In 2018, the thing that took Zwift to the next level as a social network (as opposed to just another cycling app) was the ability to create group workouts.
This came courtesy of an update to the mobile app Zwift Companion last year.
Anyone Zwifter can organize and lead a group ride on Zwift. However, there are just a few steps to follow. Here is the process for organizing and leading your first group ride on Zwift. First things first, if you’re going to use Zwift Companion it’s worth finding a home for your mobile/ cell phone. Here’s a list of the best bike phone mounts.
Organise a Zwift workout
To create a group workout simply click the Events option in the Zwift Companion app. From there you can:
- Enter the time you want to meet.
- What world you want to go into.
- What route
- Distance or duration
- What Zwifters you want to invite
Lastly, you need to message your group. And that’s it. Done.
Request a private meet-up in Zwift
But there are other ways to organize a group ride on Zwift. You can request people meet you at a certain time/ world in Zwift, aka a meet-up. The ability to arrange meet-ups is a feature that came out in 2018.
There are two things you need to have in place to do this. First off, whoever you invite needs to be one of your followers. Second, you need the Zwift Companion app.
It’s quite simple. From the home page go to Events, tap the icon with multiple people (next to the runner) and click ‘Create Meetup’.
From there, click on the ‘Create Meetup…” From there you can decide the time, route, etc. At the bottom of the page is an option to invite other followers.
You can customise your meetup to keep everyone together. This creates a fence where – no matter how much watts per kg they produce – they will stay with you.
There is a message option below. So as with the group rides, you simply message that individual follower or group if there’s more than one. Then Zwift will handle the rest.
Private Meetup new feature
There’s a new feature in Zwift that allows you to only see the people you are riding with. This is a really simple idea as things can get a bit crowded and you can easily lose people if going too fast/ slow.
The video below outlines things:
Finding group rides and races
If you are new to the platform, there are also events. As before, the first place to go is Zwift Companion. Click on the Events button and you’ll see all the workouts, races, and rides, which are coming up.
It’s also worth looking at joining groups outside of Zwift. For example, TBR on Facebook has a series of rides they link to in their events section.
Pick your category
Please check out your category especially in terms of workouts. It can be rather irritating if you have class B FTP and you find yourself in a C group. If they are operating a fence system you could find yourself kicked from the ride for going too fast.
A fence works by placing a see-through barrier in the specified distance in front the ride leader. Get too far ahead of it and you receive a warning to get back within 60 seconds.That’s about it. Although keep an eye on this page as Zwift are bringing out new features all the time.
