Fast Freddie Has Unique Prep for Amgen Tour of California

On a Rainy Training Day Freddie Stays Dry on the CompuTrainer

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif -- Two days out from the Amgen Tour of California it is raining in San Francisco. While the weather forecast for the race is good, some riders may have thought twice about a training ride on a very cold, wet day so close to what promises to be a highly competitive early season race. Tour of California Sprints contender, Freddie Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto), took the opportunity on Friday to meet some of the Bay area's junior cycling elite, at the CompuTrainer MultiRider center in Endurance Mill Valley, where he talked about training and racing at the top level, and went for a spin on the CompuTrainer in the dry indoors.

Talking to the 20 junior racers assembled, Rodriguez explained the benefits of indoor training for the serious cycle racer - which he noted, except in times of injury, is best used as a key supplement to outdoor training, not as a replacement.

"I remember as a junior I was pre-selected for the national team for the world's, but I got injured in an accident and couldn't train outdoors. So I rode an indoor trainer for a month before the world's. I had one of the best results of my career," said the modest Rodriguez, who had to be prompted to admit he took the silver medal in that race.

"Since then I have understood the value of indoor training," he continued, "if the weather is cold and rainy I don't feel I need to train outdoors. You increase your chance of illness and injury, and you generally don't ride as hard in those conditions," he added.

Rodriguez extolled the benefits of the CompuTrainer, the manufacturers of which have recently sponsored him. "With the spinscan feature you can make sure that your right and left legs are making a balanced effort, and for interval training you can accurately start and stop the session exactly when you need to and go straight to the desired intensity, because the equipment gives a very accurate power output reading. Also, with the calibration of tire press-on force, you can accurately compare one session to the next, so you really know exactly how you are progressing. I use it before, during and after the season, and have one CompuTrainer in my Spanish home and one here in the USA."