It is always a treat to hear people from
outside Iowa come to RAGBRAI for their first time.
I'm sure I am not remembering exactly, but something like 75% of all RAGBRAI riders each year don't live in Iowa. Many of these people have never even been to the state except for maybe a car trip across I-80 or a flyover airplane ride. A common misconception is that the geography is flat. It is true that there are no mountains, and that there are portions of Iowa which are flat. However, much of Iowa is covered with rolling hills. We aren't like Kansas or Florida!
There are so many people, both Iowans and others, that struggle needlessly on the rollers. I wonder if they have ever been shown the proper way to ride them. There are some definite techniques that can help people out. Here is my attempt at 10 helpful tips:
1. Overall cycling fitness
This should be the most obvious. If you increase your overall cycling fitness through lots of rides, it will help you out on all road types, hills or flats.
2. Use your shifters
If you are going over rollers without using your shifters, you are ignoring one of the best features of a bike: the ability to change your gear ratio and make things easier or faster for yourself. And don't just be changing your back gears. Don't be afraid of changing the front gear as well.
3. Don't use your brakes on a downhill
I realize that some of you without enough time in the saddle could possibly be scared of a big downhill. It is generally easier and safer in high-speed situations to use slight movements in your direction from a long ways away than to use your brakes if you can avoid it. Besides, if you are going too fast and you slam on your brakes you might flip over the handlebars. In general, keep your eyes open and scanning and you can deal with obstacles long before you get to them.
4. Release the death grip on the handlebars during the downhill
In conjunction with the previous tip, a death grip on the handlebars will make your handling a lot twitchier. This is not good for road obstacles. A small bump might jar the steering a bit. If you have white knuckles already, you can't make any subtle but immediate adjustments. If you simply hold on, but not super tight, you can make those small adjustments without wrenching the bike from side to side. Hopefully these two tips will allow you to have more confidence and not scrub off speed where you can.
5. Know when to stop pedaling on a downhill
There does come a point in time when you are travelling so fast that it becomes pointless to expend more energy spinning the pedals. For me, that spot is around 32 mph on normal downhill grades. As my cycling fitness improves, I bump that number up. When I first started my adult biking five years ago, it was 28 mph. By the time I hit that limit, if I am not already in my aerobars [aerobars are certainly not required, but I enjoy them when I am not in a crowd or in other dangerous conditions], I will transition to them then as well.
6. Know when to start pedaling on a downhill
I see many, many people who will coast during any small flat area between the downhill and the start of the downhill. Their reasoning is generally that they are going plenty fast as it is and they want more of a break. While this will give you a good break, it will make your uphill much tougher because you are giving away the momentum. I'll generally start pedaling again when I feel that the downhill slope is flattening out again. I don't ever wait until I am completely in the flats again.
7. Don't drop to your lowest gears all at once on the uphill
For this one, you need to be paying attention to your cadence as you lose your momentum from the downhill. There is a large learning curve to being able to have a smooth gradient to your momentum. If you are cruising along at 30 mph after a nice downhill, but then are going up again and you see your speed drop down to 24 mph, you might be tempted to drop a whole bunch of gears in anticipation. However, if you drop to your lowest gears all at once, you are likely to get that bouncing-in-your-seat feeling. That is a sign of wasted energy. That wasted energy means the free speed from the downhill portion won't be enough and you will likely struggle as you get closer to the crest of the hill. Instead, drop a gear or two at a time as your cadence decreases and you will waste a lot less energy.
8. Don't be afraid of breaking a sweat on the uphill
Self-explanatory, keep your effort level up, the downhill was your break time, not the uphill
9. Know your body type
There is a good reason why most of the professional cyclists are small. It makes climbing a heck of a lot easier. Less weight to drag up the hills. Does this mean that bigger people like me can't become a good cyclist? Absolutely not. It just means that how we approach rollers needs to be different. For me, it is essential that I develop a lot speed by the bottom of the hill. That speed combined with my body mass means that I am carrying a lot of momentum into the beginning of the climb. That momentum will make it so that I can traverse the first 2/3 or so of a roller without a significant amount of difficult effort. Lighter riders tend to lose their momentum quicker since they didn't have as much to start with. However, they can climb a lot easier.
If a much smaller cyclist and I start a roller at about the same speed, for all of the downhill and most of the uphill, it will look as if I am pulling away from the other rider. That other rider will catch me as we get near the crest of the hill if we both are near the same level of exertion and fitness level.
10. Try out different techniques
I think my method of attacking the rollers works well, but it is not the only way of doing them. If you struggle with rollers, try out different things. There are many ways to approach it. Some people like to stand a lot on climbs. I generally don't, but that is just a personal preference kind of thing. Find something that works for you, but feel free to experiment.
