What type of tools do you think will be helpful to Group ride leaders.
I am leading a few group rides and for the most part it is a very rewarding task. But with everything there are some things that makes it less fun.
Fliers going off the front: Most of the time I just ignore them but sometimes they will drag a big group with them and break the group dynamic.
I would like the ability to have a button that will warn all that are more than 30sec ahead to fall back and if they receive the warning 3 times they will be out of the event.
or
Have a bubble around the leader if someone goes of the front the drag increases the farther they go off the front.
Better indication how far or behind or in front the leader you are.
This can be a field with distance to leader (ie 24m In front or 24m behind) similar to the yellow you see when you are in-front of the leader.
It will be nice if the leader could copy and paste text. I have a work around for it but it will be nice to have the option.
something similar to copy and paste , if a ride leader paste a link to their discord channel it should be a active link that will open discord on PC.
What else can you ride leader think off also what will riders want to see?
I think if you go 5 sec Infront of the ride leader you get zero draft effect. Also if you drop 10 sec back you get double effect to give the sweepers a fighting chance.
You will always get flyers off the front, no problem, go for it. But stop them dragging a group along.
This would be just a toggle on/off so you can chill and enjoy your ride lead just setting the pace.
I hear a lot of people say it is no harm if you go off the front, but the problem is a few go off the front then some follow them then more and more soon the ride leader is riding with a group of 5 people.
Ride leaders do there best to stay at the required pace, they take time out of their training to lead these rides. If people don’t want to ride at a set pace why sign up for a group ride?
I think providing incentives is fine. However, limiting how someone decides to spend their time is a bit much. If they choose to go off the front then allow them to. Focus on the people who want to be around your pace.
@ViceNights: I think it is rather unfair to think that a person can join a group ride wit a set pace and that just go ride on his/her own, what is the point to join a ride and then do your own thing.
As I said before Ride leaders does this all for free to make Zwift more fun, most of the time they have to plan life around leading rides. A ride leader can’t wakup and say I don’t feel like leading today I want to do my own thing.
So if you feel like doing your own thing then do it just NOT in a group ride.
Because they might not have that intention of going off the front. But maybe halfway through they might feel better then they thought or be more motivated then they were before the start. So why should they spent time on the saddle doing something they don’t want? Flyers are taken too personal on zwift. You do what makes you happy and lead the ride. Let others do their thing.
I am sure there are days where you start a ride and the realize that it is to slow, then I would suggest just to click on the leave event button and do your own thing.
Yes we do try to ignore the fliers but there are that point where they start going off the front and start to pull the whole group with them this will string out the group and the leader has to constantly remind people to slow down.
If you feel strong why not fall back and help pace those that got dropped back to the bunch that is a good workout.
I sympathize with you and appreciate your time (have been on one of your rides:+1:) i think the only real problem is when big groups get split and drift away, the draft is so strong its annoying to soft pedal slowly enough to fall back.
its still early days in general and you only have to click a button to join the rides so not everyone is there knowing exactly what to do. its easy to say ignore it but i’m not putting the time in. anyway please carry on.
Lukas you make a good point, once the draft takes you you need to soft pedal to get back to the Leader, and yes that is not fun if you trying to get a good workout.
It will be nice if the ride can be setup in such way that the leader has a button to activate a Resistance/drag increase to all further than X in front of the leader.
That will help bring the front back with out having to soft pedal.
Example: When Leader click the button this will happen to people in front of the leader.
20m increase resistance by 1%
30m increase resistance by 2%
40m increase resistance by 3%
ect.
This will help that people don’t go off on a downhill as well.
That is an interesting sugestion. Perhaps a series of resistance bands around the leader so that those riding at the front edge of say a 2.5 - 3.0 group could pull those riding at the trailing edge. Like a warp field that cannot be escaped?
I have found it difficult to release from the draft of a leading group on a longer session for fear of getting stuck out of the draft. I have also found that soft pedaling for a lap to fall back can lead to under effort rides.
But I do agree with the goal of your suggestion, and prefer trying to keep a group together.
I haven’t done a group ride in Zwift yet, but I’m curious about trying one. So, if a person joins a group ride, are they able to leave the group once the ride has begun? So, is a casual no-drop ride what your are looking for? I’m not so sure about the idea of letting another rider control the resistance of my trainer.
Maybe, a better solution would be to have different group ride TYPES that the group leader could select from: a FAST RIDE TYPE for riders who want a fast pace, a WORKOUt TYPE where riders in the group could workout together and receive the same workout prompts in real time, and finally a casual NO-DROP RIDE TYPE where riders could just ride together and chat like a recovery ride. Perhaps another group ride TYPE could include mini-games where riders in the group can engage in challenges , like sprinting or climbing, amongst each other within the group without have to compete with ALL riders on Zwift.
It would be like saying, “last one to the cafe buys every drinks.”
A fix for fliers would be a setting, where as anyone off the front more than 30 second lead, has 30 second count down to come back or they auto drop out of the group ride to normal riding.
Maybe group leaders could get the options to specify a target speed or power for that group ride when they create the ride. Then if a rider pulls away, that rider would be automatically prompted with a “you are pulling away from the group: slow down or leave the group” message. Or something like that.
If it’s getting to be a big problem what about a way to issue a warning?
You could have a graded warning system like 3 strikes and you’re out or a yellow and red card system where you get a temporary (or even permanent ban) from participating in future group rides
What about a message that says “you seem to be enjoying your solo ride” then an option appears ”quitting the event in 15 seconds or drop me back in the peloton”
I would rather have the riders off the front just work harder to stay off the front, that way strong riders can also have a group ride. There is not many rides for 3w/kg and up.
I totally agree with you, if they want to fly then join a faster group or join a race. People that are new to zwift will tend to follow the flyers rather than the yellow beacon. I believe the leader should be able to boot somebody out if they don’t slow down after being told to follow pace.
It’s the draft effect that takes people and groups away with the flyers unintentionally. Solution:
If you are Infront of the ride leader you experience no draft boost. Try riding away solo from a group. You can’t* the group will stay together.
*Only the very committed but what you going to do?
