Good news. A bike ride where I neither got wet, nor nearly killed. Ahh, how I have missed the turbo trainer.
No.
Genuinely.
I think it massively helps that Zwift has noticeably improved in my absence.
Whilst fundamentally still the same, there were several areas I could tell some dev effort had been spent. There’s the obvious, like the menu system, the simplicity of the user experience from picking a workout to getting your world and course selected, and then you’re in ride.
But there’s other things, like the companion app extras. The little details, goals to hit, things to increase engagement. All those pace partner rides, and that was both visible from the menu and in-ride. Those were always going to be popular.
I’m very much looking forward to trying out the ghost feature, and I’m signed up for 4 current events, though I’d be the first to point out I’ve already forgotten what those are.
Anyway, all very good. Very positive.
Actually it’s been a shocker outdoors today so chances are I’d have had to be back on Zwift regardless.
Whilst on the turbo I had ~60 minutes to do other things. Some of this was simple stuff like bits of Amazon shopping, some duolingo, and other crappy admin tasks that usually take up extra time in my day.
But one rabbit hole I went down today was the idea of buying a dedicated desk for the turbo.
I found this one on Amazon and went looking for reviews. DC Rainmaker has the best one I found (see above), but the cheapest I’ve found it is on Wiggle for just £89.99.
I haven’t yet pulled the trigger on this, for one reason: space.
Do I really want yet another thing in this room?
I have a sit / stand desk and I do raise it up when on the bike. But I’m a good 8 foot or more away from the screen when on the bike. At 4k it’s basically impossible to use the PC as my eye sight is rapidly diminishing. I need glasses for any kind of PC use, which I don’t bring with me on the bike. Even with my specs on, I couldn’t see tiny fonts from that distance.
So, I could drag the bike / turbo out, getting it near the desk. That would solve one problem.
But I would mean having to pull the sweat matt, too. And that’s a real chore.
Or, I could buy the desk but then storing it when not on the bike is a pain as it makes the small room even smaller.
Still, it seems like a good idea.
A tricky one, right now. An alternative is a stand for the iPad, but I think that’s just a half measure and I’d want more. The table seems best… my only gripe is storage.
On the plus side today I figured out why my Google Pixel buds don’t work with the PC. The issue was the bluetooth dongle was right next to the USB WiFi dongle. Once I moved it, the constant beeping / cutting out went away. So that’s great. That means I can listen to more than just music when on the bike.
All round then, very good stuff today. More thought required on the table front, but I think I’m leaning towards getting it.
Looking forward to doing something a little more intensive tomorrow, though not yet sure what that might be.
Update: I ordered the table:
