Rollin’

So last night was my first experience with rollers. Given the conditions around here recently, I figured I needed to do something this winter to keep sane if I couldn’t get out on the bike regularly. I know quite a few people who use fluid resistance trainers, but those seemed really boring. Rollers could be at least entertaining, given the potential for crashing into the workbench.

For whatever reason, I envisioned rollers as being perpetual motion machines–start pedaling and they just spin-spin-spin. This is not the case (or, maybe it’s just not the case with Dave’s old rollers). This actually makes it easier than I expected to balance. Also, do not attempt to ride the rollers with ‘cross tires run at race pressures. This is akin to riding on bare rims. Also, riding on ‘cross tires pumped up to 80 psi is also not recommended, as they are very loud on the rollers, and tend to bounce a bit. All was well once I had some road tires on the bike.

I rode for roughly 45 minutes. The first fifteen was spent with one hand on the bike, the other on the washing machine. Most of this time was spent thinking “how in the world am I supposed to let go and grab the bars?” The next five minutes were spent removing my hand from the washing machine for 30 seconds or so at a time. Then I moved on to putting my hand on the bars for about a minute or so at a time, then moving back to the washing machine for a bit. After 30 minutes, I hopped off to take the shepherd’s pie out of the oven, then proceeded to ride the remaining time with both hands on the bike.

Some observations:

  • I got a better workout, even in 45 minutes, than I expected. It certainly wasn’t an interval workout, but it was better nothing, and really forced me to focus on my pedal stroke.
  • I need to get a fan.
  • I need to bring the laptop down and listen to music or watch a movie (anyone getting me A Sunday in Hell for Christmas?).

I’m sure the novelty will wear off sooner rather than later, so here’s hoping for a mild winter and lots of time on the bike out of doors.