When it comes to indoor cycling apps, the choice is booming, with each promising to make training more efficient and effective, leaving you a stronger and speedier rider.
MyWhoosh might not be the most well-known indoor cycling app in Europe and the US, but that’s set to change.
Launched in 2019, the Abu Dhabi-based indoor training platform’s headline USP is it’s completely free. But that's not at the cost of enjoyment and engagement, and its features tick a lot of indoor training boxes.
MyWhoosh has a partnership with the UCI that will see it host the next three editions of the UCI Cycling eSports World Championships, as well as sponsoring the UCI Road Cycling World Championships from 2024.
In this guide, we explain what MyWhoosh is, how it works and what you need to get started. We also outline whether it might be the right app to help you enjoy the benefits of indoor cycling.
What is MyWhoosh?
MyWhoosh is an indoor cycling training app. It has a variety of features that can rival more established players in the worlds of virtual cycling and indoor training, such as Zwift and TrainerRoad.
Its main attraction is its numerous immersive virtual worlds, where you can simulate riding on inch-perfect recreations of real roads and dreamt-up routes inspired by iconic cycling hotspots in places such as Colombia and Belgium.
There are also workouts and training plans created by UAE Team Emirates’ WorldTour coach Kevin Poulton, and its lucrative eRacing series, where each week almost £100,000 is on the table.
MyWhoosh says it has more than 700km of routes across its six worlds, while its workout library stands at more than 700 sessions – with more routes, worlds and training plans in the works all the time.
MyWhoosh features
MyWhoosh is similar to Zwift and Rouvy when it comes to its broad offering.
It's intended to cater to all levels of indoor cyclists, whether you’re just getting started, wanting to progress on-bike fitness with a focused training plan or keen to get the heart pumping with some virtual racing.
What courses are there on MyWhoosh?
Like Zwift, MyWhoosh sees users pedal a customisable avatar around a virtual world. The immersion isn’t limited to its graphics though.
The physics of riding are simulated, with a change in gradient increasing your turbo trainer’s resistance and hogging a rider’s virtual rear wheel, giving you a wind-cheating benefit.
MyWhoosh says it has 12 worlds available to ride:
- Arabia
- Australia
- Alula
- Belgium
- Colombia
- California
- Endurance Climb
- Hudayriat Island
- Japan
- MyWhoosh World
- Switzerland
- UCI
Each world has a minimum of seven routes to choose from, apart from Endurance Climb and Switzerland, which are one-route worlds.
All of the worlds include accurate recreations of real locations, such as Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit and the Tour of Flanders’ cobbled climb, the Kapelmuur, but most of the courses are made up.
MyWhoosh cycles through worlds daily, and there are generally four to choose from at any one time.
Does MyWhoosh offer structured training and workouts?
The structured training and workouts on MyWhoosh are designed by UAE Team Emirates’ WorldTour coach and are said to be at the cutting edge of cycling-fitness theory.
The training plans are focused on a range of riding disciplines, from road racing and time trialling to criterium and triathlon.
There are also programmes for those looking to kick-start their fitness or lose weight.
If you’re just looking for one-off workouts, it’s possible to filter by duration and intensity, too.
Each workout is structured around your Functional Threshold Power (FTP), which can also be tested on MyWhoosh. Once you have input your FTP, you simply have to switch your turbo trainer to ERG mode, follow the on-screen instructions and pedal.
MyWhoosh also plays nicely with training apps such as TrainingPeaks and Today’s Plan, and you can import your scheduled workouts, or even build your own in the app in the 'Create Custom' section.
Can I join a group ride on MyWhoosh?
It is possible to join a group ride on MyWhoosh, but given the relatively low number of users compared to, say, Zwift, there’s a good chance there will be quite a few bots in your peloton.
MyWhoosh offers several group-ride options:
- MyBunches: a series of bot-led group rides that set off every 30 minutes on the assorted routes in the game. There are nine bot paces to choose from, ranging in increments of 2km/h from White (25km/h) to Team UAE (40km/h+).
