Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Sit-up, Roll Over, Now Sprint!!

I have had my rollers for two weeks or so. Great as you would expect being Kreitler's. I had borrowed a buddies 2.25" drum Dyna-mites during last winter and basically learned on them. I hated them so much (because they were so hard to ride) I didnt ride them much. He took them when he moved away. Hey Jodi!!

Anyways I bought these 3" rollers from Mark and liked them straight away. On a ride with Dave and Brooke she recommended I ride them with my fixie to really smooth out my pedal stroke. We also talked about sprinting on them, riding no hands, etc. I had trouble just taking a water bottle out of the cage at first or taking a hand off the bars without wobbling scarily, especially on the Dyna-mites.

My wife and daughter I think were actually scared for me when I rode them. But these rollers were so much easier. I no longer had to start with both feet clipped in holding onto a chair till up to speed, could take out and replace water bottles with ease after two rides on them and I can even reach into my back pocket to adjust my mp3 player. OH sweetness and getting smoother every ride.

This new found confidence lead me to believe I could start one foot on the ground on the fixie, but that lead to a topple and falling ungraciously into the bookshelf once. I now keep one of my wifes steps for aerobics next to me to start one foot clipped in. Maybe I'll try from the ground next time I ride my road bike. Two or three attempts at riding no hands were very scary!! So I stopped trying for now. Mark told me about his buddy in Texas who bunny hops onto and off the rollers to start and stop. Too funny!!

But look what daddy can do now!!










Now-how about this guy!!



Next,big air bunny hops, wheelies, trackstands, but for now Can I have a treat? WOOF, WOOF!!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah, yeah, but anybody can ride out of the saddle on a fixed gear on the rollers. that's not hard. :)

Ray Huang said...

Crap-I was about to Cat up from cat 5 roller god to Cat 4 roller god!! Maybe next season!!

Mehul said...

Riding indoors is painful enough without having the fan and TV off!!!

I was like when I started riding rollers, very nervous and tense. Try to relax and engage your core and I think that you will be a little more comfortable.

I also agree with the fixie on the rollers. Your weaknesses in your pedal stroke will be magnified and you will be smoother.

Good luck!

td said...

i have to disagree slightly. it is easier to ride rollers on the fixed gear. the fix-ed-ness smoothes you out automatically - opposite of magnifying your 'bad' stroke. i would say it is more beneficial for detecting discrepancies in pedal stroke (and working on them) with a bike that coasts (.

riding the fixed gear in general may help your stroke, and so it follows that riding them on the rollers will help, but not BECAUSE you are on the rollers.

there is nothing wrong with riding a fixed gear on the rollers. it helps you be smooth because of the low resistance/high cadence you will be riding.

did i just contradict myself? who cares. ride what works for you.

Ray Huang said...

td-your short kind of tall, did you know that? lol
but I did feel immediately smoother with the fixie-darn-I thought I had learned somethin'.

yeah-the fan and tv off was a photo op. I asked my wife to take a pic while I rode and she obliged, but she shot like I wanted to use them for fit analysis. So we re shot to get the rollers. My vanity knows no end it seems.

And hey I rode No hands this morning-yahoo and single leg pedals, but holding onto the bars for sure!!