Here is my top ten list of pointers and thoughts on being part of a great social ride experience on Zwift:
- Realize that the ride organizer, lead and sweep team are all volunteers and human just like you. They will make mistakes, may not be able to please everyone, and are not infallible.
- A successful ride depends more on the participants than the ride lead / sweep. See above.
- Know the terminology and symbols. Right now it's pretty simple - in a social group ride, you will typically find a ride leader (a yellow chevron symbol when you are close, and a yellow "beam" when farther away) and a ride sweeper (red chevron and beam). In general, you should be behind the leader and in front of the sweeper. Note: there may be more sweepers (depending on the size of the ride) which will NOT have the red markings on them. If someone offers a wheel or asks if you need help, you can assume they are helping the main sweeper. Often times they will have the word “sweep” incorporated into their on-screen name (e.g. “Joe Random [SWEEPER]”).
- Know your limits and be realistic. There are a wide variety of group rides on Zwift. If you are new to the experience, look for the social rides with an advertised pace that you think you can handle comfortably - even if it's not for the entire duration of the ride.
- Understand wkg (watts per kilogram). This is simply the power you are putting out divided by your body mass (as entered in your Zwift profile). In general, it helps to talk about wkg because it takes into account differences in rider mass vs. their power. Often times you will see rides advertised as "sub 2" or "2.5 wkg+" which give you an idea how intense those rides will be. FIND YOUR COMFORT ZONE in terms of wkg. You can see this value on the right hand side of the Zwift display when you are riding - both for yourself and others around you.
- Learn how to draft. Being in a large group has tremendous benefits in terms of efficiency of effort. The Zwift program gives you a speed boost (or apparent "free" power) when you are close enough to the rider(s) ahead of you. Look for the "closing the gap" cues in the program. Look for your in-game avatar to “sit up” slightly on the bike when you are drafting (Tron bike excepted). In general, the closer you are, the more effective the draft is - basically pulling you along at a greater speed with less effort.
- Learn how to "grab a wheel" and stay there (part of drafting): Group rides are all about teamwork and staying bunched up ("bunchy"). If a rider is vacillating between 1wkg and 3wkg, it makes it hard for the riders behind him/her to keep up and maintain cohesion overall. BE SMOOTH with your power changes. Try not to MASH on the pedals if the rider ahead of you is pulling away slightly (look at the wkg they are putting out and compare to yours). Add a little bit more power/cadence to ease back behind that rider. Likewise, if you find yourself pulling ahead of the rider you are following, DON'T STOP PEDALING! Just ease off (A BIT!) and let the rider catch up and pass you.
- Know when to ask for assistance. There is no shame in asking for help! If you fall off the back of the group, just send a quick general chat message "I could use a pull back to the pack" or just a simple "help". This lets the sweep team know there is a rider who wants a bit of assistance and they can slow to help immediately. The longer you wait to ask for help - while the group pulls away from you - the harder it is to get reconnected. Speaking from experience as a sweeper, I'm always grateful when someone asks for help up-front rather than me having to scroll through the list of riders and try to determine who might need a bit of assistance. When the sweeper does drop back to help, do your best to catch them and maintain position behind them (see section above on subtle power adjustments - no drastic changes to your power output). Your goal is to be behind the sweeper as they slowly add power to get you back into the main pack. If you can't maintain the pace, let the sweep know and they will adjust accordingly. Do realize if you are having trouble maintaining the advertised ride pace even being pulled by the sweeper, you may be dropped as there may be others who need help. This depends on a lot of factors, and in general sweepers hate to drop anyone unless absolutely necessary.
- If you want to drop back and do sprints/intervals/etc while in the group ride, let everyone know; "I'm going to hang back and hit this next hill hard - don't wait." Messages like this let the sweeper(s) know that you are falling off the pace on purpose so they don't need to help you return to the pack (unless you ask specifically later).
- Communicate. Ask questions. HAVE FUN. I find that, although you will definitely find competitive people on Zwift (as in real life), you will also find large groups of people who really want to help out other riders. However given the sparse ability to communicate other than by typing, it is vitally important to 'chat' and let everyone know your thoughts. As a corollary to that, realize that there is likely a very diverse of people on the ride who may not share your sense of humor, political, religious, or other personal views. Until you know your group very well, consider censoring your comments a bit before hitting <send>. Gender diversity too - don’t forget that. Zwift isn’t Tinder, so think twice before sending messages that might be considered racey or sexist. We’re here to ride, not to score a date.
What else? Let me know what other things you find important for a successful group ride!
