on rollers

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I need to get smth for indoor training, and rollers look more fun than
trainers.

Can I take rollers to a race warm up (the foldable models) or will I
look like an idiot?

Around here, many riders use rollers rather than trainers to warm up.
It's largely a matter of whether you're smooth enough to do it, and for
most riders, it means setting them up near something (wall, railing,
your car) that you can use to balance until you get up to speed.

Quoted message said:

Can I get a decent workout, apart from the balance practice, on
rollers?

All signs point to yes.

Quoted message said:

If the answer is yes to both of the above, which model can be folded,
has resistance, but is still affordable (say, under $250).

No clue.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Dude:

Use Professional Caruso ProTraveler Molecular Steam Hairsetter rollers.
They're only $29.99 for a set of 14. Good luck.

Joe

http://www.cachebeauty.com/caruso.htm

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I need to get smth for indoor training, and rollers look more fun than
trainers.

Can I take rollers to a race warm up (the foldable models) or will I
look like an idiot?

Can I get a decent workout, apart from the balance practice, on
rollers?

If the answer is yes to both of the above, which model can be folded,
has resistance, but is still affordable (say, under $250).

Quoted message said:

There are a couple of things you might want to consider before using
rollers as a warm up.
*You really have to be on flat ground - wobbly or tilted rollers simply
make you fall off.

good point, haven't thought about that.

Quoted message said:

*You need to be able to ride while distracted - if some one comes up to
you to chat and you lose concentration, you may end up on your ass.
*Roller are tough to ride when wet, so it's not a good idea if it's
raining out.

OK.

So I'll get the rollers anyway, and will look for a cheap trainer.
After all, I can always warm up by... well... riding the bike.

damn, I get chaingrease on my legs all the time.

Quoted message said:

I need to get smth for indoor training, and rollers look more fun than
trainers.

Can I take rollers to a race warm up (the foldable models) or will I
look like an idiot?

Can I get a decent workout, apart from the balance practice, on
rollers?

If the answer is yes to both of the above, which model can be folded,
has resistance, but is still affordable (say, under $250).

It is hard to do a long workout on rollers, as it is virtually
impossible to lift one's butt off the saddle to reposition things (cuz
you'll fall otherwise). Most everyone I know starts to go a bit numb
down there after 30 minutes (much sooner for me).

Rollers are certainly more interesting though.

Quoted message said:

It is hard to do a long workout on rollers, as it is virtually
impossible to lift one's butt off the saddle to reposition things (cuz
you'll fall otherwise).

If I'm a little careful, I have no real trouble getting out of the
saddle (and not falling).

--
E. Dronkert

The one time I tried that, my housemate came out of his room wondering
what
that weird bell sound was (me falling off). Back in those days, I rode
rollers a lot,
which was good practice as a beginner, and there were also local roller
races
(Cambridge, MA) which were a lot of fun. The best roller guys can ride
off
the rollers and start on the rollers.

However, as time wore on, rollers became more of a bother than anything
else.
When I lived in St. Paul, MN, I noted that I could ride the rollers
perfectly
immediately after
a month of road riding in California, but my balance deteriorated as I
used them more.
I think it was mostly boredom. Added to that, the numbness which
started
after 10 minutes due to almost zero resistance. That winter I started
riding the trainer
exclusively and haven't
ridden rollers since, though I average about 6 hours a week on the
trainer in
Winter. With a trainer, I can just watch TV calmly on recovery days,
or concentrate on my workout.

Another point is that the nicest roller workouts are on a track bike,
because
you can really spin with 165 cranks and tires pumped up to 180 PSI. At
those roller races people were doing approximately 200 RPM's for 40
seconds (flying kilometer in 40 seconds in a 50x14). After
that, a road bike on rollers feels like riding a Mack truck. However,
you
can't get much of a resistance workout with the track bike (though you
could with those tiny rollers, which I have never used).

My conclusion is that rollers are good if you're a beginner and want to

improve your style, but after that, they just make boring Winter
workouts
more stressful.

-ilan

Ewoud Dronkert said:

Quoted message said:

It is hard to do a long workout on rollers, as it is virtually
impossible to lift one's butt off the saddle to reposition things (cuz
you'll fall otherwise).

If I'm a little careful, I have no real trouble getting out of the
saddle (and not falling).

