The idea of 955 kilojoules of total output for a 45-minute ride astounded me. A little less than a year ago, at peak fitness just prior to knee surgery, I had the ride of my life on my own Peloton. In 30 minutes, I churned out 455 kilojoules, my heart rate rising into “zone four” for a full 13 minutes and peaking at 168 beats per minute. I am not a world-class athlete by any means, but I’m strong enough, and it was absolutely the peak of my ability—in the end, it was good enough for 184th place out of 11,000-plus riders, inside the top 1.7 percent for that particular class. When the clock hit zero, I could only moan pathetically for a period of approximately six days.