How I'm staying fit by indoor cycling this winter with Zwift

2020 has been one interesting year to say the least & its impact on our lives is far reaching beyond the social distancing measures we have to adhere on a day-to-day basis.

For many, including myself, exercise & physical activity is an essential part of our daily routine and COVID19 has drastically changed the landscape of what activities we can participate in.

Prior to the lockdown, I was training as a blue belt in No-Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu twice a week & absolutely loving the skills and physical capabilities that I was developing.

Unfortunately this all stopped very abruptly earlier this year as the gym shut down to comply with government health guidelines.

As a result of this, I began searching for a sport that I could do while social distancing & keeping fit at the same time.

This led me back to biking (more specifically road cycling).

As a young teenager, I was obsessed with biking after joining the mountain bike club at my school which ultimately led to me purchasing a full-suspension carbon fiber bike which I did several races on.

After a few years, I gave up mountain biking to focus on rugby, however the lasting impression of feeling free while I rode my bike stayed with me.

Fast forward to this year & my journey with biking regularly began once again.

Initially I was using my Giant Quick-E commuting bike to get around but after setting a challenge for myself to ride to Niagara Falls (160km) in one day with my best friend this September, I quickly realized that having a dedicated road bike would be much better suited for consistent, long-distance riding.

That led me to purchase the Trek Emonda ALR 5 which has been an absolutely amazing bike to ride on.

After successfully completing our ride to Niagara Falls (stay tuned for the full video of the trip coming soon), I set out to do at least 100km per week while consistently increasing my average speed.

I'm quite proud to say that I've actually surpassed this by riding an average of 172km per week since then, however I live in Canada & winter is coming.

That means riding outside becomes less desirable as the temperatures drop & the days get shorter.

Luckily, some amazing technology has entered the cycling industry to help people stay fit while biking indoors.

Traditionally, most stationary bikes have manual adjustment which you must do yourself & there isn't all that much to engage you due that fact you're riding inside a room with very little outside stimulation.

Zwift solves all of this by allowing you to pair a smarter trainer (like the Kickr Core) to the Zwift app (which runs on all devices) so that you can virtually ride through any of their numerous maps.

The really neat part about this is that your cycling resistance (how hard you have to pedal) is automatically changed for you depending on what kind of terrain you are cycling over.

If you are going up a virtual hill or mountain, your pedalling will get harder just like in real life. Same thing if you're going downhill, just your pedalling gets easier.

On top of this, you are riding with people from all over the world which adds a really unique dynamic nature to the app as you can give a thumbs up or even converse with other people riding.

There are a myriad of different routes you can explore, training programs you can complete as well as races & clubs that you can join all allow you to test yourself in a very engaging setting.

It's been pretty amazing to see my performance increase quite substantially over the past several weeks since riding on Zwift & I think it comes down to the fact you can truly focus on your form when riding inside.

While I love riding outdoors & nothing will ever replace that, it's not always the most conducive for training with uneven surfaces, pedestrians, cars, weather, etc. to watch out for.

Riding on Zwift inside allows me to focus on getting my pedal stroke perfect as I can stare down at my legs/feet to assess them without having to worry about falling off the bike or crashing into something (which I've almost done several times in the real world).

Having access to this kind of measured exercise continually throughout the winter is going to be an amazing resource to have, especially for staying in top condition for when outdoor cycling becomes more desirable again in the spring.

On top of this, I've joined a virtual club with La Bicicletta Toronto through Zwift and have been able to connect with some great people who also share a passion for cycling!

Do you have any questions about Zwift or indoor cycling?

Let me know in the comments below! :)

Rylie C.