I’ve also written about Year one, Year two, Year three, and Year Four.
It was probably around March 1, 2020 when I realized that I would be soon hitting a big milestone ride, ride #1,000 on or around my birthday (March 14). So, I did what just about everyone else would do, I booked a flight leaving Friday, March 13th to New York City and returning March 14th. I would be in studio for my milestone ride and my birthday. How fun would that be?
Thinking back to a year from today, what little did we know how all of our lives would be upended. For example, I was in Seattle for a week for work at the beginning of February 2020 and spent more time in airports in 2019 that I would like to admit to.
As my birthday approached, news of Coronavirus sweeping through Seattle was the daily headline. At that time, it wasn’t clear how bad things were going to get and NYC had low case counts and no restrictions, so the trip was on as far as I was concerned. Being a big music fan, I also bought a ticket for a concert in NYC on March 13th. The week leading up to the trip brought more bad news every day. Case counts were on the rise everywhere. Should we wear a mask when around people? I was able to book two Saturday morning classes, both in the front row and my milestone bike would be Bike #5, front and center.
That week Peloton also announced that they will be opening up their new studio and this would be the last weekend for the Chelsea studio. I have been lucky enough to ride in the studio a handful of times, so it was cool to think that I was going to have one last ride in that tiny sweat box.
On March 13, 2020 Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency for New York City where all large events were cancelled and restrictions put in to place for smaller venues. That was when I cancelled my flight and hotel. Both the airline and hotel thankfully did not charge a cancellation fee. As a hedge that my trip would get cancelled, I already bought a ticket to a concert on Saturday in Chicago. That was also cancelled.
Peloton decided to continue to have instructors come in to the studio, but no one else would be allowed to be in the studio. So, I woke up on March 14th, and went to my basement and jumped on the bike for my milestone ride with Jess King and at least 100 AWS coworkers were also on. I got a big shoutout and that was ride 1,000, not how I planned but still a fun time.
We started quarantining as a family, not even going to grocery stores, just using Instacart for everything. It was warm enough to ride outside at this time, which I continued to do on the weekends. I had a few organized rides on the calendar and all of them were cancelled. I tried riding my road bike with a mask, which lasted about 10 minutes, as breathing was hard enough without a mask.
I stuck to my riding schedule: ride 6 days of the week, take Monday as a rest day and ride outside on the weekends, weather permitting. I can say that Peloton helped with the mental challenges that you face living through a global pandemic. It was my release valve. Bad day worrying about work or a family member? Take it out on the bike. Thanks Peloton for helping me not lose my mind.
During the summer, as a way to help minimize the spread of the virus, Busse Woods Forest Preserve closed all parking lots on the weekend. Busse Woods has a trail that is part of one of my usual biking routes. Having a relatively empty trail on a Saturday morning during the summer was actually really nice. As winter approached, they removed this restriction and I avoided the trail as it was more crowded than ever on the weekends.
A group of riders organized an unofficial century ride (100 miles) in the middle of September on the Centennial Trail. I joined them for a very chilly start (40°F). That was a success, no injuries, no cramping, and no accidents.
I was able to ride outside through most of November and even snuck in a few on days that warmed up in December.
Last year I did every quarterly PeloFondo ride. This is an organized but not Peloton sanctioned event where people attempt to ride different distances over a weekend, and some choose to do it in one day. I always do it in one day choosing 100 miles. The last one was on January 9th and I felt really good at the end. This requires some planning as you are riding for hours and will burn a ton of calories, so eating is required while on the bike.
Power Zone training is my go-to riding method where I participate in the Power Zone Challenges. These are highly structured events focusing on Power Zone (not heart rate) rides at different intensities. I find Power Zone training really helps with my longer outdoor endurance rides.
Peloton introduced Bike Bootcamps in November of 2020. These are similar to tread-based bootcamps where you would spend time on the bike and then for a portion move to your mat for floor exercises. These are really challenging and humbled me completely as Robin Arzon, a few months pregnant at the time, absolutely destroyed me in her bootcamps. This also led to Jess Sims come over from the tread to the bike to do Bike Bootcamps. As I don’t own a Tread, this was my first interaction with Ms. Sims and I now solely take bootcamps under her supervision. Pro-tip: Find someone that loves you like Jess Sims loves her playlists. Bike bootcamps are a Sunday tradition for me since they were made available. I’m getting stronger, but I still have a lot of progress to be made.
In January, I became a Nuun Ambassador. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically an effervescent drink tab that contains electrolytes and other nutrients. It really helps during a workout, I like to think that it is better than Gatorade. Yo, stay hydrated.
About a month ago, I submitted a support ticket to Peloton letting them know that my 234 Week Streak qualified me for a 4.5 year achievement badge and the highest badge they offer is for 4 years. I did get a good response from Peloton.
Last week, I did ride #1,300, again from my basement. It was rather uneventful as all morning live rides on the schedule were cancelled for various reasons at the last minute. So, it was just me on an on-demand ride, which was actually just fine by me and no balloons were harmed.
Here’s to another year on the Peloton. Maybe I’ll upgrade to the Bike+ this year. Or jump on the Zwift bandwagon. We’ll see!
Follow me on Instagram to see Peloton related stories and posts. I am also DonDrake on the Peloton leaderboard.
