Cycling from Helsinki to Costa Rica

It's a long way from Helsinki to Costa Rica.

I've now cycled virtually over 6,000 miles (about 10,000 km) on my Cervelo P3 triathlon bike and Tacx Bushido wireless trainer. It equals roughly the flight distance from my hometown Helsinki to Costa Rica, a country I'd sure like to travel to in real life.

Yes, indoor cycling on a trainer isn't comparable to real outdoor activities. And as mentioned in my initial review, Tacx software is one of the buggiest and least user-friendly on Earth. But am I unhappy with my decision to buy Bushido two years ago? No way; this flawed machine has proved to be a rather wise investment.

I've done all this cycling as an extra cross-training, when I certainly wouldn't have been exercising otherwise. It hasn't taken anything away from my life thanks to a simple habit: whenever I feel compelled to surf on the net, watch a movie or play a computer game at home, I consider the possibility of doing so while cycling. This often works surprisingly well, as it paradoxally offers the opportunity to waste and save time and to exercise and relax/recover at the same time.

I've usually not even tried to use all the fancy features of the software, since I have other more fun/interesting things to attend to. I simply spin away at an appropriate effort level without thinking twice. If I really wanted to train seriously, I'd go out for a run. I just keep on cycling until I want or need to stop pedaling. There's no stress or anything like that. These are mostly 'junk miles' for sure, but I'm kind of happy to have cycled all the way to Costa Rica in two years - without leaving home!

Guess what I was doing while writing this? A bike trainer can be helpful for blogging too :)