Cycle Ops VIP

Just because we’re riding single speed, 23kg, rigid bikes 4,630km up Africa doesn’t mean we’re hardcore! The Joburg winter has caused us to miss more than one Qhubeka bike training ride but the kind folks at Cycle Ops VIP have kindly opened their doors and their training studios to us to help us get as fit as possible before departing on this massive cycle expedition to Kilimanjaro.

CycleOps SA offers two exciting new indoor cycle training options based on its hugely successful range of indoor cycle products and systems, which it has been distributing and supporting in Southern Africa for 10 years. There are two environments, the CycleOps VIP Group environment and the CycleOps VVIP Personal Studio.

The VIP Hub offers group workouts for up to 20 riders in a studio with high resolution TV screen(s) displaying the same dynamic view of a selected route (for example Alpe d’Huez or Absa Cape Epic Stage 1). This studio’s CycleOps Phantom 3 indoor cycles feature power-based virtual reality training, with manual resistance adjustment.

In the VVIP Personal Hub, virtual reality training is taken into a new dimension on Phantom 5 bikes that come with automatic resistance control and separate Android tablet video displays, in addition to HD TV. The VVIP environment allows members the flexibility to ride individual workouts in their own time and in accordance with their own programmes, while still keeping an eye on the rugby or Sky TV.

The facility is membership based, directly or through affiliated coaches, with booking through a web or app based portal. In all cases membership will include access to the base level Training Peaks system through the coaches portal. This allows each member to be registered on the Training Peaks web database containing details of his/her biophysical and biometric profiles, together with training diary, workout log and key performance monitoring and progress parameters.

Besides the obvious advantages of convenience, safety, security and the opportunities for socialisation that a high quality indoor environment provides, the concept is anchored on the core training principle that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!

Visit the Cycle Ops VIP website to find out more.