Originally Posted by rubiksoval

I'm not really sure what it is. For one, you can't ever really coast in Zwift which is completely unlike an actual group ride or pace line where you can sit up and not pedal at all for multiple seconds at a time. In zwift a pause or a dropout can send you out the back with no chance to catch up.

And then the effort required to stay on the group if your avatar decides not to draft, which seems to happen a lot. Like today, I was in a group, and my guy shifted to the right and suddenly I was out of the draft and the pack opened up 4m then 5m and I was sprinting for 5 seconds to get back on, and that happens all the time. Even in the middle of the group, a guy in front will move and all of the sudden I'm going backwards and my avatar won't swing back into the draft for whatever reason. He's just tucked down low trucking along as the group moves by until I sprint to get back on to the back.

But anyway, that just leads to the more threshold-esque efforts. No real pauses or letups, but also no blood-curdling efforts either, unless you're going full-blast in the sprint or something.

Not necessarily a bad thing, and creates a good workout for me in the winter time. It's just an aspect of the game you have to adjust to, as with most anything I guess.