Inside a ROUVY Group Ride: What to Expect and How to Join

Some of these group rides run on fixed days and times throughout the year, which gives the rides a consistent structure and makes it easy to keep coming back. You start to recognise other users, and that adds another layer to the experience.

You’ll also find special group rides hosted by pro riders, triathletes and ambassadors, often built around iconic routes and major cycling races.

Above: Wout van Aert of Team Visma | Lease a Bike has hosted some of the largest group rides ever held on the ROUVY cycling app.

These rides follow the same group ride format, including a no-drop, which means the bunch stays together all the way to the finish. That makes even demanding climbs accessible, whether you’re training for an event or simply want to experience the route in a group setting. Riding with a group alongside pro riders adds a different kind of motivation you don’t get riding alone.

The suggested pace is a guide rather than a strict requirement. You’re aiming to ride around it, not hit it exactly every second.

That flexibility is what makes group rides accessible. Riders can ride at their own pace with some assistance from the algorithm, as long as they remain behind the leader.

What should you do before the ride starts?

Preparation is simple, but it helps the ride start without any hiccups.

Above: Join the warm-up about 10 minutes before the timer counts down to start, with a fan, bottle and towel.

Start with a quick setup check:

• Route downloaded
• Join the ride in advance
• Fan, towel and bottle nearby

Join the ride around 10 minutes before the countdown begins. This puts you into the warm-up phase, where riders start gathering before the start.

During this time, riders appear gradually on the left of the screen in the nearby list, and avatars appear on the start line. Some are already pedalling lightly, others join closer to the start time. When the timer reaches zero, you start pedalling, and everyone rolls out together.

How to start smoothly: avoid pedalling too hard immediately to avoid overtaking the leader. The lower reality level you are riding at in a group ride can accelerate your speed if you pedal hard.

How do group dynamics work on ROUVY?

ROUVY group rides use a leader-driven ‘rubber band’, where the riders are pulled along at a lower reality level while riding behind the leader.

Your position will affect how much effort you need to put in:

• Closer to the leader, the higher the effort, the less watt saving.
• Further back in the group, the lower the effort and the greater the watt saving.
• In front of the leader, the effort increases.

So if you want a harder session, you can move closer to the front. If you want something easier, sitting further back reduces the workload progressively. This flexibility allows different riders to train at slightly different intensities while still sharing the same ride.

Most riders settle somewhere in the middle, especially at the beginning, to get a feel for what effort is needed in that position.

There are a few important details that define how this works:

• The only time you form a gap in front of you is if you slow down or stop pedalling.
• Larger groups stay tighter, with fewer gaps.
• Fast finish times: All riders who stay behind the leader finish with the same time as the leader, even though you probably wouldn’t achieve that alone on a normal ride.

How do people communicate during the ride?

Most communication currently happens outside the app, usually through Discord community channels, which get shared in the community, such as this highly popular weekly ROUVY group ride set up by a community member called ROUVY Tuesday and Thursday group rides (1,5-2,5 W/kg).

As Ellen Penney, a regular, says, “Slowashell (Athol Scott) has been organising the Rouvy Tues/Thurs 1.5-2.5 rides for many years. Our avatar jersey & bib have become a popular sight on ROUVY. The discord associated with the 1.5-2.5 group ride has spawned friendships from around the world and resulted in real-life meetups. It is a non-judgmental, everyone-welcome ride that happens every Tuesday & Thursday.”

Some groups run open voice chat where riders talk throughout the session on Discord, while others keep things quieter and only use text before or after the ride.

As Ed Wiser, a regular ROUVY group rider, puts it:

What’s the etiquette on a ROUVY group ride?

Group ride etiquette keeps the experience enjoyable for everyone and helps the ride run smoothly. The main principles are straightforward: try not to overtake the leader, and keep your effort consistent without sudden surges. Riding a little ahead of the leader is not a problem, but riding off into the distance is. Riding ahead breaks that structure and changes how the ride flows for everyone else.

The leader usually sets the suggested pace when setting up the ride, but if the pace isn’t advertised, just follow at your own pace. Positioning within the group gives you flexibility. You can move slightly forward or back depending on how hard you want to work, but the aim is always to remain part of the peloton rather than to separate from it. The ride works best when everyone holds a steady pace and moves together naturally. If you fall behind a bit, you can catch up by pushing hard on the pedals for a couple of revolutions. You’ll quickly reconnect with the group.

Group rides are designed to be social experiences. Riders who want to push hard or make it competitive usually get more out of a dedicated race instead.

Also, if you are late, you can still join by simply entering and pedalling, and you will be instantly transported to the back.

Best practice: ride consistently, remain behind the leader and keep moving smoothly together without surges.

What happens at the end of the ride?

The ride finishes with everyone still together.

From there, it depends on your session. Some riders do a short cooldown, others finish and save the ride. Most will:

• Upload to Strava and start a discussion there, usually to thank the leader.
• Log the session as part of their training.

The leaderboard on the website in the event upload will show the same time as the leader. Those with faster times are riders who chose to ride ahead of the leader and broke the elastic band effect.

How do you join your first ROUVY group ride this week?

Joining your first ride is straightforward.

Step-by-step

1. Open the ROUVY app or website.
2. Go to the Events section.
3. Browse or filter for group rides (searching via the filter is only available on the website for now).
4. Select a ride and join it.
5. It will appear in your calendar on the website.
6. Closer to the start time, you’ll receive a reminder via the companion app and via email.
7. Enter the ride about 10 minutes before the countdown.
8. Start pedalling after the countdown.

After one ride, the process becomes familiar.

As a previous frequent group ride leader, I highly recommend joining official ROUVY-created group rides or well-established user-created rides that consistently run on a weekly schedule at the same time. These events are generally more reliable, tend to run smoothly, and often attract a larger number of participants.