Events

Take Your Friends on a Virtual Group Ride!

By Adam Marsal

This is something only few may have expected. Many professional races were cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and many countries have applied strict restrictions concerning public gatherings. It’s recommended to meet as few people as possible because anyone may be infected. Amateur pelotons are no exception. So let’s meet our friends in the safety of augmented reality, from the saddle of our home trainers.

Most current home trainers are easy to connect and sync with up-to-date training applications. There are many of them, with better or worse imitations of cycling reality. We’ve had a wonderful experience with ROUVY, an application which offers indoor cycling with high-quality videos based on GPS route profiles and augmented reality where you can enter 7,000 km of certified routes to have fun with your mates. Trips covering 70 iconic locations such as Passo dello Stelvio, Alpe d’Huez and many others are included in the app. You’ll only need an indoor trainer, a bicycle, and a display, which may be a desktop PC, a TV, or even a smartphone.

ROUVY Group Ride enables you to ride with up to 3 other people no matter if they’re your mates or random people from all over the world. You can join the group even if you’ve missed the start. There are several ways to do so. You can find a friend of yours and follow them. This way you’ll instantly appear beside them. Another option is to move the icon on the route elevation profile and place yourself in the middle of the group. You can even have fun with riders who would outclass you on a real route if you change the accuracy of reality in the menu. By setting a percentage, you can enjoy the same climb as your stronger mates, but with less effort. Faster riders can make their ride more demanding and slow down to adapt their pace to weaker group members. Obviously, the hacks only work in the training mode so don’t worry about cheating in virtual racing.

Help the Veneto Region from Your Home with ROUVY

If you want to start a ride right now, first download the latest ROUVY App from rouvy.com and install it on your PC, Mac, mobile phone or tablet. Then click on Augmented Routes in the menu located in the left column, select your preferred route, and enable the new user interface (switch toggle button on the right). Now click on Start Training. Don’t use the racing mode, otherwise you won’t be able to move your position on the route or alter the level of reality. As soon as you start the route, you’ll see all currently connected riders on the selected route. You don’t need to race, just enjoy the group ride!