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That was ouchie. Think I stayed with the fast group for the first downhill, but got dropped by more and more people as the hills went by :).
@bails - the race for 46th was indeed epic. Every time I got close you put down some more watts - I thinks I was about 20m behind at the line so good job 🙂
I also got a 2W bump in ftp so that’s both encouraging and disappointing (for the handicap).
Cheers R obbo thanks for organising and nice of you to give us an easy one first!! That was bloody hard going.
cheers Ivan for the last lap it was a nice little 3some it was nip and tuck for most of the lap.
Neil
PS thanks for STW towers for organising with Zwift.
My best 5 minute effort yet up the first hill only for @savoyad and @kirky72 to mercilessly crush me as I faded near the top. Then boom you were gone. Thanks @munkeymadness for the tow for the next 2 laps.
Good "fun" as ever. Sadly don't think I am going to be able to make any more but I live in hope/fear 😉
Well, started comfortably, didn't go nuts at the start and got in a nice big bunch.
Lungs decided I had to stop for a couple of minutes for a bit of a cough around the end of lap 1 I think.
Felt much better so set off after Ivan and Neil Arnold? Saw Weeksy flagging a bit, Got within 15 secs of S.Undarra but ran out of Km and legs.
Sorry anyone who didnt get the right bike. Worth checking for next week but I will get in touch with Zwift. Th entries say MTB only so not sure what happened.
Also any FTP updates just let me know for the next race. I dont adjust during the race but its good if you can get an FTP bump! 58 finishers as well which is a new record and I think over 60 started.
Thanks Robbo and good ride tonight. I was a bit tardy tonight. 10 mins lazy warm up led to a mediocre start. I actually thought I caught the back of the front group but turned out to be the midpack. It whittled down over first lap and I found myself with Wark, Fordo and Zilog. We worked well for a lap until the last climb when I saw Robbo had unhitched from his group so I went after him. Only made 10sec or so on him before the line. Those hilly rides are helping aren't they? Can't decide whether I liked it or not to be honest..
Jeez that was bloody hard as per usual, felt like breaking up the last race up the epic into 3 smaller versions with a minor flat bit in between. I think I hit just under my recently improved FTP which I honestly thought I might not see again. That’s testament to an hilly race as like other people have mentioned I seem to crank out higher watts consistently when climbing.
The start as insane as usual and after leading the charge briefly I tried to sit towards the back but was fearful of being dropped so bounced around a bit. Was slightly relieved when the proper fats lads broke away on the climb and put some serious effort in to stick with what turned out to be the second chase group. I thought every time up the climb might be my last as I was feeling pretty empty come the top of the bridge each time. I had an unwanted visit from the wife as we approached the peak of the climb on lap two and temporarily dropped back and had to sprint to catch the group just before the drop down the bridge, just about making it with the help of the wagon PU.
Savo made a fantastic break on the final climb opening up around 8 seconds however we worked hard as a group on the final descent/flat bit and just about caught him before the finish.
We had a bit of a spring off, I was towards the back of the group so could see it unfolding, I had to put down up to 750w a little longer than I thought possible for me at that stage of the race to just about creep past savo, piano, south side Johnny and Ian p to edge them out in the sprint, hopefully Ian’s captured the Sagan like moment in his footage again.
I also learned along with the draft effect being less you also need to put down a lot more power in a spring to achieve a much slower acceleration. At one point it felt like a wasted effort as it was like trying to power through treacle.
Fantastic race again with the fine balance of feeling like I may have to drop off, may bonk or vomit at any given moment.
@dangerourbrian thanks for your kind comments, I feel like I’ve improved fitness wise to some degree, however a bigger part is learning what I actually I have to give, how long I can go for with what power and that when I hit 185/190 for short time doesn’t equal instant death.
@woodster, I did notice your avatar dropping out and back in again. I thought you had the misfortune of dropping out altogether in the final stages. I was trying to make sure I wasn’t behind you as I didn’t want to draft you, you disappear and be left with a gap to the next rider in front. Glad you completed the race.
I was on mobile app, did a warmup of sorts on Jungle Loop, saved it and then tried to join race pen with ~90secs left but app just plonked me on route again. So another exit, re-launch, had the invite to join race thankfully but think I got plonked in the pen 5-10secs after the official race start.
