Damn and blast. Not sure if you saw my message in zwift but I need to be dq from those results Robbo.
Woohoo! Thanks Rob & Nixie. In the pen now!
Bit rushed but got there!
Hope everyone is enjoying the hill. Looks like only a few in this group.
Better sort some music out!
What Happened brian?
DrP
Gggrrrr. Was having a great ride averaging comfortably above ftp and accelerating up the climb. Got o 0.8 mile to go and lost connection. Arrgggghh. Was too frustrated to try and reconnect. All been working great the last few weeks. Grrrrr.
Ouch! Holy crap that hurt. Got a stitch too! Luckily near the top.
Righto... I'm now in the pens for the Richmond TDZ ride at 2000..
Anyone?
DrP
4 times that striped bastard on the bike just sat there doing f all whilst I'm pedalling like a loon. Went off not pushing too hard and happy at around FTP on the hill grrrr.
Wow. That was awful 🤣 anyone else find it really hard to pace on the “flat” bit?!
The flat bit was easy to pace... oddly 310 watts felt easier on the flat than the climb!
After cooling down, that actually was quite fun!
I'm glad I watched the video on how best to pace... I pushed myself to FTP (plus a few) on the flat, then 115% ftp on the climb...
This meant I kinda did average 300w on the flat..320 on the climb! My average was 311 watts.. which for an ftp of 292 ain't too bad!
Not sure if that'll push my FTP up at all? Hmm....
DrP
That properly hurt! Even managed to break my bottle cage ripping the bottle out as I crossed the line!
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Bottle went flying across the room so had to get off the bike, retrieve it then get back on for a warmdown only to find my legs refused to work 🤣
FTP has gone up to 237 though.
Well that went as I expected, rode FTP til the start of the climb, then got half way up at a bit above that, then blew up in the last km on the steep bit. The hilly road ride I did this afternoon might not have been the wisest choice.
Macho bottle cage destruction!
that was quite hard...
Edit - glad I was too busy to ride with you today, worked out well for me 😊
Urgh that really hurt and I was dying at the top...I had no sprint left.
I found the flat ok, but realised I was going too fast so slowed around 5 and 6km to save something for the hill. I was trying to catch Zilog but then realised I had to conserve energy.
First part of the hill went well and I passed a few but that 16% section killed the legs...just kept pushing and it went ok. Better than I thought.
That took alot longer than last time I did it back in the summer.
My power output indicates my ftp has not dropped as much as I thought it had since the summer, but even still I'm way off pace.
Only saving grace is I can know how to ride a tt, so whilst my power was piss poor, at least it was distributed evenly across the ride.
Robbo, my ramp test the other day indicated 242 watts, however by that 20 min ish effort it's closer to 254. Not that it makes a scrap of difference to whwre I'll come in standings but please update. Weight still 266
@benman took the second event by 2s 🍾. //Mutters something about taking a stupid rest on a flat bit.
I was planning 300ish on the flat then 350 climb. Pretty sure did 320+ flat and still around 350 climb. Ouch!
I didn't realise there was a neutralised start, left the pen at 500w to get up to speed which was entirely unnecessary!
Definitely didn't enjoy that but got an FTP raise it of it. Only another 30w to find and I'll be back to where I was 6 weeks ago.
What happened to our winner btw? Awesome time but disqualified himself?
Edit..
I was planning 300ish on the flat then 350 climb. Pretty sure did 320+ flat and still around 350 climb. Ouch!
I'm confused..zwift results say dangerouss won?
Can't complain at my average power, but my sense of time went wonky in final 1Km, one minute it looked like I was less than 25% up it according to bar and then suddenly there was barely any left...
So shifted to big ring for a sprint for the last ~30secs, but can't help but think that should have been a bit extra power all the way up the hill.
Extra kudos to those who went sub 20mins!
You had energy to break a bottle cage AND do a warm down?! I slumped over the bars for 5 mins trying desperately to catch my breath while feeling like I was being stabbed in my side with my bloody stitch. First TT for me.
Robbo, my bloody FTP went up to 314w on that. Damn!
What Happened brian?
Mrs me did a ride earlier. I changed the weight and height over whilst waiting to start, only it didn't actually change.
Given its <20min staring at my output and not much else I'd not spotted the w/kg was way off as I hadn't looked at the list. I only realised something was wrong at the top when I realised I'd taken a chunk out of Phil which is BS, checked and it has me at an average 4.84kg which is nonsense. Should have been just over 4.
I think Brian didnt adjust the weight back from his wife looking at his power to weight ratio!
That was 'fun'. I went hard out of the gate, realised it wasn't the start, carried on as fast as I could. Reached the bottom of the hill and ran out of low gears to push the pedals round. I had increased the trainer resistance to 90% prior to starting and whilst it helped in the flat it was too hard on the climb. It was a realistic pace up the steep hill tho. Probably the speed and gear I would of had to ride in real life?
My other aim was to stay ahead of Jim, which I only just managed.
Golly that was hard. First TT so no idea on how to pace, went for 250 on the flat and 300 ish up.