--
E. Dronkert

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I need to get smth for indoor training, and rollers look more fun than
trainers.

Can I take rollers to a race warm up (the foldable models) or will I
look like an idiot?

It's more usual to see rollers over trainers in these parts.

Quoted message said:

It is hard to do a long workout on rollers, as it is virtually
impossible to lift one's butt off the saddle to reposition things (cuz
you'll fall otherwise). Most everyone I know starts to go a bit numb
down there after 30 minutes (much sooner for me).

If you learn to ride rollers well, you can get out of the saddle, take both
hands off the handlebars to take a vest off etc.
Visit a track meet to see the pros at work ;-)

ilan said:

almost zero resistance.

That's another thing I don't experience. I have this set of rollers:
http://www.tacx.nl/html/index.php?pageid=104 and I can get a good
endurance workout without any (added) load. Typically on the 53x14,
100/min, HR160-170. Perhaps it's because I'm moving my whole house a few
millimeters per workout, because the "fewer irritating vibrations" I
DON'T get.

--
E. Dronkert

Ewoud Dronkert <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

ilan said:

almost zero resistance.

That's another thing I don't experience. I have this set of rollers:
http://www.tacx.nl/html/index.php?pageid=104 and I can get a good
endurance workout without any (added) load. Typically on the 53x14,
100/min, HR160-170. Perhaps it's because I'm moving my whole house a
few millimeters per workout, because the "fewer irritating vibrations"
I DON'T get.

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

--
Bill Asher

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ewoud Dronkert said:

ilan said:

almost zero resistance.

That's another thing I don't experience. I have this set of rollers:
http://www.tacx.nl/html/index.php?pageid=104 and I can get a good
endurance workout without any (added) load. Typically on the 53x14,
100/min, HR160-170. Perhaps it's because I'm moving my whole house a few
millimeters per workout, because the "fewer irritating vibrations" I
DON'T get.

Yeah, the drums aren't particularly concentic on those, which makes them vibrate
a lot. The set I have (large drum "Rollertack" model) were very noisy but I took
them apart and turned the drums. They were fine until the drum section started
migrating around the end caps where the bearings are which, of course, mucked up the
concentricity again.

--
tanx,
Howard

Never take a tenant with a monkey.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

In article <[email hidden]>,

William Asher said:

Ewoud Dronkert <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

ilan said:

almost zero resistance.

That's another thing I don't experience. I have this set of rollers:
http://www.tacx.nl/html/index.php?pageid=104 and I can get a good
endurance workout without any (added) load. Typically on the 53x14,
100/min, HR160-170. Perhaps it's because I'm moving my whole house a
few millimeters per workout, because the "fewer irritating vibrations"
I DON'T get.

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Ah, the seven foot skidmark theory.

--
tanx,
Howard

Never take a tenant with a monkey.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

William Asher said:

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

If you're a track rider you could try riding up the wall rather than into
it. You can supply proof of doing this by leaving skid marks on the walls
as well as the floor.

Donald Munro said:

William Asher said:

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

If you're a track rider you could try riding up the wall rather than into
it. You can supply proof of doing this by leaving skid marks on the walls
as well as the floor.

Dedicated track riders could just take Bondo, chicken wire, and some 2x4's
and turn any room into a miniture track by fairing the corners. If the
track were small enough and they went fast enough, the g-force would cause
them to black out. Of course, being track riders they likely wouldn't even
notice when that happened. Thinking a little more about the problem, if
they did that with a small enough room so that their head was on the
opposite of the bicycle wheels in terms of the axis of the room (assuming a
square room), then the g-force on their head would be in the opposite
direction of that on their legs. If they went fast enough the stress would
rip their body in two, which sounds bad but like the passing out thing, for
a track rider is not all that serious. Further hypothesizing, if one wall
was a garage door on an automatic opener and their wife came home and
opened the door while they were riding and they cycled out into the
driveway and up the hood of their wife's Saab or other low-slung car, they
might actually launch themselves into orbit or, if they were trying to
leave a long skidmark on the driveway, right on out of the solar system.

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it, which
is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders. Logically however,
there has to be some other reason why the world isn't overpopulated with
track riders because it is hard to imagine a scenario where one of them
would have a wife with enough money to buy a car, or a wife at all for that
matter.

