How I Trained for the 5 Boro Bike Tour on My Peloton

With registration underway for the next 5 Boro Bike Tour, you’ll most likely want to prepare for your ride. The goal for my first Tour was to test my conditioning and to establish a performance baseline. And since I didn’t have a good road bike—but an old Cannondale mountain bike—I trained for the 40 mile trek on my Peloton Bike+. Truth is, I hadn’t ridden on the roads for over two years prior to the Tour. For which I rented a bike from the Tour’s rental partner, Unlimited Biking.

Let’s discuss. Do you think powerzone training on a stationary bike is a valid way to prepare for a road ride?

Note:

This is the 3rd post in our Five Boro Bike Tour Series.

1. In the first post we introduced the 5 Boro Bike Tour with resource links to learn about and register for the ride, plus an essential list of the Things You’ll Need (and want) For The Five Boro Bike Tour.
2. In the second post, we talk about personal goal-setting with tips for how to achieve them.

I love my Peloton. Ride it 2-3x per week on average.

We got it during the pandemic and never looked back. And it’s been central to my fitness ever since.

For those who don’t know:

A Peloton Bike is an indoor exercise bike with a built-in screen that lets you follow live or recorded workout classes. It’s designed to give you a structured cycling workout at home, led by instructors you can watch and follow along with.

And Peloton offers more than cycling—they give clasess in yoga, meditation, running, rowing & more.

Try the app for 60 days free with this referral link.

My favorite Peloton rides are Power Zone rides.

Power Zone rides on Peloton are structured workouts based on your personal fitness level. Instead of following the instructor’s cadence or resistance exactly, you’re guided by power output zones calculated from your FTP (Functional Threshold Power). These zones help you train smarter by focusing on endurance, strength, or speed depending on the ride’s goal.

Peloton has excellent Programs to get you started powerzone riding.

For cyclists new to powerzone, I recommend taking these programs in the order listed here:

1. Discover Your Power Zones
2. Build Your Power Zone
3. Peak Your Power Zones

As mentioned in a previous post, I registered for the 5 Boro Bike Tour 2 weeks before the ride. Then I immediately began to prepare for the 40 mile ride—while reminding myself that “it’s a ride; not a race.”

Below are the actual rides I took leading into the 5 Boro Bike Tour. You’ll see I include both shorter rides plus longer rides. I eventually built up to a 2 hour Endurance Ride—attempting to reproduce the effort I expected to make during the 5 Boro Bike Tour.

Each ride listed here was followed by a 5 minute cool-down ride, not shown.

My approach was to build up to progressively longer rides with shorter rides in between. Having taken the Power Zone Programs, listed above, the coaches build recovery into the program. My rest days and the shorter rides in between the longer rides is something I learned from these good Peloton instructors—to respect the importance of recovery.

You can Click each ride to view my stats

Total Output, Distance, Ave Speed, Calories & more.

30 min Power Zone Endurance Ride

Denis Morton · Cycling

Tue 4/15/25

45 Min Pro Cyclist: Speed Training

Christian Vende Velde · Cycling

Tue 4/17/25

75 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride

Matt Wilpers · Cycling

Tue 4/21/25

30 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride

Matt Wilpers · Cycling

Tue 4/22/25

90 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride

Matt Wilpers · Cycling

Tue 4/24/25

45 Min Power Zone Endurance Ride

Matt Wilpers · Cycling

Tue 4/26/25

120 Min Two for one Power Zone Endurance

Matt Wilpers · Cycling

Tue 4/29/25

So how did my Peloton training translate into road cycling results?

Mixed results.

So many aspects of road cycling were way more challenging than the stationary bike. My cardio during the ride was pretty good—I credit my Peloton riding for this.

By end of the Five Boro Bike Tour, my triceps, trapezius muscles, and hamstrings were torched. Walking up the stairs was suffering. But I loved it.

Road variability was by far the biggest hurdle for me. My biggest deficit were the climbs especially after the 30 mile mark. Power Zone on Peloton doesn’t prep you for this. While it might sound absurd in hindsight, I almost never got out of the saddle during the entire 40 miles of the Tour. Why?

Because Power Zone on Peloton doesn’t emphasize much out-of-the-saddle work. You’re seated most of the time. (Certain instructors offer more out-of-the-saddle work while other instructors don’t even prompt you.)

That said, I learned a lot about what I could do better on the road to improve my performance.

I tracked my ride using a free version of the Cyclemeter App. The free version doesn’t track “stops.” During the ride, there were about 4-5 traffic-crossing stops I was forced to take, plus one 1 minute 30 sec stop to rub out a cramp in my calf.

My take:

It’s definitely one of the most effective methods. Peloton Power Zone training builds endurance, pacing, and the ability to handle steady efforts over time—key for real-world rides like the 5 Boro Ride.

However, it lacks the variable terrain and handling challenges of outdoor riding, so combining it with some road practice is ideal. And not only ideal, but necessary. Power Zone on the Peloton creates your fitness foundation. Which is key. But it doesn’t reproduce real-world scenarios for which only road riding will prepare you.

For the next time I ride the Tour, my goal is to increase my pace and shorten my completion time. For now, I’m still training on the Peloton.

But I’m working on funding a new rode bike!

✌️

David

A renewed commitment to health and wellness through better eating and consistent fitness. Now in my fifties, I’m in the best shape of my life.

Learn More