Was in the second group with only a few guys.
FTP went up from 268>275 so I was trying at least. Off to lay down.
Owww! Well done everyone as that was brutal.
Well at least it looks like all those races getting caught in no-mans land between lead and second groups has its benefits as it is has improved my time-trialing! Broken at the end but my FTP as taken a massive step up to near where it used to be - seems it was motivation was all that was needed. According to Zwift it is 314W - seems to have taken 95% of my average power for the race (which was slightly below 20 mins). Strava reckoned 304W.
Pretty happy with that, just above ftp on flat then 115%ftp for the hill, managed to push slightly over target come the end giving an ftp bump to 285 can you adjust please @robbo1234biking
Glad I did a recce on Friday, knocked 35 seconds off that time and was only 3 seconds slower than my target of 22:07, so pretty pleased really.
Gutted for those that had drop outs, that's a right kick in the wotsits for that to happen in a TT with all that energy spent for nowt.
Went pretty well for me. Managed to follow same method as the other day, increasing power up the climb and averaged a bit more on both the flat section and the climb. A 10w rise in FTP to 238w which was my minimum aim really as I'm getting fitter and stronger.
Indeed that was tough and the MTB is a fair bit slower. Sort of went okay, but ramped trainer difficulty up to 100% this time and struggled to keep cadence up in the steep bits. Oh well, all good!
@Stumpy and P Liddington, couldn’t type but thanks for the messages.
Owww.. that was a bit hard work. Thought it was going so well ticking of the kilometres on the flat but they took a bit longer going up the hill.
First TT for me but I'm not ready to think about repeating the experience yet
Congrats Phil. Looks like win by 8s. 👏
Thanks everyone for joining in. That was pretty horrible!
Onto the results. These are provisional in case I have made any mistakes. Please let me know.
Cat A:
1. Phil56
2. benman
3. nixie
Cat B:
1. crazyharry
2. kirky72
3. danielcbaron
Cat C:
1. euain
2. funkybaj
3. oopnorth
Cat D:
1. lewisdeacon
2. crust
3. jmd12
And the overall race winner with handicaps applied:
1. jmd12
2. bails
3. jimdoubleyou
With the sprint/fastest lap points added the top 3 for the series is as follows:
1. kirky72 (86)
2. jimdoubleyou (84)
3. mjhes (80)
Green Jersey Race
1. Nixie (10)
2. Seabass (6)
3. Paino (4)
Next week we are back to the jungle – starting by the beach racing up to the jungle, one lap and heading back to town for Road to Ruins!
For those interested in joining with more STW Zwift fun(?) there is a TTT on a Thursday evening:
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/zwift-team-time-trial-thursday/page/20/#post-11460181
Well, thanks to Roobo & Nixie for the 19:30 link.
I really enjoyed that!
FTP up by a MASSIVE 3w to 221w.
Sounds like there have been a few FTP increases!
I aimed for about 90% FTP on the flat and then just attacked the hill as hard as I could. Seemed to avg 250 up the hill, so 115% FTP.
One of those rides where at the time I couldn't have worked harder, but now I'm off the bike and calmed down, feel like I should have pushed harder on the flat.
@euain nice work! Only a second or so between us last week and the same time this week!
@stumpy thanks for the encouragement 🙂
That hurt. I went a bit too hard on the flat, didn't quite leave enough for the hill, ended up with a too even power split. I knew I was doing it (I said so out loud to my wife, quite lucidly, way before it began to hurt: "I'm going too fast") but it felt good and I was enjoying passing people so I pushed on. I never really burned out, but I was 10/15w down on my efforts up that same hill in the Christmas Eve TTT, and I think those watts would have been better spent today on the steep bit than enjoying myself on the flat! It's definitely a longer effort on the MTB.
In the end I gave away a few seconds to @w00dster and a few more to @kirky72 but managed to pinch some time off @j-r. They are the people it's rational for me to compare myself to...
Well done to the top riders, obviously. 10 seconds between the top 3 is exciting. And @drp nearly muscled into there as well. Excellent if ominous to see @crazyharry and @tpbiker returning to form. It's going to be very difficult for us Bs to find a way to unpick @kirky72 in the next few rounds.
Wait what... Neutralized start? Really?
I was going flat chat in the pens like the old wind up Evil Kneivel toy, was I not supposed to do that!?
Enjoyed it, first ever TT, I think I could have given a bit more at the bottom half of the climb looking back but I'm pleased with my time.
And I am on 7/8ths blood capacity too so I'm claiming it a personal result! 😛
You had energy to break a bottle cage AND do a warm down?! I slumped over the bars for 5 mins trying desperately to catch my breath while feeling like I was being stabbed in my side with my bloody stitch. First TT for me.
More out of necessity. If I don't do a spin down I get horrible cramp for the next hour or so but after that effort I was really struggling to turn the pedals more than 60rpm at 100w!
Legs are like jelly now.
Yeah you don't start till the start line though you can wind the speed up before it.
Just exited zwift and got an FTP upgrade from 304->317W. I knew the ramp test the other week was rubbish. Still down on summers best.
