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Hopefully on the descent you get slowed down on every hairpin bend. This already happens on one of the hairpins on the London circuit, so they could implement it on the new route. It would make races on the mountain more interesting/painful as you would have to accelerate out of every corner to regain speed on the way down the hill.
I am currently off Zwift as I have broken my Neo, currently talking to Tacx about getting it fixed, but doubt it will be fixed before this update lands.
So it's now available 🙂
But it's locked at level 12 and I'm level 11 1/2 👿
Guess I'll be doing flat miles for a bit...
Looks impressive from a distance though from what I could see in the jungle and from the volcano
Well that's my ride this evening sorted!
So annoyed right now that they made it a level 12 unlock. 👿
And to top things off, it seems all my radio tower climbs since January get the same mileage XP rate as flat routes, rather than an XP climbing factor, WTFBBQ? 😥
Any idea how many miles I need to do to go from level 11 to 12?
Apparently the quickest way to level up is using TT bike on Volcano Flat.
DO i climb it today then... I was planning the 10:35 ECC Thursday but it seems rude not to give it a gentle try. Won't be setting any records as it's a Z2 kind of day today rather than a race/blast.
4000 xp from 11 to 12 iirc. So that's 200k if you don't collect any bonuses
if you haven’t got them all already, unlocking achievements will give you a quick boost!Any idea how many miles I need to do to go from level 11 to 12?
Point to note, you level up a fraction faster if you ride in km rather than miles
Why is pedalling downhill pointless?
Because your drag increases exponentially so the faster you're going the less and less difference pedaling makes to your speed
Not quite level 10 yet, Alps a bit away for me.
KOM for the climb is falling rapidly - around 40 mins now.
The DH seems to be around 11 mins with some minimal pedaling, down to 9 mins from someone averaging 300w
Because your drag increases exponentially so the faster you’re going the less and less difference pedaling makes to your speed
Why does that make it pointless to pedal downhill? If you are using Zwift as a training tool, you can choose to pedal downhill and uphill.
Of course. Many people ride it like in the real world though and just coast
Anyone got a link to the zwift strava segment?
I found an online calculator today which works out what average power is required to climb the real thing in a set amount of time.
For me to take the real KOM and grab a 38min time, at 72kg plus my bike I’d need to average about 464w!
Not quite level 10 yet, Alps a bit away for me.
I think if you join a race/ride going that way you'll be able to ride it 🙂
As an occasional zwift user I have absolutely zero points earned so far. Are you saying I can't actually ride this despite paying the monthly sub? If that's the case they can do one.. I'll be cancelling.
Gave it a pop earlier 52 mins.
Was quite fun and I like the fact they've put in 22 waypoints so it breaks up the climb.
It is a roll off the top and walk away for 10mins descent was doing 44-46mph all the way down with no input from me.
52 mins ! Eeeek !
A couple of observations:
1. Open up Zwift, look for someone riding who you think might be on the climb (low average is a giveaway) in the 'ride with' section and click to ride with them - you're then on Alpe Du Zwift even if you've not unlocked it yet.
2. Alternatively, do the above but find someone about 20-25k into a ride with a very low av speed - You may well find yourself at the top of the mountain - If you do a U turn quickly you can ride straight down the mountain without even pedalling - 12k a time. Easy way to get some miles if you're not level 12 yet...
(works on iOS at least)
ethics TBA
[rant]I am so pissed with how Zwift have handled this Alpe Du Zwift release malarkey...
It's a famous climb, Zwift users who used the radio tower will want to test their power on the longer climb. Except they leave it until release day to say you need level12, only as someone who pretty much only climbs the radio tower for training, I accumulate XP at ~50% of flat route riders for ~250W power as I'm fighting gravity!
So to have any chance of opening this bloody HC climb over the shit weather Easter weekend, it looks like I'm going to have to do another ~3.5 hours of hard effort riding around Volcano Flat on a TT (which doesn't interest me in the slightest).
And when I do open up those three new routes from hard riding a pancake route, I'll have such a silly negative "form" that my effort up the HC will be a complete load of testicles.
