My NordicTrack S22i
The NordicTrack S22i is the machine behind American Rides. It is a stationary bike, but the combination of its large screen, iFIT software, automatic resistance, and automatic incline and decline turned it into something very different for me.
With iFIT, I was able to create my own virtual rides using real roads. I could choose a route and follow it from the bike while the equipment responded to the terrain underneath that route.
When the road climbed, the bike climbed. When the road descended, the bike declined. Resistance changed with the ride. What happened on the screen was connected to what happened underneath me.
That changed the experience from simply exercising on a stationary bike into going somewhere.
From the S22i to the X24
My NordicTrack S22i has been the machine behind thousands of miles of virtual cycling adventures since 2021.
NordicTrack has since introduced the X24, a newer generation of its indoor cycling equipment, featuring a larger display and updated technology.
For now, my S22i remains the bike behind my journey. Whether an X24 eventually joins the adventure is a decision for another day.
The equipment may change, but the reason I ride remains the same.
The bike stays in one place. The ride doesn't.
From Exercise to a Journey
What began as exercise eventually became American Rides. Real highways became virtual routes, and individual workouts became parts of much longer journeys across the country.
Instead of measuring a ride only by how long I exercised, I could think about where I started, where I stopped, and where I would continue the next day.
Over time those rides became a history of highways, places, miles, maps, and reports. That history is what you see throughout the American Rides and Journey sections of this website.
What Made It Different
The S22i brought several pieces together in one riding experience: a large interactive display, iFIT workouts and routes, automatic resistance, and a bike that physically changes incline and decline.
For my American Rides project, the ability to create routes along real roads was especially important. It allowed a stationary bike to become the starting point for rides that could stretch across states and eventually across the country.
More Than the Bike
The S22i provides the ride, but the project does not end when I step off the bike. Each ride becomes part of a larger process of recording the journey, maintaining the maps and reports, and updating this website.
That part of the story continues in How I Ride.