A quick and dirty review of off-season roller racing, because Andy asked.
by Aaron Wolfe

OK, so there’s not much for a dedicated bike racer to do in the winter, or read, for that matter, judging by the dearth of articles here lately. But for the competition addicts, roller racing can speed the months a bit more quickly than watching all the Lance tours over and over while on the trainer.

The point of roller racing seems to be this for the racer: To test a highly specific skill that can’t really be tested on its own on the road. And for the spectator: To yell and scream, to drink and gamble while perhaps admiring the display of this highly specific skill but at the same time laughing knowing it won’t matter in March.

In fact, the racers could have measured their cadences for 35 seconds at home, away from the indignities of wearing team kits in a packed bar, and phoned in the results. The finishing order would be the same. When it comes to high cadence and jump, either you’ve got it or you don’t. Getting sweaty next to LaCorte in front of a crowd of drunk idiots waving dollar bills won’t help. In this sense, roller racing is BORING.

But satellite roller racing would be even less fun than a self-administered functional threshold test. So there we all are in our kits in a bar. This year we’ve either been at Lulu’s for Goldsprints with fork mounts on rollers hooked up to a computer, or at the 169 Bar for some real roller races using the peerless mechanical racing rollers of Bikeworks.

And what exactly are we doing? The racers jump from a standing start and spin like hell for a specified distance. Pure power matters highly for the first few seconds. Then it’s all form and leg speed in the neuromuscular zone. If the race is long enough anaerobic fitness starts to come into play. Balance is key throughout.

Like most training, you train harder than you race, and gain more fitness from training. So to do a roller race is merely the reward for leg speed training, which will help with road sprinting and comfort/efficiency on the bike.

The numbers go like this: At a sanctioned roller race such as NYVelocity put on, you can usually ride a 51×14 on skinny tires and make the rollout. Top virtual speeds will hit 55-65mph. Cadence probably goes up to 210rpm max. Look at the times and do the math to figure out sustained cadence.

The technique seems to have two schools. Roadies prefer hands on the tops, and trackies like the drops, which indicates that trackies have a greater ability to use their arms and control them perfectly, while roadies look like they could go on comfortably on the tops for some time after the race ends. Less than perfect control lands you on the crash mix on youtube, while endurance gets you nowhere. You can’t be competitive without a fixed gear bike.

Time for hate: If you choose to participate or watch, here’s what you’ll find: Goldsprints at Lulu’s offered a crappy venue with generally awful loud music. You’ll pay for your own drinks, but the hot dogs and admission are free. The racing is soulless and computerized and the fixed-fork bikes are provided in S, M or L (these really make you sore the next day, but you don’t have to ride rollers to race, so anyone can try). There’s no crashing, but there is vomiting. The crowd and most of the competition are all bike hipsters, messengers and the like, and they don’t really understand what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. But the prizes for racers are excellent (like a case of beer, $100 messenger bag and $40 of bike coupons for 2nd place), and the entry fee is low. If you’re lucky it will be over before 1am.

The NYVelocity races had a cramped venue where spendy bikes kept getting knocked over onto each other, but no annoying music–just a drunk MC with junior high humor (a compliment, I’m sure). Free beer makes up for the heat and lack of oxygen, and on your own newly scratched bike there’s less soreness the next day. The crowd will be the cream of the bike hipster crop and all the roadies you know from Central and Prospect parks. They’ll know what you’re doing and why, and they’re laughing at you because they know. Crashers are especially mocked and therefore entries will remain low. You’ll pay to watch or race, and by the time the races are over the free beer will be gone. You’ll race on Bikeworks’ beautiful mechanical race rollers, but get only a pat on the back for a podium prize. Done at 10pm because bike racers have finance jobs in the morning.

Where does that leave us? Uh…try it once for fun, and then continue if you have to.