My urine is boiling. 😡 [/rant]
I agree that they have managed expectation poorly not mentioning the level 12 lock beforehand. As it was in the jungle I had assumed it would be just level 10 and would probably have made the effort to do some more zwift miles.
Of course that does tend to shape my thoughts on the ethics of the my previous post...
I think I prefer the real thing. Top ten on the descent on Strava though thanks to some devilish cunning and my new aero helmet and pink lycra specially for the occasion... it was actually a lot more fun going down than up after a bastard interval session 🙂
Hmmm, they've just switch over to the Richmond circuit. Arghhh.....
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<joke/>
My urine is boiling
Maybe go and do a real ride?
Does it mimic the real world with fatties descending faster?
As for having to do lots of flat miles, does it actually matter on a trainer? Surely unlike the real world, there's nothing to stop you doing 2x20 on a really lumpy route or doing 30s sprint intervals up a hill? Seems daft when the major benefit of turbo sessions is not having to be constrained by real-world geography! Do you also avoid Zwift if there's virtual rain?
I'll vouch that fatties do go faster dh 🙂
Smart trainers mean that you are 'constrained' by geography but then that's one of the big pluses for many - it does actually replicate real world riding to a decent degree - I hate turbo training but am quite happy to spend 2 hours on Zwift
Or you can turn on erg mode and not be affected by the terrain but that's no fun unless you're doing a specific workout imo
Zwift Preferences allows you to override the calendar world, to ride routes that are open to you with current XP level. I've been using it for months to do radio tower summit training sessions.
It's pissing down in Hampshire and I'm still waiting for Cube to re-release their mudguards, otherwise I'd happily be doing multiple 4000+ feet rides around the cat4s near Warnford and the cat3 near Peyersfieldthis long weekend, or better yet riding the numerous cat3s in The Mendips including Draycott Steep.
Zwift XP is mainly dished out through either 30 per mile, or 20 per kilometre, depending upon the metrics you choose. Speed is calculated from power and weight, with drafting if not using a TT bike. Riding to the radio tower via Mountain8 takes me under 40mins these days, for the ~8 mile ride. Earlier, 40mins around Volcano Flat allowed me to cover ~16 miles on a TT bike. I would be way above level12 on a time based system, having started in January.
Quickly tried that hack of joining someone who looks like they are climbing Alpe Du Zwift, it worked on Windows version, will try on the tablet with turbo hooked up tomorrow. 🙂
a quick question does zwift set the resistance based on weight of the rider (and is this input by the user) ?
Yes and yes (or you can have it fed in from fitbit, etc)
Doesn't set the resistance based on rider weight, but does use weight in calculations of speed as uses a w/kg model i.e. 80kg rider doing 200w up a hill is doing 2.5w/kg. 50kg rider doing 200w is putting out 4w/kg so will be faster.
a quick question does zwift set the resistance based on weight of the rider (and is this input by the user) ?
Yes, well, sort of. It's designed to mirror real world riding, so heavy riders have to work harder on climbs, but descend faster. On flatter stuff, because air resistance rather than gravity is the main determinant, it makes less odds. And yes, weight is input by the rider.
And yes, some people do appear to be rather lighter on Zwift than in real life. There are an awful lot of sub-60kg riders banging along at 5-6w/kg.
Other stuff makes a difference too: some Zwift bikes are lighter / faster / more aerodynamic than others. Ditto wheels.
But in short, yes and yes 🙂
does use weight in calculations of speed as uses a w/kg model i.e. 80kg rider doing 200w up a hill is doing 2.5w/kg. 50kg rider doing 200w is putting out 4w/kg so will be faster.
But on the flat both riders will travel at approximately the same speed. It's really only on climbs / descents where rider weight makes a big difference. The whole w/kg thing causes lots of confusion. It's the prime rider display metric - ie: what you see on the rider list - but a heavier rider could be putting out a lower watts per kilo figure than a lighter one, but still go faster on the flat.
