Cycling Shimanami, an international cycling event that welcomes 7,000 participants, will be held on October 30 for the first time in four years on the Setouchi-Shimanami Kaido, one of Japan's most iconic and world-class cycling routes.
During this period, due to the COVID-19, a new trend has also emerged: virtual cycling, which allows you to feel as if you have actually ridden in the area from the comfort of your own home.
Therefore, an online race event will be held on a portion of the Cycling Shimanami course on Sunday, August 28 and Sunday, October 30, where cyclists from all over the world can participate at the same time.
Even highways that are normally inaccessible by bicycle can be ridden "virtually"!
Please enjoy the charm of Shimanami Cycling from the comfort of your home.

What is Virtual Cycling?

A smart trainer connected to the rear wheel of the bicycle detects the amount of power you are pedaling and multiplies it by your pre-input weight to give you a realistic representation of your forward progress on the screen. The gradient, which is obtained from GPS data, is also represented realistically, with the pedals becoming heavier when going uphill and lighter when going downhill. The user pedals while viewing the actual course footage, providing an immersive experience as if he or she is actually riding the course.

You can enjoy cycling safely in the COVID and experience courses around the world. You can also participate in online races with cyclists from around the world. In this case, we will utilize an application developed by a Czech company called ROUVY.

What you need for virtual cycling

・ Bicycle (road bike)
（Fit the size of the body.）
Must be able to connect to a smart trainer.
・Smart Trainer
App-fit. It creates a realistic driving feel in accordance with the gradient and the rider's weight.
・Monitor showing images of the course
A tabbed device such as an iPad or a laptop computer is acceptable (to connect to the Internet). Best if you can output to a large screen monitor.
・Internet environment
Because we are cycling with cyclists from all over the world at the same time, data traffic is high.
The faster the transmission speed, the better.