Indoor cycling
While most people use bicycles outdoors, indoor cycling is practiced in at least two ways.
Most modern velodromes (special stadia built for cycle-racing) are indoor arenas featuring a steeply-banked wooden or concrete-surfaced track between 200 and 300m in circumference.
It is also possible to cycle indoors by using either a special stationary cycling machine (an exercise bike) or by placing a conventional bicycle on rollers. Such rollers are often used by racing cyclist during warm-up routines prior to racing events, or as a training option, perhaps when the weather is too bad to train outdoors.
Indoor track racing reached a peak of popularity in the 1930's in the US, when 6-day relay races were held in Madison Square Garden in New York. The word "Madison" is still used to describe a relay cycling race.
In recent years, many new stationary bikes have appeared, including those in recumbant positions, and "spinning machines" which are stationary bikes, built for an almost completely cardiovascular exercise.
The latest use of indoor stationary bikes is as a special option for beating obesity, or just exercise. A video game console has been adapted to display a "game" of a cyclist in a race. The in-game speed of the rider is determined by the actual movement of the pedals on a stationary bike, therefore, providing an added incentive for hard exercise in the form of competition.
Referenced By
Bicycling | Cycling | Unicycling
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