Ex-Victorian Institute of Sport cycling coach and IT software developer Mike Clucas, had just suffered a bad crash. Riding in the dark and wet he clipped a parked car, ended up off his bike and in the middle of the road. Mike looked up to see his bike broken in two and thought, "there's got to be another way to ride".
Mike started riding at the age of 14 and instantly loved it. He viewed cycling as an escape, an adventure, a way of seeing things that you can't do any other way. Mike was a very accomplished rider winning medals at State, National and International level. His cycling journey brought him to Melbourne where he became a cycling coach at the Victorian Institute of Sport. From there Mike began working with an IT company full time, building apps and software for others.
Outdoor training indoors
Following his crash, Mike tried a few virtual training apps, but knew it could be done better. Combining his two careers, elite-level cycling coach and IT software developer, Mike created FulGaz - an app for people at home to experience rides from all around the world.
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The rides
Thanks to the realism of the FulGaz app many pro riders have been using it to prepare for major events such as the Rio Olympics. For the more recreational user, Mike and the team at FulGaz have produced over 1,000 km of terrain to explore.
You can test yourself against the best up the Tourmalet, cut laps around the Albert Park F1 Circuit, even take a trip over to the states and conquer Mt. Diablo, all on your indoor trainer.
Event organisers and coaches can also create their own courses. This feature enables pro riders to practise on real race courses - the Australian Road Nats course for example.
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Features
All of the courses in FulGaz are in HD
Rides can be uploaded onto Strava and you can see how your performances measures up worldwide with international leaderboards
FulGaz allows you to ride loops of your favourite course, perfect for time trials, threshold efforts, and adding distance to your indoor training session
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The riding experience
FulGaz has two modes of riding - Reactive and Steady.
Reactive mode, as the name suggests, provides real-time updates depending on the rider. If you ride faster, you go faster, and the ride will end sooner. Very useful if you are training for the Tour of Bright ITT or the Noosa Triathlon (yep, they have those courses, too!).
Steady mode is perfect for those with specific training goals. The courses in steady mode are ridden at the speed they were filmed, taking as long as the course was designed to be, regardless of effort from the rider. For example, if you want to do a 20-minute threshold climbing effort, then select the 1 in 20 or for a one-hour effort - Mt. Buller.
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When the mercury hits 40+ this summer, or it's cold, dark and wet (or all of the above!), FulGaz will guarantee you a quality ride in a great location.
