[Closed] STW Zwift Autumn Race Series 1

@phil56 5 laps plus the lead in of 2 miles I think. Should give a bit more time to stretch your legs. Should be closer to an hour for most to complete.

@stumpy01 following the Tdf I made the executive decision to use Paris instead of London. Think it was mentioned on page 20 or something!

My race tactics will be a decent 45 minute warm up which will be enjoyable. Then I'll head to the main event which won't be as enjoyable as the warm up 😂
I'll try and maintain a respectable speed and not get lapped more than once 🤪

Still spannered thanks to hip, have a great race guys.

Good luck all!

Tactics...Hmm...

Decent warm up with some 10 second 400W efforts in the warm up to get the blood flowing....
Well hydrated through the day...

Then go red faced with 500+ w effort from the off, trying to stick in the lead group HOPING that the legs have got enough in them to hold on for the incline...
Then die.

DrP

Set off at a pace which will get me lapped by the fast group really quickly. Hope that by this time the fast group will have slowed enough for me to hang on. Pass everyone not in the fast group as I hang on to their coat tails and get towed clear then take the sprint

Pretty straightforward really, can't see me not winning.

I need to stick like glue to P Wood and tpbiker or at least there aren’t two many folks finishing in between us after handicaps are applied. which judging by the Volcano race is going to be very hard. If I can’t keep up then I will simply lose the lead in the last race of the season so have to go all out (just for a change lol).

I still think the ramp/sprint could cause some splits and I’m really looking forward to trying to hit 400/600w every lap to keep with lighter And faster guys.

The ramp is a bit of a non event in my book. The sustained effort up the longer drag is worse.

Tactics, hmm still pondering the TT bike and going for it. Maybe just sit in for a bit and try and jump off the front when the pack is smaller.

I would go with the TT if I was you Nixie. I should have tried one lap on the tt and compared it to my best bunch lap time of 9.37 if I can’t keep with the lead group I might fair better soloing on tt, or probably not.

BTW I mean the main climb up to the arc including the sprint, not the short rise after the underpass, I agree that’s nothing at all just a couple of second surge of watts to power up.

Tactics, hmm still pondering the TT bike and going for it.

Why would you do that? You can't get a draft but everyone can still draft you, seems a bit of an optimistic punt on you being able to force a complete split.

He’s just a complete beast and likes pain! For me, I’m hoping flattish course will suit me better than last week - tactics same as usual, try to stay in the front group if I can, and if I’m feeling really, really good I might accidentally find myself popping to the front briefly before slinking back to recover a bit.

Something different to try. Means if I can pull off the front I get an aero benefit from the TT bike. Agree would be pointless to stay in the pack on one. Only works for soloing though.

I can pull off the front

You're motivating the fast guys there?

Tt bike makes sense if you are one of the few guys that can ride the entire race off the front. I certainly couldn't do that....

No point hanging in the pack waiting for it to thin if you are going with that approach though. May as well treat it as a time trial and go at own pace

@robbo1234biking .....

Any chance of considering possibly maybe having round 2 on a Wednesday?

No biggie if not, but Tuesdays are the only night I can actually get out for real riding, and now the wrist is better I may join the real world, tis all....

DrP

DrP - it is a possibility with the race series coming along as well. Not sure if people would want to do:

Tuesday: WTRL Zwift Race Series
Wednesday: STW Autumn Series 2
Thursday: TTT

I don't know if that would be too much for people. I wouldn't do all 3 as I like to integrate some structure into my training so 3 nights racing would just kill that. My priority would be the STW series and the TTT but don't know how others would feel.

I got a bit hacked off with the ZTRL league stuff so didn't commit to anything on that. I like to try and put a gap between races if possible so would prefer Tuesday but can live with Weds if it is preferable to people.

I'm going to be at a loss of what to do with myself on Tuesdays for the next couple of weeks.

I don’t know if that would be too much for people.

I’m going to be at a loss of what to do with myself on Tuesdays for the next couple of weeks.

I am planning on some more casual non-race/results orientated meetups over the next few Tuesdays. Prob along the lines of what weeksy did originally with circuits and sprints etc as I will be the same.

So my Wattbike turned up at the end of last week nicely in time for this last race of the series.

Turns out this cold has also turned up just in time too. Propper snotty lurgie this one 🙁 I'll get stuck into the 2nd series I promise!

