I've had to do most of my indoor training on the stationary bike in the apartment complex gym but I do intervals of increased intensity while keeping my cadence up around 90-100

the fear of the next increase in intensity alternating with the relief of a lower for a minute or two really breaks up the monotany

the time just flies by compared with my rides with even intensity.........it might work

I too get so bored . . . Netflix helps (ie, watch movies, but that isn't much different than what you do already). As others have commented before, spin class may (or may not, depending on your side of the fence) be an alternative.

I go to the gym early and hot the spin bikes. Like one of the the previous posts I vary the intensity for 20minute segments. - Sometimes i even do the spin class that comes in. Longer trainer rides without tv or on a spin bike are mentally draining but think about how great your outdoor rides will be. I suffered through up to 4.5hr indoor rides last year building to IM Australia when the weather was shite here (which most of the winter is).

Give each session a purpose - mental, endurance, speed etc.

Action moveis and DVD TV seasons of 25 and the such. I can go two hours. Stand up every now and then, do spin ups and single leg drills, low intensity intervals, whatever.

hey! ok me and my friend just got done doing a 1.25 hour trainer ride that felt like 20 minutes! What we did was set up out trainers in front of the tv with guitar hero 2 set up. One of us would play a song and the other would cycle to the beat. The faster the beat, the faster the non-guitar hero player pedaled. Once the song was up ( or failed) the other would play a song and would cycle easy. So it's like doing 4 minutes easy and 4 minutes hard in no time at all!

P.S If you would like to keep your friendship, dont play the song 'Jordan'

Jordan is the best song on that whole game. I think I get more sweaty playing that song on expert than I do riding my rollers.

im not sure if your budget could handle it but you could set your trainer or stationary bike in a modified rolling drum cage like the guys from metallica or megadeth did

impress the ladies

I do TV and movies like everyone else. I bought a bunch of tv on dvd for this winter. I've learned that action or drama tv works the best for me. Sitcoms are only like 22 minutes an episode and they don't really have a story to take your mind off of the spinning. Go for something like 24, Heros, or lost. This winter, I have been doing x-files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Each episode is about 45 minutes and each one has a story to follow. Last weekend I got on the trainer for two episodes of x-files and on the treadmill for two eposodes of heros. Check out deepdiscount.com for cheep tv on dvd. They have 2 for 1 and half price deals all the time.

I don't usually do intervals on the trainer because I'm just doing the long slow base miles. Also, I don't really want to rock back and forth too much with my seat stays locked in. I do watch the clock and try to spend signigicant time in the drops.

longer rides? why? During the winter you don't need to be doing anything too long, especially at the distances you are racing. Stick to 1hr rides, and increase the intensity a bit. If you want to go long, do it on the run or in the pool.

I don't think spin classes or using the spinning bikes at a gym are good alternatives, because those bikes are completely different than the bike you will be riding in a race. When race day comes, I want to feel as comfortable as I possibly can on my own bike. Training with different bikes that cause me to change my body position does not help in that regard.

I use a trainer in front of my tv. I started off watching movies and that worked well for a while. One day I tried to play video games on my Playstation 2. Wow. I hardly notice the first 30 minutes. I often find myself going way over my target training time. I also use headphones so I don't have to crank the volume.

The biggest problem (and it is a big one) is maintaining a proper position while keeping both thumbs on the controller. You can bike sitting up or rest your wrists on the center of the handle bars (with some discomfort). Are there handle bar arm rests out there?!? Also, you'd never be able to concentrate enough to maintain a sprint/rest schedule.

I use cycling DVDs. These are motivating, plus you can really use them to break up the monotony... For example, while watching TDF videos, try to crank it up every time that there's a sprint finish... Gradually pick up the pace over the last several kilometers, just as the peloton does, and get on your biggest gear and out of the saddle for the last several hundred meters (do a leg and lung burning sprint, right along with Zabel). You then recover diruing the between stage commentary and early part of the next stage. If you're watching Paris-Roubaix, then lift your intensity every time that you approach the cobble sections, etc. For the mountain stages, lift the intensity for the entire climb. These sorts of games can really help keep things interesting (though temper what I said with your own judgement about at what intensity you are supposed to be riding at in your training plan).

Dave