Ollie Jones has celebrated some of his biggest wins - arms aloft in typical style for a professional cyclist hitting the finish line - in the saddle of a stationary bike in his St Albans garage. Chris Barclay takes a virtual journey with the Christchurch man who makes a living as an Esports endurance athlete.
Ollie Jones qualified for the second edition of the UCI Esports cycling world championships with the fan on full bore, though without fanfare.
From a dimly lit garage near the rear of a St Albans townhouse complex, the 25-year-old rode into contention for one of cycling’s newest accolades on a stationary bike linked to an indoor fitness platform.
Jones made the 100-strong field for the February 26 virtual race around Central Park, one of New York’s most renowned landmarks, by placing second to Australian Ben Hill through Oceania region qualifying last month.
Futuristic elevated glass roads also take riders high into the iconic Manhattan skyline while Jones gauges his progress on a television monitor, or catches a glimpse of gardening tools should he swivel his head to the right.
Jones, who also races competitively outdoors, can at least log plenty of solo prep for the race which includes 944m of climbing – almost three times the height of the Empire State building.
He can cycle the route anytime day – or night – from home via the Zwift app to fortify himself for about 90min of high intensity aerobic exercise.
A former inline speed skater who turned to cycling in 2016 due to injuries, was fourth in the inaugural world championships, a result he is keen to improve on.
"What do you get for fourth?" Street cried.
"It was heartbreaking, especially at four in the morning,” he said, before pointing out the winner, Jason Osborne, won €8000 Euros ($NZ13,000).
Prize money derived from subscriptions and investors adds up, so Jones considers esports cycling as his primary job while he makes his road debut for the Australian St George Continental team at next month’s New Zealand Cycle Classic in the Wairarapa before venturing further afield to Asia.
Although the disciplines are complementary – Jones secured a road racing contract for an Italy-based South African team in 2018 by impressing at Zwift’s 10,000-strong virtual academy – they require distinct preparation.
Jones spends up to 15 hours a week racking up 600km on the winding roads around the Port Hills, another five hours indoors going nowhere.
There are other points of difference. There are no pile-ups on virtual roads, no punctures - unless you count the internet connection dropping out - and no podiums.
"In the big races they’ll get you on a Zoom call,” said Jones, who insisted crossing the line first in the garage was just as satisfying as success in the real world.
"I get just the same rush from it. I’ve won a couple of races on the road and I’ve won a few races on Zwift.
"It’s pretty similar. I’ll still put my hands in the air in the garage. It just feels natural," he said.
"Everyone in the Zwift worlds has to be on the UCI Whereabouts Programme and testing could be extended to all elte level races within the next five years," he said.
Zwift riders also have to submit a weigh-in video two hours before the race as the resistance each competitor encounters during the race is based on bulk, with a power meter recording how many watts are produced.
"Just like outside, if you’re a bigger dude it’s going to be harder to go up climbs.
"It simulates real life I guess with different types of people having different specialities,” said Jones, who smiled when asked if anyone could try and use an electric bike to gain a competitive advantage.
"Just like PEDs some people are always trying to stay ahead of technology so at the top level we have a secondary power meter, you have to send that file in afterwards as well and the two have to match.”
Jones joined Zwift’s global peloton in mid-2017 when he returned from Europe after racing for the New Zealand under-23 road team in Belgium.
"I was a little bit unmotivated after coming back from basically some of the biggest races I’d done as a cyclist and coming back to winter where there’s not much happening over here," he said.
"When we’re racing we’ll be on a voice call to talk about tactics during the race," said Jones, who has never met his teammates from the United States, South Africa and Croatia.
Admittedly tactics are not as critical as outdoors because the races are shorter – it’s no Tour de France where a stage might be 160-180km long.
"On Zwift they’re more like 40k, just shy of an hour. There’s a lot more intensity. Because they’re fast and intense it’s a bit hard to think about breakaways or things like that," said Jones, who has about 40 a season on his Zwift schedule.
He missed one recently because he contested the Tour of Southland last month, where he finished fourth.
Jones said while Zwift is a business for him, it also appeals to recreational – and safety conscious – cyclists or parents.
"There’s no crashes so if you’re nervous about your young kids being out on the road, it’s a lot safer," he said.
"There’s also a community aspect to it. There might be 30 people doing the same thing as you. You can message them and whatnot. It becomes a bit more social when you’re alone in the garage."
