No the ride leader don’t have that power. They can turn the fence on and off and they can move the fence further and closed in 3 specified time increments.
Thanks Gerrie; I appreciate the reply. Wasn’t aware of the “60-second beyond the fence” rule that automatically triggers kick mode-- but even so, there definitely was no “return to group” warning prior to being zapped. I’m pretty sure I’m using the current game version (v1.26), but I’ll double check. Thanks again!
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What’s the behavior when a rider has moved ahead of the fence and then the fence is moved back toward the group? Does it reset or adjust the counter? They might need more time…
I don’t understand this obsession with flyers either and it really seems to be a control thing. Today I did the EVO group ride and it almost gave me an anxiety attack and had to leave early, the constant “whining” about blobbing, zapping, kicking, fence on/off, etc. In the beginning the leader set a fence at 10 seconds but when there were a few flyers he moved it to 5 seconds, sounds like a control issue to me.
Honestly these rides are no fun anymore. I like the group rides but riding in a pack is very stressful (too busy) and the red fence flashing on a 100" screen is not relaxing at all so I ride a bit in front of the fence, who cares?.
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The important thing is to respect the ride organizer’s plan for the ride. Fondo/Fundo/Audax type events encourage you to do as you please. Some other group rides do as well, but many do not. You have to read the event description to know if it’s for you. They may be trying to create a social experience by keeping the group together, and bolting up the road turns a social ride into a race. I don’t need a fence to keep me in the group because I listen to whatever the ride leader is asking for, but it’s clear that larger group rides sometimes need more “control” to produce the ride experience that the organizer is trying to create.
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I will definitely look for other events but I am limited when it comes to time. I can only speak about the EVO & Cycle Nation group rides and in both 75%+ of the messages from the leaders are about blobbing, flyers, fence, etc. I hope this is not the ride experience they are trying to create. Personally I think this all is a bit weird, we’re talking about avatars on a computer screen. If some want a relaxing ride and others want to race who cares? Can’t we just have fun, tell some jokes, talk about whatever…we’re all riding alone in our rooms anyway. If I want someone to tell me what I should be doing I’ll talk to my boss.
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There seems to be two camps; those who want a strict stay-together group ride, and those who want to have a loose format and do what you like as long as you have fun. That is OK. I think the pace partners are ideal for the latter camp. The key to making the group ride a good experience for all, is to be honest in the ride description and also annonse the ride rules at the start of the ride.
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For me, the zap fence allows a more relaxed ride as leaders won’t have to continually moan throughout the ride - I’ve never moaned when leading because I find as aggravating as you do (which is why I avoid certain organisers’ rides).
Turn it on, announce the fence exists, that it is a zap fence, and leave it at a set time unless circumstances dictate otherwise (and announce any change). There should be no reason now for the endless harassment of anyone ahead of the pack
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This is what happen if everyone ride just ahead of the fence.
Let’s say the group ride is a 2.0w/kg ride. So the ride leader keep at 2.0w/kg but most of the group sit at the fence (sometimes up to 90% of the group) then the ride leader is in open air which mean he has no draft and that makes his 2.0w/kg a lot slower than the bunch, now the bunch is doing 1.5w/kg and complain that the ride is to slow.
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Totally agree and maybe make it an option for the event (zap fence @ 10 secs) so there is no confusion when you sign up or during the ride…
That has nothing to do with the purpose of a given group ride. Use a pace partner if you want other riders around you but don’t like the group ride that’s offered at the time you want. Ride off into the sunset any time you want, nobody will mind.
How you ride affects the group behind you. If you race, the ride splits up. For every person who wants to take a flyer, there are scores behind you who want the group to stay together at the advertised pace. That’s what the ride offered and what they signed up for.
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I would agree though with the sentiment that Fence itself is ugly and obtrusive. I hate staring at them. Maybe suggest that the minimum in front of the leader is 20-30 seconds.
Also, becomes more important to know whether or not the leader is going to turn it off for KOMs/Segments and allow enough time for sprinters to soft-pedal a bit to get back to the group, or if it’s expected that you cannot partake of that Zwift feature during fence-kick rides.
I know there’s some experimenting with rubber-banding on group rides – not that I’m necessarily a fan for myself most of the time, but it would be an interesting alternative if this could be a toggle on/off switch where a leader could switch it on whenever to pull back together everyone on the ride.
Finally, flyers who want to fly – I don’t see why they’d care if they’re booted from a ride, if they’re not in the group anyway? It’s not like their effort up to that point is deleted or not counted. It’s not like they’re transported to another course either.
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Any group leader worth his salt will comunicate with the group when the fence is on and off and when to sprint.
Ride leaders are not trying to zap as many as possible.
Most of us will look at the amount of flyers and notify them before turning on the fence. We want to finish the ride with the same people that started.
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I have never used a pace partner but from reading the description it does not seem they tell jokes and general knowledge quizzes 
The EVO and Cycle Nation rides are fun except for the moaning about flyers etc. Maybe the zap fence will help to bring the jokes and quizzes back.
Besides from a few one-off cases where they leave the leader alone without their draft advantage I honestly do not see the problem with flyers. I also have no problem with the group slowing down to let slower riders catch up. From what I have noticed is that smaller groups are created each with their own wpg and everyone is fine.
Hopefully with this new feature different group rides pop up with or without fences and we all can be happy 
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Every organiser can set three different times for the fence and leaders may use any of them or indeed switch it off entirely.
I support the kick feature. Flyers ruin group rides. The only thing that would make the zapper even better is if it send a small electric shock to the flyers bike.
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I think it might be helpful to have a warning that you will be kicked from the event, rather than just saying “Return to group” along with a countdown. Knowing that you will be kicked from the event is more convincing than a countdown when trying to get flyers back to the group. So far the kicking fence has been working pretty well for me, and once I announced that the fence will kick you from the ride, lots of riders eased off and returned to me.
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I’m thinking that the appearance of the fence should be made less intrusive. Right now, it is like a red wall, and the view you get when riding just behind it is not the best. I can understand those who want to escape it and goes in front of it. (Yes, it is an option to slide further back)
Maybe if it were more transparent and light blue or something, it would be easier on the eyes?
What do others think?
I think it should be invisible if you are close to the ride leader but as you get close to it it turns red. The red help to deter people to ride on the fence and leave the ride leader on his own.