The Wheelsucker Goes Roller Racing

As the wheelsucker reported last year http://abrtcycling.blogspot.com/2009/02/roller-racing-wheelsucker-branches-out.html, part of his winter 'training' is roller racing at Bobby Phillips' place. The 2010 roller racing season started last night, chez Phillips.

Bobby makes it clear than ANYBODY – and he means ANYBODY – can show up and do roller racing. You do not need ANY prior experience on rollers. Actually, you don’t need to be able to ride a two wheel bicycle by yourself. You do not need a track bike or fixed gear bike. You may wish to bring a bike and cycling shorts, but I suppose even those are optional. Bobby will make it happen, regardless of your experience and skill level. With most roller racers Bobby holds the bike at the seatpost and head tube and makes sure they stay on the rollers.

The wheelsucker fancies himself a little more experienced a year after he first tried roller racing. He now has his own rollers and can ride for 30+ minutes (going easy) at a time without riding off them. But he does ride in a hallway with walls on either side, and does have to fend off either wall from time to time. And reaching for a water bottle or trying to wipe sweat off his face is more than his current roller riding ability allows. Riding without ever getting out of the saddle and without wiping one's forehead is harder than actually riding rollers, and what actually limits how long he can ride the rollers.

The wheelsucker had his fixed gear bike set up to race on the track and did that twice, so now fancies himself a track rider. So this year, instead of roller racing on a road bike, the wheelsucker is riding his fixed gear/track bike.

As per Bobby, if one is riding a road bike roller racing, one uses the 53x15. If riding a fixed gear or track bike, one uses a 50x14; the gear inches are almost the same.

So imagine the wheelsucker warming up on his fixed gear on the rollers. He can ride the rollers at a medium pace and he looks fine, but when he goes as hard as an aging wheelsucker can, his ability to steer the bike is compromised; and compromised enough that he probably won't stay on the rollers for long. Fortunately this problem is not the wheelsucker’s alone; other riders have similar issues; hence Bobby holding the headtube and seatpost.

Last night riders did not go head to head (which the double rollers setup allows) but just raced for time. The wheelsucker’s first run was for one mile, which is five laps (five circuits of the dial). Having warmed up for slightly over two minutes and fifty seconds, the wheelsucker thought he was ready. The timer counted 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO! and the wheelsucker launched, getting from stopped to a cadence of 181 (He is NOT making this up!) in seven seconds. Unfortunately that was the peak cadence and speed for the entire one mile run. If one were to look at the graph from the wheelsucker's Powertap, cadence and speed decline steadily except for one last lame burst for the last three seconds. Minimum cadence after the initial acceleration was 143; average for the race was 121 (this is from a standing start). One would think that racing for approximately one and a half minutes could not be that hard; one would be wrong!

There were only four riders Monday evening: Bobby, his friend Carl, Stu Waring and the wheelsucker, and the races are over quickly. Bobby’s setup can accommodate many more riders. The wheelsucker hopes to see more ABRTers next Monday evening.