Rollers
Rollers
Rollers are a great training tool to use for a recovery ride.
Ok, so you’re not riding outside but you can spin on the rollers whatever the weather, and they not only enable you to keep the power low, but also force you to pedal smoothly to avoid falling off.
This means that while riding on the rollers you are also working on your pedaling technique, so despite the ride being a recovery ride, you are still getting a training benefit without compromising your next session.
Rollers are also great for any session that is cadence-based, so they’re a perfect tool for the cadence drills that we have already talked about. Still, the temptation when riding the rollers is to spin up your wheels and gradually ride in a bigger and bigger gear as this means your wheels are turning faster and helps make things more stable.
However, this is making things too easy if you really want to work on your pedaling technique, so during recovery rides, try and stay in the little ring and also in the top half (from the 16-tooth sprocket and bigger) of the cassette. This means that your wheels are turning relatively slowly and you are forced to pedal smoothly to stay stable. I know of a former world track champion who would do an hour a day on the rollers in 39×21 just to work on improve his pedaling technique.