What is it?
A slower, longer Saturday morning group ride on Zwift. It starts at 930 AM ET and goes for 90 minutes.
Here’s the event description, “Building up your endurance but holding a lower pace? This is the group ride for you! Join Paul as he leads The Herd on Elizabeth’s iconic endurance ride. Respect the leader’s pace and ride with the yellow beacon. This is NOT A RACE! Stronger riders are encouraged to fall back and help sweep the riders struggling in the back. Join us on Discord during the ride: https://discord.gg/Dr7ZtPV (Please use Push-To-Talk) Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zHerd/.”
What’s to love?
They do what they say they are going to do. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against smash fests or rides where people who can’t keep up get dropped, as long as that’s what they say they are. That’s true IRL and in virtual cycling. The Thundering Turtles is a slow, steady, 90 minute ride where people stick together. There’s a veritable army of sweeps, more than 6 I think on the ride I was on recently.
They also wait and regroup. It’s the only Zwift group ride I’ve known to do that. In France the other week we all got the castle–at about the halfway mark–and waited for the rest of the bunch to catch up. This week we waited at the top of the leg snapper in Innsbruck. It was fun to race up and then wait, without falling off and down the other side. It got pretty crowded up there.
The group also sprints and you can join in if you want. Or not, again because they regroup.
The banter is friendly and supportive. There are lots of different reasons people are on a slower paced ride. For some it’s a recovery ride after a tough week of racing. Others are just starting out. Some people are coming back from injury. And for others that’s just the speed they roll.
Zwift agrees. Here’s their take on the state of affairs, GREAT GROUP RIDES: THE HERD THUNDERING TURTLES.
That’s good to know – I may join in that one soon. I had similar experiences with the Sunday afternoon Pride Rides. Few to zero flyers (except for folks who sometimes want to do a sprint and then regroup) and with pleasant and positive banter. Last time I was there the blob was so compact the red and yellow beacons were within 2-3 bike lengths of one another!
I like that one too!
I’ve found all of the HERD’s rides to be very well organised. Some of the best on Zwift. Never any “way above advertised” pace changes, no overly shouty ride leaders, always super friendly, good vibes.