Zwift easy ride, Wednesday 1st April 1.05pm

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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #32049 by BarryR
I'm organising a Zwift easy group ride (meetup) for tomorrow Wednesday 1st Thursday 2nd April at 1.05pm for 45 minutes. All Orwell members welcome. It's a no-drop ride, so unless you stop pedaling completely Zwift will make sure you stay with the group.

In this meetup we'll be trying out a couple of things to make the rides more social and a bit easier to organise so there are some differences from the ride we had on Sunday. First, the organiser is Zwift user "Orwell Wheelers" instead of me, so if you want an invitation to this ride please follow Orwell Wheelers on Zwift.

Second, we'll be trying out voice communications between us all using a system called Discord. This will allow us to talk directly among the group during the ride. It's optional, not part of Zwift, so you can ignore this bit if you want to.

Instructions to join the ride:

  1. In the Zwift Companion app on your phone, go to "Zwifting now" and search for Orwell Wheelers. Click the orange icon on the right side to follow Orwell Wheelers.

  2. In due course you will receive an invitation to the meetup. It will appear in your notifications in the Zwift Companion app.

  3. In the Zwift Companion app accept the meetup invitation. Don't forget to do this before the start of the meetup!

  4. Get your bike and trainer and computer etc set up and logged in to Zwift 5 or 10 minutes before the meetup time, to make sure everything is working ok.

  5. Three minutes before the meetup start Zwift will prompt you on screen about it and will take you to the start.

The voice system (optional but fun):

If you decide to take part in the voice group, the Discord app will run in the background on your phone or computer during the Zwift ride, and the microphone and speakers on your phone or computer will allow you to talk to everyone else who has joined the Discord conversation.

If you have wireless earbuds + microphone that you can use with your phone or computer then that will give you the best experience.

  1. Well before the start of the ride, install Discord on your phone or on your computer. Install it from the app store on your phone or from discordapp.com/download.

  2. Create a free account on Discord. There's no need to change any of the Discord settings from their default values.
I will post a link here a few hours before the ride. The link will be an invitation to join our channel on Discord. I'll give more instructions with the link, but it's all quite simple. Zwift Insider has a tutorial on it at zwiftinsider.com/using-discord/ (The text of the first 2 steps of the tutorial is not displayed correctly in my browser, but if that happens to you just scroll down to step 3).

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.
Last edit: 3 years 11 months ago by BarryR. Reason: Change date
The following user(s) said Thank You: Louise Keane

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3 years 11 months ago #32053 by BarryR
I have to postpone this Zwift ride to 1.05pm tomorrow Thursday 2nd due to, well, a mistake. We won't talk about that.

I'll send invitations later today. Meanwhile, follow Orwell Wheelers on Zwift if you want an invitation. .

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Andrew Ryan

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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #32054 by BarryR
If you want to be in on the voice banter and abuse during this group ride here's what to do.

We'll be using a piece of software called Discord . It's widely used by gamers, and is popular among Zwift users. It allows you to talk with everyone in the group for free using your computer's or phone's speakers & microphone (or headphones/earbuds & microphone connected to your computer or phone).

Instructions
You should do all this well before the start of our ride (now is a good time). Discord is completely separate from Zwift, so you don't need Zwift running when you set up Discord.

If you already have a Discord app and account skip the first two steps.

  1. Install the Discord app onto your computer or your phone. Either works well. For your computer download from discordapp.com/download . For your phone look in your app store for Discord.

  2. Start the Discord app and follow the prompts to create an account. You don't need to create a server or join a community or anything so if it asks about that just skip past it.

  3. On your computer or phone (wherever you've installed the Discord app) click on this link:

    Part of the message is hidden for the guests. Please log in or register to see it.

    If there's a choice, select "open with Discord". If required, select "Join".
    You are now in the Orwell Wheelers talk group, on the text-only channel.

  4. To get to the voice channel, click on the menu icon (3-lines) if necessary, then under "Voice channels" click on "Group ride banter".

  5. If requested, grant Discord the permissions it needs to use your microphone and speakers.

  6. Talk! If there's anyone already in the talk channel you'll see them listed, so try saying something to check that your microphone and speakers are working.

If you're using headphones or earbuds with a microphone (recommended) then connect them to your phone or computer in the usual way. Remember to close the Discord connection (red phone X icon) and log out when you're finished.

Reconnect to the Discord channel before our ride starts by logging back in to Discord and selecting "Group ride banter" as above. There's no need to keep the Discord app displayed, it will work perfectly well in the background or with the screen off.

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.
Last edit: 3 years 11 months ago by BarryR. Reason: Clarification

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3 years 11 months ago #32055 by BarryR
Invitations to join the ride have been sent to everyone following Orwell Wheelers on Zwift. Please respond to the invitation by marking it "going" or "not going" in the Zwift Companion app.

If you didn't get an invitation but want one, then just follow Orwell Wheelers on Zwift and you'll receive an invitation shortly after.

Also, well before the start of the ride, get yourself set up for the talk group that we'll use during the ride. See the post above.

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.

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3 years 11 months ago #32059 by BarryR
If you're planning to join this Zwift ride at lunchtime today, don't forget to accept your invitation if you haven't done so already. In the Zwift Companion app on your phone, mark the meetup as "Going".

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.

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3 years 11 months ago #32060 by Louise Keane
Replied by Louise Keane on topic Zwift easy ride, Wednesday 1st April 1.05pm
Sorry I missed the start today - technical issues (well more stupidity issues) Who knew that you cant have a Wahoo Element bolt on when trying to use the iPad to control a Kickr! They conflict withone another and the bolt overrules the ipad. By the time I sorted it out ye were gone which leads to my question...

Is there anyway of "catching up" or joining in after the start time of a meet up?

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3 years 11 months ago - 3 years 11 months ago #32063 by BarryR
Replied by BarryR on topic Zwift easy ride, Wednesday 1st April 1.05pm
Short answer: no. If you miss the start you can't join the group.

However, if you know the planned route you can try to catch up with the group. You won't become a member of the group (your name won't show up in green, and no-drop won't apply to you) but you can ride along. One or two did this today.

If you 'follow' someone who is in the group you may be able to select them to ride with during the ride selection part of starting Zwift, but I haven't tried this so not sure if it would work.

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.
Last edit: 3 years 11 months ago by BarryR.

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3 years 11 months ago #32064 by Declan Quigley
Replied by Declan Quigley on topic Zwift easy ride, Wednesday 1st April 1.05pm
Cheers for the spin, Barry. Great craic.
The following user(s) said Thank You: BarryR

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3 years 11 months ago #32065 by BarryR
Replied by BarryR on topic Zwift easy ride, Wednesday 1st April 1.05pm
Another enjoyable ride today. 11 or 12 in the group I think. Andrew R dragging us around - I don't think I was the only one grateful for the Zwift no-drop function...

6 or 7 of us in the Discord talk channel, which worked extremely well for me. I'd like to get more of the group into that for future rides. Those of you that weren't in it missed the banter.

Lesson of the day: Get your trainer etc set up and running well before the scheduled ride start!

Not on Whatsapp. Contact me on Signal app instead.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Declan Quigley, Louise Keane, Andrew Ryan

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