Roller Races at Brands in Wantagh Friday 6:00PM January 3rd:

https://www.bikereg.com/bill-bauer-memorial-exhibition-roller-races

I am going to try to get out there to cheer you on.

I love doing roller races.  Wish it wasn't so far away.

For a few winters in the 90s, CRCA sponsored a roller race series at a bar.  It was like four weeks in a row and had a different distance each night.  It was set up in elimination brackets and we'd do a different distance each night.  I think we did 500m, 1k, 4k, and another distance, maybe a mile.  Lots of fun.

In the early 2000s, we had Dave Perry in the club and he owns a great set of antique rollers.  We did a single race night a year for a while.  It would be great for someone to post pictures of the races we had on them.  

For those who don't know, there's a max gear ratio for these, something like a 51x14.  with no resistance, you're spinning like crazy, like 1k in 35 seconds, that sort of thing.  

OMG old old old photos...



https://www.flickr.com/photos/groovylab/albums/72157603396813789

https://www.flickr.com/photos/groovylab/albums/72157594526104139

https://www.flickr.com/photos/groovylab/albums/72057594073971061

@mugwump indeed the roll out is stated at 303" or in my case on my 700x23 at 120psi a 51x14. 35 seconds at 160-170rpm is crazy fun. You get off and you practically collapse. I always say once you get them spun up it's like they are riding you.

For those of you tempted to try your hand at the roller races, Brands Bike Shop is literally right next to the Wantagh LIRR station

PatrickGrehan said:

For those of you tempted to try your hand at the roller races, Brands Bike Shop is literally right next to the Wantagh LIRR station

And there is a Diner right next door where we usually slither (at least those of us who raced slither) over to when we are done....

Should anyone want to come out to participate or spectate on Friday and are coming out from the city, there is the LIRR Wantagh station right next to the bike shop. From Penn, the 3:46pm, the 4:12pm, the 4:15pm, the 4:37pm, the 4:54pm, and the 4:57pm will get you there between 5pm and 6pm. The start is at 6pm. Unfortunately all the trains, except the first one, are peak trains so bikes are usually not allowed.

I’ll be there @AndrewJohnson. My hackling should improve your performance!

First podium of the season goes to Andrew! Second place against the champ!

Thank you @RobertPeras for coming out and spectating. Definitely the best roller races I've done. Hurt like hell but as you can see it's a fun night of shenanigans.

I've admittedly never ridden rollers...how can i learn?!

JohnOlsson said:

I've admittedly never ridden rollers...how can i learn?!

The best way is to set yourself up in a door way, a low wall, the back of a couch, or just something to hold on to. Bike wheels spinning is balance so you don't want to have the wheels turning to slow. I found that when I re-learned, only two years ago, that I'd ride with one hand on a stationary support and the other on the bike handle bar. It's also best to keep the hands on the tops, close to your stem since it reduces the magnification of your handle bar movement from your input. Gradually I worked up the courage to put both hands on the bars, and then hold on the hoods or drops. Try to be smooth on the pedals, choppy pedal strokes are bad. I also find that if you stare at something ahead, a spot on the floor or wall, etc it gives you the focus to keep the bike steady. If you try to look around the room, or down, you tend to veer off. Expect to flop off of the rollers, it will happen. You can get the parabolic ones that help keep you centered but to me that's cheating, lol. Finally corrections are almost always best made with your hips and not your hands.

In the end, it will teach you greater bike handling skills. I found that since riding rollers I'm less concerned with bumping shoulders, elbows, or hips while racing. Also when things like that happen I feel more inclined to correct properly with my hips than overcorrecting with my hands. Therefore I do feel this is a good tool to have in training.

What I do is if I'm going to do intervals on the trainer, I will first warmup on the rollers, the fifteen or so minutes before intervals, then hop over to the trainer and do my intervals, and then cool down on the rollers again. This is also real good because after the intervals I'm shot, and I have work hard to keep my concentration going on the rollers to cool down, thus training my mental fitness to stay sharp even when exhausted. It helps that I put the track bike on the rollers (gear down from my usual track gearing) and my race road bike on the trainer so all I have to do is hop from one to the other. But you can absolutely ride rollers with a road bike.

I hope this helps. Definitely give it a try, and keep at it, I know it can be a bit discouraging at first.

I used to be petrified of it. The door frame is definitely the way to go as you can catch yourself back on both sides. When I moved away from the door frame I did it next to the sofa so I could dive on it as I felt I would lose control. Finally it was a huge release to actually from it and realize that you unclip easily and that the bike stops immediately. 

JohnOlsson said:

I've admittedly never ridden rollers...how can i learn?!

As others have written, it's fairly easy, if frightening, to learn, and the benefits are huge.  Not only are you steering more from your hips and core and less with your arms, but you'll probably also pull back on the pedals more, leading to an initial soreness of your hamstring tendons, but eventually to a smoother pedal stroke.  Efficiency of effort is hugely important in cycling, so if you haven't learned that is reason enough to learn.  

I do have a set of Minoura rollers from the 1980s that can be loaned out, though they're not quiet and I should check them to make sure they're still running smoothly.  Not as quiet as my Kreitlers (put them on carpeting or some kind of mat to muffle the noise for your neighbors), but if you want to learn, they'll do the trick.  

FWIW, my sister, who was not a bike racer and never rode regularly, figured out how to ride them on her own as a teenager.  And with only one support post to hold on to.  One day, I came in to find her riding no-handed on them.  She could do that for 20 minutes or more at a time.    

I'm slowly working towards no hands, then put on and remove a vest...

Then brush teeth

Roller races are back at Brands:

https://www.bikereg.com/58336