The cool thing about belonging to the "Core Group" is word gets out. Both Brad K and Elden had an extra set of rollers they were willing to donate to my winter training program. I have the coolest friends ever!
Since Brad gave his rollers to Dug to give to me on the exact same day that Elden sent me an IM asking if I wanted to use/have his old set, I told Dug to keep Brads and I went to go pick up my new toy from Elden.
After a 3 minute visual tutorial of Elden riding on them and a brief discussion of "things that should never be attempted on rollers", I was good to go. I drove home, found a nice spot in my unfinished basement (right next to a wall to help me mount and dismount) and gave it a go. I was so anxious to try them, that I slipped off my jeans and shoes and threw a leg over my bike in just my underwear and socks and started to pedal. It became obvious within a few seconds that lack of focus while on the rollers could result in serious carnage. It was also obvious that attempting to ride rollers for the first time in just socks was not a great idea.
I only had a few minutes to mess around. My wife had big shopping plans and I was in charge of my 2 year old daughter. Turns out, this probably saved me from breaking my leg.
When I got back home later in the day, I decided to give the rollers a full trial run (this time with shorts and shoes on).
I was a little nervous and fully expected to crash at least once. Which is exactly why I asked Rachelle to come down with the camera. If I was going down, I wanted to have it on film.
I ride a lot and like to think I have some bike skills but riding on rollers felt a lot like riding on ice. A totally new sensation. I liked it. I like it for several reasons. I think this will help me stay interested while riding inside. I think it help me with my balance, pedal stroke, and fine tune my group riding skills.
Once I got going and shifted into a harder gear, I felt much more stable and it was no big deal. But I am still leaving plenty of room in front of the rollers just in case I come off and hit the basement floor in my big ring.
10 comments:
underwear and socks? cmon man, we don't need a picture of you falling, we need a picture of you riding rollers in your underwear and socks. Please?
Dug- This is a PG-13 site. If you want that kinda of stuff, go to Brad's site.
Hey, there's nobody in their underwear on my site. Yet. I plan on being the first and then maybe Kenny in his blue superman tighties. I'd love to post a pic of dug on the rollers in his undies. send me one dug.
I am buying a trainer tomorrow so I can ride in my livingroom this winter. I hope it doesn't suck too bad.
it looks like your legs are shaved. why are you shaving your legs if you're not riding on the road anymore?
"cheapie"
Cheapie- Actually, it's been a while since my last shave but that's not the point. I shave my legs year round because I am anti-hair. I also shave my arms.
What did you think of Fruita? Do you remember we met at the shop?
your arms? i've thought about that but my wife gives me enough crap about my legs.
yep. i remember you but didn't know if i should mention it or not. didn't want to appear to be a weird fatty groupie or something. esp after i sent a note to fatty about the waltworks and might have gotten you in trouble. =)
fruita was cool. although one of the guys with me at the shop had a broken collarbone about 2 hours after we left. he spend the next two days freezing in a cabin while the rest of us rode the trails.
i like fruita...however, i kind got tired of constantly trying to figure out where we were, which trail extension to go on, and what we had time to ride. thankfully, we had a nice map.
i guess i'm used to moab where you know the trail is going to take several hours and you just stay on it until the end. i'll certainly go back and will hopefully hook up with a local guy i know from another site.
want to do gooseberry next.
I got rid of my trainer after using it all of twice last winter. Wonder if I would do any better on rollers....sounds like they might prove a little more interesting.
To your previous post about the dawn patrol, I'm looking for people to go skiing with while I'm in Utah the week after Christmas. If you're heading out, any chance I could come along? Let me know.
Huge Company- Let me know when you are out here. Are you bringing your gear? I typically get out early in the AM. You are more than welcome to join us.
Judi- I've never owned a trainer but I will say that w/ a trainer, you will be able to watch a show and zone out which should help make riding inside a little easier.
I'll have my gear with me and would be glad to get out early in the morning. You can reach me directly at mark dot albrecht at gmail dot com. I'll be at my parents' place in Sugarhouse so may be easiest to connect in the canyon. Thanks!
mark
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