A plug for Row Pro

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » May 17th, 2007, 10:54 pm

Folks: thought I would put a plug in for Row Pro online rowing SW. I am not involved with RP in any way, I just enjoy rowing online with other folks, it makes training MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE.

Step 1: you can get a free evaluation copy from
http://www.digitalrowing.com/

Step 2: The download page has instructions on installing and activating it.
http://www.digitalrowing.com/default.aspx?type=2&id=31

Step 3: Once you download and install it, just visit this site to join a scheduled race, or create your own.
http://www.digitalrowing.com/default.aspx?itemid=268

it's a blast, share the pain

Rockin Roland · Post by **Rockin Roland** » May 21st, 2007, 12:20 am

Rowpro could do with a plug right now because there's hardly anyone using it at the moment. I've noticed only about half a dozen regulars using it online. Considering the number of ergs there are in the world which are likely to be close to a computer with internet connection, that's an incredible amount of lack of interest in Rowpro. I can't understand why.

I was a regular in the past and really enjoyed it. Let's face it, ergs are very boring at the best of times so you'd think anything that introduces more fun to your workouts should catch on. Unfortunately though the vast majority of ergers have shunned Rowpro. It's a shame.

Seems like most people prefer to suffer on an erg alone. Erging online with Rowpro is like going for a run in a park and an unknown runner catches up to you and applies pressure on you to speed up. No longer are you in your comfort zone so the enjoyment is gone. That's why I believe people are reluctant to workout online because they are afraid of being pushed by others. It doesn't have to be that bad because once you get to know the others online you accept other people's limitations and an element of fun developes.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » May 21st, 2007, 1:05 pm

I haven't rowed online very much in months (I haven't been rowing much in that time either), and I agree that there seems to be few online rows listed.

But at least in part, I think this is because a lot of us are waiting for version 2.1 with the new race protocol. Although RP works very well offline, and pretty well online, many of us have had problems rowing online. This has been particularly true once there are more than 4-5 boats in the race. In all the times I have rowed online over the past year and a half, I have only once rowed in a field of 8 (I don't think we had any problems that day); every other time with a large field of boats people have crashed, or we have been unable to start, or had instablity during the row. This gets frustrating.

DR promised the new server and version 2.1 last fall; now it is promised for "mid May". I sort of stopped encouraging people to race online in the meantime, since we can't really promise a stable, consistent experience. Once 2.1 comes out, and we can demo it, I think (hope) that many people will come back if the bugs are really worked out of the system.

Tireux de Roche · Post by **Tireux de Roche** » May 21st, 2007, 2:41 pm

I downloaded and installed Rowpro last night. I wasn't that impressed.

Apparently the demo version doesn't allow online racing and I'm not about to drop $99 to try it. Other than online racing, what does RowPro offer that makes it a "must have"?

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » May 21st, 2007, 2:50 pm

michaelb wrote:I haven't rowed online very much in months (I haven't been rowing much in that time either), and I agree that there seems to be few online rows listed.

But at least in part, I think this is because a lot of us are waiting for version 2.1 with the new race protocol. Although RP works very well offline, and pretty well online, many of us have had problems rowing online. This has been particularly true once there are more than 4-5 boats in the race. In all the times I have rowed online over the past year and a half, I have only once rowed in a field of 8 (I don't think we had any problems that day); every other time with a large field of boats people have crashed, or we have been unable to start, or had instablity during the row. This gets frustrating.

I row online at least 2-3 times a week, I agree it has been a bit rough, but, it has been getting better (no-shows no longer mess up starting the race for example), and if you follow a few rules, you can avoid the remaining problems and have a blast:

1. If one of the participants in a race is having trouble getting logged in for a scheduled race (SR), BAIL IMMEDIATELY ON THE SR, and create a quick race (QR). DO NOT monkey around trying to figure out what the problem is.. Using Chat, ask everyone to withdraw while you create a QR, it takes 20 seconds. There is a easily accessable link on the RP client SW, you dont have to go to the web site to create it.

2. Chat window should be re-started after a race is finished, sometimes newly logged in people dont show up

3. If during a race, someone's splits go haywire and start displaying numbers like "2x-02398oi17985y1324123", ignore it. It will self correct, it sometimes takes a while, but it always corrects... I havent seen a crash, or someone getting kicked in month's..

4. Remember that if the race results arent shown on Digital Rowing web site, you can always get your personal result off your PM3's memory function.

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » May 21st, 2007, 2:51 pm

Tireux de Roche wrote:I downloaded and installed Rowpro last night. I wasn't that impressed.

Apparently the demo version doesn't allow online racing and I'm not about to drop $99 to try it. Other than online racing, what does RowPro offer that makes it a "must have"?

Hi, the demo version allows 10 online races (or at least it used to). You need to go to the web site to register and create a user account.. Details are at
http://www.digitalrowing.com/default.aspx?type=2&id=31

See especially the "Getting Started" PDF..
[snip]
Getting a free Tryout Key
You can get a free Tryout Key either online or manually. Online is simpler and faster because RowPro
communicates directly with the Digital Rowing Activation Server.
· To get a free Tryout Key online - Connect your RowPro PC to the Internet and start RowPro.
The Activation Manager will appear on the Tryout tab. Follow the instructions there to get a free
Tryout Key online.
· RowPro connects to the Activation Server at www.digitalrowing.com, sends its Serial
Number, your email and password, receives your free Tryout Key, and enable you to use
RowPro. No other information is exchanged.
· If RowPro cannot connect to the Digital Rowing Activation Server, a box will appear with
connection advice. You may need to configure your firewall to allow RowPro to access the
Internet.
· All the functions of RowPro will work fully during your free trial period, except there are
limits to the number of rows you can store in the rowing log.

