Is there no way of allowing a longer grace period when you drop behind or run ahead of a robopacer?
I regularly use them for getting zone 2 training in, but also occasionally like to drop in a sprint, but as soon as you move ahead of the pacer you get maybe 30-45 seconds max and then if you haven’t rejoined to within 10m you leave the group and the drop’s multiplier resets
For any meaningful sprint this will happen every time, even if you literally stop peddling at the end of the sprint and wait for the robopacer.
Would it not make more sense, and be easy, to just allow a bit longer for riders to drop back into the group?
Or is this just me that finds this frustrating and a bit unnecessary?
I often go for sprints when I’m with PPs too, but I’m not sure there’s any setting that’s necessarily better for something like this. Not saying you’re wrong about an improvement being possible, just wondering if there is one. Just the other day, riding with a PP in Urukazi, I went for the Shisa Sprint…which immediately turns into a descent. It was literally over a minute before the PP caught me again, and I wasn’t pedaling at all. An extension of the ‘warning time’ would help on some sprints, but not others.
It would also just stretch the group out, right? Or are you thinking of an extension to the time only following sprint segments? That would be interesting.
I will say–seems like not many people go for sprints when they’re with PP groups. I’m often firing off on my own And eventually, the drops don’t matter, so the drop multiplier doesn’t matter (I already have more points than I’ll need, and I have been here since Sept). So getting cut off from the PP in that way for however long it takes them to catch me after a sprint really doesn’t bother me (and by hypothesis, wouldn’t bother others who have lots of drops…but maybe that’s just me).
I’m pretty much right there with you Tom. Those drops are not really much good. Sooner or later you’re going to have more than you’ll ever care about. I like riding with the PPs because you have benefit of a non-clannish group ride, and there’s not constant banter between clan members. It’s a relatively quiet group ride, and you can, if you wish, end up in your own little sub-group ride.
Thanks, yes fair responses, I guess I just think the cut off is a bit over sensitive, it could allow you longer to rejoin the group.
That said we don’t get any drops anyway these days, so all a bit moot I guess
anyway i get like 30-40m leeway before getting dropped out of range, not sure what kind of sprints you are doing to gain that much distance
bigger problem for me is not getting dropped when going uphill, whatever the tuning is atm, seems a bit spicy for me personally, pushes me into the red every time and some of those hills are not short!
That’s a very limited way of looking at them. PPs are for riding with a group that’s doing a generally steady pace. How someone wants to use that function can vary wildly. While I don’t see many people going for sprint segments when I’m riding with PPs, there are people doing it. I also regularly see people who spend their time dropping back, and then doing smaller sprint efforts to just off the front, let the group catch, then repeating. I know people who use them for breakaway training–jump off the front at the top of a climb and see how long you can hold the pack off on the descent. So I don’t see why riding with a PP group, going for sprint segments, and then trying to recover and hang with the group again is somehow ‘not how you’re supposed to use it’. That’s actually a pretty good workout–get in a group you’re comfortable in, one that goes through a regular sprint segment (like Railways and Rooftops). Go all-out for the sprint, and then when the group catches you, don’t get dropped. Not so easy, good workout.
And yeah, if you’re properly putting in an effort for a sprint segment, you want to be up to a good speed well before the line. So any PP you’re hanging with will be left behind, because you won’t be hanging with a PP that is doing your pre-sprint speed. I’m frequently already 30-40m ahead of the PP before the sprint segment starts.
To be clear, I’m fine with how it works right now, largely because I don’t need the drops anymore. But I don’t see that using PPs in this way is not how they are ‘supposed to be used.’ It’s just another way of using them.
I do start from the back of the group, using their draft to get up to speed. A big enough group might even carry you through some of the sprint segment itself, but usually not. If you’re going to use their draft, it’s typically in the leadup to the start of the sprint.
I actually tried this today just to see how it would work for me. Coco was on volcano circuit, so after about 40 mins of zone 2 with her I started to do a sprint up the kicker on each lap for the next 4 laps. I would try my best to start at the far back (after I get the “you’re too far back” warning, then do a quick 15s sprint up the kicker, and either soft pedal, or completely stop pedaling for a bit at the top. Even though the sprints were only 15 seconds it takes a long time to slow down after the hill after that kind of an effort, so 4 laps in a row I ended up resetting my drops counter. It’s really easy to overshoot the pacer on even a short sprint from what I can see. Would be trivial to overshoot on a 30s sprint banner for sure even if you’re as far back as you can be from dropping off the back.
I don’t care that much about drops, and probably won’t use Coco for sprinting much anyhow, but it would be nice if there was a bit more leeway if you get back on the pacer within ‘x’ time.
The big number is how far away she actually is. The small number is the distance Zwift wants you to get inside to be back in the “safe area” for the drops multiplier.
And eventually, the drops don’t matter, so the drop multiplier doesn’t matter (I already have more points than I’ll need, and I have been here since Sept). So getting cut off from the PP in that way for however long it takes them to catch me after a sprint really doesn’t bother me (and by hypothesis, wouldn’t bother others who have lots of drops…but maybe that’s just me).
