Rainy winter days. Powertap or not?

Rain, freezing rain later on, and lots of wind.

That was today's forecast. When I woke up, I had a brief glimmer of hope of going for a ride outside. But, then when I checked the weather and saw the quickly plummeting temperatures and wind speed I had second thoughts. And, then when I opened the door to let Sharkey outside, and was almost blown back into the kitchen (!) I resigned myself to more trainer time.

The trainer corner: wedged between the couch, a coffee table, and a desk. The fan stays on even in cold weather! Yoga mat to avoid sweat stains on the floor. And, now you know why trainer time gives me cabin fever!.

I sometimes wonder if all of this riding inside on a trainer is going to have unexpected consequences. Are all of these just below threshold intervals going to improve my hill climbing abilities when I actually get out there (and the roads aren't slick with ice/snow/freezing rain)? I hope so.

I'm currently debating whether or not I want to snag a powertap rear wheel off of one of the guys on the Pitt team. It's his older, 2009 wheel. It would be really really helpful to be able to see my watts all the time, not just when I'm at our sponsor shop's training studio. But, then part of me feels silly for investing in that sort of training equipment at this early point in my development as a competative cyclist. Getting a powertap wheel wont make me better or faster, and unfortnately many people newer to racing seem to feel that fancy equipment does make them a better cyclist. And, they get made fun of. And, nobody wants to get made fun of for having excessively fancy equipment beyond their training needs.

So, there lies the problem. Get the powertap wheel for an unbeatable price now, and use it to improve my training? Or hold off for now, because there are many other things I can work on and see improvement without a powertap wheel to read my watts?