No pain, no gain

As I may or may not have conveyed earlier, I kinda really really hate using the trainer for my cycling training. Yet, I am complete cold wimp. It’s a conundrum.  So, the question of every fall season comes up again, what am I to do to train now that it’s getting cold outside?

I keep hearing about people’s adoration for rollers. Well, maybe not exactly adoration, riding outside in nice weather is always better. But, compared to the trainer, rollers apparently are some sort of a heavenly invention.

What the hell are rollers?  You may ask. Well, they are some sort of a treadmill for bikes. Here is a pic:

And I am terrified of rollers, and this little video will explain why (watch it, it is worth it, I promise):

But I decided that it was time to grow up and a little over a month ago, I bought the damn rollers. The cheapest I could find on p-mart.

The rollers arrived about a month ago, and I stared at them for 2 weeks from afar…. Then I finally got the courage to take them out of the box. And there they sat for another two weeks, daring me. 

Lukas

The big day was this last Tuesday. I decided the moment to grow up had arrived and I could no longer be a rollers virgin.  I set them up right next to a partial wall and a stool and climbed on my bike. It took me about 5-10 minutes to let go of the wall, since every time I tried, I had this unbearable feeling of “holy shit, holy shit, I am going to DIIIIIEEEEEE” and had to grab onto the wall again. When I finally did let go, I lasted a total of 25 glorious minutes on the thing... I was feeling SO proud of myself… Oh, how little did I know.

Then, when I was finally feeling relaxed and thinking that I kinda liked this rollers thing, unceremoniously, I crashed. I swerved, bumped the stool, the wall, and there I was, splattered on the floor. My hip, hand, elbow and head were in pain, and I now have bruises and a big bump on my head to show for it.

Mina

 When I finally moved and tried to un-splatter myself from the floor, I noticed that my very brave, 100 pounds, male monster (Lukas) had ran upstairs when he heard the crashing noise. But, my female (Mina) was next to me and staring with worried eyes. When I looked at her, she started to nervously wag her tail, and when I talked to her, she came over to give me slobbery kisses, my sweet girl. Then Lukas came downstairs and gave me some luvin' too (*).

So…. I am not giving up on the rollers yet. Maybe because of the adrenaline and the constant fear that “I am going to fucking kill myself on theeeeseeeee daaaaamnnnn thinnnngsss,” I find the rollers to be a lot more fun than the trainer.  But, from now on and until I feel a bit more secure, I am seriously considering using a helmet while on them. That, and teaching my dogs to dial 911.

(*) I SWEAR, I am not drawing any conclusions about men and women's differences here, I SWEAR.