Think the adrenaline of being ditched at the start and the fact it was a race kicked in, killed myself up the climbs (it was nice to see I could do ~300W up the long drag) and then recovered on the downhills back towards my estimated LTHR. Tried to make Robbo sweat as he approached the finish line but I suspect he was happy he had the place in the bag and I was blowing up over the final ~1Km trying to catch him.
Mobile didn't auto-upload ride to Strava, so not long finished sending fit files from mobile to email and then uploading it manually onto Strava.
By far the best power numbers I've done in weeks (if not months) for ~50mins, so Robbo please feel free to adjust my handicap retrospectively for this race (not that I expect to trouble the point scoring positions over the season) as the power estimate I gave you was considerably lower...
276W for the race
285W for my best 20mins (271W using 95% method)
Sounds like fun guys...so glad I missed the pain hahaha! Also a few bike tech issues from the sounds of it...next week check your bike early...it should be an MTB for all the races.
Hopefully I can get home in time for next weeks earlier start...I definitely won't have any warm up time....eek.
I think is an error on my time robbo. I should have been @ 50.19 I think. Was about 30-40 sec ahead of chipps, about 20 down on snook.
Yeah – watch my video instead
Whoop whoop. I is fay mouse.
Yeah – watch my video instead ! 🤣
Bookmarked to watch in the future 😂.
Yeah – watch my video instead ! 🤣
The first 30 sec of the video are the saddest on the internet!
Rob...
The final standings seem to only take into account the race finish points, and doesn't include race points (I.e it needs to be ranked on the final column...).
This, of course, drops me a spot! But it's honest...
DrP
My power has dropped off a cliff since first series. I'm not sure if that's because I push myself a little harder when trying to keep up with faster guys, as I didn't seem nearly as broken as usual and the race pace felt far easier. That said, when I did try to put the hammer down I had nothing, could barely get above 260 watts even on the climbs and my hr was through the roof and didn't drop below 100 bpm for a while after.
Think I'm just unfit
@lewisdeacon I have corrected for D will sort out the GC when I sort the handicaps for next week
@dangeourbrain I have corrected you time - still nil point!
@slowpuncheur I was determined you wouldn't catch me on that last lap!
@n0b0dy0ftheg0at I was keeping an eye on you but once we got on the downhill my superior mince pie consumption seemed to maintain the gap and I had a powerup spare in case you did catch!
The first 30 sec of the video are the saddest on the internet!
I'm going to have to set it to "love theme from romeo and juliet" I think
– still nil point
Well of course, I can't exactly earn my only points in week 1 can I. Then what would I do for the next 5 races? 😉
@DrP total points may always be different to the last column as that includes sprint points. I keep the race tab to the final race times and then include the total points in the ranking on the results page. At least I think that is what you mean!
Well, that was tragic. I think that was my worst result from all of the races so far. Enjoyed it though & didn't even mind the course too much.
Thanks everyone. Great fun (well, it is now I’m looking back on it). First Zwift race so no idea quite what was going on but ended up in a fun wee group battling it out (well hanging on) somewhere around 42nd.
See you next week!
This is what you don't do 6 hours before the big race..
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1448422
In my defence, I'd decided not to race at all tonight but thought I'd come on to help a mate. He then bailed, but I was on the turbo by then, so decided to stay in.
That was a bit tough for the first race in a little while! I forgot how much it hurts.....
I managed to keep the first group until the first time up the hill and then worked nicely with slowpuncheur, zilog and fordo but didn't have enough left to chase onto slowpuncheur when he went after robbo.
Great fun - thanks everyone.
That's a good effort there weeksy and it was good to see you this evening too. I hope all goes well and see you back on in a few weeks hopefully.
I just made the mistake of looking up @seabass stats on ZP. Feeling a little outclassed now!
I don't know how I feel about that race. Of course it was the usual crazy 450W start followed by a desperate fight to cling onto the group for 3 laps. But given how strong @Kirky72 was again, with (what looked to me like) continual attacks off the front of a strong group, I was relieved to have held on right to the end. And for once not to be beaten by @paino too! But on the other hand to loose on the sprint by a tiny fraction of a second - if only I had found a couple more watts for a few more seconds.....
@robbo1234biking - from my perspective I thought I had got ahead of Kirky, but in the last few seconds he surged ahead, so overall I was surprised not to be a few seconds down on him in the results. Your deduction of a second from his handicap is a very fair way to reflect the results. Thanks for all the effort you put into organising these.