Tireux de Roche · Post by **Tireux de Roche** » May 21st, 2007, 2:59 pm

Ah, I guess I forgot to RTFM.

Other than the online piece, what's the "must have" for RowPro?

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » May 21st, 2007, 3:15 pm

Tireux de Roche wrote:Ah, I guess I forgot to RTFM.

Other than the online piece, what's the "must have" for RowPro?

Personally, online is all I use it for. It's got loads of other stuff, but I dont need all that sophistication to tell me I'm going slow.. the 500m split does that just fine..

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » May 21st, 2007, 4:10 pm

Online rowing is one of the best reasons to use RP, but it is pretty useful offline as well. I like the rowing log and the ability to easily upload that to the C2 log. I try to row everything at 10 meters per stroke, and so I like to synchronize my stroke with the lane markers in the 3d view. I like having the handful of different distances I row easily saved as custom rows so that I can row them again.

Even if you don't race online, rowing against yourself or a paceboat can be really nice on RP, and can make you push much harder or hold the line on a tough row if you are struggling. Although downloading other people's row is a bit of a pain in the ass (you have to do them one by one), rowing against other people's ranked rows that they have uploaded can also be a lot of fun; almost as fun as rowing online.

I have done all my PBs online I think, but downloaded rows probably are better for this so I really should try it. So if I want to finally go sub 7:00 in the 2k; I can download 3 other rows at sub 7 and race against them offline.

ancho · Post by **ancho** » May 22nd, 2007, 6:34 am

I haven’t been rowing online lately because of hardware problems (laptop stolen

)
I use it online as often as I can, but as I row on weird times, there don’t use to be many folks around. Nice if you meet someone, anyway… and they use to be from far away (Australia, South Africa, US, Canada...

I have had very little of the traditional RP-crashing problems during the past months.

When having a PC, I only erg on RowPro. It allows to store your workout data and graphs, and log your entries easyly to the C2logbook.
I also like the paceboat function, specially the “past row” function.

michaelb: go for the sub7, it’s about time for you!

Just use ypur actual PB as a paceboat, and go that little bit faster. Esay, ypu see?

BTW, if I log a workout with RP, it doesn’t store on the PM3 log card

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » May 27th, 2007, 12:49 am

There are some good offline uses for RowPro.

I'll use the session reports to compare rows with details for each split. You'll see Pace, Avg. DPS, Avg. Watts, Cals, Avg. SPM, and HR for each split. This comes in handy with tracking intervals. (Of course you could stop and write it down each time if you like).

If you use a HR monitor, RowPro produces an analysis of two rows and tells you if your performance improved using more than just pace. The analysis will also compare strength vs. stroke efficiency.

You can also row against one of your past rows or a competitor's row. A human pace boat is more realistic. (I've never seen a pace boat have to stop to get more milk for a 2 year old!)

It also got my kids interested in rowing. (We now have 5 kids, ages 5, 4, 2, 1, and a 7 week old). The 4 & 5 year olds designed their own boat colors and like to do the 4 minute or 100 m. row. They've recently also discovered the fish game. They like to cheer daddy on, and having the panoramic view gives them something to look at. Personally, this is a video game I don't mind the kids playing.

I must admit that the online racing was very cool. We had a race series in late 2005, and the 1k race I ran was a global affair. Thialand, Spain, Great Britain, US, Canada were represented. Perhaps we'll bring that back, but I'll remain a sandbagger with the racing.

Finally, my meters shot way up when I started with RowPro and I got in better shape. There's a lot of things to spend your money on, and there's lots of useless junk being marketed, but I think RowPro is worth it.

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » May 28th, 2007, 11:33 am

Bill Moore wrote:We now have 5 kids, ages 5, 4, 2, 1, and a 7 week old

And you still have time to row?

chgoss · Post by **chgoss** » June 8th, 2007, 12:36 pm

Bump to the top of the pile

FYI, over the past 3-4 weeks we have been getting good crowds at our 8PM EST 10k rows. It sure makes training much more enjoyable.

Buckiller · Post by **Buckiller** » June 9th, 2007, 9:31 pm

So this thing costs $99. That's a bit much i would think.

I would love to have a videogame type thing for rowing like I know they have for stationary bikes... Hopefully a good, cheap one will come out sooner rather than later.... heck i might try my hand at creating one for personal use (for a senior project maybe.. idk)

Citroen · Post by **Citroen** » June 10th, 2007, 3:59 pm

Buckiller wrote:I would love to have a videogame type thing for rowing like I know they have for stationary bikes...

Errr ... that's what RowPro is.

If we compare costs. RowPro is GBP£50. A Tacx iMagic set-up for my bike would be £550.

If I'd paid £1000 for a C2 ergo (yes, they are a lot more expensive in Rightpondia) I'd be stupid not to add the £50 for RowPro (C2 UK were doing a deal where they bundle a copy of RowPro with a erg).