Tag Archive for: Zwift

Recovery Rides

For the past seven weeks, I have been training indoors. Up at 5:30am. On the bike by 6:00am. Ride for more than an hour. Some days, the rides are really, really hard.

Lots of suffering,

And then there are recovery rides. Easy spinning.

Train hard on the hard days. Take it real easy on the easy days.

On Zwift this morning, the sunrise was timed perfectly to my local time. The above screenshot from my Zwift ride was taken just as I started my descent in the beautiful island paradise of Watopia.

Felt awesome spinning today.

Zwift on Apple TV

I was a beta tester of Zwift on Apple TV although from beta to release was exceptionally short, only a matter of a few weeks. At least for me. I suspect the team at Zwift was busy on this one for a lot longer.

I love riding on Zwift. As a form of augmented reality, the game really does draw you into the experience of riding in a way that is very engaging.

I currently use Zwift on a laptop and I use Zwift’s app on the iPad to help navigate common commands while riding — it can be a bit challenging leaning over to the laptop and trying to tap on the keys while maintaining pace on a bike. I have the iPad on a stand within easy reach of my hand.

Zwift on Apple TV makes things a lot simpler from a connectivity perspective assuming that the sensors on the bike and on the trainer can all communicate via Bluetooth. Bring up the app, pair the sensors and the game now presents on a really big screen.

Fewer wires, larger displays.

Zwift also gave me a new Parlee ESX bike:

 

Unfortunately, as a virtual machine, it only works in Zwift.

Time to Zwift

Most of my riding is now taking place indoors. Increasingly with Zwift.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still love the Sufferfest videos but they are a very different experience. Zwift feels a lot more immersive to me especially now with group workouts.

And, if I am going to get on a bike at 6am to ride hard for an hour or more, immersive is good.

I just started a 12-week program and that should prepare me well for the ultimate pain and suffering indoors: the Tour of Sufferlandria.

That nasty little event will be coming up in early February.

Zwift

Zwift

I am really enjoying Zwift. Still completely dedicated to the Sufferfest but on those days where I want to dial it back a little, Zwift is great fun.

I came across this video which highlights how Zwift blurs the physical and virtual worlds of indoor cycling with the clever use of gaming.

Hard to believe that only a few years ago I was spinning to Coach Troy all winter.

On, ahem, a DVD player.