Turbo trainer/rollers

Ok, so I tried out my new Tacx Galaxia rollers for the first time last night. I should say that the biggest mistake I made was watching too many youtube video disasters from people who had tried out rollers for the first time and suffered some pretty nasty falls. This made me very wary, if not a bit scared of trying the rollers. So how did it go????

I started off at my open patio door so I could have some fresh air, a view out into the garden and I had two chairs either side to grab onto. I wore runners so I could get my feet down off the pedals in a hurry if I toppled. So up I get on the saddle holding onto one chair back for support and I started pedalling. No good. I just couldn't bring myself to let go of the chair back as I was leaning over to the side I was holding onto. So after five minutes of that, I moved to a doorframe and tried again. This time I'd no problem letting go of the doorframe and away I went pedalling at a high cadence as advised on youtube. After 5 minutes of uneventful cycling, I switched to my cycling shoes and clipped in for a 20 minute session where I grew in confidence by the minute. I was able to switch hand positions from the tops to the hoods to the drops and even some standing in the pedals without any drama. I was sweating buckets though and constantly wiping sweat out of my eyes. My new cateye quick cycling computer said I was "doing 48kph", which obviously is without any resistance from a road/hill/wind etc and about 13kph faster than I'd normally average out on the road. So after a hard if short 20 minute session, I was pleased with myself for getting the hang of the rollers a lot faster than the youtubers I'd watched (check out Mike Boyd on youtube if you want a laugh though). The floor under the bike was a pool of sweat and I gave the bike a good wipe down after to clean the salty sweat off it. I think I'll invest in a pedastal fan to get some cooling air in my face and maybe a cover for the bars/stem/top tube to protect them from sweat.

Am I confident on the rollers now? Yes but with the caveat of being in a doorframe where I won't have too far to fall/grab hold of something if I lose concentration. And you do need to concentrate on the rollers as I found that if my mind wandered, so too did the bike and I could feel the wheels go to the edge of the parabolic rollers. But I like them as it is very akin to road cycling unlike being on a stationary bike (or possibly a turbo trainer but as I've never tried one, I can't be sure). On the rollers, you need to look out in front of you and keep your balance. I had to engage my core to keep me in a stable position but I was pretty smooth during the session which means my bike fit and pedal stroke appear to be set up right.

As I find it hard to get time out on the road with five kids to look after and lockdown checkpoints pretty much everywhere on my normal routes, I can see myself using the rollers quite a bit to keep my fitness up. Perhaps one day, I'll feel confident enough to put them out on the patio so I'll have some fresh air and a cooling wind, albeit without anything to grab onto if I feel I'm about to topple!