Don't let yourself get bored. Yes, boredom can be very difficult to avoid on a wind trainer. Even though many training experts tell you not to use loud music or other distractions, I highly recommend doing just that. Find some music with a beat to match a good cadence (85- 105 RPM). Try some energetic music: Yanni is bad, old Rolling Stones is good. Watching TV is probably too much of a distraction, at least for me it is, but if you have plenty of channels, maybe you can watch Speedvision or some reruns of the X-games.

Try rollers. If you buy some rollers instead of a wind trainer, you can experience the joy of keeping your balance and maintaining good cycling form. It's always fun to go riding early in the spring and try to guess who rode a trainer and who rode rollers. Usually the people who swerve from side-to-side with each pedal stroke rode trainers, and the people who ride very smoothly and exceptionally straight rode rollers in the winter. (In case you're curious, I ride a wind trainer. I like the variable resistance to keep from getting too bored. And, yes, I can't ride a straight line to save my life for the first week or so in the spring.)

Use a heart rate monitor. Play games with your heart rate. "Ooh, I bet I can get my heart rate up to 175 before the song is over." "Hey, I bet I can keep my heart rate at exactly 160 for the next five minutes." Play around with making your heart rate go up 1 bpm every 30 seconds until it reaches, say 90% of your maximum, then make it go down 1 bpm every 30 seconds until it drops to, for example, 65% of your maximum. These are great exercises to really get to know your body, and to give you a good idea what it feels like to work at different intensity levels.

Get together with friends or join a bike club that rides trainers together as a group. It's a lot more fun to ride a trainer if you have some company to talk to. It brings some of the fun of a real ride outdoors to your indoor torture, I mean training.

Vary your workout. Spinning for an hour at a constant pace will numb your mind and your genitalia. Unless you live someplace completely flat with no wind, you haven't been riding that way outdoors. Here are some suggested workouts:

Time trials. First warm up for 10-15 minutes. Ride hard (at 85+% of your maximum heart rate) for two minutes in a big gear, using increased resistance if available on your trainer, getting out of the saddle as needed. (This is a good time to practice getting in and out of the saddle smoothly. Don't stop pedaling as you sit up or as you sit down.) Now recover for 1-3 minutes in a small gear, with less resistance, until your heart rate drops to 65% of your maximum heart rate. Repeat this for 30 minutes, then cool down for 15 minutes.

Practice "climbing." Warm up for 15 minutes. Simulate a five minute climb by pedaling with some resistance and/or a really big gear. Your cadence should drop to 60-80 RPM, and you should try to spend as much time out of the saddle, pedaling smoothly, as you can stand. You will feel this in your legs. I promise! Ride easily for five minutes until the feeling comes back to your thighs. Repeat 2 more times, then cool down for 15 minutes. Do some sprints. Warm up for 15 minutes. Get out of the saddle and ride hard with a big gear and some resistance, if needed, and pedal very fast (120-130+ RPM) for 1 minute at 90-95% of your max. Sit down and ride easily for 2 minutes or more until your heart rate is down to 65% of your maximum heart rate. Repeat sprints for up to 30 minutes, then cool down for 15 minutes.

Perhaps some of these suggestions will get you to keep that trainer from just collecting dust under the bed. Just keep reminding yourself how much stronger you'll be in the spring because of it.