I’ve been thinking about it for a few days, and I finally got around to it today—installing TrainingPeaks Virtual and getting in a couple of rides on it. There’s loads to discuss because it’s new software that I’ve never tried before. This isn’t going to be a comprehensive review, just my initial thoughts.
To sum it up, I thought it was really, really good. I would say the initial experience is nicer than what I had with MyWhoosh, though I appreciate that MyWhoosh has evolved and improved since my initial experience with it. That said, both TrainingPeaks Virtual and MyWhoosh lack the polish and initial experience that Zwift provides. However, it’s important to note that both TrainingPeaks Virtual and MyWhoosh are currently free, which is a significant factor.
That said, I am aware that TrainingPeaks Virtual will not remain free past the end of Q1 this year, so that will be something to consider moving forward.
First Login Experience
In terms of first user experience, it was really straightforward. I already had a TrainingPeaks account, so my account setup was already complete. The download was about 20MB, and then it proceeded to download an additional 350MB or so, and after that, I was in. I found the whole process very straightforward.
The setup experience was also really nice. I would say TrainingPeaks Virtual feels like the most technically focused of the big three indoor cycling apps that I’ve used. It allowed me to pick and choose exactly what I wanted. Everything worked seamlessly when I selected it, with no pairing issues at all.
For this session, I used my Favero Assioma Duo pedals for power and cadence and the Tacx Neo as the smart trainer. This setup is, as best as I can recall, how I used to run Zwift. It’s not how I’ve been using MyWhoosh recently.
One thing to note is that I didn’t do a structured workout today, so I can’t comment on how well it handles my usual issue of reporting incorrect power values. That’s something I’ll find out tomorrow when I try a structured workout.
First Ride = Free Ride
The menu system is really easy to use. When you first sign in, you’re tasked with setting up your rider. You can get as detailed with this as you like, but I appreciated that there’s no immediate requirement to start with basic or “crappy-looking” gear. You can set up your rider to look how you want pretty much straight away.
I’m not sure if there’s an option to buy upgrades or additional customisations, but I’m not particularly interested in that side of things, so it didn’t bother me. It was nice to pick my avatar, set them up with a colour scheme, and move on.
As for the menu system itself, I’d already seen TrainingPeaks Virtual in a YouTube video, so I had some idea of what to expect. The map and interface reminded me a lot of Watopia from Zwift—it has a very similar aesthetic. At the top of the menu, there are options like Ride, Pace, Train, Events, and Challenges. Most of these are fairly self-explanatory.
I did find Challenges a little different from what I expected. I thought it might be like Zwift’s system, where you complete a series of specific tasks or events to finish a challenge. Instead, it appears to be more about leaderboards—tracking who has done the most distance, climbing, or similar metrics over the last 30 days or the current calendar month. Again, that kind of thing doesn’t really interest me, so I didn’t dive too deeply into it.
For this session, I decided to jump into a free ride. I chose the Base Camp route, which is 12.5 km with 155 metres of climbing. Most of the climbing comes in one big hill—or a small hill, depending on your perspective. I thought this would be a decent way to test what TrainingPeaks Virtual has to offer.
Graphics & HUD Customisation
Before starting the ride, I customised a lot of my settings to display as much data on screen as possible. There’s a ton of data available, which I really like because I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to that sort of thing. One of the settings I was most curious about was the framerate. I set it to uncap the framerate, and I was getting around 60 frames per second.
Graphically, when I first jumped into the ride, my rider looked crisp, but the rest of the environment felt fairly basic. I completed a full lap of the Base Camp route with my initial settings and then decided to stop and tinker with the graphics settings to see if I could get more out of it.
While still in the game, I was able to adjust some settings, like textures, but I suspected that more significant changes would require exiting and restarting the game. That turned out to be true—I restarted and managed to ramp everything up to “Ultra” or the highest settings available. Did it make a huge difference? Not really. The trees and shadows looked a bit nicer, but the overall improvement was minimal.
When I maxed out the graphics settings, my framerate dropped to around 30 frames per second, which is still perfectly fine for me. After experimenting with the graphics, my attention shifted to the number of other riders in the game.
Pace Bots
Once I finished tweaking the graphics settings, I decided to test the game again to see if anything felt different. Instead of doing another free ride, I opted for something new and chose one of the Pace Bot rides. The menu for these is really well done—it shows each bot’s power range. I picked Anna Amber, who has a power rating of 155–195 watts, which seemed like a middle-tier option. I didn’t want to push myself too hard, as I’d already done my main session, but I wanted to fill the remainder of my time and try something different.
If you’re not entirely familiar with power numbers, the menu might not seem particularly intuitive, but the fact that the power ranges increase incrementally makes it easy to figure out over time. That said, I imagine most people using this platform have at least a basic understanding of cycling metrics, so it’s probably not a big issue.
Once I started the ride, the first thing that caught my attention was how many people were on the course. Now, I’m not sure whether some—or most—of them were bots, but they didn’t feel like bots. People were chatting, and everyone seemed to have unique kits, which didn’t give off the impression of AI riders. That was really promising. I think one factor that helps with this is that there’s only one map available, so even if the player base is smaller compared to platforms like Zwift, it still feels busy and engaging. Riding with what seemed like 30 other people was really cool.
One small issue I noticed was that I forgot Anna Amber’s target power range almost immediately after starting the ride, and there’s no on-screen indicator of the power the bot is maintaining. That’s a minor improvement they could easily implement.
Sitting in the pace group was straightforward, and I enjoyed it. There were quite a few people chatting, which added to the experience. Unlike MyWhoosh, where people often say “hello” and the conversation ends there, this felt more like Zwift. Riders were casually chatting, introducing features, and sharing tips about the game. It felt welcoming, which was a really nice touch.
Made By Cyclists(?)
What I would definitely say about TrainingPeaks Virtual is that it feels like a true labour of love. I’m aware of its origins—it was previously known as IndieVelo before being acquired by TrainingPeaks—and you can tell. I don’t know much about the development team behind IndieVelo, whether it was a single person or a small team, but it has that vibe. It feels like the developers have used other cycling software and thought, “You know, I want it to do this,” or “This feature should be done that way.”
This really shows in the level of detail and customisation. You can fine-tune so many settings, and everything feels designed with the user in mind. It nails a lot of things that the bigger apps don’t quite get right.
In my opinion—though I could be wrong—it feels like TrainingPeaks Virtual was built by actual cyclists. By contrast, some of the other platforms feel like they were made by software developers working to the specifications of a project manager. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, but there’s a distinct difference in the vibe. TrainingPeaks Virtual feels personal, like a product made by people who genuinely love cycling. You can sense the passion and thought that’s gone into it.
Wrapping Up
I’ll wrap up today by saying my initial impression of TrainingPeaks Virtual was really good, as I mentioned at the start. I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to exploring it further, seeing what else it offers, and, in particular, trying out one of the bot races. I’m pretty confident this is an actual feature—I’ve seen a YouTuber do it—so I’m hoping to give that a go tomorrow.
As I’ve said about MyWhoosh, these platforms are free at the moment. TrainingPeaks Virtual is free until the end of Q1 2025, so it’s worth giving it a try. It’s a 350 MB download and takes about 10 minutes to set up—what have you got to lose? If you don’t like it, you can always go back to Zwift, MyWhoosh, or whatever else you prefer.
That said, I think this is a solid platform that’s worth checking out. It’s great to see what else is out there, and TrainingPeaks Virtual feels like a fresh, promising option.
