A year in review: Growth, safaris, and the power output of 528 lightsabers!

COVID-19 accelerated the digital fitness boom, and we felt it. After two years of accelerated growth in 2020 and 2021, we've kept the momentum going as we come out of the pandemic. Intelligent Cycling is still growing more and more every year as new indoor cycling enthusiasts discover our platform.

To be exact, we've had a 67% increase in new users, a 67% increase in workouts created, and a 62% increase in workouts played compared to the previous year.

The continued growth on all parameters tells us the new users are active users, contributing to and consuming a growing library of content.

2022 releases

We want you to be able to mix and match based on your needs. That's why we grow our product portfolio every year, continuously adapting to the changing demands of gyms, instructors, members and home users. Every year, we release fresh workout players and virtual worlds and build new features that make our app even better. 2022 was no different.

The Visual Player

In April, we released VISUALS, our first workout player built around the power of music. VISUALS listens to the audio and visualises it instantaneously using 36 different abstract graphic elements. The vibrant visuals adapt to changes in volume, frequency, or even the use of kick drums or hi-hats, and the colours change to match the training zone.

The result is an engaging, immersive "music and light show" that makes you train harder, ride faster, and come back for more!

The Player redesign

The Player first launched in 2016 and had its first redesign in 2018, so this year it was time for another makeover. The new design is fresh but familiar: we kept what worked and optimised the rest in favour of a sleeker interface that looks great whether you're seated in the front or back of the class.

SAVANNA

This Summer, we invited our users to the greatest wildlife show on Earth, or at least our virtual take on it. On this cycling safari, you get up close and personal with meerkats, zebras, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and – if you're lucky – even a lion.

Speaking of The Journey, 2022 also marked the end of our patent journey, which started in 2019, when The Journey became patent pending. What sets The Journey apart is the way visuals are generated. Our patented algorithm generates the world around you based on YOUR workout every time you hit play. From the road's incline to the colour zones reflected in the landscape, the innovative link between your workout and the world around you makes The Journey uniquely immersive and easy to navigate. We are incredibly proud of our team and the recognition they've received from the USPTO.

Celebrating YOUR achievements

Workout summary was introduced in September 2021. It allowed users to connect via Bluetooth to register their performance data directly in the app, providing live feedback, a post-workout summary, and an in-app calendar tracking performance data over time. For all of 2022, users have been tracking their progress in the app and what progress they've made!

We did a fun breakdown to put these massive numbers into perspective.

Together, we travelled 12,838,770 kilometres.

That's 320 trips around the Earth.
… or 33 trips to the moon AND back.
… or completing the Tour de France 3761 times.
… or, in another universe, we could've made it from the Shire to Mordor 4511 times (and we're sure it sometimes felt like climbing Mount Doom).

Together, we burned a total of 292,919,141 calories.

That's 42 tons of fat or 516,612 packs of butter.
… or the weight of about six Tyrannosaurus Rex or ten elephants.

It takes a lot of power to accomplish such massive results, and we can tell you just how much when we look at the users who tracked their power output in 2022.

Together, our power output measured 4,051,353,808 watts.

That's what 270 off-shore windmills generate in an hour.
... or what it would take to power 2532 households for a year or charge 62,329 electric cars.
… or light up the Eiffel Tower for 563 hours or power the Danish capital of Copenhagen for all of four minutes.

4,051,353,808 watts is a LOT of power. Remember that scene in Phantom Menace where Qui-Gon Jinn sliced through a metal blast door with his lightsaber? Yeah, our collective power output was 582 times more powerful than one lightsaber slicing through an enforced door like it was butter. That's pretty powerful.

Sounds impressive? Well, it did take us 55 years, 10 months, 11 days and 10 minutes of workouts altogether to get it done.

Did you contribute even a minute to that ride time? We're ever so grateful you decided to spend some time with us in 2022. We couldn't do what we do without your support and feedback.

Here's to more community milestones in 2023!