Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Chasing Dragons on a Bicycle
As you may have noticed, I'm a rather competitive person and I really want to win the 1000 Mile Challenge. So I was not about to miss a week of training when I went home to PA for Christmas, especially once I learned that Kyle had taken his bike and his trainer home. And so I paid $20 for a week with the new love of my cycling life: The Expresso Fitness Bike . Three of these beauties reside at the local gym and it was well worth a one-week membership to try them out.
A rundown of the bike's features:
Screen: The screen is the most obvious difference between Expresso bikes and regular ones. Instead of watching green lights flicker on a bar graph you see a virtual 3D landscape that passes as quickly as you pedal, as if you're moving through a video game. You also pass (or get passed by) other riders, which can be a great visual motivator.
Steering: On most exercise bikes handlebars are just something to lean on or to monitor your heartrate, but on Expresso bikes you also have to use them to steer through the landscape. It isn't very difficult to steer since you can't go completely off the course or crash into anything, but it does add to that real bike feel.
Gear Shift: I can't tell you how nice it was to shift up and down using a lever in front of me instead of having to press beeping buttons on every incline and decline. Even though I'm used to shifting on the handlebars this setup was close enough to make me happy.
Saddle: The seat on an Expresso bike isn't as large and cushy as those on most exercise bikes but it isn't as narrow and unyielding as those on spinning or road bikes either. I thought it was the perfect compromise, though some riders looked a little less comfortable after long sessions.
Pedals: Somehow it took me two days to realize this fact, but the backside of the Expresso's normal pedals are SPD pedals, meaning I could clip in with my Shimano shoes! I'm sure I looked a little ridiculous changing my shoes at the bike but it was well worth it.
Courses: I really enjoyed all of the routes that I rode: past farms, across deserts, over mountains, through towns, out in space... I was initially disappointed that the courses were rather short: moderate were under 7 miles, challenging were 7-10 miles, and extreme ranged widely but were still under 20 miles. Then I realized that the courses could be really exhausting, especially when I tried to pass as many other people as possible. I also didn't want to monopolize the bike for too long, so I got into the routine of riding a challenging route as hard as I could - my favorite became Drifter's Peak, which was 10 miles out in space - and then moving to a normal recumbent to rack up more miles; compared to the Expresso bike it felt easier, plus it gave me a chance to do some reading. If any Expresso bikes were open when I finished on the recumbent I would hop back on for a moderate route to end my workout. No, I never tried an extreme ride, and yes, I'm kicking myself for it now.
Data: Information about the course (distance, grade, route, etc.) and performance (rpm, mph, heartrate, power output, etc.) is available on the screen at all times in a clear and mostly unobtrusive format. Much of it is also graphed, allowing you to track your progress throughout the ride and see, for instance, how much the inclines spiked your heart rate. The only thing missing on the screen is average mph, though it's included in the summary at the end of the ride.
Pacer: In each ride you compete against a Pacer in a yellow jersey who stays at a set power level (which you can adjust). It's a great idea but I could never keep my Pacer set at a helpful level. The first few rides I outdistanced my Pacer by several minutes. I kept increasing his pace to no avail, until suddenly he was at the "extreme" level and destroying me. I guess with more riding I could find a happy medium. And it didn't really matter that the Pacer was far behind or in front of me because the course was full of other people to pass.
Leader Board: You have to be a Silver Level Expresso.net member to have your name on the leaderboard (translation: pay $10 a month). Fortunately other users can still see the overall leaderboard and figure out where they would have placed, which worked as great motivation for me. If I join a gym with Expresso bikes next year though I'm pretty sure I'll be competitive enough to want the membership.
Music: My mp3 player takes AAA batteries, which I didn't have in the house. I don't mind being without music on a regular stationary bike because I can read a book or watch TV instead, but that's not really possible on an Expresso with that whole steering thing. Luckily Expresso offers several channels of streaming music so I plugged in my headphones and enjoyed neverending classic rock during my rides.
Games: For those who find racing on a designated path too boring Expresso also offers a video game experience, what they call a Chase. Though their website discusses "chases" plural, the only one available on my bike was the Proving Grounds, where you ride around collecting coins and chasing dragons of the corresponding color. It was a really fun diversion, though in the end I found the races more exciting and motivating. I can see myself being drawn to new games, however, and as soon as they integrate Expresso with Mario Kart I'm totally there.
Summary: Expresso Bikes are made of awesome. And if you have several thousand dollars lying around feel free to buy me one.
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