James Bailey and friends have continued with their weekly testing and tweaking Pace Partners to dial in the best mix of bots, paces, routes, and events.
This week Pace Partners head to hillier routes to help riders rack up some elevation, while runbots raise some dust on the Mayan Jungle road. Let’s dig into the latest Pace Partner news…
This Week’s Ride Routes
James has also updated the riding routes for each Pace Partner this week. All partners were placed on hilly routes for the week, to help Zwifters finish off the KASK Protone Icon Mission. (Next week will feature flatter routes.)
Watopia:
- Anquetil (4.2) – Bigger Loop
- Brevet (3.3) – Hilly Route
- Coco (2.5) – Figure 8
- Daniela (2.15) – Big Foot Hills
- Diego (1.8 ) – Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
- Diesel (1.5) – Out and Back Again
- Dorothy (1.15) – Two Bridges Loop
Makuri Islands:
- Bernadette (3.8 ) – Castle to Castle
- Charlie (3.0) – Neokyo Crit Course
- Denise (2.0) – Wandering Flats
- Eddy (1.0) – Twilight Harbor
Pace Partner-Led Events
Zwift continues to test events paced by Pace Partners, and this week the events are easy-paced (1.8 w/kg) rides on Watopia’s Waistband. Word is the Pace Partner used for these events is going to be a bit chatty, sharing a few fun facts and perhaps even dropping a few trivia questions!
See upcoming Pace Partner events >
Running Bots on the Jungle Circuit
Run bots are getting their shoes dirty on laps of Watopia’s Jungle Circuit this week, with plans to change the featured route each week. There are now 11 run bots at a wide range of paces, so if runners want a bit of company, there’s a bot available:
- Michael Midsole: 10:00/km
- David Doubles: 9:00/km
- Tracey Trot: 8:00/km
- Albert Amble: 7:30/km
- Sarah Stride: 7:00/km
- Benito Bounder: 6:30/km
- Hettie Hare: 6:00/km
- Brendan Bolter: 5:30/km
- Rebecca Rocket: 5:00/km
- Stuart Speedster: 4:30/km
- Patricia Pacemaker: 4:00/km
Bug Fixes/Improvements
Several changes have been made since our last post about Pace Partner updates.
- A recent game update brought live power data to the Pace Partners window. The w/kg numbers for each Pace Partner are dynamically refreshed when the window is open, so you’ll see current power numbers for each bot.
- Pace Partners no longer change color when their power fluctuates on climbs and descents.
Share Feedback
James is looking for feedback on all things Pace Partner. He requests that you share feedback (and any questions) in one of these spots:
I have noticed that when the AAnquetil rides the big loop no one joins because 4.6wkg for 20 min up epic is too hard.
Reasonable point, although there were still over 500 people who did more than 10 minutes with her yesterday.
She is very manageable on the flats James…..4.6w/kg for Epic is very very tough.
I think anquetil is one bot that doesn’t need dynamic pacing, she gets harder to follow on hills naturally just holding her regular pace, especially as their is often only 3 or 4 riders with her on climbs.
Bernadette Blazer is a great alternative at 3.8 steady state and 4.2 uphill. She’s currently doing 22km laps in Makuri with a single hill climb to the castle.
I weight in at 110kg so 4.6wkg is over 500 watts for me. Heeheehee. Too hard indeed!
Love that they are moving around the Running Pace Partners. I will miss the dinosaurs on the old trails, but this is a good thing.
why I am seeing adverts on this page? i’m a member so is there a way to log in and lose the adverts?
When will the run bots offer benefits similar to the bike bots?
i still think dynamic pacing should be removed. was a huge fan of the pace partners before but, not so much anymore. at least for the A bot…
I’m really enjoying the changes and variety of the C and D bike bots, but find that you really have to concentrate on staying with them on hill crests and downhill sections. If you crest too early, or get a little way ahead, you have no way of slowing down and can easily break your bonus connection.
I thought I saw a new pace bot today, called “Attack” riding at 4.5 wkg.