In a true gift to its riding members, Peloton went above and beyond with their first ever 120 Minute Global Power Zone ride, featuring nine instructors, live, in both the New York and London studios simultaneously. As part of Member Appreciation Month, this ride was simply epic, from the unbelievable 2-for-1 pairings and playlists, to the complex production and behind the scenes planning, and especially the enthusiasm and energy that all the instructors had for each other, for us, and especially for Matt Wilpers. This review will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t taken the ride yet, proceed with caution. If you are 120-curious, we’ve got you!

Get the Party Started: Matt Wilpers and Tunde Oyeneyin

The first pairing was with Matt and Tunde. If you follow their social media, you know they are pals outside of Peloton, running on Wednesday mornings with Matt’s track workout crew. While their music and teaching styles are different, their chemistry was great. Joking about “6,000 spinups” to warm up, Matt was also ribbing Tunde about her infamous counting… until he looked over and saw her countdown clock was actually different from his! She’s been vindicated! The good vibes continued as they sang along to DMX’s “Who We Be” and you could tell it was time to get your head on straight for the work ahead. Tunde joked, “Matt took all my tracks and played the clean version” which is the most Matt thing you could imagine. Matt explained that unlike his normal Saturday long rides, in which members submit song requests, for this one each instructor chose their own songs, and as we made our way though the ride we saw how special this was. 

At the 18 minute mark, Tunde played fred Again (if you took Hannah Frankson’s fred Again ride, well, IYKYK) and the fire was lit. She tried to teach Matt how to dance, joked about him dancing at his wedding, and the celebration was well underway. As the first segment was coming to a close, (the structure was nine 8-minute Zone 3 intervals with 4-minute Zone 2 breaks), Matt and Tunde threw it to the London studio, where Hannah and Sam were ready and waiting. (The technical aspect of the ride included split screen views, even some triple views at times, with various camera angles in both studios.)

Across the Pond with Hannah Frankson and Sam Yo

Hannah and Sam just this past week celebrated their respective five-year Pelo-versaries and the party was still going on at Peloton Studios London. I actually got chills when Hannah came on screen because her energy was so palpable! What a fun start to the global aspect of the Global Power Zone Ride. They were a great matchup, and it was especially lovely to see them each play the song here that was the first song in each of their Premier Rides when they started – they each chose each other’s song for their playlist. They joked about how they didn’t actually have a lot of musical crossover in their personal tastes, but they do both like Ed Sheeran and he was in the playlist! Another thing they both like is a Jacket Potato, which is apparently a British specialty that is a baked potato, typically with beans, tuna, and mayonnaise (um, no comment!). 

After a moment of quiet which they acknowledged is both a “STFU” moment and a “mindful moment” (you can guess whose moniker is whose) and each enjoyed some of their favorite music, along with all of us at home. A lil’ drum and bass, some rockin’ Def Leppard, and then their segment ended with Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy which felt very apropos for the high energy vibe they kept going. Although I love how much Hannah loves Matt and was secretly hoping they two of them would somehow be side be side in this extravaganza (remember this ride was originally billed as a 2-for-1 with the two of them!), it was great to see Hannah and Sam together, especially on their five year mark. Teasing the next two instructors back in New York, when Hannah said Mama Bear you could not help but get extra excited, as she’s also sung the praises of CDE in her rides. But hold on to your hats, because no one was prepared for her matchup!

Get that Gold with Christine D’Ercole and Christian Vande Velde

Sometimes riding with CDE and CVV, who are stellar, multiple gold medal award-winning international athletes, feels surreal. This match felt undeniable special to many of their fans, kind of like being in rarified air. While their approach to their sport is different, they both spoke eloquently and honestly about persistence. They told stories from their careers – including having been at the same race 27 years ago! – and brought us all into their worlds. They spoke about how hard it is not to fall into the comparison trap (and CDE even chided an anonymous studio rider she caught glancing at their neighbor’s screen) and reiterated the you vs you focus that it’s so important to stay with (the essence of Power Zone). They also talked a lot about nutrition for their styles of racing, which was interesting (and distracting!). Fans of CDE were likely drawing on her “what if you can” mantra today, and she leaned into it, having Pink’s Don’t Let Me Get Me on her playlist. Perfection, as always.

