We’re growing pretty used to seeing Zwift records smashed in these peculiar times. Peak Zwift. The most Zwifters in an event. New Zwifter surge. All these are hitting previously unseen levels.
But have we just seen yet another record tumble? When Owen Newbury posted a picture on Zwift Riders of his scheme to project Zwift onto the side of his house, it rapidly garnered 2,000 likes. And last time we checked it was over 2,400 likes.
We’re not sure, we think that might be yet another record. Owen talked to the Zwiftcast about the plan.
“I just thought why not?” said Owen. “I mentioned it to my dad and he agreed it was worth a try, so we got on with it.” Owen was quick to add: ”But it was my idea though!”
Owen’s family had invested in a projector a little while ago, a model from the Sony Data range but it hadn’t seen much use… until Owen and his Dad set it up in the garden, hooked up a laptop via HDMI and focused Zwift on the side of their – happily white-painted – house.
“We had to try a number of angles, but I was pretty happy with the one we ended up with,” says Owen, an experienced Zwifter.
The project, in Owen’s family home in the North East of England, quickly drew a crowd of neighbours keen for a break from the routine of Lockdown. “People seemed to enjoy watching,” says Owen. “I felt like I was in the Tour de France”.
I asked Owen, who Zwifted on several pleasant, dry evenings in the garden, whether a crowd put him under pressure to put the hammer down but he told me he explained to his neighbours that he was on a strict training plan and that he’d be concentrating on his intervals.
A few who posted comments on Owen’s brilliant project commented that the light was shining in on what looked like a bedroom window. “It’s OK”, said Owen, “it’s my bedroom.”
You can hear from Owen and a special guest appearance from Zwift Insider Editor Eric Schlange on this week’s Zwiftcast.
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