Ankle Injury

I'm suffering from an ankle injury that's kept me off the bike for over a week now. I hate injuries it not only keeps you off the bike but makes everything else in your life miserable as well. I suffered this injury by stepping off a porch onto uneven ground. I felt my ankle roll over and then a slight pain. I should have stopped right there and started icing it. No, I'm too tough and in denial for that. This way of dealing with paining injury was ingrained into me by my athletic coaches when I was a kid, especially football coaches. When you've been hurt so bad you're laying on the ground rolling in agony they'll say "Come on, your not hurt get up and shake it off." Naturally I jump up trying not to show the pain in fear of being humiliated by the coach and teased by my teammates. You'd think I'd be over it by now. I've been managing the pain and swelling with medication along with ice and heat. I hope to be back on the bike soon.

Rollers

Worked out on the rollers tonight. It was a great workout on a rainy day. I've been training on rollers going on thirty years. I had a turbo trainer back in the day.  A RacerMate just like this one.

I trained on it for years. Sweat all over it and it was rusting away. I needed something new.
When I was at Evergreen I rode with with a buddy of mine Pete. Pete was from Georgia. He was an athletic young man and an avid cyclist. One day he and I where going to go for a ride. I rode over to his house and of course he wasn't ready to go. So I was sitting around waiting for him to get his cycling clothes on and telling him about how I needed a new trainer. He told me I should try a set of rollers.  I had no idea what he was talking about. He says "You don't know what rollers are? Let me show you." He went into his bedroom and came out with a metal frame with three wooden rollers and a rubber band that connected the back to the front.

Pete says "I'll set it up here in the door way." I said "Why?" He said "You'll find out." I brought my bike inside. I put it on the rollers then climbed onto it. It was quite a chore. First of all the bike stood about six inches higher than usual. Secondly the bike kept falling off the rollers. I figured out that the door jam was useful for getting on the bike. After a few attempts I was up on my bike. I had one hand on the handle bars and the other was hanging on to the door jam very tightly. Pete says "Start peddling and when you start filling comfortable put your other hand on the bars." So I started  peddling and the wheels started to go around and the rollers were moving and I was totally amazed that all of this was happening. I peddled in this position for a while. I became annoyed with Pete repeatedly telling me to put my other hand on the bars so I finally just hauled off and did it. When I did all hell broke lose. The bike was wobbling back and forth, my shoulders were banging against the door jam, the right side then the left, I was struggling to stay up right. What I didn't realize, because I was in a panic, is I was looking straight down on the top of my front wheel. Pete held his hand out in front of me about waiste high. He said "Look at my hand." I looked up at his hand and when I did the bike straighten up. I no long went from side to side. I rode on those wooden rollers for about fifteen minutes while Pete got himself and his bike ready to go. From that then on I knew I wanted to train
on rollers.


I'll be on my rollers all winter spinning and doing intervals. I'm looking forward to it now. I'll be sick of it by February.

Links:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_rollers

https://www.cycleops.com/post/blog-15-bike-trainer-vs-rollers-whats-the-difference

http://www.davescheapbikes.com/trainer-vs-rollers/