Post by BadMonkeyEdd on Aug 5, 2015 12:24:44 GMT
WARNING, EXERCISE IS MENTIONED BELOW.
Now I realise this will probably not be for everyone, but it is kind of in the gaming family, so thought I'd post anyway.
Unusually for a gamer (or am I being harsh), I am a keen fitness 'freak'. I normally run 5 times a week (30 miles in total on average), cycle to work occasionally (17 miles each way), and will do a number of triathlons a year from Sprint distance to Olympic distance. I do want to do a half Ironman at some point, but they are so expensive. A full Ironman is more expensive than a Xbox One!
I did however want to get myself a turbo trainer to help improve the cycling, particularly the hills, but the thought of spending hours in the garage simply cycling bored me. I therefore bought a Bkool turbo trainer.
A turbo trainer puts the rear wheel of your bike on a roller allowing you to be stationary while riding. The Bkool hooks this roller to a computer so you get a all the numbers that are generated (speed, distance, cadence etc.), but additionally the computer controls resistance, meaning that you can simulate going up (or down) hills. What makes the Bkool standout, and prompted me to write on a gaming forum, is that it gives you either a 3D display of the course with the other riders, or a video if someone has previously recorded the route. It will then play the video back at the speed you are riding which is quite cool.
The routes you can choose are any in the world. it uses GPX files which can be generated by running watches, cycle computers or mobile phones providing you can ridden the route previously. People have already set up many of the worlds most popular rides from the stages on the Tour de France to this weekends London Ride 100 (that was my route!).
Gaming wise, you get to ride against other humans, either 'live' or 'ghosts' and bots. This gives you the motive to work that little bit harder. There are leader boards, and all manor of gaming like characteristics to 'gamify' your training.
Anyway, back to traditional gaming ....
Now I realise this will probably not be for everyone, but it is kind of in the gaming family, so thought I'd post anyway.
Unusually for a gamer (or am I being harsh), I am a keen fitness 'freak'. I normally run 5 times a week (30 miles in total on average), cycle to work occasionally (17 miles each way), and will do a number of triathlons a year from Sprint distance to Olympic distance. I do want to do a half Ironman at some point, but they are so expensive. A full Ironman is more expensive than a Xbox One!
I did however want to get myself a turbo trainer to help improve the cycling, particularly the hills, but the thought of spending hours in the garage simply cycling bored me. I therefore bought a Bkool turbo trainer.
A turbo trainer puts the rear wheel of your bike on a roller allowing you to be stationary while riding. The Bkool hooks this roller to a computer so you get a all the numbers that are generated (speed, distance, cadence etc.), but additionally the computer controls resistance, meaning that you can simulate going up (or down) hills. What makes the Bkool standout, and prompted me to write on a gaming forum, is that it gives you either a 3D display of the course with the other riders, or a video if someone has previously recorded the route. It will then play the video back at the speed you are riding which is quite cool.
The routes you can choose are any in the world. it uses GPX files which can be generated by running watches, cycle computers or mobile phones providing you can ridden the route previously. People have already set up many of the worlds most popular rides from the stages on the Tour de France to this weekends London Ride 100 (that was my route!).
Gaming wise, you get to ride against other humans, either 'live' or 'ghosts' and bots. This gives you the motive to work that little bit harder. There are leader boards, and all manor of gaming like characteristics to 'gamify' your training.
Anyway, back to traditional gaming ....