My current exercise plan doesn’t have much of a plan. The problem I’m running into is that most plans have too many interval workouts for what I can do now. So I’m kind of just making it up as I go. Combination of some strength workout in the legs with many zone two to zone one cardio riding.
Zwift has a feature called Robo Pacers, known as RP from here out. These avatars look somewhat similar to the people avatars in Zwift but just slightly different because they look like robots. The RP’s job is to hold a steady pace through a part of the Zwift world, Watopia. As a rider, you use the RP to hold you at a certain speed and effort you want to achieve. This is perfect for zone two rides where you want to stay at a specific power and heart rate.
In the world of Zwift, when you ride with an RP, it is a public ride, so anyone can join. It creates an opportunity for impromptu group rides. This morning, I’m riding with RP, D.Bernie, who tries to hold an effort of 1.5kg/w. The D stands for the category of rider, which is the slowest, with the highest being A. The Bernie part may have something to do with the bot’s nationality, which has a French flag next to it.
We’re currently joined by what looks like at least 50 other riders from all over the world. One setting in Zwift is your nationality; when you choose that, it puts a flag of your country next to your name. Currently, I’m looking at flags from the US, England, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, and others I don’t recognize.
As you ride in Zwift, there’s an opportunity to give a “ride on” to other riders. This is equivalent to getting a Like in Facebook. It serves as encouragement for each other, and it feels nice to get them. When a ride is over, you can see a list of anyone who’s given you would like, and you can then follow them if you want. The social aspect of Zwift is unique in the larger market of virtual indoor cycling.
Got a new phone today for the first time in five years. It’s strange that we call these phones at this point because the last thing I care about using them for is making a phone call. The camera is very nice, I look forward to getting to use that more and more. The screen is very friendly and bright, and I set the font to be very large, and it’s pretty pleasant to read.
One thing that I am very excited about is using dictation on the phone. With the latest iPhone Pros, the system on the chip is doing more Siri processing. This means that the dictation work that it does to understand what you’re saying and make words out of it happens much faster. My limited testing so far is proving this to be pretty awesome. More to come.
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