I’ve seen a discussion about re-joining Pace Partners (RoboPacers) but I didn’t see an actual request for it.
So here I am, requesting it.
I had the idea that over Christmas I’d settle in to do a long Z2 with a RoboPacer. Maybe even 100 miler.
But of course, I know that will take me many hours and in that time I’ll need to stop, go to the toilet, maybe eat or stretch my legs.
Zwift knows when we are riding with a RoboPacer, so I’m requesting that when we drop off from the group – probably only if we actually stop – we get a dialog pop-up that asks whether we want to re-join the RoboPacer.
It looks like you’ve lost the RoboPacer. Do you want to re-join them?
[RE-JOIN] [NOT NOW]
Yes, I know there’s the option to quit the ride and start a new one; but if I’m aiming for time or distance that’s inconvenient. I can ride around and hope to find the group again. That’s also not optimal.
Must simpler to get a button to re-join the group.
This would also have additional uses. In group ride events, for example, a rider could be given the option to re-join the pack perhaps, if they’ve had to stop for a few minutes. (OK, I accept that could also be used to “complete” an event without actually riding all of it, but it’s not a race. )
One workaround would be to join a pace partner that is doing a pretty short lap (e.g. the Volcano) so you can just take a break (and potentially an easy lap or two) and rejoin when the partner catches up to you. A well timed U-turn on Tempus Fugit works as well…
This is an interesting concept. I think the confounder is this: How would Zwift account for the distance between the point where the rider stopped and the point where they rejoined? And how long should the rider be allowed this option? 1 minute? 5 minutes? Indefinite?
Also, what about this as an alternate option:
Now that once you are with a RP long enough to get to 2.5x Drops you just keep on at that multiplier, what if when you reach 2.5x you also received a (new) Power Up that offered the ability to be kept in the group for somewhere between 1 and 5 minutes. But when you use it the multiplier drops back to 1.0x and you have to build up again. (And then, of course, you get a new one when you get back to 2.5x.)
Probably the same way as if you manually pause the ride on your bike computer and end the pause somewhere else: a gap in the timeline and a bit of teleportation magic. Of course something like this appears on Strava as a straight line between the start and end of the pause but that’s Strava’s problem.
Ignore it. OK, there might be a discrepancy of 50m, but so what?
Personally, I’d leave it up on screen while the rider is stationary.
Once they start riding again, it could start a countdown to the default option. Similar to how the “Stay here”/“Return to Watopia” type option works. Which is the default option is open to debate.
Yes, of course, but I noticed the words “over Christmas” in your original post and just wanted to add a dash of realism. Then again you didn’t specify which year…
And +1 to something like this for events as well. In terms of results it could be treated simply the same as a late join.
[quote=“Anna Ronkainen [AEO], post:7, topic:596684, username:Anna_Ronkainen”]
I noticed the words “over Christmas” in your original post and just wanted to add a dash of realism
[/quote]
Heheh, yeah, that was just the thought that sparked the idea. I’ve no notion that Zwift would have it ready within 6 months, let alone a fortnight!
Definitely the late join was something I had in mind. IIRC that’s only active for some events and for a limited period after the start, but having a “rejoin pack” option isn’t significantly worse. That one could be limited to a single use per event, and possibly limited to a maximum of a 15 minute break or something.
You’d still get the time and distance by quitting and rejoining, but I’m guessing you want the ride to say that you did 161km and not two rides of 80km.
I’m not that fussy, I just quit and rejoin and that’s enough for me - I still did the distance.
Let’s say I’m doing 161km, but need to stop 3 or 4 times. Well that might be 45.7km, 25.3km, 33.4km and… some other distance. Having to do that mental arithmetic is the nuisance.
But yes, it would also be preferable as single activity. I don’t mind if there are jumps in my location. I’ve forgotten to start restart my bike computer after a stop plenty of times.
I fully appreciate that some people are happy enough to quit and start a new activity. But the key thing is, if this were added they could still do that. =)
No, I mean the actual distance I’ve ridden and the distance Zwift says I’ve ridden might be a little out due to pedal assist when re-joining the RoboPacer. =)
I might be away 10 minutes and miss 6km or something.
Got it. That’s the part I was wondering about: How would Zwift account for that 6km, since you’d be restarting in a different spot, without starting a new ride? Not to say it couldn’t be done, but I don’t think their current logic would work.
You can always pair your Garmin with the smart trainer and use the Garmin take on the kilometres, then you’ll be doing the real 161km without any Zwift drafting effects.
I just don’t think Zwift is capable of that, and likely wouldn’t be without a significant amount of work. Maybe I am completely incorrect on that, though.
I don’t see why it would be difficult. It’s not really much different from initially dropping the person in with the RoboPacer at the start of the ride.
I would say the primary difference would be that one of those situations is at the start of the ride, so that is just where the ride begins and from where the ride distance is measured. For the re-join it would be in the middle of the ride and the game would need to have a way to re-calculate the distance, as well as a way to determine if you had simply stopped pedaling or were only taking a break.
There is probably no reason that these things couldn’t be done, but I’m guessing the programming would take a while to get integrated with all of the other stuff thst Zwift has just ‘bolted on’ over the years.
Sounds trivial to me. The game knows your current distance at all times (since it draws it on the HUD). So it’s just a case of dropping the rider in, then starting to increment the distance again.
But yeah, given Zwift breaks seemingly entirely unrelated things with pretty much every update, who knows?!
Ah, I see now- just set Zwift to draw the straight line like Strava does, but don’t count the distance for the time you were stopped and the pace partner kept moving. Like Daren said, if you ride 20, stop 6, ride 20, you just ignore the 6. I think (?) Zwift reports elapsed time (moving time +not moving time) to Strava, so everything would be coherent. If you were to look at the places you were moving on a map afterward (say on a route like Beach Island Loop), it would be just a colored segment from Downtown to the Italian Villas, then another one from the top of Ocean Blvd. to Sequoia Circle, then another from the May Field back to the Hilly banner.
)
=)
