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Bike Rollers – Pros and Cons

01.31.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount rides in bad weather — indoors, on his rollers. He discusses some of their pros and cons.

I feel fortunate to live in a part of the country where outdoor activities can be done year round. I fully appreciate that, having grown up in Philadelphia and living in Denver for several years.

Where I live now in Northern California, the rains have settled in. Other parts of the country are dealing with snow or high winds during winter. Out here we get rain, fog, wind and much lower temperatures. I’ll ride in cold weather. I’ll ride in the dark, in fog and other inclement weather. But I have my limits. And although I’ve gotten caught in the rain, I won’t go out for a ride in the rain. I’m not that hard core, or crazy. But instead of curling up next to the fireplace with a good book or the television, I’ll still ride. Instead of riding outdoors or in a spin class or a stationary trainer, I’ll ride on my bike rollers.

I purchased these rollers in the fall of 2008 for a few reasons: 1) To ride when the weather was too bad to go on the road. 2) To practice technique and handling skills.

I’ll admit that I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. It took me some time to get used to the rollers. I started out riding in a doorway and took my share of tumbles before being able to move to less confined places. One fall caused my wife to come rushing out to the garage to see what the problem was. I fell in the opposite direction what I had to grab onto. It is a sinking feeling to see something that could save you from going down slowly float out of your grasp. Fortunately by the time my wife arrived I was on my feet, with some of my dignity, claiming that nothing had happened. Later I found that I had bent my derailleur hanger.

What I’ve found that makes rollers most awkward (aside from learning to balance) is getting on and off. The rollers elevate you several inches off the ground, so getting on, moreso off, can be challenging because you just have this little skinny rail to balance your foot on. Miss that and whoosh, slipsville. I’m considering building a small platform to solve that problem.

I can now ride with a chair or counter, something that I can use to steady myself, next to me. And  I have gotten proficient enough that I can stand and pedal. I have begun working on clipping in and out of the pedals, although I won’t be doing anything close to what this guy does.

What I like about rollers is that I can still ride without going out in inclement weather. It helps conditioning, technique and handling skills. If your pedal stroke isn’t smooth while riding rollers, you’ll know because you’ll bounce around. Sprints, intervals, cadence work, all can be done on rollers.

What I don’t like about rollers is that they can be incredibly boring. Even wearing headphones and listening to music or watching television. Then again that just provides more incentive to ride outside once the weather calms. And after a few sessions on the rollers I can do that while working on my handling skills, technique and without losing too much conditioning.

Don also points us to this video by cycling coach Marc Evans, who demonstrates how to ride rollers.

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Categories // Accessories, training Tags // Blount, guest post, rollers, trainer, training

New Year’s Goals

12.31.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

Forget resolutions. I usually break mine within a week, anyway. Instead, I’m going to recap 2009 through my biker’s eyes, and look ahead to 2010.

2009 stats:

  • Total miles: 3,053
  • Avg. speed:14.9
  • Highest avg. speed on a single ride: 17.2 mph
  • Highest maximum speed on a single ride: 39.2 mph
  • Longest single ride: 77 miles
  • Avg. ride distance: 21.6

2009 Recap:

The highlight of the year is total distance ridden. I topped 3,000 miles for the year, 375 miles more than last year. That would be like adding a 13th month of riding to my 2008 totals, so I’m pleased that I got more saddle time in. I didn’t do a century in 2009. As you’ll recall, the first day of the MS 150 was cancelled, and the second day was 77 miles. That was the longest ride distance I had all year. Many of the stats are down a fraction from last year. Average speed fell from 15.1 to 14.9, highest avg. speed fell from 17.65 to 17.2. But my avg. ride distance is up, from 20.6 to 21.6 miles per ride. If I step back and put it all into perspective, 2009 was nothing to crow about. But if I look a little deeper, I know that my stamina is up, my hill climbing has improved, and I feel better about my ability on the bike. I’m more at home in the saddle.

2010 Goals:

I don’t have a lot, which is probably wise. The ones I do have will challenge me both on and off the bike:

  • Ride the MS 150 Houston-to-Austin, this time completing both days.
  • Ride the Hotter ‘n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls, Texas, next August.
  • Learn bike maintenance, and diligently maintain my bikes.
  • Expand my riding horizons by riding new routes in new areas.
  • Get my weight below 200 pounds.

I’m embarrassed about that last goal. Last year at this time, I indicated that I would work on dropping 30 pounds. But I finished the year at almost exactly the same weight as I finished last year with, so I obviously didn’t take the goal seriously. But the other day, I tried on a pair of trousers I got as a Christmas gift, and was stunned to find they didn’t fit in the waist. Two months ago, they would have.

The third and fourth goals are not specific or measurable, but they’re personal goals, and I’ll know if I’ve met them to my satisfaction.

Now, we’ll see how life cooperates, and whether it throws any roadblocks in my way. I’ll be helping my wife start a new business, and I have some things coming up in my own work that will make 2010 challenging. But I suppose all of us face challenges with each coming year. Here’s hoping you are able to surmount yours.

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Categories // Odds 'n ends, Records & stats Tags // stats, training

Off-season training

12.29.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 2 Comments

Here we are with just a few days left in 2009. For many of us, the weather outside is frightful. For those of us in milder climes, we can still get out and do some riding. But I think it’s fair to say that this is a down time for cyclists generally — we’re looking ahead to our goals for the New Year.

So, how should we spend our riding time this winter? There are lots of online and print resources available, and it’s tempting to curl up with a book that lays out training schedules of “easy” “pace” and “brisk” days. However, most of us are here because we’re still relatively new to biking, and maybe we’re not pointing toward a major competitive event anytime soon. We just want to maintain fitness and be ready to pounce when the nice weather returns in Spring.

The web site Pez Cycling News features a regular column on training, and is looking at this very question. But Pez is a web site about racing, for the most part, and its tips are geared to the faster, stronger riders among us. However, a current column by cycling coach Matt McNamara offers some ideas for recreational riders about off-season training.

In a nutshell, it’s this: LSD. That’s Long, Slow Distance (not to be confused with the other thing). Athletes have used this training method for years, and it works well for runners and other endurance types — not just bikers. To train with LSD, you’re encouraged to do a lot of distance riding at an “easy” pace. “Easy” would be below lactate threshold (that is, you’re not huffing and puffing).

How much easy riding? Follow the Pareto Principle: 80/20. Eighty percent at low intensity work, 20 percent at high intensity. Some training regimens get more specific, with 77 percent at low intensity, or “easy” pace, 3 percent at “pace,” or the speed at which you would ride your target ride at (say, a century), and 20 percent at “brisk” pace, or high intensity, where you really push yourself.

So much easy riding can be problematical, when we’d all like to push it a bit on all of our rides — maybe attack that hill, or pound a long straightaway. Elite athletes have the same problem. They might think they’re training at a 77-3-20 mix, but when their heart rates are monitored, they’re really doing 65-21-14.

When recreational riders make the same mistake, they wind up falling into what some researchers call the “black hole” of training, where every workout is done at roughly the same level of intensity. That leads to no improvement.

So when you’re out there this winter (or on your indoor trainers) remember to take it easy. You might have to force yourself to keep it down, but long, slow distance mixed with a little tough work will yield results. And if we’re all going to make New Year’s resolutions to get better, this might be the best way to do it.

Photo licensed under Creative Commons.

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Categories // training Tags // training

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