bike trainer vs. road time

Last month's Triathlete Magazine or Inside Tri had an article on winter training which opined that an hour on the trainer was worth 1:30 on the road since no coasting down hill, stop lights or other rest intervals involved in the workout.

Not sure that I agree with that and instead believe an hour in the saddle is indeed just that - an hour in the saddle.

That said, it is better than an hour on the couch eating potato chips.

My routes have no down hill, no stop lights and no other rest intervals; for the most part I maintain a steady heart rate throughout the workout. Don't know how I could justify saying 60 minutes on the trainer is worth 90 minutes on the road.

Maybe it just SEEMS that way.

If you could get the same workout in less time using a trainer, then you wouldn't see the pros out practicing for 4+ hours a day on their bikes.  They would just hit a trainer for 2 hours.   I think if you are talking pure calorie expenditure, you might be a few percent higher on the trainer. but for actual training I would say it is worth less that riding on the road.  

As for me, I just log the trainer or spin bike as actual time and use my average road pace to calc the distance.    

thanks everyone. I agree with most of you and do just log it as 1 hour if I do one hour. I am very new to biking and was just wondering so I could make myself feel really good in my head if it was like doing more.  I notice a big difference with no coasting/downhills etc.  It's so consistent. 

Well this would depend totally no the tension set on your trainer.  If your trainer were set a the lowest tension I'm going to guess that you would be getting less of a workout than on the road.  If it is at the highest tension I would guess you would be working at least as hard as you would on the road. 

I just log straight trainer time.