Indoor trainers - a cautionary tale

DavidBelcher
DavidBelcher Posts: 2,684
edited September 2007 in The bottom bracket
An anecdote I thought I'd relate, now that the autumn is on the way and some of us will be using indoor trainers to avoid the ropey weather and dark evenings.

A few years ago I decided to have a go on my rollers to blow the cobwebs away as I hadn't used them for a bit and felt like getting some training done in the evening. For space reasons, the only option available for setting them up was in the kitchen. All went well for a good while until I decided to stop for a rest. The trouble with rollers, of course, is that the bike's not clamped in, so you need to steady yourself against something when you come to a halt. Unfortunately I picked the stainless steel kitchen sink, forgetting that a set of rollers behaves not unlike a Van der Graaf generator and a metal sink makes a great earth connection..... :shock:

David
"It is not enough merely to win; others must lose." - Gore Vidal

Comments

  • Crapaud
    Crapaud Posts: 2,483
    Thought you were a bright spark, eh? And then you were! :D
    A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill
  • Ha Ha - I remember when my dad first got his set of rollers, and my grandad refusing to help him get off until he plucked up the courage to ground himself first - he was stuck on there for a good 15 minutes before the pair plucked up the courage to help him off!!!
    Has the head wind picked up or the tail wind dropped off???
  • DavidBelcher
    DavidBelcher Posts: 2,684
    Crapaud wrote:
    Thought you were a bright spark, eh? And then you were! :D

    <007>

    "Shocking. Positively shocking."

    </007>

    David
    "It is not enough merely to win; others must lose." - Gore Vidal
  • jibi
    jibi Posts: 857
    An anecdote I thought I'd relate, now that the autumn is on the way and some of us will be using indoor trainers to avoid the ropey weather and dark evenings.


    David

    And some of us are off down-under to the sunny,warm, long evenings of Australia :D:D:D

    I'll think of you all on the rollers as I laze on the beach.

    george
  • heavymental
    heavymental Posts: 2,076
    Cripes...just how harsh was the electric shock? I wouldn't have thought of that until the bolt from the sink hit me!
  • wow!!! I just purchased a set of rollers for the first time, never even thought about generating static. My rollers are the plastic type so maybe dont have this problem. Is this really a problem I need to think about, like how long you have to be on them for it to matter or how do you earth yourself painlessly???? Help !!!!