EXR has expanded with Henley

[JaapvanE]

Hi all,

EXR has added Henley to its maps (see https://exrgame.com/blog/update-1.21), with 5 courses, next to maps of Boston, Lake Bled and their tiny test track. Any experiences with these new maps yet?

[JaapvanE]

For those interested: RowAlong published a full course Rowalong https://youtu.be/dLXJcSOYlG8

[jamesg]

The real thing is til first Sunday in July and can be seen from Tuesday June 27, end to end.

[JaapvanE]

The real thing is til first Sunday in July and can be seen from Tuesday June 27, end to end.

I might be watching a couple of races.

I noticed during the European championships on Lake Bled (also another EXR course) that recognising/knowing the environment because you row there yourself almost daily (virtually) adds some fun to it.

[Carl Watts]

Pretty good graphics, still not Zwift but getting there.

Looking like the best option out there now as soon as you can get multiple users on the same course.

[JaapvanE]

Pretty good graphics, still not Zwift but getting there.

Yeah, they do that to keep the app useable on lighter hardware. For them it would actually be easier to use the extreme high res video (similar to RowPro and CoZweat) as the don't have to simplify the base image in design, but they do it to reduce memory and CPU requirements.

Looking like the best option out there now as soon as you can get multiple users on the same course.

You already can, you can see near the end where John is behind another rower (around 8.8 K in). The Henley courses are quite interesting in that respect as I seem to encounter more people than in Boston or Bled. Not too crowded, but nicely distanced.

People can already drop in on friends. So when I am already out on a course, friends can join me on that spot.

Currently we have a weekly group row in 2 subgroups (a 2:15 and 2:45 one) and we are looking to split them into 4 (a 2:10-2:15, a 2:20-2:25, a 2:30-2:35 and a 2:40-2:45 subgroup). This works quite well and is quite fun as you are not alone. In the discussions I see many people prefer cozy group rows above races. It tends to reduce the boredom of those long steady state rows.

[Carl Watts]

Said this before but most people are not interested in racing.

Online software like this is for regular training. This also builds a social group that you can interact with in your time zone for long term motivation.

Never going to be as many people on as Zwift, but there doesn't need to be. I found that if you can get at least 6 or 8 people to row with at the same time its great, any more than that is a bonus.