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Back to ZRL last night. That was a tough race. Did it as a recon on Saturday and had a good result. Last night not so good, legs were not in it. I really like that course though and seem to stay strong at the point others are obviously falling back.
Has anyone done "the wringer" workout?
I very nearly puked....god damn summer of riding giving me a half decent FTP....
Lesson for me this week.... Don't try and race 5 days out of 7.... Just doesn't work.
You lose the legs... Yesterday was a decent race for 2/3 of it... but the legs just didn't have it.
Just did the 2nd ZRacing series race and had a pretty much identical experience to @ta11pau1. Can't believe how quickly I got dropped on the descent!
Excellent fun though.
Just done the FTP test ahead of getting back into Zwift-ing.
Pros - only lost 10w since last time I did an FTP at the start of the year and have done **** all riding this year.
Cons - that previous FTP was already roughly 100w lower than my "racing best".
Result - a mighty 1.9w/kg, probably won't be racing for a while with that!
2x C races tonight. Got in a 5 man break around the NY perimeter loop course but sadly was dropped on the steep kicker on the last lap. Then lost the 1 on 1 sprint with a guy I caught. Bronze in that one.
Then in race 2, I helped made an Insta-break stick round Sand and Sequoia’s. I attacked a few times and we whittled the break down further. Then I managed to get the C event KOM too. A few people got away on the descent using anvils but I eventually caught back on.
And again- lost the sprint for bronze.
70mins reasonable training. Maybe 10w less than our 70min Chaingang.
@IvanDobski You could be in the mix in D, especially if you keep out of the wind and have a decent sprint.
I've gone a bit overboard on Zwift since getting home from work yesterday afternoon, ~3 hours each day*, best weekly distance/duration stats to Thursday I've had in many months and I'm absolutely zombied tonight. 😆
* Not one continuous session, split up a bit, especially today.
Just did the 2nd ZRacing series race and had a pretty much identical experience to @ta11pau1. Can’t believe how quickly I got dropped on the descent!
Excellent fun though.
Yeah you'd think the downhill would be a chance to rest, ooooh no! 🤣
I’ve gone a bit overboard on Zwift since getting home from work yesterday afternoon, ~3 hours each day, best weekly distance/duration stats to Thursday I’ve had in many months and I’m absolutely zombied tonight.
3 hours!? Jesus, my backside has had enough after 90 minutes let alone double that! I think I'll look for a rocker plate at some point, need one on wheels though and ones that's either just the rear wheel or very slender, for storage.
Ramp test for me tonight as per my other thread, now up to 279w - slowly creeping towards my 4w/kg target.
No racing here, but I did do my first ride on zwift and choose to do a ramp test... wasnt the funnest thing, but atleasr now I know a number and can do the workouts accordingly.
The ramp test gave me an FTP, I assume Zwift auto stores this and will then use it for any future work outs?
The ramp test gave me an FTP, I assume Zwift auto stores this and will then use it for any future work outs?
Yep, so long as the FTP from the ramp test wasn't lower than what you had set before.
No racing for a while, but have been keeping on the Zwift bandwagon.
I rode the PRL half on Wed evening as I was planning on going out on the road, but my back had been a bit sore after over-stretching in the garage so decided it was safer to get some exercise close to home. That was one of the longer (if not longest) Zwift sessions I've done at about 2:15 or so.
This morning I did the baseline ride for the Zwift Academy. That was an enjoyable ride & worth having a bash at even if you aren't intending on completing any of the workouts. The idea is to put all your efforts into 3 sections - Titans reverse KOM, a spring (can't remember which one - maybe the Italian villas) and then the volcano KOM.
This thread & the recent one about garage floor upgrades has got me thinking what I should really be doing to mine.
So far I've got....new floor, paint wall, clean garage door (preferably paint it), widescreen monitor on a wall-mount or some other way of moving it away from 'right in front of my face'.
And if I'm putting a new floor down, I might as well get some proper shelves/workbenches I've been meaning to buy for several years. 🙂
With all the other work that needs doing around the house, I can't see 'sprucing up the garage' as my DIY priority going down very well....
Fire socks. An awesome reason the get to level 51.
Darn, I've a little way to before I get fire socks.
Darn, I’ve a little way to before I get fire socks.
it’s worth it, get into z6/ a sprint and flames streak out the back wheel and along the road behind you. Childish, but it makes me grin.
I saw a couple of the fire streaks when riding yesterday and wondered if that was related to the socks.
[Quickly heads off to select "fire socks" in the Zwift garage]
it’s worth it, get into z6/ a sprint and flames streak out the back wheel and along the road behind you. Childish, but it makes me grin.
😲
Want!
I've only just hit level 24 though so I'll have to wait another year or more before I get there.
Has anyone found a good way to protect their carpet from, uh, sweatier riders? I can’t see how a trainer mat would actually help unless it has a juice gully like wooden chopping boards.
I'm especially sweaty and a trainer mat and tacx sweat catcher and towel keeps the carpet perfectly dry.
Take it you have a large fan and good throughput of air, as that makes a big difference to moisture falling.
