If you join a pace partners group mid ride why can’t I follow that group automatically
Hi Matt, welcome to the forums.
I’m not sure I understand your question fully. If you join a pace partner from the world choice screen/main menu then you will automatically follow the same route they are on.
Are you trying to free ride first, then as you come across a pace partner join their group? If you do this you will most likely still follow the same route you originally chose and that might not be the same one the pace partner is on. You would need to use manual turns in that case to stay with them. Or choose the same route they are on at the beginning of your ride.
Does this answer your question?
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I was free riding Watopia and saw Desiel Dan and crew coming so I did a U turn and joined the group.
When we approached turns, I noticed 2 things.
- The default turn was the route the pace partner was on and
- That turn was labelled “pace partner”.
Riding with Desiel Dan is hard due to speed changes.
If he lost wt, would he be more consistent?
The helicopter view really helped me stay with him
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Until user interface enhancements (don’t hold your breath) are made available that allow users to join a pace partner (mid-ride?), the best thing to do at present is to select the Pace Partner from the initial drop in screen (World=Watopia). Naturally, many riders prefer to perform a warm-up before joining the PP, especially if you’re joining a PP that is pushing power near your own FTP… one way of doing this, without having to stop/exit/restart the game, is to immediately perform a U-turn (assuming you’ve selected a PP to start with). The game will automatically keep you on the (reverse) route of the Pace Partner you initially selected. Then, when seeing the appropriate PP approaching, perform another U-turn and join the PP peloton. You will not have to manually select turns and the game will keep you on the same route as the PP. Believe it or not, the PPs are pushing identical power levels throughout their ride. However, the “game physics” apply to the PP too! I find that staying between 1-7m in front of the PP (not more!) provides me with maximum staying power, as I still have ANOTHER 7m behind the PP to add/reduce power before I’m ejected from the drops dynamic. This tactic effectively doubles the distance band and time in which you can make adjustments. Also, make power output adjustments very slowly - this takes practice. For example, when the animation shows the PP gaining on me from astern (behind), the graphic will indicate 7m…6m…5m… etc. In the case of Coco, for example, I will steadily add about 10-15 watts of power for each meter that narrows, such that I should reach the same power output (2.5W/kg in the case of Coco) as the PP just as the PP comes alongside me. Sometimes though, Coco will blow by me, in which case I will continue to add power slowly (10 W at a time) until I overtake her again, and then immediately fall back to 2.5W/kg. Rinse. Repeat. I find the “drone” view (numeric keypad 9) facilitates this action for me, but you will develop your own preferences. The action with Bowie Brevet, (for me), is so fast and furious that I use the standard view, and keeping pace requires much more aggressive power changes. You’ll notice that the “A” PP (A. Anquetil) does not often have many accompanying cyclists… Enjoy!
All riders find these apparent “inconsistencies” - it has nothing to do with Dan’s nominal body size, as he is still putting out very consistent, particular W/kg. What is changing are MANY other factors, including terrain (your bike, Dan’s bike?), Dan’s position WITHIN the peloton, and even the size of the PP peloton itself (inter alia). I was at first put off by these apparent inconsistencies (in speed and acceleration), which are much larger than I find in other group riding dynamics. However, I’ve come to find that these random dynamics provide a very strong training effect, akin to performing over/under intervals!
One of my training goals is to be able to ride with Bowie for one hour without emerging from the 7m drops zone around him. Staying with him for only 20 minutes yesterday immediately resulted in my FTP being raised! LOL.