Social rides RGT Cycling

At home, with the Grand Tours Project team, we set out to find a way to get closer to our guests and continue sharing the roads with them.

As a result of the current restrictions, we've discovered that riding on virtual platforms is a dynamic and interesting way to ride in social groups, much as we would in the real world. It's a way to ride in your home but stay in contact with riding companions.

It's been so successful that GTP have begun to develop a calendar of events on different platforms. Obviously the popular and well known, Zwift, where you can interact with the entire cycling world, customizing your avatar and selecting the ride you want, some in real places such as the World Championships, and others rides in virtual worlds.

Subsequently, we have found a little gem, RGT Cycling. A fantastic application that allowed us to better interact with our guests and friends. Here's a recap of our first test ride with RGT Cycling.

RGT Cycling is a virtual reality cycling simulator where users from around the world are able to Go Beyond and connect, ride, race and train together in a virtual reality that recreates the captivating culture of real-world cycling.

We decided to take a test ride on one of the most famous and possibly most beautiful roads in the world ... Cap Formentor in Mallorca.

Only last year, GTP were in Mallorca on a reconnaissance trip to create a unique GTP Mallorcan tour. They found the best rides, best restaurants and hotels and turned it into the Mallorca Explorer Tour

Sadly, after the 'hard' work of creating this beautiful tour, we can no longer ride there. However RGT Cycling have designed a real world route in the virtual world - Port Pollenca to Cape Formentor - and it is amazing!

The entire GTP team was invited and anyone else who wanted to join us. The route rolls along Mallorca's most recognised and representative roads along the coast. The pedalling sensations felt quite real and precise at all speeds. And we found that we could choose different camera options - drone, 3rd person, race mode and several others. It was fun to see the whole group from various angles.

As the climbing started, we found that the RGT app was able to reproduce real world efforts and graphics (caveat...depends on the technology that you have !) It was easy to imagine yourself actually riding there.

For our first ride on RGT, each rider climbed at their own pace, their own comfort speed and rhythm...not much different to what we do on our real world tours. We regrouped at the top and descended together, enjoying the classic view of the lighthouse in the distance, the road and it's curves, and with the blue sea in the background. So realistic!

At the end of our test ride, we covered 23 km and climbed 515 meters in about 1.15 hours in total. The perfect amount of time to take a break and transport yourself to a beautiful place.

The Cap Formentor ride was such a success, we have decided to create more rides using the RGT Cycling app. Already we have started posting weekly events in Strava, Facebook and Instagram. You can find direct links below so you can join us.

As passionate cyclists committed to the culture of cycling, we aim to create challenging cycling events and social rides, helping to promote a social network allowing you to remain in contact and ready for the real world when it is safe to meet again.

Instructions

You can find here the app and the instructions: https://www.rgtcycling.com/get-started/

GETTING STARTED ON RGT CYCLING

To use RGT Cycling you need two Apps; the Mobile App, which acts as your RGT Passport and the Screen App, which is used to show the screen.

Getting started is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and takes five minutes*

1. Download the RGT Mobile App from your app store and register.

2. Download the Screen App from your app store on your laptop/ipad.

3. Start both apps and follow the onscreen instructions. (You will be promted to add a pin to link the two apps)

Please find our events on Strava, there you can find our social rides including the RGT Cycling rides, follow the clickable link and join our ride:

https://www.strava.com/clubs/163479?oq=gran

Stay tuned for the events, meetups and activities we have for you! Do not miss!