Tell you what, it's nice seeing the actual benefits of all this indoor zwifting/training - it's often hidden when riding inside as things just get harder along with your fitness improving, so things don't ever get "easier" - you just go faster!
Rode some local trails today and without really trying for a fast time I was only 4 seconds off my PB up a short, steepish 2 min climb - and my PB was set on a 9kg gravel bike and I was on a 16kg full suspension bike today! Tricky, punchy climbs felt relatively easy, and the ride in general just felt a lot easier that in the past.
Progress!! 😁
As I’m going to give Zwift racing a little try (alongside trainer road for proper structured training) this autumn winter when the weather is bad I thought I’d pick up one of those lifeline turbo tables for cheap from Facebook classifieds.
Realised the way it sits blocks where I had my cardio master fan aiming at. So had a rethink and going to try this - suspect it’ll fan me better here then it ever did from the floor in front of the bike - even though it did a good job there.
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Going to try Zwift on my wife’s iPad with it in the front slot of the table and see how that is. There is a 32” tenon the wall but it’s well over to the front right of the garage so not handy. Seeing as my wife doesn’t use it anymore I may relocate it to some kind of wall mount that sticks out from the left hand wall and grab a cheap secondhand Apple TV unit to drive Zwift.
Is the newer 4k one a decent step up from the gen 3 1080p Apple TV box?
Yeah that'll work, the vacmaster air channel can be a bit narrow in the normal mode so it'll probably work better on its side.
One thing in that photo is bugging me though... Are those flat pedals?! 😲
I do hope that's mid-putting the bike on the trainer and you don't actually use flats? But seriously, if you do... Get onto clips! There's literally zero reason to not use clips on the trainer, it's not like you can fall over!
I'm pretty sure the apple TV graphics profile is the same regardless which version, it doesn't actually output in 4k with the 4k model, it's still at 1080p.
One thing in that photo is bugging me though… Are those flat pedals?! 😲
I do hope that’s mid-putting the bike on the trainer and you don’t actually use flats? But seriously, if you do… Get onto clips! There’s literally zero reason to not use clips on the trainer, it’s not like you can fall over!
Nah - I’m deliberately using flats on there. I ride normal spd-sl road pedals when I commute on the bike but for some reason using those pedals or Shimano mtb xc style pedals and shoes ruin my right foot on the trainer. No idea why - but it messed up my right foot for ages. No issues when out on the road though.
I figure I mostly ride my mtb on flat pedals so running them on the turbo is no bad thing - I only use the road bike for mtb fitness / keeping my weight down pretty much 🤷♂️
One thing in that photo is bugging me though… Are those flat pedals?!
LOL you'd love mine then...
I Zwift on a flat bar'd hybrid and flat pedals 🙂
Haha, if it works for you!
To be fair I know how foot problems can be, took a while to get mine sorted when using the trainer - a combination of wider, rigid road shoes and cleat wedges have sorted it. I couldn't imagine zwifting on flat pedals though!
SPD-SLs seem to give me more knee problems than riding flats on the turbo... I've tried them 3-4 different times.
I ride normal spd-sl road pedals when I commute on the bike but for some reason using those pedals or Shimano mtb xc style pedals and shoes ruin my right foot on the trainer. No idea why – but it messed up my right foot for ages. No issues when out on the road though.
Something similar happened to me during lockdown, when I was using the turbo every day - turned out I had the cleat slightly twisted, and while it didn't make any difference on the road I ended up with a dodgy knee. On road I'm guessing I move about a fair bit more, standing up, shifting on the saddle etc., and a slightly offset cleat isn't as important. Anyway these days I use some old Time Atacs which have a huge amount of float.
Yeah I don’t wish to repeat my foot pain which stopped me being able to run / hurt when I walked etc. I think I’m fairly good at spinning circles on flats rather then just mashing downwards - so will continue to do that on the turbo. I don’t expect to be especially fast at Zwift racing but it’s just to replace muddy night rides every week once the slop arrives. Going to do a ramp test tonight and start off another TrainerRoad block of training. Has got up to 250ish ftp and down to sub 75kgs but it slipped with a back spasm I had. Think I’m probably down to about 225ftp at a guess and up to 76.5kgs so I’ve got some work to do.
I used to love Time atacs- the grey and green composite ones with just the bars on each side and nothing else fancy!
My setup, back of the garage:
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HT on a Flux S. Started out with a laptop and WiFi and quickly upgraded to AppleTV, ethernet over powerline and the TV borrowed from the caravan. Two cheap fans from Argos plugged in to Alexa do the job well enough.
Only thing i'm not happy with - AppleTV remote is awful, any recommended replacements?
AppleTV users - I've posted about this before, but does anyone else struggle with updates? Whenever an update is available, I click to download from the app store, but it just switches to a screen saying "coming soon." I always have to delete the app and reinstall it.
ATV owner here - never had a problem. I have it apps to auto-update, and if I know an update is happening I turn it on a few mins early. If I'm short of time I will go to the app store, select Zwift explicitly and update from there.
I don't use the ATV for much else, and it is the 4K version, so there is little else on it - that might be a factor.
