Zwift question
 

Everything I've read about this system references social online rides which I'm not a competitive enough person to be involved with. Does it have good solo training programs?

Yes, it also has group workout training programs where you ride the same workout as others at your own FTP while staying together which can be motivational. You can also just ride around the island and run into others and try to keep up

Both things you describe are social rides, which I'd rather not get involved in. I'm trying to determine - bizarrely, I can't find the answer to anywhere - if the product has onscreen animations for training rides that aren't a shared experience with other users.

If only there were something ... https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/

I guess I'm confused why you would pick zwift in that case instead of something like trainnerroad or sufferfest if you don't want the social aspect

Because I've never heard of those things. I'll look them up.

If only you could help a guy out without the weird sarcasm. If that site had popped up in my Google searches I wouldn't have started this thread, smartass.

Don't know what you were searching for. It came up number one in mine, but I searched under "zwift workouts."

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

Just to expand on the Trainer Road option, for solo structured training I'd definitely say it's superior to Zwift. They have a huge library of workouts, as well as the ability to create your own. They also have full-blown periodized training plans for different race focus (general, TT, triathlong, CX, etc). And they've recently been adding pretty extensive training analytics (some of that's still in beta, and may be redundant if you're already using something like WKO+ or Training Peaks Premium). They've also got a great training podcast (no TR subscription required, it's available on stitcher/iTunes/etc).

Personally I'm not into Zwift. The social aspect and group activities don't appeal to me, and I'd much rather watch netflix during my interval session than a CGI cyclist.

Sorry if that came off as harsh. Any of the 3 can be used in the way that you want. Feel free to ask any questions

I am kinda in the same boat as you. Workout, not a race or competitive. A simple answer is that the easiest and first things that will populate your screen after setup is a pic of you and bunch of bikes at all speeds in motion around you. It is not personal. There are stopped riders, fast riders, slow riders. There is no pressure or feeling of competition. Unless you want to. I can ride at 12-14 mph level and ignore everyone else. I can chase a group ride, which I can do and keep up, for about 3 minutes. I have just scratched the surface of what's available and I wholly endorse ZWIFT, get going !!! The rides are not really "shared'with anyone unless you want to. Think of looking into a large fish tank at the Zoo.

Edit: ZWIFT you can create your own routes rides and workout. . . . .

Yes, I do this all the time. Pick a workout from the menu and it plops you into London or the island (for some reason, never Richmond for me). And then you just go, following the prompts. You'll pass or be passed, but you just do your thing, exactly like you'd do on the road IRL.

Thanks, the last two responses really helped me understand how the product works, I think I'll like it. Much appreciated.