I’ve had a few times recently, but particularly last night people I ride up to/past when on a training program speed up to draft/half wheel/attack. I would’ve thought the training screen in front of the bike would let people know when you aren’t interested in such fun and games, but seemingly not. Last night was especially irritating as I was doing a FTP and two guys I rode past then started drafting and attacking. Its very distracting and makes focussing on what you are trying to achieve more difficult than it needs to be (particularly if you have a natural competitive streak). Is there some way when in a training mode you could have the opposite of an elastic band effect so for the most part you will be riding alone? I suppose I could ride on a TT or MTB frame which might reduce the chances a bit, but not necessarily eliminate it. Am I alone in experiencing this?
I don’t you are alone.
I would suggest picking roads less traveled, anything with a bit of elevation will be quieter.
turn wifi off after you log in? everything will still work and everyone else will disappear - just remember to turn it back on before saving your workout.
might get a bit lonely out there though
Or world hack to Richmond/Yorkshire on their off days.
I couldn’t agree more.
Drafting should only be enabled for Group Rides, Races and Meetups, all other activities ( Workouts and Free Rides) should have no drafting at all.
Just because I’m not in workout mode does not mean I mean not doing a workout.
The suggested solutions in this thread are at best work arounds, Zwift needs to fix this issue with the amount of users on the platform now.
Or Zwift should edit the TT bike so that in free ride it can’t draft or be drafted.
I like the drafting in Free ride, often we form a little group and chat and ride together with random people.
Yes, me too in some situations, but not all the time. I think making the TT bike a completely independent of all other bikes would be a good solution
This sounds like a decent idea- perhaps there could be a button added to do this in game?
I think this is a better solution than making drafting not work at all in “Free Ride”. That seems excessive to me.
Also, people could worry less about other riders near them. 
Use “view 3” and you generally won’t even know they’re there.
Maybe my being amazed at how bothered people get when someone drafts with them is an indicator of how slow I am (narrator: he’s very slow). But I really don’t get it. IRL, of course, because it’s dangerous if the noob behind you doesn’t know what they’re doing. But I’m not too worried about someone clipping my virtual wheel in-game. If someone wants to take a quick breather in my draft, heck, I’m taking it as a compliment!
As for distractions, with all the panels on the screen, riders going every which way, getting t-boned at intersections, and dinosaurs and mountain goats on the side of the road, that guy behind me isn’t distracting me from anything.
And removing the draft from free rides is a terrible idea. As Gerrie said, sometimes, you just form a group. I was doing the Fuego Flats the other day, and hooked up with another guy, and we pushed each other to keep the pace up to the banner, each taking turns in the lead. THAT’S one of the great things about Zwift. Some random person in another country and I were able to work together, and each got PBs on the reverse.
Just for ftp rides I think .
Not so bothered about people drafting, more if they then accelerate off in front again when you are trying to maintain a specific zone/ level. It is difficult not to be tempted into following and messing up what you were there to do in the first place. I appreciate this is not something many people will be bothered about, but I am sure there are many that will be (different people have differing tolerance for such things and just ignoring it is easier said than done depending on your personality). Seems like there could be a fairly simple way of accommodating it, hence why I posted in the first instance.
But this is not a Zwift problem LOL.
If you use the TT bike you wont be able to draft them so you wont “stick” to them.
It is if it means you aren’t able to use the platform as effectively as you might otherwise- it is more noticeable now zwift is getting busier and if people are sufficiently put off by it could affect subs. The group riding element is reat and has its place, but at times the option to ride solo (or a virtual equivalent) whilst using all the other features as usual would be very welcome. As I’ve said above I understand this is not going to be something that some people are bothered about, but for those that are a solution would be nice, hence the suggestion.
100% agree with you OP; this is exactly what I was trying to say in a post a few days ago about the wheelsuckers becoming problematic because Zwift is get crowded.
Why not just have a user select-able toggle while in free ride mode? On, you get/recieve a draft. Off, you don’t. You could see everyone’s status by adding a small icon over on the right where all the other rider data is shown. Doesn’t seem like something which would be hard to implement.
There are a thousand and one things people have requested that seem trivial to implement and make sense to a particular group of riders.
The real key isn’t necessarily ease of implementation, but what the demand is and whether it fits within the design goals for the platform. Assuming there’s demand and it fits the goals, there’s still that matter of prioritisation.
I know; worked in the IT field for about 10 years a while back. Got out along with all my friends when the pay dropped and illegals, er sorry, foreigners, got hired for all the U.S. based tech jobs.
You’re Mr. Pink correct? Stalking me on the forums now?
In the past Zwift has catered to a small group and ignored other highly requested features (Save without exit), so why is this request any different.
Easy fix would be @Gerrie_Delport suggestion and just turn off the ability to draft off of TT/Tri bikes, it’s not really needed anyways.
I agree in principle even though I’m not a big T.T. guy.
Something has to give though, but I just don’t see much effort on Zwift’s behalf to do much of anything. Hence, our frustration(s).
At least make a start by having an official post acknowledging there is a problem; it’s called good customer service.
Have to run an errand so if a reply is warranted, it might take an hour or so to get back online.