The latest indieVelo update V0.2.21 released October 30, 2023, adds highly sought user requests including Group Workouts, Ride Leader Chat, and "Always Sunny" mode.
As athletes, we all recognize the value of shared experiences in sport. With online cycling, we might not happen to all be in the same physical space, but the bond we share going through the same experiences – both good and bad – is what makes it truly special.
It applies as much to training as it does to racing. Riding together not only provides accountability but also helps us connect with others, inspire, encourage, and motivate each other, and push everybody on to ever more outstanding achievements.
This week’s release (see below for full details), therefore, headlines with one of the most essential parts of that picture – Group Workouts. With indieVelo, anyone at any time can now create their own custom event, set it to be a group workout, pick a workout to do (any workout, even custom 3rd party ones from other places), and then you can go and ride it together with anyone else.
Other people joining your ride don’t have to do anything special – no manual synchronization of workout files, etc – it instantly and automatically Just Works. All they need to do is turn up and ride.
Other updates in the release complement this further, including adding ride leader chat, compatibility with the publicly available 1000+ workout library recently released by Zwift, and improvements to the AI and rider positioning algorithms. There’s also even an “Always Sunny” mode for anyone (everyone!) who cycles indoors to get away from it being dark and raining outside.
Do you want to steepen your indieVelo learning curve? Check out our How-to-Guides page for details!
If all has gone well, you shouldn’t have to do anything to get the new version, as indieVelo will 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
Please note that, depending on when you installed indieVelo, you may see a warning message recommending that you update the installer/launcher to the latest version. If you see this, download it again from https://indievelo.com/downloads, and the update will automatically apply. The entire process typically takes a minute or two, often much less.
The full patch notes are below!
“Once again, thank you all for your amazing ideas on how to keep improving indieVelo. Every comment and suggestion makes a real difference and is hugely appreciated. Please do keep them coming, and let’s help define the future of online cycling together.“
indieVelo founder Dr. George Gilbert
Patch Notes – V0.2.21 – Key changes from last version:
- Added group workouts.
- Added ride leader chat.
- Added compatibility with the 1000+ publicly available Zwift workouts.
- Added “Always Sunny” mode for free-riding.
- Added lots more teams.
- Improved way penalty is applied when trying to overtake the Neutralized Zone bot.
- Improved bot AI in group rides.
- Improved rider collision dynamics at high speeds.
- Improved BLE pairing on older versions of MacOS.
- Improved in-game branding for events.
- Improved event infrastructure to allow for future new event formats.
- Improved naming of “race” tab to be “events”.
- Improved client/server encryption.
- Improved menu text throughout.
- Improved disallowed word filter.
- Improved various icons.
- Improved build & download size.
- Fixed bug with Stages power meters sometimes not being recognized over BLE.
- Fixed a bug with doing two different workouts consecutively in the same session.
- Fixed bug with finish line points allocation on point-to-point courses.
- Fixed bug with rider animation if cadence suddenly drops to zero while sprinting.
- Fixed bug with avg/max HR being shown the wrong way around on the activity menu.
Semi-retired as owner and director of his private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice after over 20 years, Chris is blessed with the freedom to pursue his passion for virtual cycling and writing. On a continual quest to give back to his bike for all the rewarding experiences and relationships it has provided him, he created a non-profit. Chris is committed to helping others with his bike through its work and the pages of his site.
In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to New York to support the charity he founded, TheDIRTDadFund. His “Gain Cave” resides on the North Fork of Long Island, where he lives with his beautiful wife and is proud of his two independent children.
You will read him promoting his passion on the pages of Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. Chris is co-host of The Virtual Velo Podcast, too!
