More Than a Bike

How a Peloton changed my life

In the past week I’ve run into three buddies from the gym. They all asked me where I’ve been and why I haven’t been back to the gym. I told them, I completed a workout gym at my house and got a Peloton. Their responses were all the same, “Oh, so you have one of those now. Don’t you get sick of biking?”

Then I proceeded to spend way to much time explaining to them that a Peloton is not just a bike. It is way more than that. In fact, it’s a better value than all the workout memberships I had combined, plus all the time I spent commuting. I feel like I should have been wearing a Peloton shirt and been part of their sales team at the local mall.

Now they went from “It’s just a bike mindset,” to “I think I really need to look into getting one.”

The “It’s just a bike,” “It is going to end up being an expensive clothes hanger” or “It’s just a bike with an iPad in it” crowd is going to be disappointed.

Trust me, I know, because that’s what I used to think.

Since getting a Peloton I have cancelled my gym membership ($39.99 month), my Down Dog app membership ($49.99 year) and my Calm app membership ($69.99 year). My wife has even stopped her weekly session with her trainer. ($65 per week)

On top of this, I no longer have the round trip 30 minute commute. For my normal five day a week routine it saves me almost two and a half hours of driving. That is almost 11 hours per month, and 130 hours per year!

Previously I’d drive to the gym, workout, shower and go to work from there. Eliminating my drive time has changed my lifestyle drastically. I can get more sleep if needed. I’m able to shower at home. I can wake up my kids, have breakfast with them and my wife before I leave for work. My daughter just started pre school this year, so now I can see her off or even take her to school. I’ve found a way to free up one of life’s most valuable assets, time. How do you put a value on that?

I’ve always been very active in sports. I played basketball, football and baseball through high school. Continued to play basketball up until I tore my ACL at it a few years ago. A few Sundays ago I completed a live 30 minute ride with Kendall Toole. I decided my goal was to make it as high on the leaderboard as I could. Was it possible to get within the top 50? After coming to an inch of death, I’m happy to say I’m still here. I finished 48th out of 3,080 riders!

I was so exhausted that I collapsed to the floor and there was a sweat silhouette on my gym floor. It was a silhouette of me with Lake Michigan inside of it. I had to take a picture of it. What a sight! My wife gave the type of response you would expect when I showed it to her. But I was proud of it!

Who thought I could get that exhausted from a ride? The adrenaline rush I got from it brought back memories of my sports playing days. I’ve never been a biker. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve climbed on a road or stationary bike in the past ten years. Now I take a live ride two or three times a week.

The camaraderie from the gym has now turned into a new Peloton community, where I connect with others from all over the country. In live rides you usually find yourself within a familiar group of people. You all high five, but of course push harder to try to beat them. I’ve connected with others who live here in Wisconsin. Fellow Buffalo Bills fans that have the #billsmafia hashtag, who are near me on the leaderboard of course get a high five! This community aspect is one of the unknown secret sauces of Peloton.

Everything is there. Either live or on demand classes. Cardio on the bike or tread. Head for an outdoor run with a trainer in your headphones. Lifting weight in the strength section by using free weights or your bodyweight which allows you to target whatever area of the body you want. Yoga, meditation, bootcamp and stretching can be done just like everything else, for whatever time you want, led by whichever trainer you chose.

So there is no more waiting to use machines or weights for me. My workouts now are done faster and harder with no more commute time. I have freed up hours of my time to do whatever I want. How do you price that?

Disclosure: I own a Peloton Bike+ and am an investor in Peloton.