Which bit says 'coming soon' - the app store or zwift itself ?
Yeah I never had an issue with updates on the apple TV, again I had apps set to auto update, it was always updated when I turned it on.
Of course, it tends to get stuff later than pc like the new home screen but that's another matter.
No problems with AppleTV updates either. Auto updates on, it just does it.
Quick Zwift question; I'm doing the Zwift Academy workouts but I struggle to keep the power in the right band, often wandering well above the target. Should I be using ERG mode for these? (I've never used ERG mode so don't really understand the difference).
Ta
YES!!!
ERG basically 'makes' you output the required power regardless of cadence...
Definitely use ERG for workouts!
DrP
The Zwift academy baseline ride is a group ride though isn't it, not a proper workout. Are the rest of the 'workouts' the same or proper workouts?
If the latter, 100% use erg mode, and change into the small ring at the front with a gear that gives a straight chain line, the trainer well be quieter and will work better like this, as gears don't matter.
After the Baseline ride, the rest are workouts.
I'll try ERG mode for the next one, ta.
oh yeah.. DON'T CHANGE GEAR IN ERG MODE!!!
DrP
oh yeah.. DON’T CHANGE GEAR IN ERG MODE!!!
DrP
Unless you have to do micro 15 second intervals at 120rpm or something stupid where erg mode would mean you'd end up spinning away but with no resistance... 😁
But yeah, generally just let the trainer do the work!
Yeah - baseline is a normal ride - so you feel the terrain as you would on a normal ride.
Chill through the non-times segments and then smash it on the timed bits.
Important thing is to carry on riding down the volcano after the last segment until the blue banner. I've seen quite a few people moaning about it on the forum, as they have quit the ride after the KOM banner at the top & have then lost the ride stats.
When doing the workouts - definitely ERG mode - and also use the inner ring (assuming you are on a 2x set-up) and aim for somewhere around the middle of the cassette. I think I generally run on the 4th cog from biggest (on a 2x9 set-up.
If you keep to the big ring, it is harder for the trainer to sustain an even resistance & you will find your power trace is more choppy.
I've noticed halfway through a workout that I've been in the 'wrong' ring & upon changing to the inner ring, the subsequent intervals are much 'smoother'.
I did the ZA1 workout yesterday afternoon. It was quite a good one - tough but achievable.
I'm still not sure what the Zwift Academy hopes to achieve? 6 workouts are a solid start, but aren't gonna have a massive impact on your fitness.
I'm just using ZA as an introduction to the concept of a training programme. I hope to undertake something a bit more meaningful/effective over the winter. My major concern is that strict adherence will rule out "pleasure" rides when weather allows.
Zwift used to be pretty strict and prescriptive for it's training plans...
An update several updates ago made it a bit more leanient, which is good.
I mean, you'll get the MOST if you stick to it religiously, but.... in reality you'll struggle to fir 5+ rides a week in, PLUS real life rides and kids etc!!!
Do what you can - it all helps!
DrP
I’d recommend Trainer road for a training programme. It’s more flexible than Zwift from what I hear. I’m going to try Zwift for racing but keep trainer road for a training plan.
If you get to a workout and you don’t have enough time it lets you pick a similar alternative with a shorter duration. Or you can just browse the list based on type of workout / duration / difficulty etc. Really good.
New cardio fan position on my turbo table right in my face is excellent - it’s powerful enough you need to keep your mouth shut otherwise it blows your lips about like a dog sticking their head out the window of a moving car 🤣
I think I pushed hard enough I nearly passed out after - the fan kept me going right up to 186bpm on the heart rate. Got a 240ftp which is better than I expected after so much time off my bike. Pretty much had nothing left - that’s the best attempt at a ramp test in terms of extracting every last bit of leg power / lung power I had to give.
I’d recommend Trainer road for a training programme. It’s more flexible than Zwift from what I hear. I’m going to try Zwift for racing but keep trainer road for a training plan.
They're both pretty prescriptive, you'd be better off sticking your social rides in a planner, then figuring out what your weaknesses are and planning a few specific sessions around those with some common sense around recovery etc.
e.g. if you do Wednesday night as a chilled evening group ride, and a long ride on Sunday morning, stick in some appropriate interval training on Tuesday (when your fresh from Sunday), and Thursday or Friday once you've used Wednesday as a recovery ride.
Rigid adherence to a generic plan isn't going to be optimal in any sense anyway. So a generic plan that says do 4 x 10min FTP intervals every other day isn't going to be optimal if either you're not fit enough to do that every other day, or fitter than that and would get more benefit from doing 5 (or more) intervals. That's why real life coaches are £££ more than off the shelf training plans, it's the reviewing.
Yes - although trainer road now has adaptive training. It’s early stage but based on your feedback from each workout it will change what you have scheduled. So if you find one too easy it’ll modify what’s coming up and vice versa. I’ve found it quite decent so far with that.
I always select low volume training (3 times a week) and see how that fits in with what I have planned outside. I suspect I’ll mostly do one mtb ride on a weekend of a reasonable length. Then one Zwift race midweek with 2 trainer road sessions around those