Cycling the great indoors

Cycling indoors is hardly a new concept, but with interactive riding apps that transport you to virtual worlds, connect you with friends and challenge you with engaging gameplay, it’s never been more fun to clip in and hit the carpet.

Hype for indoor cycling apps

When the pandemic plunged everyone into lengthy lockdowns, online cycling boomed. Without leaving home, you could race, train or freeride just for fun – and with the right setup, ‘feel the hills’ just like you would on real roads.

Some cycling apps, like FulGaz or Rouvy, are based in the real world and give an immersive cycle touring experience using augmented reality and actual first-person video footage.

Other apps are designed to make users faster, sooner. TrainerRoad and Wahoo SYSTM are two coach-backed cycling apps, favoured for their personalised workouts that can adapt in-session based on performance.

Then there’s Zwift, a popular all-rounder cycling app that offers a bit of everything for everyone. It was created by gamers (rather than coaches), and that influence is obvious in the visuals, the virtual worlds, and emphasis on gamified multi-player experiences.

Let’s take a closer look at how to get started with online cycling and some of the benefits. We’ve based this review on the Zwift experience (because it’s what we use at home) but you can apply much of the info to other online cycling apps, too.

To have the best virtual cycling experience you need a smart turbo trainer that you can pair with the app via Bluetooth or ideally ANT+, which is a type of wireless data transfer technology with lower power consumption and shorter range, so it’s commonly used with sport and fitness equipment.

There’s a couple of options, such as an all-in-one smart bike, or a wheel-on or direct drive smart trainer that you mount your own road bike on. The latter is what you’d choose if you want the option to cycle outdoors as well.

To run the app, we use a PC but any device with Bluetooth or ANT+ compatibility will work. Check out the latest iPads and tablets here. If you have Apple TV, you can use it as your Zwift device and set up in front of the big screen.

Once Zwift and your smart trainer are paired up, you’re able to control your avatar by pedaling faster or slower. The trainer measures your power output and sends that info to Zwift which, along with factors like your weight and drafts from other riders, determines your speed and position on the virtual course.

At the same time, Zwift controls the resistance of the trainer. Pedaling becomes harder or easier throughout the ride as the trainer automatically adjusts to match the elevation and terrain of the route you’re on.

For maximum comfort while cycling, consider also getting a front-on fan (it gets HOT riding inside), a shelf in front of the bike (to make grabbing water easy) and a mat to protect the floors. Recently a steering accessory was launched, too.

Benefits of online cycling

Although there’s a fair bit of gear involved, and you need to sacrifice some living space for it, we’ve found it more than pays back in social, fitness and overall wellness benefits. We’ve also noticed that the things that made online cycling so convenient during lockdowns apply to ‘covid normal’ life too.

People are busy again and cycling outdoors isn’t always practical. But when you’re set up to cycle at home it’s easy to squeeze in a ride before work, train long after the sun has set, or whenever it’s too wet, too cold or you don’t have time to travel to a suitable cycling location. It’s the perfect way to practice, keep fit and stay motivated to exercise throughout winter.

Cycling at home is far from boring when you can ride and interact with other users from all over the world. Zwift stands out in this department, with a widespread and highly active online cycling community and a packed calendar of races, group workouts or global team competitions to join. With four friends you can participate in the Zwift Racing League, a points-based team event that takes place over several weeks and time zones.

To make things even more interesting, you can cruise around futuristic city streets one day, and tackle a mountain or a desert route the next. The total length of all the routes in Zwift’s various ‘worlds’ exceed well over 2000km and a common goal for users is to collect as many route badges as they can. While inspiration comes from real places like rural France and New York City, and there’s replicas of many real-world cycling routes, you might consider a different cycling app if you want a bike touring experience with photo-realistic visuals.

Another great thing about having dozens of routes of varying terrain, length and difficulty available whenever you want them, is that you can be specific about your training objectives. Pick the perfect circuit for sprint drills, or practice endurance on a 100km epic. If consistency is your goal, there are also structured training programs and workouts you can complete over days or weeks.

Cycling indoors is considered a separate sport for a variety of reasons, but one obvious difference is there’s none of the real risks and hazards you’d encounter on real roads. For the average user, this is a comforting thing! Because when you’re not worrying about trucks on your tail, potholes over the crest and handling your bike in variable conditions, you can focus on beating your personal best, and the competition.

There’s no better way to appreciate the power of elite cyclists than by attempting some of the routes they compete on, and a simulated experience online means the challenge is available to anyone, any time. For example, the Alpe du Zwift, which recreates the 21 switchbacks of the Alpe d’Huez in the heart of the French alps, lets you experience a legendary mountain pass that has been included over 30 times in the Tour de France.

Despite all the benefits of riding online, there’s some things that can’t be replicated. When you’re ready for downhill thrills, wind in your face, and the exhilarating feeling only the speed of a road bike can give you, all that training at home just makes you stronger and more confident facing real world conditions.

Get inspired with Tour de France: Unchained available on Netflix via Optus SubHub.