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Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
Week 3 of my adventures in indoor cycling. Riding in London, my home city, on Zwift has cemented my thoughts from last week about not being able to enjoy the scenery - it's rudimentary and repetitive enough that I didn't recognise streets I've walked down literally hundreds of times. The actual ride, the stats, the motivation to get those numbers up, are all still great - I'd just love to watch the world go by as well.
After a bit of searching I found Fulgaz, which promises a similar experience but with 4K video of real rides - perfect, in theory! The fact it also doesn't have the social features of Zwift is a bonus in my eyes, not a drawback. First impressions weren't great, since it crashed to desktop three times before I managed to get a route up, and once more when I exited.
I've only done two routes so far, both in San Francisco, and I'm ambivalent. It does exactly what it says on the tin, once you manage to get it up and running, but it turns out there's a bit of an uncanny valley sensation watching all the turns and bumps and little movements of a real ride without being able to feel them. It's a victim of its own realism, in some ways. It's also far less polished in the non-ride details (menus, stat display, the aforementioned stability problems), which is understandable given the size of their team compared to Zwift's, but does mean it hasn't drawn me in quite so much.
Another ride tomorrow morning, and I'm giving Fulgaz a solid shot, so will be interested to see how some smoother more rural journeys compare.