Day 257: Rain and Rollers

Update: 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. Current weight - 206.6 lbs - 8.6 lbs to 60 lb goal.

"When the rain comes...they run and hide their heads...." Anyone?

Well, the forecast for the next week or longer is rain. Big surprise, it's October in Oregon...what else should I expect? And even though I have some great experience cranking out the miles in the rain, I'm going to limit the amount of time I allow crazy weather drivers to target me out on the open roads.

In addition to the weather, I'm finding that with school in session, business and church commitments, and the family schedule, that the only shot I have at riding these days is Saturday mornings, and frankly, that's not gonna keep the poundage off this fall. I need to be doing more. I've considered the whole Club option, but frankly, I've never liked that place, I'm not really a Club kind of guy...there's no real draw for me, and again, it's more an issue of time than weather, so finding time to pack up my gear and head to the club is going to be as tough as finding time to get geared up and go riding. What I really need to is be able to ride, indoors, after hours somewhere, on my bike, but such a place doesns't exist.

For folks that want to ride indoors, at home, during the off season or after hours, there are a few options, which I'll go through here today.

Stationary Bike
Yeah, I could go old school like this and pick up a $15 stationary bike, but frankly....ugh.


Bike Trainer
Another option is to buy a trainer, a device that basically you either hook your rear wheel to, or use as a friction device against your rear tire, and ride in place. Check out how much fun this looks like:


Rollers
So, the next option is to get rollers. Basically, these are treadmills for bikes, and just like treadmills, have the same type of pitfalls. It takes some serious effort to get up on them, and stay on them. If you 'youtube' bike rollers, you'll see all kinds of people who are videoing themselves trying to get up on rollers...and many times not succeeding.(Like the dude below) When people do get up on them, they really can't stand up on the bike, or do any real kind of riding...just to dangerous...and consequently...boring. Most people have a love/hate relationship with rollers...more on the hate side.


Fluid Motion Rollers
So this company called InsideRide took the rollers another step further and put them inside a floating cage, with rollers up on the side as well. Because of the added movement of the entire machine, and the added protection of the rollers on the side, you can actually stand up and step it up a bit on the bike. Still gonna be boring as all get-out compared to actually riding on the roads, BUT I can get out for an hour after dark without risking my life against trucks and cars that may not see me.


Every review I've read about them has given them 5 stars, and they seem to be the best indoor option for keeping the wheels rollin'. Another cool bonus is that they are made in Oregon, right over in North Plains....not too far from Maggie's Buns. Now I'll just need to pick up some copies of shows I've never watched, like The Office or 30 Rock, to fill my time while I'm rollin' away!

Hasta!