How do I become proficient on rollers?
 

I recently added rollers to fall/winter training routine. My purpose is to improve my bike handling. So far, I've only put in a couple hours on them. I have difficulty with common tasks such as reaching for the bottle, checking my wrist HR monitor, wiping off sweat and adjusting the TV's volume control. I can accomplish all these tasks, but I'm sketchy. In low gears all bets are off and I can only manage to stay upright.

How do I become more proficient? More roller time, practice spinning in lower gears, what else? Will I naturally work through these difficulties with added time?

Others will add great tips but mine is to try your best to RELAX. Being tense seems to magnify errors.

knotty

Keep riding. For 45 minutes to an hour I usually don't need a drink. My HR monitor is on my handlebars. Turn the TV up before you ride (plenty loud). And ride in a door frame.

Just keep practicing. Look ahead, don't look down. Definitely relax and try to reduce your weight on your handlebars. You will naturally get better as time goes on.

It's probably good to cover everything that can rust from sweat, like the stem bolt head and where the stem goes into the headset.

knotty

OK, so it appears I need to relax and ride the sh** out of them. This seems entirely too passive.

BTW- My ego pretty much demands that I reach the point where I can complete these basic tasks at will. And, for the record, there's no way I want to ride for 45min without H2O. Apus^2, you must be a camel!

Commit.

Relax.

Practice.

Inside, air conditioned, fully hydrated--I'm good.

Outside, in Atlanta, in the summertime, 3-4 bottles on a 1.5-2 hr ride.

First - Put the rollers in a doorway.
Second - Try to relax and not look at the front wheel.
Third - Time and practice.

I have not spent a lot of time on mine, but after being on them for a while I was getting more comfortable. I have heard of people actually playing video games while on rollers. That is a long time with no hands on the bars. I am sure I would crash (fall).

whatever you do, don't reach for the towel hanging on the back of a chair ~3feet away on your first night on the rollers. my bike ended up on my bed to the right of the rollers, and i ended up in the closet to the left of the rollers.

I was complimenting a guy in one of our "pick up" rides about his ability to ride such a straight line. He told me he was a ships engineer and rides his rollers when out to sea. Guess anything gets easy after that. I'm still waiting to even own a set let alone ride on them.

Relaxation is key i think, especially your arms and upper body. The tricky part is the start, once you're moving just look ahead and relax. You may find bumpers by the front rollers help also, they'll pop you back if you get too close to rolling off. For water maybe you could try a hydration pack with the mouthpiece close to your mouth for now.