PSA from your neighborly Peloton rider:
Peloton Homecoming is happening this year April 30 through May 2, 2021.
For those new to Peloton this is the annual gathering where members get join together for a part-celebration, part-learning, part-inspiration type event. In the past they’ve been held in New York City.
Like in-person events of the past 12 months or so, Homecoming was virtual in 2020 and will be again this year too for obvious reasons. You can learn more about the event on this Peloton microsite. Per Peloton expect “Homecoming classes throughout the weekend available on the Bike, Bike+, Tread+, web and on the Peloton App for iOS, Android and TV.”
Note that this is a free event. To RSVP simply use your Peloton email or user name.
Homecoming started in 2016 with 120 members and has grown to over 3,000 participants — pre-pandemic. One nice thing about being virtual is now many more can join in the fun. Peloton says it has invited over 4M members to Homecoming this year. So there’s a certain thrill being able to reach that many people across the world.
Is Homecoming an engaging and worthwhile experience?
As a new Bike owner Loni and I “attended” Homecoming last year and came away not so impressed. If you’ve been following my Peloton articles here on Stark Insider you know I’ve been fully assimilated. With Peloton there’s no going back. Not to the gym. And certainly not to the previous ways of staying fit. The overall experience is just that good.
However, Homecoming 2020 was unfortunately somewhat lackluster and forgettable. Not as engaging or worthwhile as I was expecting given how good Peloton is at rolling out innovative and interesting content.
True, moving from an in-person to virtual is deflating. But it can also be an opportunity to re-think the event and make some adjustments and improvements here and there.
Last night, after receiving the Homecoming email announcement, Loni fired off a litany of ideas to me that could make Homecoming possibly more engaging and interesting. Here’s some of her thoughts about topics, panels and themes that could make things a bit more informative and entertaining — the bullets I furiously captured in an email:
- Diet and nutrition — Tips for balancing what you eat with how you exercise, since they go hand-in-hand and we can all use ideas here on how best to keep everything working in our favor. (because pandemic Ben & Jerry’s)
- Meal preparation — Related to above, how to make healthy energy drinks like smoothies and quick snacks. Demonstrations. 5 min tip. Post ride suggestions.
- Stacking — How to use effectively. Not just technically, as in tap here and there. Rather, how to build a group or sequence of workouts that achieves a certain objective.
- FTP and Power Zone training — A soup to nuts walkthrough by Matt Wilpers would be ideal. There’s piece parts about Power Zone training in the Peloton app and Bike/Tread, but it would be helpful to have a “Master Class” to really cover the whole thing — because it’s great.
- Bike clinics — How to maintain your Peloton and tips for the 3 adjustments, plus advice on shoes, gear, comfort, etc.
- Panel on cycling etiquette — High fives, working the Leaderboard.
- Peloton designers for clothing lines — Come and talk about their designs. Recent Adidas partnership would be good example.
- OG — The Peloton origin story.
- How to stay fit during life events — Pregnancy. Injury. Work stress. Etc.
- Strength clinic — Key moves and common mistakes.
- How does Ally Love get her hair styled like that?
I really think there is an opportunity here for the Peloton team to take Homecoming to the next level.
Based on the (superb) way the company has responded to feature request feedback I’m sure the event will get better and better with time. Over the last year since I’ve owned a Bike, Peloton has continually rolled out useful OTA features, most recently adding the handy ability to stack classes, and also to create group rides with shared Leaderboards with the new Sessions feature.
Two fun-ish, silly-ish Peloton articles you might want to check out
You do have a Peloton Google Alert setup? Right?
If you do you’ve probably already seen these articles. If not, I’m again doing a PSA here for those who truly have absorbed themselves beyond rationality and deep into All Things Peloton.
MORE: Peloton News, Views, Reviews
This Is Your Brain on Peloton (NY Times)
“A total curation of the mind.”
(me: Like something out of Videodrome?!)
A fun light-hearted read at NYT. I especially appreciate the way they describe instructor Cody Rigsby as “a piece of Disney fan art” and that he has the “energy of a messy podcast host.” A Cody ride is always an event to be sure.
Insider the Peloverse (Elle)
“The internet of Peloton is more than a fandom: It’s a core part of the company’s corporate identity, a lifeline for thousands of riders, and, increasingly, the secret sauce that separates the fitness brand from its competitors.”
Another writer trying to decode the “internet of Peloton.” There’s also a brief mention of the sub-Reddit r/pelotoncycle and its 130,000 members. It’s a highly active forum and great source of Peloton information, inspiration along with, of course, the occasional rant.
