Pace Partners launched in August 2020 as a FutureWorks project, and now two years later they are about to graduate!
For those not familiar, Zwift often launches new features under their “FutureWorks” banner when the feature isn’t completely polished, but needs to be released publicly for testing, feedback, and further refinement. Read more about FutureWorks on Zwift’s blog >
Here’s an update on what we can expect this week from Pace Partners, as well as what graduation from FutureWorks will look like.
First: This Week’s Pace Partners
Pace Partners aren’t quite out of FutureWorks yet, so here’s the schedule of routes for this next week…
Watopia:
- Anquetil (4.2) – Volcano Flat
- Brevet (3.3) – Volcano Circuit
- Cadence (2.5) – Triple Flat Loops
- Draft (2.15) – Big Foot Hills
- Disc (1.8 ) – Three Little Sisters
- Diesel (1.5) – Tick Tock
- Duster (1.15) – Watopia’s Waistband
Makuri Islands:
- Blazer (3.8 ) – Castle to Castle
- Chaser (3.0) – Neokyo All-Nighter
- Drops (2.0) – Neon Flats
- Echelon (1.0) – Sprinter’s Playground
Running Pace Partners are on 11.1 Ocean Blvd route this week.
Cycling Bots: Pacing and Route Rotations
When Pace Partners come out of FutureWorks in September, both Watopia and Makuri will have eight cycling Pace Partners active at all times. All Pace Partners will weigh 75kg for simplicity, and will be 175cm tall. Their names will also be changed.
Each map’s 8 bots will use the following w/kg paces: 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2.2, 2.6, 3.2, 3.7, and 4.2.
Eight routes have been selected for each map, and the route assigned to each particular Pace Partner will rotate through this list of eight each week. James says “Where possible, I’ve tried to make it so that if it is a hilly route in Watopia, Makuri will offer you a flat route at the same pace. This isn’t always possible, but I’ve done the best I can.”
Watopia routes (beginning in September):
- Volcano Flat
- Three Little Sisters
- Tick Tock
- Watopia’s Waistband
- Flat Route
- Big Foot Hills
- Volcano Circuit
- Triple Flat Loops
Makuri Islands routes (beginning in September):
- Temples and Towers
- Neon Flats
- Castle to Castle
- Neokyo All-Nighter
- Suki’s Playground
- Sprinter’s Playground
- Wandering Flats
- Flatland Loop
Running Bots: Pacing and Rotation
There are always 11 run bots trotting along 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
Run bots are all placed on the same route. Beginning in September they will move through a weekly rotation of 4 routes.
Routes:
Share Feedback
James is still looking for feedback on all things Pace Partner. He requests that you share feedback (and any questions) in one of these spots: