[COVID-19 As a result of the pandemic, the majority of the world's population lived in various forms of lockdown for months, Rohan Dennis beat Chris Froome in the mountains, and Greg Van Avermaat won the Tour de Flanders without stepping out of his living room. Athletes were forced to get creative on social media, with Nathan Haas, among others, showing off his Backstreet Boys.

Now, fasten your seatbelts.

Thanks to the new GTA V mod, you can now combine indoor training with drive-by shooting by using an ANT+-enabled smart trainer to control the Grand Theft Auto game.

As a result of the coronavirus, many countries imposed blockades restricting outdoor exercise. As a result, indoor cycling boomed, and apps such as Zwift, Rouvy, and TrainerRoad saw record numbers as riders sought entertainment while pedaling to nowhere. However, the mod's author, "Makinolo," decided against riding in Watopia and chose Los Santos, a fictional version of Los Angeles, the world of "Grand Theft Auto V."

"GTBikeV is a mod for GTA V that turns a smart bike trainer (Turbo Trainer) into a game controller, turning game time into actual training time," the mod's description reads.

The description explains that, like other indoor cycling apps, the game listens for ANT+ signals from the best turbo trainers and applies them to the vehicles in the game to control their speed. It also transmits gradient, terrain, and wind to the turbo trainer in order to replicate the terrain.

Conveniently, the mod also creates a .FIT file, which can be uploaded to the training app of your choice once you have finished building your criminal empire.

If you want to run a specific course, there are three available: the first is a nearly flat, half-gravel route called Alamo Sea, 10 km long; the second runs through the hills of Los Santos, a 16 km circuit; the longest of the three is the Tour of The longest of the three is a 30 km undulating course called the Tour of Los Santos.

But if you get tired of running the predetermined course, you are free to roam the world of Los Santos.

There are detailed installation instructions by the original creators and a handy how-to on YouTube by Chris Pritchard:

It's not as sophisticated as it could be (and perhaps rightfully so). Various gameplay videos show many imperfect examples, such as how easy it is to get run over when you are piloting yourself. But you should try it." If you're looking for something different in the world of Watopia and are suffering from Netflix burnout, give it a try!

Just remember to focus on pedaling in the real world and let your virtual self do the work.