Poor Yellow Beacon Pace Compliance

I wonder if everyone would do their group rides that way…

I did a group ride at constant pace (erg) when I hurt my back. I didn’t tell the group but after a bit of riding I started getting chat message from regulars asking what is different because the ride felt wrong. Soon people started complaining about draft being different. They didn’t like that ride at all.

I told them towards the end that I was in erg to try to save my back but I really didn’t want to let them down.

That day I realized how awesome the Zwift regular riders are.

So in short people like that human effect of changing pace.

I usually slow down on the climbs a bit.

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I’ve never tried this, I suppose it just ends up that your pace is always absolutely 3.1w/kg or whatever you dial up and so long as you can keep turning the cranks, it would work.

Makes me wonder if one particular group ride leader is doing this based on the particular unrelenting steady pace and a few other odd things. It just seems very suspect that one rider can have such an unrelenting pace time after time, all the time, no matter what - and always be able to push to the front of the pack.

Using ERG mode doesn’t prevent the leader from adjusting the pace during the ride. There may be a right way to do it that still provides some benefits.

Yeah, I’ve been there. Hence convo about a group ride with no draft. If you fall off the back somehow, the pack would still be going at a non-draft benefited pace so I think in theory a lot easier to come back to the group.

A constant unwavering pace IMO I’d agree is unnatural, though maybe there’s a niche that could be tried in doing a group ride like this but labelling it along the lines of a training ride (Z2 e.g.) – you’d definitely want to alert signups what this would be about.

There is a final solution for all this, but it is controversial - the rubber band. I don’t want to start a dispute about rubberbanding here, but we use it from time to time in “Rubberband Specials” of our regular group rides to attract weaker riders who have difficulties to keep pace with the group in regular rides. It is well accepted.

Tom

Rubberbanding works too. The clubs really want this to work. If Zwift can improve the experience, it could be ideal – a couple things I would like to see with this:

  1. Somehow logging miles done based on each individuals power, vs using the arbitrary and likely incorrect group speed.
  2. Ability for organizer or maybe even the individual to turn on/off the banding at any time – e.g. to participate in sprint/KOM segments
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Rubberbanding would be work, if Zwift got around to fixing it. Tried it as an experiment and it was a disaster - it seemed either to be limited or fixed to the pace of the slowest rider. It certainly wasn’t based on my pace as leader, average speed was halved.

I trialed new rubber banding on my community ride a few weeks back. Worked well in the main with a couple of tweaks needed. Average speed around 32kph from memory.

In our rubberbanded rides the pace is (as expected) significantly slower than in a regular group ride. But that is fine for most people.

What I experienced is that the graphical implementation makes it a rather irritating experience when you are in a big group. Last time we were more than a hundred riders and the blob often was so dense that drivers were constantly forced off the road, drove outside of or through boundary walls, etc. I can imagine that it is not easy to fix those issues but it would make the rubber band experience much more pleasant for everyone (and the rubber band more accepted by participants).

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This is why we don’t offer it on group rides until we are nagged into submission :slight_smile:

The new rubberbanding is much better.

I don’t believe this is accurate - most people don’t want to ride at 20kph.

They surely do on AdZ or Ven-Top. :rofl: (Sorry, could not waste that!)

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Keep together is still the best. :sunglasses:

Except when you go at unrealistically fast or slow speeds. Yes, I know, you never see this Gerrie, but you’re clearly just lucky.

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Rubberbanding is the Communist version of a group ride.

I’ve inadvertently landed in a couple of those rides, and it totally sucked. Felt like I was pulling the whole dang weight of the group! Very unnatural. When I realized what was going on I settled into a mediocrity, which really doesn’t do much for your workout.

But, hey, some folks prolly love it. I just don’t happen to be one of them.

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