The local cycling community is finding shelter in the COVID-19 storm by embracing their sport — with some modifications.
Belcarra’s Colleen MacDonald, who has authored a book on cycling routes in Metro Vancouver, said cycling is a great way to practise self-care in a time of high anxiety.
“For me, cycling is such a wonderful way to move about,” she said. “I like the pace, the sights and sounds.”
MacDonald said she took advantage of last week’s sunny weather to ride along trails at Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlam as well as in Pitt Meadows. She said it was easy to maintain a social distance from others who were out and about but she also took other precautions, like wearing gloves, washing her hands frequently and packing her own water and snacks rather than stopping for a break at a café.
Adrian Pettyfer, the president of the Tri-Cities Cycling Club, said its 120 members are hitting the road but they’re doing it solo. He said the club’s Sunday morning and Thursday evening group rides, which depart from Port Moody’s Suter Brook Village and were set to begin in April, are postponed.
Pettyfer said the loss of interaction is a blow.
“We are a social club,” he said. “We often stop for coffee breaks, finish with a beer at a brewery and put on a number of fun social functions throughout the year.”
Pettyfer added some members are keeping the camaraderie of the road alive by sharing their rides on social media or organizing group efforts on virtual training apps such as Zwift that simulate imagined or real riding experiences.
Frank Quigg, who operated a Zwift indoor cycling studio in Port Moody until he closed it late last year, said virtual riding is a great way to stay fit and motivated while minimizing the risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus.
“During this time of confinement and worry, a distraction that keeps you fit, reduces stress and puts you in contact with others from around the world is a very valuable tool," he said.
Quigg said the cost of setting up for virtual rides can be less than $100 if you already have a basic indoor trainer that provides resistance to your bike’s rear wheel. To make such a trainer communicate with the app requires a speed/cadence sensor that sends a signal to your mobile device, desktop computer, Apple TV or Android box connected to your big screen. It will show how fast you’re going and the effort you’re putting in as scenery and other cyclists whiz by.
A “smart” trainer with built-in communication capabilities and that also varies the resistance to the rear wheel depending on the terrain you’re riding — for example, making it harder when you’re riding up a virtual hill — can cost as little as $450 or as much as $3,500 for a full-on experience complete with a fan to blow wind in your face and even a device for mounting to your bike’s front fork that raises and lowers to simulate climbing and descending. One company has even developed a front wheel block that swivels and works with some courses on the Zwift app to simulate steering.
Quigg said the virtual rides even offer the social interaction of a peloton with cyclists able to communicate with one another and send likes via a companion app.
He said it’s been interesting to watch the use of the apps explode and the nature of riders’ interactions change as the COVID-19 pandemic has spread around the world.
“There has been a noticeable outpouring of camaraderie for the riders from Italy,” Quigg said, adding that he has seen as many as 16,000 riders logged into a ride on Zwift when the norm might be 3,500.
He said there have been “a lot of good wishes for everyone, and an overall sense of ‘we’re all in this together.’”
