So I have discovered something called Zwift. It is a game changer.
We all like to keep fit on our bikes, ride as much as we can throughout the year. There are however some problems. Weather is the big one, we live on an amazing island full of culture and history but blessed with great weather? I am afraid not. Yes I know some of you are hardly souls and ride in all weathers but for mere mortals the thought of riding in sideways rain in February is not appealing.
Motivation is another challenge, again this is not a problem for some but I would wager that a large percentage of you would say that they lacked motivation to ride as much as they would like. This ties in with the weather, on a beautiful summer evening then a couple hours riding is easy, however when the nights draw in and the temperature plummets then so does our motivation.
So in the past many of us would train indoors using a turbo trainer or go to the local gym and use an indoor bike. This tends to work in the short term but after a while the novelty wears off and the dreaded boredom sets in. Once you start to dread your training rides then it is game over.
People ride for many different reasons, to enjoy the scenery, competition, fitness, to get away from it all and just for the love of riding. Some people are happy to go on rides nearly every day solo, for me personally I find this difficult, I love riding and I love the scenery but this will only take me so far. I am a fair weather rider and I love competition, not just with myself but with others.
I then discovered Zwift and as I mentioned earlier I believe this is a game changer not only in my year round indoor cycling but my overall fitness.
OK so the premise is this:
You set up you trainer, download the software to your computer, you are then taken into a virtual world of cycling inhabited by people from all over the world, who just like you are at home on their trainers cycling. Once inside you have the option to ride different courses, from dead flat to huge mountains with 30mins plus of climbing. The graphics are fantastic and the real wow factor is when you have a ‘Smart’ trainer the trainer will automatically change resistance to match what you are riding in the virtual world, 5% hill you will feel it, downhill you will feel it, amazingly you can also ‘draft’ other riders and feel the benefit.
To the sceptical out there I too initially though it was a gimmick but after a few days on it I am hooked, I literally cannot wait to get back on the trainer each day, I am cursing my legs for being worn out!
The icing on the cake for Zwift are the group rides and the racing, every day of every week there are multiple group rides and races, most a split into categories based on your FTP so you race and ride with people of similar ability (you are on smart trainers so the system knows your output), the races vary from 5 circuits of a flat route right up to big mountain stage races. These events have become so popular there are sometimes hundreds racing, there is even a guy who commentates on youtube!
Check out highlights from a race:
Check out the mountain stage:
Keep your eyes peeled as there are many professionals using this and you may just see Andre Greipel or Jens Voigt whizz past!
It is by far the most innovative indoor cycling development I have seen, there are also so many areas it can develop, with new routes planned and bigger professional race leagues. The brilliance of it is you can ride with friends who are on different sides of the globe at any time.
I urge every to check it out, you can download it and have a 50km trial, there are some minimum requirements for your laptop and I highly recommend having a smart trainer or power meter as your experience will be more realistic and based on your actual ability. You can ride with a standard trainer and use Z-Power (Zwift estimate your power) but it is nowhere near the full immersive experience that makes Zwift so good.
Check it out here…Zwift
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