Virtual challenges that count cycling, swimming and more

Those are rough figures to help you plan. Everyone’s speed is different, and swimming is much slower per kilometer than any of the others.

Counting every kilometer the same keeps things simple, but the work behind each one varies a lot. Harvard Health lists rough calories burned in 30 minutes for a 155-pound person. Set beside the distance covered in that time, it shows why a bike ride racks up distance so easily and a swim does not.

So a swimmer works hard for every kilometer, and a cyclist covers a lot of ground for the same effort. Neither is cheating. Pick the activity you enjoy and will keep doing. If you want a challenge to feel like a similar effort whatever you do, set yourself a rule, such as covering the shorter medals on foot and saving the bike for the long ones. The CDC counts cycling under 10 mph and recreational swimming as moderate activity, the same as brisk walking.

• Which activities count, and whether they count in full or through a conversion.
• Whether your device can record that activity. GPS struggles in a pool and indoors.
• Whether you can mix activities inside a single challenge.
• Whether indoor sessions, such as a spin bike or a rowing machine, need a photo or a connected device.
• Whether there is a cap on how much of the distance can come from one activity.

Outdoor rides record with your phone’s GPS, the same as a walk. Mount the phone on the handlebars or keep it in a jersey pocket. Indoor bike and rowing sessions are recorded in the app’s indoor mode.

Swimming is the awkward one. A phone cannot go in the pool, and open-water GPS is patchy. Check that your phone or watch can record a swim and pass the distance to the app before you plan a challenge around it. If not, walk or ride the bulk of the distance and treat swims as cross-training.

With every kilometer counting the same, the long medals are the natural fit: PHOENIX is 139 km and DRAGON is 179 km, which a regular rider could cover in a few long rides, and the medal is the same. See the four long challenges.

If you want the shorter medals to mean something on a bike, set yourself a rule: ride THOR’s 21 km in one go, for example, or cover ODIN with a ride and a run on the same day.

Swimmers face the opposite problem to cyclists. At a steady 2 km an hour, even LOKI is two and a half hours of swimming. Spread across 7 days that is very doable: four 40-minute swims. The long medals are a different story, so most swimmers count walks and rides as well.

A rowing machine sits in between. At a moderate pace you cover about 5 km in half an hour, so ODIN is two solid sessions and TURTLE is a steady habit of three 25-minute rows a week. Rowing works your back and arms as well as your legs, which makes it a good partner for walking.

You do not need a road bike. Any bike that fits you and has working brakes will do, including a hybrid, a mountain bike or a gym bike. Start with 20 to 30 minute rides on flat routes and add ten minutes a week. Your seat height matters more than the bike itself: with the pedal at the bottom, your knee should be only slightly bent.

Saddle soreness is the usual complaint in the first two weeks, and it eases as you ride more. Padded shorts help. Keep the effort easy enough to talk, the same rule as for a brisk walk.

• Wear a helmet that fits, every ride.
• Use front and rear lights at dusk and after dark, and in rain or fog during the day.
• Ride with traffic, use bike lanes and paths where you can, and signal turns.
• Keep your phone mounted or pocketed. Do not handle it while riding.
• Check your tires and brakes before a long ride. A flat ten miles from home is a long walk back.

For more on staying visible and safe on the road, read road safety for runners. Most of it applies on a bike too.

PHOENIX averages about 12 km a week over 79 days. Here is one way to cover a week of it with three activities.

That puts you ahead of the average, which gives you a buffer for a week off later. Swap the ride for a longer walk in bad weather, or the row for a swim if you have pool access. The total is what counts, not the mix, so let the week decide which session you do.

Does an e-bike count? Rules differ between events, and some leave e-bikes out. Check before you count those rides toward a medal.

Can I mix walking and cycling on the same day? Yes. Every recorded session adds to the same total.

Is swimming worth it for a distance challenge? For fitness, yes. For distance, it is slow, so most swimmers mix it with walking or riding.

Do spin classes count? If you can record the session and its distance in the app’s indoor mode, it adds to your total like any other ride.

Does a hike count? Yes. A hike is a walk with hills, and it is recorded the same way outdoors.

• How to Measure Physical Activity Intensity (CDC): walking at 2.5 mph or faster counts as moderate intensity, and during moderate activity you can talk but not sing.
• Calories burned in 30 minutes of leisure and routine activities (Harvard Health Publishing): calories for walking, hiking, running, cycling, swimming and rowing at three body weights.
• Adult Activity: An Overview (CDC): adults need 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking, plus muscle-strengthening on two days.