A Conversation with Cody Rigsby, Peloton’s ‘King of Quarantine’

Over at Vogue, Peloton’s Cody Rigsby was recently featured in a full-length article about his role at the company during the spring quarantine in the US.

“I hate to say this, but someone called me the king of quarantine,” he tells me. “I was like, ‘I’ll take it.’” As a friend and Cody devotee put it: “I would be a much sadder human during this time without him.” Rigsby now records his classes (not just indoor cycling but strength, meditation and, pre-pandemic, deliciously fun dance cardio set to Marky Mark jams) in an empty studio at Peloton headquarters in New York, due to coronavirus security protocol. But there are legions of members tuning in—either to take the class live or at a later date. By the time I stream the boy band bonanza a week after it first airs, more than 100,000 Peloton members have tuned into the class for q-t with Cody (thanks to his continued presence in my living room, I consider us to be on a first-name basis).

During the interview, Cody goes in-depth on his childhood, how that drives him today at Peloton, as well as how the company has evolved from a startup.

Rigsby remembers Peloton in the early days—he describes it as “scrappy,” and people swore it would never survive. Now, he says, everything is different: “It’s just starting to crystallize and manifest into this household name.” He’s talking about Peloton, but the same could be said for the king of quarantine, too. “I think that on the other end of this, that we’re all going to come out better, stronger, more resilient,” Rigsby says. He likens it to the last three minutes of a heady class on the  bike: “You’re like, ‘How am I going to do this?’ And somehow you do it. That’s an analogy for life.”

Peloton obviously did survive and played a key role during a wild 2020 around the world, and Cody was a huge part of it. The entire interview is a great read and it helps you understand what drives Cody today.