Thanks @nixie I’ve got really into online racing over the lockdowns.
It’s a great way to get a good razz in at the end of the day and amazing training, much recommended!
@DrP total points may always be different to the last column as that includes sprint points. I keep the race tab to the final race times and then include the total points in the ranking on the results page. At least I think that is what you mean!
Yup..I was being a numpty...!
DrP
It certainly is! Hurting quite a lot this morning.
I've signed up for next week's race of truth but pretty sure I won't make it 😭. Just too close to daughter's bed time so think I'll have to skip that week sadly. Will be back the week after in the normal time slot.
@nixie - if you drop out and sign up to it again can you get a later time slot?
Good news is that I was within 15 seconds of the fastest lap time. Next week will be harder to guess as there is no draft and I don't have much data on the MTB on the tarmac! Everyone will get the same relative difference though so it wont matter to much!
Hurting quite a lot this morning.
I sympathise. I had every intention of getting up a bit early and doing half an hour on the bike this morning. As it was when the alarm went off I rapidly decided it wasn't necessary and ended up having a bit of a sleep in.
Tough race for me couldn't hold on to any groups for long and had a bit of a too and fro with Baily for a while but he got away from me too. Still good to be back racing, Cheers Robbo.
@robbo1234biking it didn't when I tried last night. Going to try again with a gap between dropping out and signing up again. Got 7.04 at the moment.
@dangeourbrain my daughters decided a lay in wasn't happening. Yesterday's PT session means it's a whole body hurt not just legs ☹️.
Will we still see other riders in the TT if we can catch somebody in front or get passed?
If so as we are in mtb rather than TT bikes will we enjoy a bit of draft?
Shame you can’t take that start time Nixie, I’m off at 7.03 being chased down by would be good motivation to get my arse in gear.
Anybody done this before what kind of time are we looking at, if around 20 minutes is it a case of trying to hold your ftp plus 5% for the duration.
I've done bologna once on a TT bike. Got 17:26 @ 341W (4.4wpkg). 20 minutes on an MTB sounds reasonable. In the past I've aimed for over FTP AVG as you drop off towards the end.
@kirky72 there will be no draft even if you catch a rider. You can see the other riders though.
I'll try to make the earlier slot but it's doubtful.
Fastest time will come from holding back on the flat then giving it everything up the hill. Extra power on the hill gives more speed than on the flat as speeds are lower so less aero drag.
For the TT there is no draft. You will see the other riders and be able to chase them down but you should be able to pass without any sticky draft etc. Should be around 20 mins ish for the TTT so 105% is a good marker. It is flat for 6k then a 2k wall. The last 2k will take longer than the first 6k. There is usually a TT in Bologna during the week you could have a look at.
I've just looked at my start time for next week and it says 19:00. Looks like I'm first off! 🤔. I should be finished in 8 minutes if I keep a steady pace of 60km/h 😉😂.
My first STW race with my new smart trainer, lost quite a few watts since the last series changing from a dumb turbo. It was definitely easier going up hill with a smart trainer (by easier I mean not having to guess what harder gear to change into), but I don't think the course suited me. I also noticed the reduced affect of the draft with the MTB's. Made a good start but got dropped earlier than I wanted and ended up going backwards a bit. Ended up in a group of about 6 and we stayed together really and it went down to the sprint for the line. Happy I got a few points as I think most of the people I was riding with didn't. Aching this morning, but good to get back into it, I definitely put more effort in when racing.
I’m off at 7.03 being chased down by would be good motivation to get my arse in gear
I’ve got the 7.02 slot, so I’m expecting to have the motivation of being chased down by @kirky72 , then realising that with no draft I’m not going to keep pace with him for long.
Who’s at 7.01?
cheers for last night gents. I really wasnt up for it before hand, but once we got going it was good. I am learning that the longer climbs are not my bag. Short and sharp seem to suit me better. spent a fair bit of time with or chasing @tpbiker. Certainly made me work for it, then managed to pull away on the final descent. Spent a bit of time in no mans land too, never ideal!
I am on the road at 8 minutes past 7 next week. I have done bologna once before (two lap event), it wasnt pleasant! But knowing its only once up should make the pain more bearable!
Good to see so many riding last night, long may it continue!
how do you get the STW 'badge' to appear by your name on zwiftpower?
Where is our start times listed, or how do we find out when we are due to start?