Pace Partners are great but a change I would like to see some more variety.
Currently, the pace partners always ride the same loop on Watopia. Eg Brevet always rides Sand and Sequoias. It would be great if the pace partners could rotate between courses of similar difficulty, and also between maps on a schedule to keep things interesting. It could even be reversing the direction in which the pace partner rides. However, I think there should only be one pace partner active at each pace on Zwift at once, otherwise users will be split between two.
Eg. Brevet
Today - Sand and Sequoias
Tomorrow - Watopia Hilly Loops
Next Day Richmond UCI Loop
The pace partners should rotate through every route on Zwift. In this manner, those who are collecting route badges may always have a scheduled cycling companion with which to earn a route badge. I’m waiting for the the 'bots to ride on all the variations of the Pretzels and PRL Full, so that I can attack these extended routes with companion cyclists. The nature of the terrain is irrelevant to cycling with a 'bot. They push the identical power throughout, and we can do the same. Ride on!
Unsure if this is intended or not, but Coco was on Sand & Sequoia today instead of Tempus Fugit. Although from the pace partner selection screen she is still listed as Tempus Fugit.
If there aren’t enough complaints about unawarded route badges, I’m sure people joining a pacer bot to get a badge for PRL Full or one of the Pretzels but timing the join just (or indeed anywhere) after the official route start would open a whole new realm of possibilities
LOL! Easy solutions: NO LATE ENTRIES. Also, it raises the prospect of having pre-announced Starts with a pacer on any given route. No joiners, no 'bot. That’s what computers do!
ps: if you’re reading MY comment as a “complaint about unawarded route badges”, or, indeed, any flavor of “complaint”, you are entirely mistaken…
Oh no, I was just referring to the 100 or so threads about unawarded route badges (they all sort of blend together after a while), I didn’t see your comment as any kind of a complaint.
BTW I think there is too much of a gap between Coco (2.5 W/kg) and Dan (1.5 W/kg). A 2.0 W/kg bot would nice as well.
I’ve learned to skim over most of those sorts of messages on the forum that have only relevance to a single rider (or those with identical equipment configurations - rare).
You’re quite right about the power gap on the pace partners, in terms of proportions. A one W/kg increase from 1.5 is indeed proportionally larger than a 1 W/kg jump from 2.5 or even 3.2. Dan is too light for me, and Coco is at that sweet spot level, but I really should somehow manage to warm up before joining that mercurial aussie!
You can increase the difficulty of a pace partner or group ride by using a gravel, mountain bike, or time trial bike. Of course, you’d need to do this before joining the pace partner which requires starting the game, changing equipment, then restarting the game
I second that it does not matter what course each bot “selects” as w/kg is a constant. They could easily rotates among current 4 loops in Watopia and that would already an improvement.
Actually, one can still change bikes on the fly… It’s not uncommon to select the Pace Partner from the drop-in screen… then pull a U-turn (at any point). The game will keep you on the same route (reverse). Change your bike (first stop pedalling). Then, when you encounter the pace partner approaching you on the reverse course, perform another U-turn and re-join the pace partner (PP). one can also use this technique just for a warm-up distance before joining with the same bike etc. Alternatively, though hugely variable according to the route the PP is on, one may simply be dropped by the PP peloton upon start-up, and then wait for the PP to catch up to you during your warm-up. Obviously, the speed/power differential between your warm-up pace and that of the PP will determine how long that takes (SLOW).
