From time to time, athletes don't have access to their bikes.  It could be due to travel or due to the bike being out of service, among other things. The question often comes up: 

What can I replace my bike workouts with? 

Here are some suggestions that might help. 

1) First, figure out if there's a way to keep cycling. 

• Can you rent or borrow a bike for a short time until you have access to your own bike again?  
• If you have a relationship with your local bike shop, it may be worth asking if they have a loaner you could use/rent for a few days or a week.  If not, they may know someone who has one, not in use that you could borrow.  
• Ask around your local ride group!  Someone may have an extra they can loan you.

2) If that's not an option, do you have a stationary bike available to you?   

Obviously, stationary bikes found in most gyms aren't set up like our road and tri bikes, but getting your legs turning over is the name of the game, so it could be a good short-term substitution.   

3)  If neither of those options works, you could substitute the cycling workouts with a run of similar intent but only if it's not on back-to-back days.  We do not recommend running on back-to-back days, as it can be a sure recipe for injury and athletes need a structured program to build up to doing it over long distances.  If you can space out the extra run workouts, then it could be an option.  

Remember that if you've been super consistent in your training, then missing a couple of bike workouts won't be the end of the world. 

Obviously, we don't recommend it on a regular basis if you hope to finish well in the races you're training for, but if it's an occasional thing (say you have a week where you can't cycle at all), you could skip the bike days and do yoga, some light strength training, or even just go for some long, leisurely walks as an active recovery option.