On any given weekday, thousands of athletes run or cycle along beautiful Southern California roads and trails. Peter O’Sullivan and business partner, Greg Elias have rode together nearly every Saturday – often with other cyclists who compete in professional and amateur events. Many of the cyclists and triathletes they rode with made a point to ride upcoming race courses ahead of time. “Like any competitive sport, cycling is a tremendous physical challenge, so knowing the course helps them make it to the finish line ahead of the competition,” states Elias. The challenge was: most event courses where geographically too hard to reach and practice on before race day. Moreover, many train indoors where there was no ability to train to a specific race course at all.
O’Sullivan and Elias saw an opportunity. “We saw fellow cyclists and runners using their GoPro cameras to record terrific training footage from all over the country. At the same time, were seeing athletes watch talk shows on their trainers in the gym and wondered – why can’t we share all those journeys and let folks travel the world while they work out?”
The solution O’Sullivan and Elias came up with is DelightfulAgony.com. The free website offers a new technology that gives outdoor athletes the power to easily create their own real-world routes or use someone else’s shared route/video. “We instantly marry Garmin or Timex GPS files GPS files with GoPro video,” explains Elias, emphasizing that absolutely no technical expertise is needed. “The website does all the work for you.” Uploaded videos are synced with the actual Google route map, profile, speed, incline and altitude all the athletes’ GPS data. Now, any competitive cyclists or runner with a GoPro and GPS can create and share an unlimited number of training videos. That’s when they discovered an added benefit – watching the actual course helps get the competitive juices flowing and makes the workout more productive. DelightfulAgony’s virtual training courses add a critical mental stimulus that makes an indoor workout exciting.
Now they want other athletes to contribute by uploading their own GPS-enhanced videos.
Elias and O’Sullivan have already seeded the site with several triathlons and ultra-century cycle courses from their own rides as well as friends and relatives. Now, they’re busy reaching out to the sports community, competitive triathletes, bicyclists, joggers and hikers, to use the site and upload their own course videos from anywhere in world. “I can’t wait to start seeing European rides,” says Elias, a huge Tour de France fan. And this isn’t just for cyclists and runners. They are going to hike half-dome this summer and post it as well. As for cycling courses, he is hoping it quickly catches on so “folks to start recording the Tour de California so I can ride that too”. O’Sullivan revels in their goal of making everyone’s workout agony-delightful.
Visit DelightfulAgony.com for more info and to start uploading your own GPS-enhanced videos.
Delightfit Inc. is a web development company targeting the fitness and health industry. It is based in Carlsbad Ca. and is privately held.
