The latest indieVelo update V0.2.9 released August 7, 2023, focuses on quality over quantity with innovative race results credibility options.
One of the founding principles of indieVelo is to improve the credibility of the results in online cycle racing. To achieve this means doing some things completely differently, particularly prioritizing the quality of races over the number of people competing in them.
Therefore, this week’s release (see below for full details) focuses on a commonly requested feature – empowering event organizers to limit who enters their events.
New options have now been added to indieVelo to enable organizers, if they want, only to allow riders to enter a custom event if they have a smart trainer, heart rate monitor, and/or dual-recording, automatically blocking them from joining the pen until meeting these requirements. Further, indieVelo now allows organizers to restrict entries to those who have entered real-life NGB or UCI racing license details.
To begin with, this is just a soft limit at the point of entry (for example, if your heart rate monitor battery dies mid-race in the event that requires a functioning heart rate monitor, then you won’t be automatically kicked out), but as we continue to test and refine the behavior, we will continue to look at further enhancements to help organizers ensure that the results of their events are due to legitimate proven athletic ability.
Beyond this, there is the usual array of quality-of-life improvements as well as some significant infrastructure changes behind the scenes to help set indieVelo up for moving towards a fully open Beta Trial phase and the likely increased numbers of people using it as we head towards the Northern Hemisphere Winter.
Find out more about how you can get involved and help shape the future of online cycling by clicking here.
If all has gone well, then you shouldn’t have to do anything to get the new version, as indieVelo will just self-update the next time you start it up.
If you find any problems however, instructions on how to manually update are on the website:
https://wiki.indievelo.com/docs/updates
The full patch notes are below!
Also Read: indieVelo—Creating an Event
“Thank you all once again for your continued feedback and encouragement. It’s hugely appreciated, and is making an enormous difference to the continued evolution and improvement of online cycling.”
indieVelo founder Dr. George Gilbert
Patch Notes – V0.2.9 – Key changes from last version
Added ability to limit entries to an event by paired hardware.
Added ability to limit entries to an event by racing licence.
Added ability to limit the number of points scorers in team events.
Added ability to choose whether team events are ranked or not.
Added nearest rider information to broadcast API.
Added event group information to broadcast API.
Added selected gear information for Stages SB20 bikes.
Added lots more new teams.
Improved bot AI to not chase down team mates in a break.
Improved placement of FIT file lap markers during a workout.
Improved stability of BLE layer when disconnecting from devices.
Improved resilience of ANT+ layer throughout.
Improved underlying infrastructure for web requests.
Improved underlying infrastructure for broadcasting.
Improved underlying infrastructure for login process.
Improved underlying infrastructure for handling server errors.
Improved disallowed word filter.
Fixed bug with bot simulated heartrate when deciding to quit an event.
Fixed bug with minimap when a new player joins the world.
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
