Year in Review: A Power Surge Worthy of Vingegaard And Other 2023 Data Stories

After several years of explosive growth, each year attracting more new users than the last, we sustained momentum in 2023. Getting new users in the door, however, is only the beginning. Our top priority is always supporting our users, providing a platform rich in engaging content and valuable training tools that keep them coming back for more.

So, each year, we take stock to ensure that when you get started with Intelligent Cycling, you don't stop. Looking back on our 2023 data, we feel confident we're on the right path. While maintaining overall growth, we saw a 69.5% rise in users connecting Bluetooth devices to help monitor their training, indicating that more users are engaging with our app's extended features. These features include live performance feedback, a comprehensive workout summary, and recording workout data in the app to track progress over time.

Just how many users actively engaged with the app in 2023 is illustrated by the sharp rise in collective watt output and calories burned, an 80.8% and 72% increase, respectively, compared to the previous year. This was accomplished in what amounts to 105 years, 3 months, 11 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes. That's a 72.2 % increase in time spent using the app as a training companion compared to 2022.

Our app, however, is not just geared towards gym members. Intelligent Cycling is also a one-stop tool for instructors by instructors. Looking at this group of users, we saw continued growth when looking at the number of workouts created with the Session Designer (an 18.5% increase in growth compared to 2022) and a 22.9% increase in workouts played.

2023 releases

We are continually improving our software and developing new products to ensure we meet the needs of tomorrow's club owners, instructors, and riders.

2023 was no different and saw the addition of new workout players that cater to new markets, new virtual worlds in The Journey, and new app features, including community-building social integration.

One thing they all have in common? Our commitment to making YOUR Intelligent Cycling experience even better.

FREESTYLE: Your ride, your rules.

Exclusive to select regions, Freestyle allows instructors to lead seamless, effective classes with graphics support, with no pre-planning required. Freestyle offers two ways to instruct on the fly: either converting the instructor's real-time workout data to supporting graphics or allowing the instructor to select the supporting graphics by using their mobile app as a remote control. You can even switch between manual inputs and live data while you're coaching! To make sure Freestyle fits a variety of needs, you can choose between The Player, Team Player, Visuals, and Sandbox in Freestyle mode. Read more.

SANDBOX: An interactive first-to-market experience

First launched with the Star Trac Virtual Bike, Sandbox was made available on the Intelligent Cycling Platform along with Freestyle in December 2023. For Sandbox, we reverse-engineered The Journey's innovative algorithm, which generates a virtual world based on an indoor cycling programme. Now, we can generate the world around you as you go, based on the live input from your stationary bike or (if you're floor coaching) your remote control inputs from the Intelligent Cycling App. No matter which option you choose, you're in for a virtual experience found nowhere else on the market.

STEAMPUNK: New world in The Journey

Released in September, Steampunk is the 16th immersive indoor cycling adventure to be added to The Journey. This time, we're travelling to a world that transcends time as zeppelins soar the skies, steam-powered wonders come to life, and history meets fantasy.

Read more. Watch trailer.

SOUNDSCAPE: New world in The Journey

In April, we released Soundscape, a virtual indoor cycling adventure that will make any music lover's heart sing! Soundscape combines the unique capabilities of two of our most innovative workout players, The Journey and Visuals, to create something new: an immersive world of sound that reflects not just your workout but your playlist.

Read more. Watch trailer.

Next-gen Intelligent Cycling App

Followers, likes, shares, profiles, and pages. In April of 2023, the Intelligent Cycling App went social and launched a host of other smaller changes that make a BIG difference in user experience, most notably expansive search filters. Read more.

YOUR year in review

It doesn't always feel like it, but we move closer to our goals every time we get on the bike. To highlight how far we've already come, we like to look back on the previous year's workout data and start the new year with a fresh appreciation of what we've already accomplished as a community.

Large numbers can be difficult to grasp, so we've done our best to put them into perspective with a 2023 cultural reference or two.

Collectively, we spent 105 years, 3 months, 11 days, 12 hours and 44 minutes on the bike.

And that's JUST connected workouts, which allow us to process workout data anonymously. Remember that 72.2% increase in time spent on the bike compared to 2022? That translates to an added 45 years on the bike in 2023.
In Barbenheimer terms, 105+ years are the equivalent of watching Barbie, the biggest movie of the year, almost half a million times. Meanwhile, for the Christopher Nolan fans, our total watt output equalled the power of 0.33 Trinity bombs.

Together, we burned 555,598,471 calories.

That's about 972,837 sticks of butter or 79 tons of pure fat. If, like us, you find it hard to visualize 79 tons, that's equivalent to 11 T-rex or 20 elephants (that's eight entire elephants worth of calories more than last year).
Or, measured in Jonas Vingegaard (we'll find any excuse to talk about his second Tour de France win), that's about 1313 Jonases. Speaking of the Tour de France…

Together, we travelled 25,381,232 kilometres.

That's equivalent to going 633 times around the earth or taking 66 trips to the moon AND back. Or riding the Tour de France 7434 times.
Did you watch The Last of Us in 2023? We, too, rode like we were being chased by zombies, and together, we completed the entire journey 4463 times in 2023. If you're not familiar, that's going from Boston to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, down to Boulder, and, finally, Salt Lake City, Utah. Rinse and repeat 4463 times.

Together, our combined power output measured 8,050,196,023 watts.

When it comes to power, we were all channelling our inner Vingegaard in 2023. We produced the same amount of energy that 537 off-shore windmills generate in an hour, enough to power 5031 households for a year.
Or, if you prefer your power metrics in Star Wars analogies, that's equivalent to the power of 1157 lightsabers (helping Qui-Gon Jinn slice through an added 517 blast doors in a galaxy far, far away compared to last year).

Thank you

To our users, clients, team, partners, and everyone else who spent time with us in the past year: Thank you for coming along on the wonderful ride that was 2023. We truly treasure your support, feedback, and this ever-growing community.

Let's make 2024 the best year yet for riders old and new!