Indoor Cycling and Zwift

My indoor cycling routine began in July of 2020 when a very good friend of mine turned me on to Zwift. Zwift is a training app that makes indoor cycling fun and interactive. As soon as I started, I was hooked. With no constraints by weather, time of day, distance or mechanical difficulties, I’m able to ride at my convenience.

Zwift connects cyclists from around the world in a virtual setting being a group ride/race, structured workout or just plain free cycling. There are multiple virtual worlds including New York, London, Yorkshire, Scotland, France, Paris, Richmond and Innsbruck along with the fantasy worlds of Watopia & Makuri Islands. The worlds and routes are modelled after real world cycling locations, mountains and race venues. Interaction with other cyclists is as much or as little as you desire. There’s always events or activities going on 24/7.

Here’s a few screen shots of my adventures in Zwift. These vary across the multiple worlds and include both free riding and group rides. This can give you an idea of the varied terrain and different landscapes available. Currently, there are over 100 different pre-defined routes and hundreds on miles of roads to ride. There’s plenty of activity with other riders and lots of roads to keep your interest.

My Zwift setup includes a Wahoo Kickr Bike V2 smart trainer, TurboRocks RealPlate React Stealth rocker plate, Zwift Play controllers,  Wahoo Tickr X heart rate monitor, Gxmmat workout mat, windows 10 computer with bluetooth and video output for 2160p, 65″ TV as the display, Klipsch speaker system for audio and 2 Woozoo remote controlled fans.  I have the Zwift companion app on my Android phone as well.

In Zwift, you have a garage that houses all your virtual items like jerseys(kits), bikes, wheels, etc. Some of these are earned as you complete levels, others are awarded for specific rides and others are purchased with ‘drops’ you earned for each kilometer ridden. Bikes and wheels have an impact on your in game riding while jerseys are just decorative. Like many things, collecting different kits and  items can be another fun aspect to the Zwift experience. Keeping track of these items when you acquire a lot of them can be difficult. So I’ve put together a PDF list to keep track. Feel free to take a look.