Indoor cycling key points in history that have resulted with the current state of E-Sport Cycling and Virtual Racing.
| Historic Point | Overview |
|---|---|
| Velocipede | The earliest indoor cycling devices date back 1884 for the velocipede. |
| Indoor Trainers | Indoor cycling devices evolved by developing mechanisms to create resistance for riders | .
| CompuTrainer | The invention by CompuTrainer by Racermate was likely the first smart-trainer. Controlled by electronics to provide cycling simulation by controlling resistance for riders. This opened a world of possibilities. |
| Smart Trainer | TrainerRoad and Wahoo elevated indoor cycling with their products dating back to 2011-2012. The combination of software programming and controllable hardware via resistance laid a foundation for the next generation of indoor cycling. |
| Gamification | This overview avoids the "who was first" argument to focus on the emergence of E-Sport and Virtual Racing. From this Zommunique article it seems that Zwift and Wahoo-RGT were the earliest software platforms to combine a multi-rider environment within a virtual reality. By developing software that added group riding and racing physics, the dawn of E-Sport Cycling dramatically develops from the early days of CompuTrainer. Rider interaction, pack dynamics, smart trainers all lead towards increasing competitive environments and virtual racing. With the advance of technology, explosive growth of social media, internet connectivity, a pandemic, business interests and health trends to list some factors; all helped to landed us at a remarkable moment. |
| World & National Champions | UCI World Championship's were held on the Zwift platform in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The MyWhoosh platform will be used for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 UCI World Championships. Title holders are issued UCI World Champion rainbow jerseys. National championships have been held for some years by the USA Cycling and Canadian Cycling federations with national champion jerseys issued to winners. |
| E-Sport Cycling | This E-Sport Cycling Virtual Racing Database attempts to describe the state of the sport by collecting software platforms, racing organizationa, racer guidelines, racing rules/regulations. The idea is to describe the state of E-Sport Cycling Virtual Racing by collecting information and cataloging websites. This is an effort to provide resources for beginner, intermediate and advanced riders. |