Ride on (From Bournemouth Echo)

Ride on

8:00am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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NARROWLY missing pedestrians unwisely straying across my path, and holding my own against nerve-wrackingly heavy traffic, I've just cycled through some of the world's busiest cities, including New York, London and San Francisco, writes Emma Grace Smith.

Not content with that challenge, I've also freewheeled along hilly tracks in the Scottish Highlands and scorched through miles of African desert. I’m flushed with success at my achievement, especially as normally I’m the sort of person who wobbles at the sight of a lorry.

Okay, I have to confess, my hair-raising ride was on a special exercise bike indoors, but my astonishing routes were conjured so realistically on a large screen that I truly feel like I've pedalled around the globe.

I've been experiencing Trixter VRX-Biking, the latest ‘get fit’ craze among celebrities, which has just launched in the UK. Its fans include motor racing champion Jenson Button, former England rugby player Will Greenwood and BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace – who has her very own VRX-Bike at home. Even serious biking heroes such as World Superbike Champion James Toseland and UK Mountain Biking champion Scott Beaumont, have ‘felt the burn’ on these bikes. Initially, I was hesitant to take a VRX-Biking class and follow in the cycle tracks of the famous (it can also be done at home if you buy the kit).

I feared it was another version of the hugely popular spinning classes – cycling routines at a gym under the orders of an instructor – which I find dull, uninspiring and far removed from the fun of outdoor cycling.

However, after being assured that this was totally different, and was a fast track to shifting the flab, I agreed to get onto the saddle of one of the specially-modified yellow bikes at a class.

My bike was one of 10 facing a screen showing a filmed programme of routes and the motivation was to try to get ahead of the cyclist on the screen and beat her to the finishing line.

This involves pedalling like mad, steering the bike using the flexible handlebars and changing gears (on-screen instructions tell you when to do this) to accommodate the different types of terrain. My fellow cyclists and I travelled through the traffic chaos of London, negotiated our way over London Bridge and along Oxford Street and had some particularly scary moments with reckless pedestrians in Liverpool city centre. My half-hour journey was totally absorbing and required so much intense concentration that at times I became unaware of the other people around me.

From a fitness standpoint, the great thing about this workout is that it involves every part of your body.

Unlike standard indoor bikes which only engage the lower body, the moving handle bars on Trixter X-Bikes also work out the biceps and claim to increase the calorie burn of the ride by up to 55 per cent.

Constant gear changes and cycling standing as well as seated seemed to punish most of my muscles and each VRX-Biking class is said to burn around 600 calories.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and relished pitting my pedals against the annoyingly skilful on-screen cyclist. She won! However, like any real cycling experience, the next morning I was saddle-sore and had aching thighs and arms.

• Emma Grace Smith joined the Trixter VRX-Biking class at The Vale Resort, Wales.