Cycling Fanatic Reggie Miller Just Discovered Zwift—and He’s Loving It
Since retiring from the NBA, where he spent his entire 18-season career with the Indiana Pacers, Reggie Miller has turned to competitive mountain biking. He focuses on cross country and endurance racing, but he says he still does road rides for much of his training.
But Miller has picked up another training method: Zwift.
He’d heard of Zwift, of course, but until recently, with everyone practicing social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he really didn’t have many reasons to ride inside; living in southern California, the weather is almost always nice.
Last Thursday, he shared a live video on Instagram of him riding Zwift for the second time ever—sweat was flying, and so were many humorous (and all-too-relatable) comments. We caught up with Miller to see what he thinks of the virtual training tool so far and talk all things Zwift. Here’s what he discovered.
It’s Kinda Like Pac-Man
For Miller, Zwift invoked vibes of another popular video game.
“When I would see someone coming up, like a pack of riders, I felt like I was [playing] Pac-Man, gobbling them up,” Miller said. “Then I’d try to put some distance on them.”
But video games have come a long way since the 80’s. Zwift is loaded with all sorts of features and visuals, it was almost too much for Miller to take in while riding.
“There’s so much information popping up at you, it’s like information overload when you’re trying to ride,” he said.
Of course, this will get better over time as he Zwifts more and learns what to look at, when, and what to ignore. He also brought up another good point.
“How can people be texting and commenting while they’re riding and exerting that much energy?” he asked.
The Climbing Is Serious
One benefit from the advancement of virtual riding and indoor cycling technology is that replicating climbing on a trainer has gotten way more realistic. That’s especially true for Miller, who rocks a Wahoo KICKR CLIMB along with his Wahoo smart trainer: the CLIMB is additional hardware that mounts to your bike’s fork and simulates changes in road grade.
[Want to fly up hills? Climb! gives you the workouts and mental strategies to conquer your nearest peak.]
For this ride, Miller opted for the Muir and the Mountain route in Watopia, which features close to 2,600 feet of climbing over 21.4 miles.
“This is a long-ass climb,” Miller said during the livestream.
At one point, he hit a tough 17-percent grade.
“Oh my god! And it was for a while, too,” Miller said. “I think I was on it for seven to 10 minutes ... I stood up most of the time on that grade.
“I felt it afterwards,” he continued. “My legs were pretty beat.”
Passing Others Is Still Satisfying (Mostly)
Passing another cyclist in any competitive sense feels great—unless you’re like Miller and feel bad about passing other American riders. On Zwift, you can ride with cyclists from all over the world, but Miller wanted to cheer the other Americans on.
“I was catching all the Americans,” Miller said. “I was sorry, but not sorry because it’s part of the game. ... I was telling my fellow Americans, ‘We’re supposed to be in this together, go USA!’” he said.
Still, pushing hard to pass others, regardless of nationality, was pretty fun. Plus it was a great workout.
“That was some good chasing,” Miller said. “That was a fun battle.”
A post shared by Reggie Miller (@reggiemillertnt) on Mar 30, 2020 at 7:48am PDT
But Getting Drafted Isn’t Fun
Just like in real life, Zwift cyclists can draft behind others while riding. It makes a significant difference here, too, by making riding easier.
If you’re like Miller and get drafted by the same guy for most of your ride, unfortunately there isn’t much you can do except try to break away and outpace them. But if you’ve been slogging along relentlessly as it is, you know that’s easier said than done.
Miller’s solution? Your Zwift avatar should have a fart function.
“Zwift, you should have the ability to fart on someone if they’re drafting you too long,” Miller said.
But alas, while Zwift is essentially a video game, it’s no Mario Kart. There are no Bob-omb equivalents, or farts, that riders can fire off towards competitors who are hot on their wheel.
Prepare to Sweat—A Lot
One downside to stationary riding, including Zwift, is that you’re no longer generating your own breeze like out on the road or trail. You’ll probably need to set up a fan or two to help keep you cool. Miller’s experience shows that you should be prepared to sweat way more than you think.
“The two times I’ve done Zwift workouts, I’ve never sweated that much before on the trainer,” he said. “I was drenched.”
Competing against others, or following a set workout, will likely have you push yourself more than you would otherwise. So, you don’t need to be a Zwift expert in order to get in a good workout.
“Zwift, you are a workout,” Miller said at the end of his live video ride. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just trying to catch, draft, and get lapped by people. But I’m spinning. Holy crap.”
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