- Social Rides: on Wednesdays (7pm GMT, 36km/h average pace) and Thursdays (8am GMT 32km/h average pace), while Saturdays and Sundays are set aside for its 100km and 70km weekend-long rides respectively – both at 6am, 2pm and 10pm GMT.
- Community Rides: these can be set up by users, but this requires filling in a form and 48-72 hours' notice for the developers at MyWhoosh to create.
Can I race on MyWhoosh?
Although MyWhoosh’s racing calendar is currently quite limited, the eRacing it has on offer gives users the chance to win some prize money for their watt bombs.
The main racing event on the platform is its Sunday Race Club (SRC). As the name suggests, every Sunday, MyWhoosh puts on racing across six different categories.
The races are based on power-to-weight ratios and the competitors who sign up. Category one is for the strongest riders and category six is for the weakest.
The field is split between women and men, with the former undertaking a ~35km course from 12pm GMT and the latter a ~45km course from 2pm GMT.
Each category has a prize pot, and there’s money up for grabs for the first five finishers. Winning amounts are split equally between men and women.
The prize money is on a sliding scale from category one to six. The largest weekly prize on offer is $2,170 for a win in category one, while fourth place in a category-five race could still bank you $100.
Completing two of the weekly qualifying races will also give you a shot at the monthly final, held on the last Sunday of each month. Here, the same prize money is on offer for individual riders, while there is also a separate, team-based classification, with $9,520 on the line for the winning team.
Sounds too good to be true? Racing on MyWhoosh does come with some extra requirements for participants, including a stringent power passport test and the use of two power meters.
Aside from SRC, MyWhoosh hosts other races, including:
- Two races per day as part of its ‘MyWhoosh HQ Racing’ series (3:45am GMT/3:45pm GMT)
- Rapid Racing, which lasts 10-12 minutes
- Points-based enduro-style segment racing series, Tune-Up Tuesday
What you need to get started on MyWhoosh
Like most indoor training platforms, MyWhoosh requires an electronic device to run the app on, a bike plus an indoor trainer or smart bike, and a power meter to measure your output.
The MyWhoosh app is available for Windows PCs, Android and macOS tablets and smartphones. MyWhoosh says Apple TV compatibility is coming very soon.
To get the most out of the graphics, you need a PC gaming-grade machine, although the app will automatically adjust its visual settings depending on your hardware’s capabilities.
A full list of supported trainers and recommended devices can be found on the MyWhoosh website.
MyWhoosh has also introduced steering hardware support, enabling you to control your road position on-screen.
You can also use the MyWhoosh Link app to interact with other riders in the world. It also displays live data and will give you a breakdown with a post-ride analysis.
MyWhoosh vs Zwift
It’s clear from its features that MyWhoosh has Zwift firmly in its sights.
When you combine the fact that MyWhoosh is free rather than £17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99 per month, and has the added kudos of hosting the next three UCI Cycling eSports World Championships, then the original disruptor of the virtual training market might have just become disrupted.
In terms of graphics and functionality, MyWhoosh is on a par with its more established rival, while its training programmes and rewarding racing schedule could persuade all abilities of indoor cyclists to give it a go.
A big swing in the indoor training market from Zwift to MyWhoosh isn’t a foregone conclusion, though.
A lot of riders love Zwift for the online communities it fosters, which MyWhoosh isn’t currently able to replicate. While it has chat functionality, worlds are sparsely populated with real-life riders, making it harder to strike up a conversation or tag onto a group than it is on Zwift.
Zwift’s compatibility with Apple TV may also be a deciding factor for some.
MyWhoosh pricing
In a world where the cost of everything is only going up, MyWhoosh’s subscription-free model makes it an outlier.
MyWhoosh says that instead of charging users, it will look to generate income through other revenue streams such as in-game advertising.