In the above example, at 3w/kg both riders would be close on a climb, but on the flat the 80kg rider will generate 240 watts while the 50kg rider will be putting out just 150 watts. Zwift will display both doing 3w/kg, but the heavier rider with higher power output will go quicker.
Rider avatars reflect weight and height as well, so you can sometimes judge from that, but if you click on another rider's name on the rider list, you can see his or her actual power output along with cadence and HR if they're using the requisite sensors. From that you can work out their rough weight - there are a lot of beefy Americans out there along with a fair number of very light Japanese riders.
Get your point. Was just using it as a basic example of how I thought the model worked. I didn't think Zwift altered resistance based on your weight; 200W is 200W regardless of who is putting it out. I thought it just increased the resistance based on the calibrated braking force of the trainer & the in-game gradient, and then used rider weight to calculate speed.
My brain doesn't really work like that. All I know is that with a controllable trainer, resistance increases relative to the gradient a bit like real life, so you have to use gears in the same way as in real life. If you don't have a controllable trainer you can put out the same power and it'll feel the same to you on the flat or on climbs, but the terrain determines how fast you'll move with the calculation including weight. With a controllable trainer you can feel the resistance kicking in and out with the gradient.
Thing is a 100kg rider going up a 5% slope experiences twice the resistance compared to a 50kg rider so I'm assuming that the turbo also has to provide double the resistance to make it feel realistic.
But given that I am that heavier rider and I'm big ringing a lot of climbs, maybe not.
Well, it's variable anyway as you can mess with the trainer difficulty setting to make it feel easier or harder on climbs, though your avatar still moves relative to your power output, Standard setting is 50% of 'real'. Who knows what it all means.
Did my first attempt this morning in 61 mins 35 secs. Nice touch to have the roulette wheel awards at the top, I can see that being an added incentive to plug away to the top. Certainly hard work for me at 6’2” and 78kg but made a nice change to the run of London of late. Not sure I will be doing it everytime I’m on zwift but it’s nice to have another option! Did laugh at the stats difference between myself and the Japanese rider who rode with me - same time and distance give or take but me burning an estimated 500 odd calories more!
"Trainer difficulty" by default 50%, determines how big a range of your cassette you will need for the course, bearing in mind the gradient emulation capabilities of your turbo and the gradient of the course (max was 17% near radio tower). The Direto can emulate up to 14% gradient, so at ~85% trainer difficulty, I usually need my lowest gear (34/32) for the steepest slope. At 50% difficulty, I can get up the steepest bit in ~34/25.
Trainer difficulty does not affect your speed, that is still determined by your inputted weight and power.
If I was riding the radio tower at my 2016 weight of ~95Kg, my Direto would not be adding more resistance on the gradients compared to my ~77Kg these days (too much eating, not enough riding since January). Zwift gets the power readings of the Direto's integrated power meter and number crunches that against my weight to determine my speed. Once you are tackling ~7% or harder gradients, it's all about power:weight ratio, I'm getting closer to being able to tackle the full reverse Mount Zwift cat2 climb at 4W/Kg (292W for 20mins the other day)... Perhaps, by the end of the year.
Well I'm level 12 now (see above...). Looking forward to riding up the Alpe rather than my many times down it for a change... 😉
Completed the horsemen loop - alp climb at 59 min - that’s not shabby considering the start of the ride includes volcano climb, epic KOM and tower!
Its good fun but can’t see me doing it regularly
Took three attempts and ~940 feet of warmup climbing to eventually teleport to a rider at hairpin2 earlier, just over 59mins of brutal leg killing at 222W average. Such a step up from the radio tower climb, no chance of holding similar power consistently, dropping to sub 200W on the easier slopes was welcome relief from the pain!
Not sure if I want to ride outdoors tomorrow morning, even if it is dry, legs need to recover a lot overnight.
Resubscribed to Zwift purely to have a crack at this today....
Already have heavy legs from a tough week on the bike so I’m pretty sure it’s a terrible idea!
Will report back
51:47 average 264w, wasn't rested think I can do a little better but good first attempt. Although its still under construction the route mimics the real one quite well I think for bends, layout and steepness. Its training after all, I like the direction Zwift is going in.