1 hr on rollers = ???

"toadman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I just bought a set of rollers, trying to get ready for spring. Should have
done this last fall. My wife and I do a lot of Rails to Trails riding, I do
some road riding. I have a Cannondale Touring T800. I work up a faster
heart rate and more sweat on the rollers than on an actual ride. Right now
I'm just riding a half hour at a time, avg speed 11+ mph which is about
what we average on the trails. Is time on the rollers worth more than
riding the trails?
1 hour on rollers = 2 hours on trails?

Perhaps the lack of convection has something to do with it. Not having an
airflow to carry off the heat and sweat probably makes roller time seem a
greater exertion than the real thing.

that thought had occurred to me also. maybe I'll try using a fan the next
time to see if it makes any difference.
"cycle-one" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

I just bought a set of rollers, trying to get ready for spring. Should
have done this last fall. My wife and I do a lot of Rails to Trails
riding, I do some road riding. I have a Cannondale Touring T800. I work up
a faster heart rate and more sweat on the rollers than on an actual ride.
Right now I'm just riding a half hour at a time, avg speed 11+ mph which
is about what we average on the trails. Is time on the rollers worth more
than riding the trails?
1 hour on rollers = 2 hours on trails?

Perhaps the lack of convection has something to do with it. Not having an
airflow to carry off the heat and sweat probably makes roller time seem a
greater exertion than the real thing.

"toadman" WROTE: (clip) Is time on the rollers worth more than riding the
trails? 1 hour on rollers = 2 hours on trails?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Your heart rate is a good indicator of your exercise level. Your
combination of speed and load on the exerciser is higher, so, yes, time on
the exerciser is doing more for you. Since you ride with your wife, you may
be "loafing" more on the trails, just because it is more social, or for any
number of other reasons. Maybe she is not as fit as you. I would keep
doing what you are doing.

"toadman" wrote: that thought had occurred to me also. maybe I'll try
using a fan the next time to see if it makes any difference.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
It probably will make you SEEM to sweat less, but it should not make any
difference in your heart rate, unless:

If better cooling makes you more comfortable, you may actually find you ride
harder, and your heart rate will be HIGHER.

toadman said:

1 hour on rollers = 2 hours on trails?

One thing harder about rollers is that you never coast.
If you have real rollers (not one of those back wheel things)
you *can't* coast. I don't know if this translates into a
2 to 1 ratio but, if hilly terrain is half uphill, it's not
a bad estimate.

OTOH, standing up on rollers (but not the backwheel thing)
is almost impossible to do. It's not that you can't
balance. It's that the instant you mash the pedal, the
bike will shoot off the rollers. So you won't get much
hill climbing strength from them, but then again, you
said you stick mainly to tracks and roads.

I don't know how well it translates, but I can give you some data on my
running experiences on the road vs on a treadmill.

On the road, I averaged about 9 min/mile and was usually good for about
5 miles.

On the treadmill, I averaged less than 7.5 min/mile and was usually
good for a solid 10 miles.

Of course, the treadmill moves on its own. I presume rollers do not.

FWIW

Jeff