Indoor Training Roundup: News from Strava, Zwift, Ride With GPS, Wahoo & more

Normally at this time of the year, many of us in the northern hemisphere are packing up the trainers to head out into the real world. Obviously, 2020 had different plans for us all. For a number of different reasons, riders have been spending a lot of time indoors even as the weather improves. Now, maybe more than ever, the trainer is a critical tool in keeping sane and keeping fit. Because of that, we’ve seen a lot of updates and new features from the virtual side of things.

Zwift

Zwift was already quite popular with the virtual training world, but COVID-19 has turned it into a virtual cycling utopia. Along with a number of group rides, races, and fundraisers, Zwift also just announced the addition of a second guest world. That means that in addition to Watopia, you’ll have the choice between two additional worlds to ride in for the day. Not only will that help keep boredom at bay, but we have to guess that it may allow the program to run more smoothly with riders more spread out between three different worlds instead of just two.

Even amateur Zwift racers like Ted King are getting in on the action. That statement sounds odd, but Ted is apparently getting Zwift coaching from Pro-Zwifter, Kevin Bouchard Hall. If you’re considering an attempt at trying a Zwift race, this is a good place to start. It’s also great info for new parents!

Strava

Speaking of virtual riding, if you plan on uploading those rides to Strava you’ve likely seen the hundreds or thousands of segments that go along with them. To cut down on the noise and make things a bit easier to follow, Strava has made the least popular virtual segments private. They haven’t been deleted, but they have been hidden to keep the most important segments visible. This is part of a number of updates to make the app more functional and easier to use.

• Segments are a huge part of how athletes stay motivated and inspired whether they’re training indoors or outdoors.
• These improvements help athletes focus on the segments that matter the most.
• The least popular virtual ride segments have been made private, but none have been deleted. Athletes can still see efforts on private segments that they’ve created (on mobile and web). They can also see private segments on the web when you view “My Segments” – and click the “created” tab.

Ride With GPS

So you may be stuck indoors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ride your favorite outdoor routes still. To do so, Ride With GPS shows you how to ride your favorite routes on the trainer. The video shows how to do this on a Wahoo ELEMNT, but they also have instructions on how to do the same thing on your Garmin here.

Peaks Coaching Group

Worried about maintaining your FTP numbers through quarantine? Hunter Allen has a number of coaching videos aimed to help you keep your fitness for when this is all over.

Wahoo

There’s still time to get in on the 4 week free trial and All In training program from The Sufferfest and Wahoo. Using the code ‘ALLINSUFPLAN’ will get you 4 free weeks in addition to the usual trial, you just have to cancel before the plan auto-renews to keep it free.

Also, starting this past Friday, April 3rd, Wahoo has started a live stream workout every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12 PM EST. Coached by Neal Henderson and Suzie Snyder, Mondays will include a cycling workout, Wednesdays will focus on strength training and yoga, and Fridays will include a recovery spin and Q&A with one of the guests listed below. Watch live here.