The Wheelhouse Blog

Riding the Elite parabolic rollers is never dull

Uh oh! Looks like global climate change hasn’t polluted Punxsutawney Phil’s prognosticatory prowess. Earlier this week the groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, even though the weather for the past few weeks had made it appear as if we were in for an early spring. The dump of snow we just got has sure made it feel like winter returned. Get ready to settle in folks.

An ugly case of the flu and the liberal use of road salt on sloppy roads caused me to cancel this weekend’s road ride as I struggle to shed 20 pounds of winter fat and regain some semblance of bike fitness by the equinox. Like most of you, I hate to lose all the gains I made during the previous year of riding. A dose of fitness during the first rides of the year sure feels good and makes the season so much more fun!

Not to worry. We’ve discovered the miracles of roller riding—contraptions that allow you to ride stages of the Tour de France in your head as you sweat out gallons of giblet gravy in your garage. Roller riding takes some getting used to. Some of it is mental, some of it physical. The mental game is a simple matter of channeling your boredom into pleasant daydreaming or repetitive mantras of song verses sung over and over again in your head. It’s a lot like swimming!  And almost as wet.  Riding in place doesn’t create a headwind and corporeal secretions do not evaporate as readily. If you’ve ever wondered why hydration is important, then a half-hour on the rollers will be a good learning experience. I spare myself and our neighborhood the horror of me singing one ever-repeated verse of “The Neutron Dance” off key and at the top of my lungs by riding in front of a boombox that plays a variety of happy music.

The act of riding rollers themselves is a good learning experience. If you have a sloppy, noisy riding style like mine, the cruel mistress called rollers will help you fix your riding style toot-sweet! Small changes in position can lead to big changes on the bike when you’re balanced on the unforgiving triad of cylinders. Truth be told, though, it’s kind of fun! Freaky at first, but fun.

After a couple of sessions I was able to calm my ridiculous style down to the point where I could ride smooth and fear-free on the rollers. Until you get tired, anyway. And then it all goes to hell. Not to worry, weaving usually tells me when I’ve hit the correct jumping off point. Zing! Workout’s over! A real-world ride last weekend on pavement showed me real-world gains in style and fitness that I had gained by riding on rollers.

While rollers differ from the relative comfort, tedium and boredom of trainers, they do force you to be an active participant. On a trainer, you’re just an engine—an unconnected pair of meat pistons grinding away on the pedals until the timer goes off or until Good Morning America hands itself off to The View.

Elite Ritmo trainer

Worried about your winter fitness?  There’s still plenty of time to benefit from six weeks of roller workouts. Little Jimmy’s Wheelhouse can get a roller or trainer to you in less than the time it would take to get it from Amazon, and at competitive prices to boot!

The only thing that feels better than getting back on the bike after a long break is buying local.

Don’t let six more weeks of winter turn you into a groundhog-shaped bag of goo that will curse your bicycle when the sun shines bright and strong and the world is green and new.

Keep on riding!

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