I'm sure I am not remembering exactly, but something like 75% of all RAGBRAI riders each year don't live in Iowa. Many of these people have never even been to the state except for maybe a car trip across I-80 or a flyover airplane ride. A common misconception is that the geography is flat. It is true that there are no mountains, and that there are portions of Iowa which are flat. However, much of Iowa is covered with rolling hills. We aren't like Kansas or Florida!
There are so many people, both Iowans and others, that struggle needlessly on the rollers. I wonder if they have ever been shown the proper way to ride them. There are some definite techniques that can help people out. Here is my attempt at 10 helpful tips:
1. Overall cycling fitness
This should be the most obvious. If you increase your overall cycling fitness through lots of rides, it will help you out on all road types, hills or flats.
2. Use your shifters
If you are going over rollers without using your shifters, you are ignoring one of the best features of a bike: the ability to change your gear ratio and make things easier or faster for yourself. And don't just be changing your back gears. Don't be afraid of changing the front gear as well.
3. Don't use your brakes on a downhill
I realize that some of you without enough time in the saddle could possibly be scared of a big downhill. It is generally easier and safer in high-speed situations to use slight movements in your direction from a long ways away than to use your brakes if you can avoid it. Besides, if you are going too fast and you slam on your brakes you might flip over the handlebars. In general, keep your eyes open and scanning and you can deal with obstacles long before you get to them.
4. Release the death grip on the handlebars during the downhill
In conjunction with the previous tip, a death grip on the handlebars will make your handling a lot twitchier. This is not good for road obstacles. A small bump might jar the steering a bit. If you have white knuckles already, you can't make any subtle but immediate adjustments. If you simply hold on, but not super tight, you can make those small adjustments without wrenching the bike from side to side. Hopefully these two tips will allow you to have more confidence and not scrub off speed where you can.
5. Know when to stop pedaling on a downhill
There does come a point in time when you are travelling so fast that it becomes pointless to expend more energy spinning the pedals. For me, that spot is around 32 mph on normal downhill grades. As my cycling fitness improves, I bump that number up. When I first started my adult biking five years ago, it was 28 mph. By the time I hit that limit, if I am not already in my aerobars [aerobars are certainly not required, but I enjoy them when I am not in a crowd or in other dangerous conditions], I will transition to them then as well.
6. Know when to start pedaling on a downhill
I see many, many people who will coast during any small flat area between the downhill and the start of the downhill. Their reasoning is generally that they are going plenty fast as it is and they want more of a break. While this will give you a good break, it will make your uphill much tougher because you are giving away the momentum. I'll generally start pedaling again when I feel that the downhill slope is flattening out again. I don't ever wait until I am completely in the flats again.
7. Don't drop to your lowest gears all at once on the uphill
For this one, you need to be paying attention to your cadence as you lose your momentum from the downhill. There is a large learning curve to being able to have a smooth gradient to your momentum. If you are cruising along at 30 mph after a nice downhill, but then are going up again and you see your speed drop down to 24 mph, you might be tempted to drop a whole bunch of gears in anticipation. However, if you drop to your lowest gears all at once, you are likely to get that bouncing-in-your-seat feeling. That is a sign of wasted energy. That wasted energy means the free speed from the downhill portion won't be enough and you will likely struggle as you get closer to the crest of the hill. Instead, drop a gear or two at a time as your cadence decreases and you will waste a lot less energy.
8. Don't be afraid of breaking a sweat on the uphill
Self-explanatory, keep your effort level up, the downhill was your break time, not the uphill
9. Know your body type
There is a good reason why most of the professional cyclists are small. It makes climbing a heck of a lot easier. Less weight to drag up the hills. Does this mean that bigger people like me can't become a good cyclist? Absolutely not. It just means that how we approach rollers needs to be different. For me, it is essential that I develop a lot speed by the bottom of the hill. That speed combined with my body mass means that I am carrying a lot of momentum into the beginning of the climb. That momentum will make it so that I can traverse the first 2/3 or so of a roller without a significant amount of difficult effort. Lighter riders tend to lose their momentum quicker since they didn't have as much to start with. However, they can climb a lot easier.
If a much smaller cyclist and I start a roller at about the same speed, for all of the downhill and most of the uphill, it will look as if I am pulling away from the other rider. That other rider will catch me as we get near the crest of the hill if we both are near the same level of exertion and fitness level.
10. Try out different techniques
I think my method of attacking the rollers works well, but it is not the only way of doing them. If you struggle with rollers, try out different things. There are many ways to approach it. Some people like to stand a lot on climbs. I generally don't, but that is just a personal preference kind of thing. Find something that works for you, but feel free to experiment.
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