After putting my body through the wringer at the Leadville Trail 100 Run last August, it needed a break. I knew that, and I’d planned to give it one — but the way that my hips buckled immediately upon crossing the finish line should have told me that the break it needed would look a little different than the one I had in mind.

In theory, I thought that a week of complete rest followed by a week off my feet in the pool or on the bike would do the trick. In reality, that wasn’t even close to enough time for my body to process everything it had experienced during the race. My hips reacted to my first run back just as they had at mile 99. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to both of my knees and sent shockwaves up my IT (iliotibial) band. I collapsed on the ground and quite literally crawled my way back to the trailhead.

I’m normally the type to push the limits of pain. I don’t wear that as a badge of honor. The habit has led me down some dark roads full of self-destruction and long-term damage. Coming in second place at the Leadville 100 marked a turning point for me with regard to those habits. I’d taken steps to treat my body with more respect over the months leading up to the race, and it had responded in kind with the best running performance of my life (so far). I wasn’t about to break that newfound trust. So, when I finally arrived home, I put my running shoes in the back of my closet and called my neighbor, Karen Jarchow, a former professional mountain biker. Not five minutes later, she wheeled the Wattbike Atom into my living room.

The Wattbike Atom is an indoor bike trainer that’s geared toward athletes who already have enough intrinsic motivation to power them through a lifetime of training. We don’t need the classes, loud music and cliché inspirational lingo that plague every other platform out there. We need data that points to quality, intentionality and growth. That’s exactly what you get from the Wattbike, starting with your first ride.

The experience starts with a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test. FTP refers to the amount of power that you can create on the bike over the course of an hour. That was my first sign that this wasn’t your typical Peloton situation. Data comes first on the Wattbike. From there, the platform can personalize each training session based on your actual ability captured in watts. If the Wattbike had left it up to me to determine my ability, I would have found myself in over my head within seconds of starting my first ride. I quickly learned that fitness doesn’t always transfer from one sport to another without a hitch. I may be able to run 100 miles straight, but you’d never know it from watching me dry heave after five minutes in the saddle. The Wattbike kept my ego from getting in the way from the very beginning.

From there, all of the workouts revolve around your individual FTP. The resistance automatically adjusts to suit your needs within the context of the ride. This ensures that every training session serves a proper purpose: just enough intensity on hard rides to create a challenging stimulus without scaring you off, and just enough ease on lighter rides to flush out your legs and lungs without boring you to tears. It’s a careful balance that’s tough to regulate without outside input, no matter your cycling history. Being able to trust the Wattbike to hold you accountable to the appropriate level of effort at all times leaves you with more energy to spend on the ride itself.

But don’t mistake the Wattbike for a “set it and forget it” type of training tool. The platform still demands your attention — and for your own good. Metrics like power output, left/right balance, cadence, heart rate and momentum light up the display to help the rider take ownership over their cycling technique. The platform highlights the ideal zone you’re shooting for in terms of each of those metrics, and alerts you as soon as you fall out of range. Not only do these features keep you engaged in the ride, but they also help you learn how to ride with proper form by supplying visual aids that guide you toward efficiency.

These are the features that truly won me over. As a runner, I’ve never had much of a grasp on hard metrics like power output. “Power is difficult to quantify in running,” affirms Thomson Remo, elite cyclist and performance educator for Wattbike, “because the amount of time you spend in contact with the ground can vary greatly depending on the terrain. The Wattbike can help you monitor that power output continuously in a comprehensible way, beyond just numbers, so you can overlay that with internal gauges like perceived effort and learn more about what you’re actually producing either on the bike or on foot.”

I never saw much value in cross-training. Time on the Wattbike Atom proved to me that my misgivings came from a lack of comprehension, personalization and relatability — not a true lack of value. This platform provides the information that athletes need to train in an intentional manner for their sport, cycling or otherwise, and understand the purpose behind the exercise. Every time I stepped off of the Wattbike Atom, I felt like I hadn’t just gotten in a good sweat session but had actually progressed as a runner. You still won’t catch me clamoring for an injury that keeps me off my feet — but with the Wattbike, the downtime doesn’t scare me anymore. I know that I’ll always come out stronger, faster and more in control of my fitness on the other side.

Wattbike Atom, $2,999

wattbike.com

Originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Gear Profile: Wattbike