All evenings are equally rubbish for me, it's my family time, but i race because, well, you'r all my virtual race mates..
So, whatever evening suits you all i'm ok with.

I forgot about the Thursday TT..

Erm... Mondays? 1900?

Mebbe....

DrP

I work shifts so any evening may or may not work for me. Tuesday night tho does clash with an option to go biking outdoors with friends.

Don't think I could do consecutive race days, I usually need a rest day or easy day for my legs to recover. I'm not doing the ZTRL series so it doesn't really affect me, however I know it does for some.

Mondays work, possibly Sundays too (but some weekend family commitments will stop me racing some weeks).

Don't forget that for the new Zwift/WTRL series, only every other week is a "race" with the other week being another team time trial (like Thursdays). It all feels a bit too team trial focussed for my preference, mainly because I don't usually feel like I've had as much of a workout after one of those as I do with the STW races.

Don’t forget that for the new Zwift/WTRL series, only every other week is a “race” with the other week being another team time trial

yeah that’s a bit weird, not really delved into it but it’s like the current WTRL series isn’t really part of the new Zwift/WTRL series?

They are - mercifully - separate.

RE the WTRL/zwift series I'll get a thread started this evening after the last of Robbo's Races, I'm happy to start a proper discussion with a view to [my] entering a* team once tonight has played out.

For a few reasons I'm personally not entirely keen but I'll cover that in the OP of the relevant thread.

*3 or more I'd guess, which is one of the reasons...

Back to tonight, I'm bottling the TT idea. Had a disturbed night with the youngest so going to hide out in the pack for a bit while my legs wake up.

LOL i'd love to be able to think like that.. if it were a C race i could 🙂

I'm currently trying to convince myself that racing this evening is a good idea. Strava tells me I wasn't as slow as I felt this morning on the way in so will see by the time I'm home but I feel like I've got an awful hangover from beer I didn't drink.

Monday's not great for a race series over winter. Sunday's will be one of the few days that folks can get out for a longish ride, so Monday race on tired legs will probably be less than ideal

I've just had my tea. Currently watching TV for my pre warmup warmup. Think I'll try the TT bike in my warmup since I've not used it before.

Lol that is eager!!!

You lot have much better preparation than I do! Mine is rush home from work (hopefully in time!!), in the door, changed and get my bottle filled, fire up the laptop and trainer.

If I'm lucky I get 5 minutes of warm up, sometimes not...Race starts...

In theory I should be able to stream tonight. Though chroma key does not work with a white background so it'll be game footage only.

if it works!

ooh...youtube....

I tried that one first, and it wouldn't let me as i wasn't a 'good enough' user or something!

I might look into youtube streaming then...

DrP

EDIT - it was the 'wait 24hours thing' I didn't do.. Just done it now...
For tonight i'll use twitch again, but prefer YT...

Last thing I'm thinking of is watching you clowns blow me away, I can see that in my own screen

EDIT – it was the ‘wait 24hours thing’ I didn’t do.. Just done it now…

As a Dr I'd have thought "give it a few days..." was some sort of autonomic response.

Only on YouTube as wife works for G and twitch is owned by the arch enemy. The 24hr thing scuppered me before.

RE the WTRL/zwift series I’ll get a thread started this evening after the last of Robbo’s Races, I’m happy to start a proper discussion with a view to [my] entering a* team once tonight has played out.

@Dangeourbrain is entry still open? I know BRT had a bit of a rush on to get entries in to hit a deadline.

It'll be hard to sort out as they are all fixed categories, racing up is allowed (but isn't that much fun) so realistically you need teams of all the same cat.

As a Dr I’d have thought “give it a few days…” was some sort of autonomic response.

ooh definitely...

But also, one has to comply with instruction as well....!!!

DrP

I did a cheeky midday warm up race, it may or may not have been a good idea but I won that one with full Hirschi style monstering up the last climb. I suspect my legs may fall off 3/4 of the way through.

You psycho. Not even I'm crazy enough to race then and later

It was only 11km on Tick Tock, so finished just over the col de saddle springs. With how it panned out I cruised up to the foot of the climb and then had a big dig on the climb. Hopefully it's not taken too much out of me.

Hopefully it has!!! 😉 Lol