No, you didn't. You were well into sanctimonious territory .

When you're on the road, what is it that makes you stand on the pedals and push yourself over that next little hump? It's that you can SEE it - you can see the top, and it gives you something to push for. That's what the screen and the presence of other riders does on Zwift. You come to a "hill" and you SEE the hill and FEEL the resistance, just like you do IRL. You see another rider ahead and you mark then and chase them down, just like in real life.

As far as the social aspect, well.... I'm a low social needs introvert with social anxiety. Group rides IRL have their pluses and minuses. It's great pounding along in a big, fast group, but sometimes I don't feel like making small talk while riding, AND I don't want to have to worry about keeping the right distance off the wheel in front, AND I don't want to have to worry about everyone in front of me not screwing up, or worrying about everyone behind me if I screw up. Zwift group rides, you can just work on keeping pace with the other riders. Nobody expects you to talk to them. You don't have to worry about a moment's inattention causing you - or somebody ahead of you - to touch wheels and go down.

see, that's just it. you really don't know what you are knocking.

I've had both and the smart bike is way ahead. I've just done a 1 hour race on Zwift and the competition was brutal. 300W average with 500+W pulls on the front just to stay in the front group. Never had anything like that level of motivation on a gym bike. We actually have a gym bike at home too (fully programmable high end model from about 2018) but I haven't touched it since I got a smart bike. It can simulate resistance, gradients etc no problem, but it is mind numbingly boring. Zwift is fun and very effective when you really want to push the limits. I also use Rouvy for real life route recons (I did the L'Etape du Tour last summer and all the major climbs are available on Rouvy).

So did you get out on the fat bike today?

I tried one of the other apps where you can ride any route, but there won't be any other real people on it, just pacebots, and I didn't find it engaging. Having real people to compete with makes things like sprint finishes fun - the other day I started too early and I could feel myself losing momentum when another rider pulled up even, which pushed me enough to give a final effort and stay just ahead. Mind you, while this was going on somebody else - who timed it better and may have been drafting us - blew by us and took first.

Tonight I will. My area just got dumped on with 12" of snow on Sunday. Had to wait for the trails to get groomed and set up.

QUOTE=prj71;22829490]Tonight I will. My area just got dumped on with 12" of snow on Sunday. Had to wait for the trails to get groomed and set up.[/QUOTE]

Great enjoy.

However, with-in the reply is why some of us use Rouvy/Zwift with smart trainers - no need to wait for trails to be groomed. I was able to reasonably simulate a road bike ride on Sunday when it was snowing, last night when I worked late and tonight - well we will see.

I was a skeptic too, then tried and was really surprised. The difference isn't about the pictures - it is interesting but not engaging. I think the engagement has to do with changing gears and adjusting intensity based upon the course and what remains.

All I saw is a few photos of folks standing with their bikes in the snow.

This morning I wanted to do a 45 minute VO2 interval set. I could've done it on Zwift but instead wanted to live life to the fullest.

5:30am: alarm goes off. Wake up, put on all my cold weather biking gear and get my fatbike out of my garage and loaded onto my car.
6:00am: I'm heading out - 45 minutes to the trails. Park, get the bike off the car and get the rest of my gear on.
7:00am: Ready to rock - I find a hill to do interval repeats on and crush that set for 45 minutes. Snow would be awesome, but here we just have frozen dirt because we've had very little snow this winter. It's still dark out and 24 degrees, but whatever - beats staring at a "virtual screen".
7:45am: the sun is finally coming up as I finish my workout back at the car. I get my bike loaded the bike back on the rack and stow the rest of my gear.
8:00am: head back home. Traffic is building so it's a solid hour back into the city.
9:00am: I missed breakfast with the family and the kids have already left for school but oh-well 'cause outdoors rules. I hit the shower, Get dressed and grab a quick breakfast for me and some coffee.
9:30am - out the door to work
10:00am arrive at the office. I've missed two meetings and my boss is angry and I'll have to work late so I'll miss dinner with the family again, but totally worth it. Outdoors rules.

I can't wait to do this again tomorrow. Those suckers riding on their dumb trainers don't know what they're missing.

Break time!!! Enjoying the river scenery!!!

Despite all that...To me it still sounds better than the trainer. Especially since you got to see the sun rise, you missed two work meetings (awww shucks) and you were immersed in the real world!!!

Now if that was me...

5:30am: alarm goes off. Wake up, put on all my cold weather biking gear and get my fat bike out of my garage and loaded into my truck.
6:00am: I'm heading out - 15 minutes to the trail. Park, get the bike out of the car and get the rest of my gear on.
6:20am: Ready to rock - Hit the trail on the snow and start riding a ~20ish mile loop. It's still dark out and 24 degrees and yeah!!!! - beats staring at a "virtual screen"!!!
6:4am: Sun is coming up. So nice to see.
~9:30am: Completed the loop and back at the car. Load up bike, take off wet gear and head back home.
9:40am: Head back home. There is no traffic so it's 15 minutes to get back home.
9:55am: Hit the shower and grab some breakfast and a coffee and think about the wonderful morning I had riding.

Benefits of living in a rural area and no city traffic.

Cool. Yeah, my kids cried when I told them we were moving to rural Wisconsin so I could spend several hours every weekday morning out riding trails instead of spending time with them, but I'm sure they'll be OK after some therapy.
I'll probably be unemployed anyway, so I'll just ride during the day.

Other people clearly disagree... and they really don't seem to care about your off-topic opinion.

Yes. Because talking about KOMs on a virtual trainer is much better.

Moderation note; prj71 , please leave the thread. Your posts are off topic and disruptive. If you want to discuss Zwift riding versus outdoor riding, start your own thread.