--
Bill Asher

William Asher said:

Donald Munro said:

William Asher said:

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

If you're a track rider you could try riding up the wall rather than into
it. You can supply proof of doing this by leaving skid marks on the walls
as well as the floor.

Dedicated track riders could just take Bondo, chicken wire, and some 2x4's
and turn any room into a miniture track by fairing the corners. If the
track were small enough and they went fast enough, the g-force would cause
them to black out. Of course, being track riders they likely wouldn't even
notice when that happened. Thinking a little more about the problem, if
they did that with a small enough room so that their head was on the
opposite of the bicycle wheels in terms of the axis of the room (assuming a
square room), then the g-force on their head would be in the opposite
direction of that on their legs. If they went fast enough the stress would
rip their body in two, which sounds bad but like the passing out thing, for
a track rider is not all that serious. Further hypothesizing, if one wall
was a garage door on an automatic opener and their wife came home and
opened the door while they were riding and they cycled out into the
driveway and up the hood of their wife's Saab or other low-slung car, they
might actually launch themselves into orbit or, if they were trying to
leave a long skidmark on the driveway, right on out of the solar system.

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it, which
is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders. Logically however,
there has to be some other reason why the world isn't overpopulated with
track riders because it is hard to imagine a scenario where one of them
would have a wife with enough money to buy a car, or a wife at all for that
matter.

Dumbass -

POTM!

Ron

William Asher wrote:
<snipped physics insanity>

Quoted message said:

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it, which
is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders. Logically
however,
there has to be some other reason why the world isn't overpopulated with
track riders because it is hard to imagine a scenario where one of them
would have a wife with enough money to buy a car, or a wife at all for
that
matter.

Here's another reason the world isn't overpopulated with track riders...

http://broadbandsports.com/node/3531

In article <[email hidden]>,

William Asher said:

Donald Munro said:

William Asher said:

You can also increase the effort by riding off the rollers every few
minutes and sprinting into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

If you're a track rider you could try riding up the wall rather than into
it. You can supply proof of doing this by leaving skid marks on the walls
as well as the floor.

Dedicated track riders could just take Bondo, chicken wire, and some 2x4's
and turn any room into a miniture track by fairing the corners. If the
track were small enough and they went fast enough, the g-force would cause
them to black out. Of course, being track riders they likely wouldn't even
notice when that happened. Thinking a little more about the problem, if
they did that with a small enough room so that their head was on the
opposite of the bicycle wheels in terms of the axis of the room (assuming a
square room), then the g-force on their head would be in the opposite
direction of that on their legs. If they went fast enough the stress would
rip their body in two, which sounds bad but like the passing out thing, for
a track rider is not all that serious. Further hypothesizing, if one wall
was a garage door on an automatic opener and their wife came home and
opened the door while they were riding and they cycled out into the
driveway and up the hood of their wife's Saab or other low-slung car, they
might actually launch themselves into orbit or, if they were trying to
leave a long skidmark on the driveway, right on out of the solar system.

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it, which
is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders. Logically however,
there has to be some other reason why the world isn't overpopulated with
track riders because it is hard to imagine a scenario where one of them
would have a wife with enough money to buy a car, or a wife at all for that
matter.

So then, where do little track riders come from?

--
Michael Press

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it, which
is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders. Logically however,
there has to be some other reason why the world isn't overpopulated with
track riders because it is hard to imagine a scenario where one of them
would have a wife with enough money to buy a car, or a wife at all for that
matter.

Michael Press said:

So then, where do little track riders come from?

Sprinters mating with gorillas ?

Mark Fennell said:

Here's another reason the world isn't overpopulated with track
riders...

http://broadbandsports.com/node/3531

That rivals the video of Dan Pastorini getting his leg broken in two.

--
Bill Asher

Donald Munro said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This probably happens all the time and you just never hear about it,
which is why the world isn't overpopulated with track riders.
Logically however, there has to be some other reason why the world
isn't overpopulated with track riders because it is hard to imagine
a scenario where one of them would have a wife with enough money to
buy a car, or a wife at all for that matter.

Michael Press said:

So then, where do little track riders come from?

Sprinters mating with gorillas ?

How much beer do you need to give the gorilla?

--
Bill Asher