Had some Type 2 Fun™ yesterday I thought I’d share with the class.
I was after a Garmin “Weekend 40k Ride” badge and despite weather being significantly above seasonal here in eastern Canada (+20C/68F), I wanted the predictability of Zwift over riding outdoors. I also had it in my head to extend the ride which would have had me out well past dark.
I committed to 40km to get the Garmin badge, then extended to 50km to say I’d done half the metric century and see how I felt.
Selected D.Bernie pace-partner (1.4W/kg average). Most of the ride, it was a fairly small pack/blob, with lots of gaps.
At first I wished for a faster pace-partner than D.Bernie as I’m regularly riding with D.Miguel at 1.8W/kg and D.Maria at 2.2W/kg. By the end, I was happy this wasn’t the 2.2W/kg bot - 100+km is a cruise not a sprint and faster might not have been sustainable.
Group chat was quiet with most riders not on Companion app. Some of the other pace-partner packs seemed VERY chatty as we rolled by them. Maybe @James_Zwift has more data on this: are some pace-partners more likely to have chatty packs?
I hopped off the bike at around lap 12 (just over 50k with the lead-in), refuelled on baked pretzels, Processed Cheese Product™, grapes and Gatorade, and changed my kit (“real life” kit, not in game kit), hopping back on the bike after about 10 minutes; that was enough to feel refreshed. I pedalled lightly and let the pace partner catch up with me again.
I spotted another bot-like asset: one of the birds flying overhead around the perimeter turned Cat-D bot yellow when the pace-partner went by.
I think I’ve figured out a transient “glitch” that isn’t actually a glitch. At one turn junction, the turn pop-ups appeared with one showing as “Pace Partner”. I’d seen this years ago in Titan’s Grove. In this case, it seemed to happen because a second bot was riding past my pace-bot. Leaving the buttons alone, I continued to ride with the bot I’d selected.
By treating this ride like two back-to-back 50km rides with a dinner/nature/clothing swap break in the middle, it made it very doable. (EDIT - I’m mildly sore the morning after but could probably do another long ride)
Thank you for attending my TedTalk. (pics of robo-bird and Pace Partner turn button below)
Good effort. I like your idea of having a break. I think I’ll try that. Any idea how long the game will stay open without your input?
My longest Zwift ride is 85km, done with Bernie on Sprinters Playground last week. My hologram kept my interest going for the first few laps as I sprinted to a number of PRs. 100km doesn’t seem too much more than that, then there’s the 100 miles…
I’ve heard of people taking breaks for multiple hours to sleep when attempting vEveresting so I don’t think the game has a prescribed auto-save/shut-down. (EDIT - I see @Ian_Attoe has linked to a ZwiftInsider article with more info)
I’d be more concerned about glitches or power failures. If I were doing something like Four Horsemen or PRL Full, I’d likely use a device like an iPad or laptop that had self-contained power. My smart trainer (Tacx NEO) will operate without power so that’s another factor.
Yeah, on that note, my legs were generally fine but my sit bones got sore a few times. Getting up out of the saddle on climbs helped a lot.
My (non) plan for the 100mile badge is to get it while doing the PRL Full route. I’ll likely take a few quick breaks over that for changes of shorts and food, maybe some foam rolling. People have mentioned the descents on the backside of the hills are good spots for this since there’s a few minutes of coasting there.
In my neighbourhood, no, power is pretty reliable. I think it’s been off a sum total of 1-hour in the last decade, when they needed to do line service. If I’m doing PRL Full or Four Horsemen though? I do not like those odds.
I’m still not convinced the robo-assets aren’t lead-up to a grand Halloween gag.
FWIW I do lots of bikepacking so the concept of breaking a ride up with a longer break isn’t foreign to me. Not sure I want to pitch my bivvy in the gym though
This is where I use a rocker plate under the kickr bike. It helps with comfort. I’m not able to stand and pedal at the moment, I just don’t have the strength in my bad leg to do it, so this kind of thing is important. It effectively limits me to 40-45km for the most part.
Some of the groups with regular AHDR riders or ACG riders will be chatty, although the majority of ACG has disappeared off to do the daily 1-2 laps of ADZ.
Another ride worth trying was for a challenge for the Haute Route organisation, you had to do a ride with minimum 3500m+ elevation. I did it on ADZ with 3600m+ (one week too early) then did it again on Innsbruck (longer distance, but less steep).
I think that could be done outside as well, but most people don’t have a huge mountain at their doorstep.
The “prize” IIRC was entry to a real Haute Route event, so you also get a real Haute Route Jersey, a lanyard, a backpack and rolling luggage (which always end up with broken wheels) .
Hi,
I just wanted to ask the community if they know if it’s possible to join and ride with a robo pacer on the Volcano Circuit and still get the rounds counted to achieve the “25-rounds-badge”. But I think I found the answer here
So, if I understood your posting correctly, it is possible, right?
