Did a big spin route ride today. While riding box hill somebody put in an effort to catch me then coffee stopped on me for the remainder of the climb. He finished above me on the KOM standings with half the effort, very frustrating.
My question is why is there a coffee stop option outside of causal group event?
If you are doing a solo route ride and need a break, what is the problem of just pulling over and taking a break if needed?
Please remove these unnecessary, easily abused mechanics that cause frustration for the people who are trying to do honest rides but getting beat by people who are gaming the system.
They could probably exclude folks who used a coffee stop on a KOM segment from the leaderboards. I donāt see them getting rid of coffee stops for folks riding around since people who currently use them will complain. Personally I would have implemented coffee stops differently.
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Somehow I donāt think youāll get much support - more likely theyāll probably say āitās not a raceā, among other stirring to try and annoy you.
I had someone doing the same on ADZ today - I just stopped briefly and ended his coffee stop so he could at least get a bit of the climb done, even if it was difficult.
I ride the big mountainous routes where others donāt go - so itās usually far more peaceful there.
Iād bet one change for coffee stops would be probably wildly popular: extending the big-spin late-join coffee-stop from 30 seconds to the entire remaining distance of the route so people get the big spin without even getting on the bikeā¦
It is a casual group event. Itās also silly that people can set a PR when a coffee break is used. Personally my approach is to give that person a PR they will never beat. Thatās my fun as they have handed me the keys to their car.
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I think the OP was doing a solo āon demandā ride from stage 1, as we are now into stage 2 for any group ridesā¦
OK, but what could be more casual than just riding around doing whatever you want?
I had a guy coffee break on me on a steep section of a free ride recently. I absolutely smashed the climb. Coffee means GO TIME.
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If it makes you feel any better, no one else cares about your KOM leaderboard position on a free ride. I donāt say that to be meanājust that for everyone else out there, your name will be just one more name on that list. I donāt ride around looking at the leaderboards and thinking to myself āWow, I canāt believe FastRider4 is only 8th, thought sheād be 7th.ā
You care about your own spot on the board, and thatās fine. So just tell yourself that you actually got 7th or whatever, because you know the truth about the coffee guy.
These things arenāt being kept track of by Zwift. After an hour, or after you log off, your 7th/8th/whatever place drifts off into the aether. You know how well you actually did, and no one else cares, so donāt let it be a big deal.
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In my opinion there needs to be an over hall of coffee breaks, donāt count the time or distance in a ride and reduce to 15 mins frequency.
We managed before the feature was implemented.
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Exactly we did. The folks I ride with, we just stop for a moment or two if necessary if someone has to go to the door or has trainer power drop out. Itās only a minute or two.
And the expected snarky/sarcastic response I predicted happenedā¦
One overhaul could be what someone else (not me) suggested by adding more drag/rolling resistance to the coffee stop user after they have finished their coffee stop for the same duration as the coffee stop. That doesnāt remove the coffee stop, it can still be used.
I have several PRs obtained through bugs and I am very proud of them. We do a lot of QA on behalf of the platform and these are a badge of honor. Itās about finding the bug, understanding the bug, and then reproducing it for the segment.
Coffee Stop offers a wide range of bugs, and to really get the most out of it, you need solid execution.
Happy memories of this one.
(I have no idea why anyone cares - there is always something that will wreck your PRs. Volcano KOM with the 4x long power ups, pre gravel times on half of watopia routes).
And we manage after it was implemented as well 
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Why should another rider logging a 60 min ride vs a 57 min ride bother you?
There are loads of people, as I type this, using coffee breaks, powerups, and there are bots zooming around Watopia at 20w/kg. None of that is affecting me, or my account, at all.
I would be in favor of an Incognito modeābeing able to ride without others seeing you or being able to latch onto you. But why should I care at all how much distance someone ends up being credited for?
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This comment gives me a thought (which may already have been suggested elsewhere, but I donāt recall it): when a rider initiates a ācoffee breakā, instead of putting the (giant) icon over their avatar, just make them invisible. That way there wouldnāt be a (potential) screenful of coffee cups, and active riders wouldnāt be able to see the āhangers onā.
Sure, it might be strange to see half the pack disappear, and then reappear later, but at least people wouldnāt know they were dragging someone along. (Not sure what might happen with the Riders Nearby list, but perhaps the breakers could be removed from that temporarily, also.)
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In group rides sometimes coffee stop is used to help pull someone back to a pack who dropped off, they would need to see that person to do that.
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I donāt really see why they have to cruise along when they are used. why not just come to a stop then when you start pedaling again you teleport back next to the person you were next to when you initiated it. you can do whatever you normally do on a coffee break and then rejoin the group you were with when you restart.
No need for the distance to be added just like with any other teleport.
Ah, yes, there is that! Since Iām nearly always doing a workout on Zwift, I forgot about that usage. Oh, well; back to the drawing board!
Maybe they just need to introduce a Decaf powerup that dislodges Coffee Breakers when you trigger it 
If people are this upset by it, they might not mind giving up a Feather/Helmet/Van.
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There is. Start your own club, make an event and ride all alone without anyone seeing you and you not seeing anyone.
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To be clear, my dream Incognito mode would include not alerting anyone that Iām riding. Youāre right that the club mode will take you off the roads, and given that clubs are free, thatās a great solution to the people who donāt like coffee stops. But my Incognito would go further 
If someone says āI want to be able to see people and have them see my name on the leaderboards but not have them do things I donāt likeā, I would just direct them to some key passages from Simone de Beauvoir about the mixed curse/blessing of the existence of other human beings.
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Sounds like there should be a second coffee break function that just does an entire ride for people and trolls the chat at the same time.
Or maybe Iām too cynical.