laughing now! I actually used those during my recovery from a ruptured disc last year, but now my three year-old uses them when he “works out” with daddy.

7. Power fan. An absolute necessity for indoor cycling!  Even here in bone dry Colorado you’d be dripping wet doing indoor rides without one of these bad boys.

8. My 2000 Ride for the Roses poster. This poster gives me so much inspiration when I’m riding.  The 2000 Ride for the Roses was the first time I met Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain, and Eddy Merckx.  It was amazing meeting these three legends all together (17 Tour de France victories between them) and it was even cooler doing the Ride for the Roses with Lance and Big Mig back in 2000!

9. The essential DVD/DVR combo.  I couldn’t train without these.  Although, thanks to a dispute with Comcast, DirecTV (and hence my DVR) doesn’t get Versus anymore!  So much for recording the spring classics and the Grand Tours!

10. Reduce, reuse, recycle right? Well, this is my contribution.  I used to work out in front of a nice big flatscreen, but when I moved my training cave to this spot in the basement, it seemed like a good thing to use this old TV as my video monitor.

11. Training videos. Again, I couldn’t train indoors without these.  I wrote a post recently about my favorite training DVDs and these ones on the shelf are some of my favorites from Spinervals and EpicPlanet.

12. Another fan.  Yes…I sweat…A LOT!

13. The Nordic Track.  Yet another item commandeered from my wife’s fitness collection.  I use this in the off-season to do some cross training.  Can you tell I don’t like the cold? I even cross-country ski indoors!

14. Smart Cycle. My little guy loves doing workouts with me. He often gets on this little Smart Cycle and rides along with me.  He always reminds me when I need to drink and when I need to soft pedal.  Check out this video of him training with me.

15. My training log.  I record everything in here.  Workouts, heart rates, sleep, diet…you name it, it’s in there (well, almost everything anyway).

16. Bananas, bananas, and more bananas.  I do a lot of my indoor workouts first thing in the morning when I wake up.  That means no heavy foods before  I work out, so I keep an endless supply of bananas at the ready for an easy-to-digest pre-workout snack.

17. HEED.  It’s my favorite drink during workouts.  All natural, hi-carb, low sugar and great electrolyte mix.  The only thing I can’t get past is the name.  Every time I look at it, all I can think of is Mike Meyers as Stuart Mackenzie in “So I Married an Axe Murderer”…”HEED!  PANTS!  NOW!”

18. Towel stack…again with the sweating thing.  Towels are essential.  I go through at least two every workout.  YUCK!  And yes, my wife won’t touch them or my jerseys/shorts when I’m done.  Can you blame her?

19. My trusty Polar heart rate monitor.  Between this and the power meter on the Cateye trainer, I’m always able to work at just the right intensity level.

Similar Posts:

• My Favorite Training Videos
• 9 Ways to Stay Fit this Winter
• My Training Partner