Could this become the new RGT?
When the main choices for online cycling are Zwift and MyWhoosh, things seem bad. Rouvy is decent but niche, whilst RGT was simply the best by a long stretch …. until Zwift had it shut down in their out of court settlement with Wahoo … a shocking outcome!
START UP BIKETERRA COULD BE THE ANSWER!
What made RGT brilliant, apart from being more realistic than Zwift (and Zwift is better than MyWhoosh BTW), was that there was the possibilty to create one’s own rides, based on real roads …. this is now possible on BikeTerra again … although it is very basic in these early stages … it is well worth supporting BikeTerra though, otherwise you will just be left with Zwift and MyWhoosh…. BikeTerra ain’t the finished article, it’s barely a toddler, but with our support it has potential.
BikeTerra is free, sign up now and join the West London Cycling Club within BikeTerra.
BikeTerra currently works in Chrome or Edge (we can confirm that it doesn’t work in Firefox). There are a lot of functions which riders will be used to which are yet to be added, for example there was no list of the other riders on the same course, although the BikeTerra website pictue tends to suggest that this feature is available (to be fair, it was a single person test on our part).
The ride feel is good, and whilst we appreciate that the average rider will not necessarily be aware, we are very impressed with how well BikeTerra converts real roads into courses. It was normal for us to have to ‘prune’ and ‘smooth’ GPX files before they really functioned on RGT (although less so in RGT’s latter days}’. With BikeTerra it smooths the route itself and then supplies a short list of issues, giving the choice as to whether the cfrator goes back and smooths it. We submitted one raw GPX file and the route was rideable, albeit with some tight corners. We then smoothed the same route and it was perfect. The upload was instant too, something RGT took years to perfect. For an organiser, this is better than anything Zwift or MyWhoosh have to offer.
One thing that did impress us was how the terrain reflected the real life envirnment. BikeTerra seems to insert buildings where they actually exist. For example, our test route was set in a suburban area with an airport. As the ride went past the end of the airport runway, all the buildings disappeared, just as they do in real life. Whilst the buildings on BikeTerra are just white blocks without windows nor doors, we are really impressed that they seem to be on to a better Real Road experiernce than RGT if they keep developing this.
The avatars are currently a bit basic, although the kit configuration isn’t too bad given where BikeTerra is currently at.
It is early days, and of course the bells and whistles of Zwift and MyWhoosh aren’t there, Whilst Zwift and MyWhoosh are a bit ‘cheesy’ it is fair to say that good scenery does help keep riders entertained as they sit alone on a smart trainer. The scenery in BikeTerra is adequate, and we assume will improve over time.
We think that BikeTerra is, potentially, the best thing since RGT …. let’s hope if fulfills its promise!
TRY IT YOURSELF:
13th NOVEMBER 2024 Box Hill BikeTerra (72)
20th NOVEMBER 2024 Right On Brighton Pavillion (93)
27th NOVEMBER 2024 Coy Carp Classic (94)
4th December 2024 Marlow Maiden (95)
11th December 2024 Wendover Woods (96)
18th December 2024 Horton H2O (97)
8th January 2025 Windsor Park Polo (102)
15th January 2025 Cream of the Chalfonts (104)
22nd January 2025 Jolly Antig’wan (105)
29th January 2025 Gorges du Cians (106)
5th February 2025 Hi Lo Pompey (107)
JOIN WEST LONDON CYCLING on BIKETERRA…
RACES SO FAR:
30th OCTOBER 2024 All Quiet on the Western Avenue (62)
6th NOVEMBER 2024 The WEB Race (Windsor Eton Bray) (69)
13th NOVEMBER 2024 Box Hill BikeTerra (72)
20th NOVEMBER 2024 Right On Brighton Pavillion (93)
27th NOVEMBER 2024 Coy Carp Classic (94)
4th DECEMBER 2024 Marlow Maiden (95)
11th DECEMBER 2024 Wendover Woods (96)
18th DECEMBER 2024 Horton H2O (97)
8th JANUARY 2025 Windsor Park Polo (102)
15th JANUARY 2025 Cream of the Chalfonts (104)
22nd JANUARY 2025 Jolly Antig’wan (105)
29th January 2025 Gorges du Cians (106)
5th February 2025 Hi Lo Pompey (107)
Races:
HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM A BIKETERRA STOCK RIDE IN MALLORCA