Indoor trainers or outdoor rides?

It's winter time so some of you are likely still in hibernation mode, which means parking your bike in the garage until it gets warmer again to ride. Others, myself included, will keep riding as long as it's reasonably dry outside (i.e. it's not pouring heavily at the moment). Then, there is a third group that will not ride outside, but use an indoor trainer instead.

The new and fancy Garmin Tacx 3M for as little as... $2000. (Source: garmin.com)

I don't like indoor trainers and find them pointless, but I think I understand why they may be an attractive option for some cyclists. I'm guessing that there are at least 3 main technical reasons why someone would use an indoor trainer:

1. Bad weather. This one is most obvious. Some people don't like riding when it's cold, icy, snowy, rainy, etc.
2. No "winter bike". Some people only have 1 bike (impossible!) and they don't want to expose their nice, expensive bike to road salt, mud, etc.
3. No place to properly clean a bike. Some people live in apartments or tighter spaces that lack facilities to clean the bike after a ride. Knowing that I can simply use a garden hose to wash my bike right after, makes me want to ride it more in winter time.

But then there is another, important, philosophical reason why some prefer indoor trainers, while others would never use them. It's the answer to a question - why we ride?

It's basically a difference between racing or more competitive riding and touring or "romantic cycling". You simply need to ask yourself - what's the goal of my riding? If the goal is the destination and you want to get there as fast as you can, then you are racing and in this case your body output and power will be important to you. An indoor trainer will help you stay fit, well-trained and maintain peak performance through those gloomy winter months.

The other answer is - my goal is the journey, the ride itself. The destination is not only secondary, it's actually something unwanted because it ends my ride. I want to travel, see places, take pictures, spend time in nature. In that case an indoor trainer is as useless as two chopsticks to eat a soup. A trainer won't take you to places. You will be stuck in your room, spinning cranks and staring at a wall.