How to organise a Zwift group spin: step by step

You can't meet your mates for a spin outside at the moment, but you can meet them for a virtual ride together in Zwift. Lots of Orwell riders are already organising their own Zwift meetups, so here's a really easy step by step guide for you to do it too.

A Zwift meetup allows you to schedule a group ride, select a route, and invite your friends to join it. Your group can be as small as just you and one other person.

It's easy to arrange, easy to issue invitations, and easy to keep everyone together during the ride. You can choose any Zwift world to ride for your meetup; you're not restricted to the two guest worlds available each day to individual Zwift riders.

The steps

I've described everything in detail here, but it's really very simple and obvious. You can always go back later if you want to change any of the arrangements for your Zwift meetup (date/time, route, invitees) so don't worry about getting it all correct the first time.

1. Make sure everyone in your group has installed the Zwift Companion app on their phones, and that they have all used it to follow you on Zwift. Install the Zwift Companion app from the app store on your phone. This is separate from the main Zwift app.
   
   To follow you, they should open the Zwift Companion app on their phone, then in the menu tap on "Find Zwifters", type your Zwift name, and then tap on the "+" beside your name in the list.
   
   
   
   
   
   To check who is following you, open the Zwift Companion app on your phone, tap on the menu icon at the top left, tap on your name at the top, then tap on "Followers".


2. Talk to your group by text or social media to decide a date/time and what kind of route and duration you all want.


3. In the Zwift Companion app on your phone, tap on 'Events', select the icon of 3 people at the top, and then tap on "Create meetup".
   
   
   


4. Choose your date and time, and your Zwift world and route.


5. Choose the distance or duration of the meetup. By default, it's set to the distance of the selected route. Most people just leave it at that.
   
   Distance: If you enter a different distance then your official meetup will end at that distance, which can be shorter or longer than the selected route.
   
   Duration: If you set a duration then your official meetup will end at that time no matter where you are on the route.
   
   
   


6. Tap on the "+" button to choose who you want to invite. You will see a list of the people who follow you on Zwift. Tap on the "+" buttons beside each person that you want to invite to your meetup, then tap on "Save" at the top right of the screen. You must invite at least 1 person.
   
   
   


7. Under "Customize your meetup" choose "Keep everyone together". This will turn on the rubber band effect for your group of riders, and make sure that you all stay together.
   
   Leave "Meetup-only view" turned off. Turning it on would mean that you won't see any other riders on the road except your meetup group, which is only really useful for very large meetup groups.
   
   
   


8. If you want, type a message that your invitees will see when they get the invitation to the meetup. It can be anything at all that you think suits the occasion.


9. Lastly, tap the "Send" button to send the invitations.
   
   
   

Each of your invitees will receive an invitation in their Zwift Companion app on their phone. It should pop up a notification on their phone. Each invitee must accept your invitation in the Zwift Companion app before the meetup begins. If they don't do that they will not be able to join the meetup.

You can see who has accepted or declined your invitation by going back into "Events" in the Zwift Companion app, and selecting your meetup. This is also how you can change any of the arrangements for your meetup.

The Meetup

Each person should make sure they have accepted the invitation before the scheduled start time. Then 10 or 15 minutes before the scheduled meetup start they should log in to Zwift and choose any route to warmup up on for a few minutes.

When it gets less than 5 or 10 minutes before the meetup start a message will pop up on screen to ask if they want to join the meetup. Clicking "Yes" will cause Zwift to change to the meetup location. Each member of the meetup group will be waiting near each other at the side of the road. Pedalling won't cause your avatar to move forward until the appointed meetup start time, so feel free to continue warming up.

That's it. During the ride, the rubber band effect will keep everyone together as long as they don't stop pedalling for too long. If you want, you can improve the experience by using phone or Discord or social media to talk to each other during the ride.