Garmin Virtual Partner: friend or foe?

[benb]

Riding to beat the virtual partner is basically chasing average speed, it is almost a perfect definition of the whole amateur/slow rider "junk miles" thing where you are not riding slow enough or fast enough to actually get better.

A lot of these other Garmin features like their bastardized version of TSS/TSB and Fitness/Fatigue/Form at least theoretically have value even if they seem to be less well thought out versions of what other systems use. Likewise where it tries to recommend intervals to you.

But the virtual partner truly has little value or negative value if you regularly used it to guide your rides.