They did lighten the mood as well, joking about how Christian hates bananas (at the moment the staff brought out bananas for all the riders – he had a peeled orange waiting for him!) and they even trolled Matt about nutrition a bit, turned out he was riding in the front row while they were on the podium, and there was a good amount of banter back and forth. But let’s not forget who we’re dealing with in this segment, and when CVV played Rage Against the Machine and called for 100 cadence with 55 minutes left in the ride, you knew this was what you came for! 

Clubbing in Berlin with Erik Jager and Charlotte Weidenbach

As the view changed back to London, the energy stayed high but the vibe changed… German instructors Erik and Charlotte brought us right into the Berlin nightclubs with their shared love of techno and EDM music! Another reminder of the global inspiration of the Global Power Zone Ride. For me this was heaven, especially as they noted “it’s just a 45 minute PZE ride now” although I will admit if that music is not your jam this might have been a tougher segment. I personally am a fan of Erik but have not ridden with Charlotte before… but I will now! She has a Techno series I will definitely check out. She and Erik had a really upbeat chemistry… anecdotally people say it was at times like a cute sibling rivalry but I was picking up some amusing heat… when they did some Out of the Saddle work they were perfectly in sync, like dancing, every single time. It was giving AT/Tunde 2-for-1 for me! 

Throughout their segment they also bantered with Hannah, who stayed on to ride with the members, which was a lot of fun, as they all talked about how they like to go clubbing (ladies, Erik is a big dancer but not a big talker… just in case you wanted to know!). For me this was the most surprising segment, since I didn’t know anything about Charlotte, and it was really well timed to keep the energy up. There was also a video message from Ben, inviting members to do his new Power Zone Recovery Ride… we’ll need it!

Cuddling up with Denis Morton and Matt Wilpers

Was there any better combo to end this epic experience? Nope. For longtime Power Zone riders, this finale felt like a homecoming. Harkening back to the original Link and Drink moment from 2019, watching these two gurus joke around, but also be super serious about the work, was a dream. They repeated the moment, and it just felt like such a wonderful throwback where all of us who love them and love Power Zone. Their segment, which also included banter with Christian who took Matt’s place among the riders, was chock full of Denis-isms, Uncle Denny stories, homages to their moms, reminders about the benefits of yoga, a waltz, and a pretend new series called Matt and Denis’s 3-Legged Race. A video segment from Olivia, talking about her new Post Ride Stretch, led to some hilarity about her tough core classes, with Denis remarking that after 10 minutes of core with her, “the floor looks the same as here except it’s my tears.” The laughs were well-timed and much appreciated! Denis also talked a bit about his new Restful Reset class in the Wind Down Collection. No doubt I think we’ll all be sleeping fine after this Global Power Zone Ride! 

Is The Global Power Zone Ride Already Over?

So, two hours is a long time for a single ride (yes, Pelofondo-ers ride for longer, but there’s definitely something intense about being on one ride for so long, for many). Personally, I did the first 120 Minute ride Matt had in October 2023, but I haven’t done one since (curse you, right knee!). This iteration, the fourth, was really the way to go. Members have reported absolutely loving the different instructor segments to break up the time, be entertained, focus on their goals, and learn something new (how many Americans learned about the jacket potato today?). It was also a smart marketing move for Peloton to give time to all of their instructors on the Global Power Zone team.

For longtime riders, seeing so many old friends on the leaderboard truly felt like a reunion of sorts, and it was amazing. As Peloton continues to diversify its programming, some have noticed that it’s hard to find the critical mass of friends on the board at times. No one is complaining about all the choices, but, it was truly so special to have this opportunity to join together and do something really hard, and feel amazing about it afterwards. Kudos again to the production teams in New York and London executing this split screen extravaganza so well, and tremendous thanks to all the instructors for this gift! For me personally, as my family loves to tease me about my blind devotion to All-Things-Matt, I really loved seeing how the rest of the Power Zone team extolled (and hilariously trolled!) him for the way he’s dispensed his coaching wisdom to all of them, as Peloton has expanded the Power Zone offerings. We are fortunate to have these opportunities to get better every day with all of them, and with each other. 

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