Careful what you look at when on Rollers!

jouxplan

With the weather as it is (way too icy for me to go out!) I spent a warm hour or so on the rollers, looking out the french windows and watching a bike race on YouTube. It was nice to be in shorts

Anyway, I made the mistake of choosing the 2011 edition of Paris-Roubaix. It was dry as a bone that year, but the race was still jam-packed with crashes. And this was the problem - every time I saw a huge stack in the bunch, or a rider swerving wildly out the way of an errant spectator or fallen cyclist or huge cobble, I made a wild and involuntary counter swerve on my rollers! It was a nightmare. I just couldn't relax! The final straw was when the camera motorbike (which at the time was showing the live shot) itself had to swerve violently out the way of a police motorbike, both almost crashing. This would have had me flinching if I had been in the comfort of my sofa, but on rollers, it caused my front wheel to slam into the little 'safety' wheels at the side and then buck all over the place. I thought I was going to have the biggest stack of my life :oops:

Think I'll choose a stage of the Tour next time (though not the first week!)

buckmulligan

Hehe, maybe you should take a hammer to the rollers and give them more of a pavé feel?

schweiz

that's the reason I only ever listen to music! I tried watching Sufferfest and Tacx videos but got too destracted!

GGBiker

Just did 50 minute interval session listening to Bespoke on radio 5 iplayer, passed the time nicely !

Would thoroughly recommend rollers, much more natural and involving than a turbo plus the setup time is about 3 seconds with no tyre wear etc.

I found some great tables showing power output required to drive rollers at varying speeds, helps to know you are getting a good workout! I use my bryton with cadence and hr to monitor things.

ju5t1n

Rollers as well for me this morning … Giro d’Italia 2012 stage 20 … Raced up the Passo dello Stelvio with Thomas de Ghent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OwrwrercBo

johnboy183

GGBiker wrote:

I found some great tables showing power output required to drive rollers at varying speeds, helps to know you are getting a good workout! I use my bryton with cadence and hr to monitor things.

Could you post a link for these please?

GGBiker

http://www.kreitler.co.uk/wattage.html

Is for kreitler rollers but should translate to others also approximately I would think.

This table is also useful for working out your speed on rollers in various gears and cadence combinations if you don't have a speedo ( I have GPS on my bike so no speedo readout if not actually moving)

johnboy183

Thanks ggbiker

bigpikle

dont even think about watching a winding mountain descent then!

crescent

jouxplan wrote:

It was nice to be in shorts

I also watch cycling footage (normally TdF or Giro) when on the turbo/spin bike and discovered, by accident, another way of conjuring up memories of cycling in the summer months. I accidentally spilt some sun tan lotion in the bathroom cabinet and, after wiping it up, noticed a faint smell of it on my hand later on when I was on the trainer. I kid you not, it lifted my spirits no end - I was instantly transported back to riding in Mallorca last year. Thoroughly recommend it to improve your mood in winter months.

Disclaimer - I'm sure sniffing other substances would also have the same effect but best stick with sun cream.

jouxplan

BuckMulligan wrote:

Hehe, maybe you should take a hammer to the rollers and give them more of a pavé feel?

Ha! Ha! That would be a hoot! I rode the last 60K with an angry Fabian on the 2011 Paris Roubaix today. Made sure I looked away whenever something remotely looking like a crash was happening

ju5t1n wrote:

Rollers as well for me this morning … Giro d’Italia 2012 stage 20 … Raced up the Passo dello Stelvio with Thomas de Ghent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OwrwrercBo

Ooooh, that sounds good! Think I'll ride the Stelvio on my rollers with the man Ghent on Tuesday! Good idea!

Bigpikle wrote:

dont even think about watching a winding mountain descent then!

Absolutely!

jouxplan

Crescent wrote:

jouxplan wrote:

It was nice to be in shorts

I also watch cycling footage (normally TdF or Giro) when on the turbo/spin bike and discovered, by accident, another way of conjuring up memories of cycling in the summer months. I accidentally spilt some sun tan lotion in the bathroom cabinet and, after wiping it up, noticed a faint smell of it on my hand later on when I was on the trainer. I kid you not, it lifted my spirits no end - I was instantly transported back to riding in Mallorca last year. Thoroughly recommend it to improve your mood in winter months.

Disclaimer - I'm sure sniffing other substances would also have the same effect but best stick with sun cream.

There you have it! On Tuesday, I'm gonna ride the Stelvio, on my rollers, in shorts, and with a ton of sun tan lotion on my legs and arms

KonaMike

I was on the Rollers this afternoon in the Hallway with the front door behind me,one of my daughters friends knocked the door and I spun around quick to look ....this launched me off the Rollers but I managed to stay upright ...just !
Only other near miss I've had on them is when the Buff I was using to wipe my face fell off the Handlebars and into the front wheel....I pooped myself :shock: