I would like to propose that at the end of a group ride, group workout - or perhaps even a race - there is a pop-up when the ride is saved asking the rider to rate the event and give feedback (perhaps structured feedback, if this is more appropriate).
I am getting increasingly despondent at the variability of group rides specifically and the false advertising that surrounds them - and I think it would be useful to collate feedback/ratings to evaluate this.
Some group rides I’ve joined have been excellent: a ride leader holding the advertised pace, a sweeper that helps people rejoin the blob from the back, clear comms and encouraging those at the front to ease up downhill to allow people to regroup etc.
Others have just been shambolic and end up just being a race. I rode an event today that was advertised as average 2.5 w/kg and looking at ZP, only 4 out of 53 people finished with a w/kg below that; most people were 3.0 - 3.2kg. People were attacking off the front, attacking on the climbs etc and then hammering it on the downhill, so it ended up not as a group ride at all.
I know that there is variability in these things, but I’m starting to see trends and think ‘customers’ should be allowed to give feedback. There are now some events that I will just avoid because I don’t trust that what the event says on the description will match the reality.
People give up an hour of their time and choose their events carefully based on their own abilities and the information shared on the companion app; it’s just a big waste of everyone’s time if they join a 2.5 w/kg event and then get spat out the back because the bunch is riding at 3.1 w/kg average, or if it’s a 2.5 w/kg average but then it’s 5.0 w/kg every time the road goes uphill.
I support this idea.
I often join a grupride that is supposed to be ridden in zone 2, blue, but lately the ride leader says that the next lap, or two, he will ride in green zone.
Even if this increase could be minor, it is not what i signed up for, but most times there are plenty of riders to ride with at the back where I am.
Just commenting to wake up this topic since I’ve had a few recent bad experiences.
I’ve been Zwifting for a few years now but only recently decided to try out group rides. I’m decently fit but (a.) female and (b.) very light so there are limits to which groups I have any hope of keeping up with. I usually join a group ride when I feel like having a chill day at Zone 2ish, so I go for group D and look for key words like “social” in the description, but more often than not, the pack takes off at above the advertised pace and the ride leader does nothing to reel them back in. Today the ride leader was consistently 0.5-1 W/kg above the advertised pace and attacking on the hills (or at least she was for the first 10 minutes, when I got dropped). I had absolutely no chance if I wanted to stick with my plan of taking it easy.
As a newcomer to group rides, this is hugely frustrating and really putting me off the whole experience. I know that there are rides that use the no-drop option, but they seem to be in the minority and those tend to give unrealistic speeds / segment times. It would be really nice if we could leave some constructive feedback for the group so that newcomers don’t waste their time joining rides that aren’t what they’re looking for. One could consider rating categories like:
Sticks to advertised pace
Leader gives helpful instructions / manages the group well
Beginner-friendly
Aggressively paced (since hey, some people do like this!)
This was sort of brought up with suggestions for clubs it would be great as a rider and ride leader to have a feedback system a bit like how after doing a pace bot ride you can give a 1-5 start review and comments.
in it’s most basic form that would be good for ride leaders to see. Potentially even showing on the calendar what rides get the best reviews so the best rides are popular rather than who can advertise the largest number of people. Seems logical that zwift would want more riders on the better lead rides.
Comments as well would be good just brief would be enough to understand what was good or bad about a ride.