Zwift vs Me

 

 What with the pandemic becoming more and more prevalent I have been reluctant to travel anywhere to ride. It's also been incredibly foggy here. Most of my cycling friends it seems are on Zwift these days so I thought I'd give it a try.

We already have a Kurt Kinetic trainer (it's what they call a dumb trainer: no electronics) But I have a Powertap power meter and heart rate monitor so all I needed to buy was an $18 ANT+ dongle to connect to Zwift.

I've only tried it twice, but I have to admit I don't get it. Though it was fun to "ride" with my friend Jaime and try to keep up with her, I didn't get much out of my solo ride. 

My Zwift-o-phile convert friends tell me that I would like it a lot more if I had a smart trainer that varies resistance based on what the game is showing. But holy smokes that's a lot of money to spend on some thing that I'm not sure that I'd really like or use that much.

But if I had one I'd be able to see people from all over the world ride past me at higher speeds that I can ride instead of just the few local riders I encounter when I'm out in the world. That's got to be worth something, right? But $1000 or so? 

So, the jury is still out. Will I just roll my eyes and move away from it, or will I drink the Zwift Kool-Aid and become a proselytizing convert?