Inside Ride “Smart” Rollers: Rollers have their place for folks that want to be strong for any event,

Inside Ride “Smart” Rollers: Rollers have their place for folks that want to be strong for any event.

Ride Inside

“I have friends that lobby against riding inside. They think it makes you soft, but I disagree. I think trainers and rollers have their place and for folks that want to be strong for any event, whether it’s a mountain bike stage race or a multi day backpacking trip to South America or you want to do well at Dirty Kanza. You want to do the work and you want to know your fitness is ready to go when Spring rolls around. And the truth is that you actually get a better workout for the time you have available with no worry about distracted drivers or which route is good for the time of day. It’s always a good time to ride and you get your concentrated workout in the convenience of your own home.

To address that concern that riding inside makes you soft or a weather wimp, I’d argue that the mental toughness that’s required to make it through a hard indoor workout is just as character-building as an outdoor ride in a downpour. You might just have more mojo available the following day to do yet another workout and less likely to get sick or burn out. You gotta take the long view and remember that good weather is coming again and those that have dedicated themselves to an indoor program are the ones that are going to be twice as prepared come riding season. They won’t be whining about how out of shape they are, they’ll be planning rad adventures with confidence.

My first introduction to Inside Ride Rollers was years ago in the gym. Upper Echelon (RIP) had a whole fleet of them and they did indoor training classes as a warmup for cyclocross season.  My trainer at the gym knew the inventor and maker of InsideRide, Larry Papadopoulos, and said he’s a great guy and that their headquarters are just over the West hills in West Union. You should know Larry. His designs have been incorporated into several models from other brands. He’s the quintessential entrepreneurial inventor.

…
Inside Ride rollers are quite simply the best ride experience you can have indoors. The reason for this is the floating feature that allows your bike to move freely, while the rollers move on a floating track that moves forward and backward and as you do your workout. It’s hard to explain the function in words, so take a minute and watch this video

The big benefit of this is both improving your pedal stroke and greater comfort for long workouts. Also, it’s a whole body workout. You engage your core and use your upper body as you would riding in the real world. My Trainer Road program had me doing 1 hour, 1.5 hour and even 2 hour workouts. Some would question the sanity of spending that much time riding indoors, but it becomes a reasonable option with the Inside Ride Smart Rollers. It’s not only doable, it’s comfortable and even enjoyable. That’s massive for people who live in cold climates and want to prepare for spring riding.”

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, WITH ADDITIONAL IMAGES, HERE: http://www.benedicto.co/inside-ride-smart-rollers