Injury recovery, is there an easier mode? Newbie here

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1

i bought a kickr snap after a recent car accident that injured my sternum. MD won’t let me ride outside for the next 1-3 months. I was getting about 35 miles a day pre-accident.  I’m going insane with bike withdrawal and would like to ride Zwift, but it is so much harder than riding outside. I’m about half way though my trial, is there a way to train or ride in an easier mode while I am recovering?

2

No, there is no easy mode or injury recover mode.

If you think it is too hard shift to an easier gear. You have complete control of how easy or hard the ride is.

Do not feel like you have to compete or keep up with anyone else while riding in Zwift, just do your own thing.

3

Thank you, I’m not looking to compete I just to be able to keep moving without stopping and track my improvement. 

4

Apart from biking in easier gears, you can also modify the “Trainer difficulty” in the settings menu.  This will make the hills less steep but I don’t think it has any effect on the flats.  Have a speedy recovery!

Since you mention that the Kickr Snap is so much harder than real-life, maybe this is because your trainer isn’t set up correctly.  I have a Kickr Snap and discovered that it took some work to set it up correctly. Prior to that, the resistance would randomly go much higher than I expected it to. In the end I had to contact customer support to get their beta firmware which solved all my problems.  

Here are the key points for adjusting it:

  • Make sure bike doesn’t wobble at all in the frame.

  • Inflate tires to 110psi

  • Turn locking knob 2 full turns from initial contact.

  • Normal spindown should be between 10-15s. Adjust knob as necessary to get in this range (but don’t sweat it).

  • Adjust trainer difficulty in Zwift.

If none of this helps, contact Wahoo for the latest firmware.

 

5

You could try selecting a workout like “Riders Choice” and dial down the target FTP using the little orange arrow on the side of the graph describing the workout. The trainer will extract the desired Wattage at a stable level - no hard hills (your avatar will just climb slowly).