After a 2year absence from the sport I begain training on rollers with the support bracket but decided it was time to learn to ride without it. After 2 weeks of riding in a doorway I’ve managed to build up to 20 km @ 35Km/hr average speed. I have two questions. How close is the effort needed to ride @ 35 km ave on rollers to being on the road? I’m riding on my pursuit bars looking about 3 ft ahead but can’t seem to master the aero bar position at all. Any tips on this is or is it just more practice?
Rhino
Man, I’ve put a ton of time in on rollers but the Computrainer kind of steals their thunder, even though it is a different training experience than rollers.
I never recommend riding rollers in a doorway to our customers. It can result in a serious accident including a head injury. It is better to ride next to a counter at about hip level or a regular wall. If you are right handed, put it on your right. If you start to go down you may be able to use the wall to save it, but probably not. If you go down, you just fall over and it isn’t that bad. No door frame to crack your head.
That said, the effort or resistance level on rollers is extremely light. It is easy to 35 mph (56 kph) on rollers with no resistance using a big gear and high RPMs. That won;t translate into anything near that speed on the road since there is substantially more drag- almost all aerodynamic- in the real world.
As for using the aerobars: Well, the key is to relax and be sure your bike fits correctly. Ironically, one of the best ways to discover that your bike doesn’t fit right is to discover riding it on rollers is very difficult. Your weight distribution is causing your steering to be too responsive (too much wieght on the front wheel usually) or too stable (maybe your wheel base is too long for your reach).
At any rate, gradually ease into it, keep your pedal and wheel speed up so you have some gyroscopic stabilization (like the gyros in a missle, rotational speed is your friend) and relax. Be sure your upper body weight is on your elbows. With practice, it will come. You’ve already made a lot of progress so far!
Good luck, Happy Holidays!