Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ on the…
You can hear the do-do-do-do-do’s and the horns backing it all up can’t you?
Above is my old Benotto on my old set of rollers. Some years neither have really gotten any use. If that happens it means that mother nature has been dating the friends of cyclists during the winter and that I have been fortunate to have the free time to enjoy the said happy couple’s bounty. This year the old Benotto and the old Kreitler rollers have seen lots of duty. Mama Nature needs a date!
Each winter I am asked by friends and bike customers what I recommend for winter training. The answer is usually some variation of, “Move south!”
Sorry, but riding inside is no fun. All the devices made to provide the cycling fix for the home bound are really quite effective, but equally horrible. I have a couple of mag trainers, a Computrainer which is an amazing training tool that sees a lot of service in my bike fitting work where I use it to do pedal stroke analysis, and I have this old Benotto track bike and these old PVC 4”drum Kreitler rollers that I inherited from dear departed training partner.
Forced to pick my poison as I have this winter, I’d say I prefer the rollers, not because I’m some sort of retro-geek (I don’t see one in the mirror, anyhow), and assuredly not because it’s fashionable to have a single speed bike to ride on them. The benefits of rollers are that you actually have to ride rather than just pedal mindlessly like on a trainer. If you pedal mindlessly you will literally suffer the downside of rollers and fall off. Sure I’ve come off of mine a couple of times, 3 that I can remember in about 15 years. I’ve just come to a stop and maybe keeled over. I’ve heard about people going shooting across the room when hitting the ground with wheels spinning at 25mph, but I think it’s either urban legend or I ain’t doin’ somthin’ rite.
The benefits of rollers outweigh the literal downside. Rollers force you to ride and that means pay attention so the inside ride is less obnoxious. This helps you be a more attentive rider as well as straighter liner rider on the outside rides. Rollers work pretty simply. The front wheel rests on the front roll and the rear wheel rests between the two rear rolls. A big ole rubber band wraps around the front and middle rolls. (See clever image above of old rollers and old bike above.) Pedaling cranks the rear rolls and the rubber band turns the front roll. The whole contraption is a self-propelled bicycle treadmill.
Now there are those that say rollers offer little resistance so the work-out can’t be as good as on a trainer – piffle! First of all, all I hear about is how no one likes to ride hills; you know the ones that add resistance to your pleasure. So why in the world would you go looking for resistance during a distinctly less pleasurable activity like riding inside? Secondly, lesser resistance does not mean a lesser quality training session. I might use a heart rate monitor, since I know my training zones, but I might not. If I want to go harder on my old one speed bike I pedal faster – a neat trick that also has immense benefits for the outside ride. You actually want to be pedaling a high cadence out there when the weather is nice because it is more efficient! You can go further faster with a smooth high rpm cadence. The goal of cycling is not to kill yourself with slogging up hills and big gears. Traditionally, it’s been to use the incredible double diamond machine to go farther under your own power than would be otherwise humanly possible. That the bike has hardly changed a jot from the design of my old Benotto in about hundred years is pretty much a good indicator.
If you want your pain and suffering too, you can get small diameter rollers, or ones with a mag unit built into the middle roller, or the Kreitler Killer Headwind System. I’ve roller raced on the Killer deal and it’s no joke. I’m just fine with the regular size rollers and no headwind, thank you.
If you’ve never tried rollers you really should. They won’t make you into a cycling champion. A pretty smart rider named Eddy Merckx said my two favorite cycling quotes which I will paraphrase. 1. “If you want to be a better cyclist then ride your bike more.” 2. “Cake is not bad for a cyclist…hills are bad for a cyclist.” If you do 1., then you can have 2. and eat it too.
Do-do-do-do-rollin, rollin, rollin on the…
-Ed C
