What will a complete indoor riding novice make of the latest tech? We got road.cc's co-founder Tony to try a virtual cycling app for the first time

Over the last few years, indoor training has become a popular choice for cyclists of all abilities looking to keep up their fitness levels as the nights draw ever shorter and the weather refuses to let up. Tony, a founding father of road.cc, is not one of those people. He thinks that indoor training is a waste of time, a faff to set up, and about as interesting as watching the grass grow...so, we decided to set him up on a virtual reality cycling app in an attempt to change his mind!

Over the last few years we’ve been getting pretty well acquainted with indoor cycling. I myself have raced up virtual versions of my favourite climbs, I’ve cycled in remote places that I would never ordinarily get to, and we’ve even proved that it’s possible to train smart on a budget of less than £100... but, what would someone who has never ridden indoors on a turbo trainer make of it? Well, we’re going to find out!

Tony is the co-founder of road.cc, and despite having more than four decades of cycling experience, he has never felt it necessary to train indoors (okay, maybe twice on an old Cyclops trainer in the 90s).

Tony doesn't mind riding in the rain and hates the idea of having to connect various trainers and sensors just to pedal and not go anywhere. Despite his reluctance and clear distaste for what some would argue has been the biggest revolution in cycling to happen in the last decade, we managed to convince him to give it a go.

Having talked to Tony it was clear that he didn't want to feel like he was playing a game, so we decided to set him up on Rouvy to try and show him just how far indoor cycling technology has come.

The set-up

One of the main things keeping Tony from indoor training is the faff of the set-up, and I do completely see where he's coming from. In days gone by, it sometimes seemed like an absolute mission to get your bike fitted to a turbo AND actually get the thing connected to a smart device. Nobody (I assume) wants to spend their weekends researching Bluetooth protocols!

Luckily, modern turbos and devices have come a long way. Now you rarely need an ANT+ dongle, and most smart trainers now come with all the relevant bits and bobs to get just about any bike fitted to them in no time.

In our case, it took just a few seconds for Rouvy to find and connect to the trainer, automatically recognising that it was a smart trainer and capable of controlling the resistance (on a virtual hill, for example) as you ride.

There are a few exceptions, but on the whole, you can basically use any device (laptop, phone, tablet or smart TV), any bike (road, gravel, hybrid, MTB etc) and any turbo (dumb or smart) to get started on Rouvy.

"That was quite a bit easier than I thought", exclaimed Tony. 

Decisions, decisions...

Next job, decide where and how hard you want to ride. There are all manner of workouts, training plans, events and races, or free riding where you can simply ride at your own pace.

One of the main things that always has and still gets Tony on a bike is the freedom; the freedom to explore new places and the freedom to ride roads closer to home simply to see what's going on! 

We therefore decided that a free ride would be the best session to kick off with, and after a fair bit of deliberation selected the 32km Cheddar Gorge route from the 'Ride Across Britain' series. Cheddar is relatively close to the office, so it's roads that he's ridden a few times before but rarely gets the time to make it that far.

"There are routes from absolutely everywhere, I wonder if there's any from where I holiday in France... there is!"

Tony was amazed by the sheer quantity of virtual routes. In fact, there are over 1,500 from 45 countries with more being added all the time. You might think that this would make choosing one a mammoth task, but thanks to AI-powered route recommendations and easy-to-navigate route collections, even our complete indoor cycling novice could narrow down his search and choose one that took his fancy.

But the internet!

For the sake of ease, we chose to get Tony started in the office, where thankfully we're blessed with a pretty reliable internet connection. Even so, he soon became fearful that the experience wouldn't be quite so seamless if he was to try it again at home. 

Here in the West Country, you're more likely to find a four-leaf clover than fibre optic! Luckily for Tony, though, Rouvy allows you to download routes prior to riding, so you can get the same smooth riding experience even when your bandwidth is lacking.

3, 2, 1, Go!

The moment of truth. It doesn't matter how easy it is to choose a route or set up if at the end of the day, it doesn't engage you. Tony started pedalling and his virtual avatar made its first ever pedal strokes.

"It’s just so realistic!

"I thought all this indoor cycling malarkey was like playing a video game but there’s loads of detail. I can see shops and cars and potholes, I realise that that doesn’t sound very exciting but it’s all those little things that actually help to keep you engaged."

It's little wonder that the route is realistic, as like all Rouvy routes, someone has been out and filmed it rather than it being recreated in the virtual world. Various banners, avatars and ride partners are then overlayed on top of the high definition video.

What's more, Rouvy has recently unveiled functionality that will allow you to record your own route on an action camera, and then upload it in order to ride it in the virtual world. Cool stuff!

So, was it a hit?

Our novice concludes: “I honestly didn’t expect it to be anything like this.

"I like riding outside in the wind and the rain and general winter weather, but I can see myself using this in a lunch break, or when I’ve forgotten to charge my lights, or when I'm time-pressed which I often am.

“The setup was far easier than I remember it being, and I 100% found this more engaging than the indoor riding I've done in the past."

Since filming this video, Tony has actually asked to borrow a turbo trainer from the office so he can continue exploring Rouvy routes. We don't want to speak too soon, but we reckon the indoor cycling world has gained yet another convert!

Have you tried indoor cycling yet? If not, why not? Let us know in the comments below.