I had no legs for that today, I was blowing up through it. I went even splits through the course but at or just below FTP.
I think I was getting odd looks as the only MTB in the race too.
Robbo, says I'm still an A in the results spreadsheet, when I'm definitely now a B.
Interestingly, I sat out the majority of series 2, but there are lads on here who were part of series one who have made huge gains as far as I can tell.
@Savoyad & @kirky72, I'd have put money on beating you pair up a hill in series one, but you absolutely kicked my arse today! As I don't think I did that badly tonight, am I right in thinking you guys have put on some serious wattage gains since September? Good work if so!
@straightliner I was demoralised when you passed me right at the start of the climb and shot off. I managed to keep it steady though then used you as a measure, trying to keep within 25 seconds ... so thanks in a way 🙂
I think I need to learn to push my self harder, got to the top thinking I could have given more. First tt for me though so I'll know for next time, if there is a next one.
@robbo1234biking - you me given me paino’s sprint points in the results page...
That was definitely type 2 fun, managed to hold ftp for flat bit, then upped power to try and average 300W up the hill, which seems to have worked out nicely.
My FTP has gone up 22W off the back of that to 280. Which is good. And bad...
@robbo1234biking my final time for race 2 has calculated wrong, it says 1:01, I'm sure I didn't take that long even with the handicap added 🤣🤣🤣
Must say that was fun in hindsight...at the time it wasn't! 🤣
Really enjoyed the TT, my first one and I think we should have one every series! Well done for organising as always Robbo
@jimdoubleyou apologies have modified that so you and mjhes2 are equal on points
@oopnorth - I have updated the time but no points still I am afraid
@tpbiker apologies I have corrected you into the B cat
Lots of FTP increases tonight - I think I have them all covered. Will hihglight on next weeks handicaps where an FTP increase has happened so you can double check then.
Well that was interesting, and apart from a couple of outliers it was very close. After the handicaps, from @undarra in 4th place to @nixie in 41st, everybody was no further than 11 seconds from the person in front.
Like most, people I did the first bit at about FTP and ramped it up from 272W to 305W for the hill. So the "good news" is an FTP increase from 270W to 275W, which is always a nice surprise for us over 60's, and the bad news is despite that I still only came in mid field and scrapped just 2 points.
Comparing this to other races where I've done a lot better, I think my main skill is managing to just cling onto a group of faster riders and letting them do the work for me. Here I was relying totally on my own efforts so I didn't do nearly as well.
Well done to everyone, and see you next Tuesday.
@straightliner & @funkybaj - pleased you liked the messages - I always like to encourage the faster riders as they blow me out of the water 😆
Like your comment above, funkybaj ....straightliner came past me like a bloody missile!
Mixed feelings on that one tonight, like @stumpy01. I knew the course but should have recce'd it again as I feel I could have pushed the last KM a bit more. Still, managed a slight FTP increase to 254 @robbo1234biking but just felt there were a few more Ws left by the end. I guess that's common on such a short effort. Credit to Robbo for the handicapping as there's some very close times and not the massive gaps I thought there'd be. Good job!
Man, I'm so sorry I missed that !
Did someone say I can do it another time ?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
( 🤣 )
Congrats Phil. Looks like win by 8s. 👏
But still didn't get a single point!!
370w average, well above FTP - another FTP increase and not a single point!!
Seriously Robbo???
I was caught out by the pretend start too! Rookie error.
I felt a bit hard done by too. Not quite in same league as you Phil but, 3rd highest HR in the field, ftp increase, so I was digging very deep, and still ‘nil points’. 😢😢. Never mind. I’m hoping the handicap is slightly less tough on me on the next course.
@phil56 sorry about that. You still have more points than me in the series though!
I just didnt perform very well tonight - going to take a day off tomorrow and hopefully be back stronger for the TTT on Thursday evening. Havent had a day off the bike for 11 days so could prob do with a rest day. Performed at my FTP though so it wasnt awful!
More finishers than last week as well - 59 finishers which is great for a TT on a MTB!
oh....and my wife beat me!!!!
She's giggling in the kitchen and I can hear her going '6 points - how many did you get Phil??'
Cheers Robbo enjoyed that in a sadistic way and I got a point yippee
3rd highest HR
Maybe there should be a competition for high heart rate? 😉 I think I averaged around 178.
Anybody else using a Tacx Flow? Mine only seems to lose Bluetooth, (assuming that's what's happening) on climbs during races when I'm feeling strong.
A bit of a Google suggests they can overheat with low cadence and reasonable power.
Anybody else have this?
Another disappointing show. Averaged 328W but just felt like I had nothing extra to give. Last season could ‘happily’ climb at 350W for 20mins. This time round I’m struggling to get much over 300. I suppose the effects of COVID childcare having hit my saddle time meant a reduction in form. Some sterling performances though tonight. Didn’t even manage a single point despite over FTP performance, so cap doffed to those who smashed it!
That was horrible, I thought I was doing alright pacing myself on the flat, then I got to the climb 🙁
I'd done it once before but couldn't remember just how long it went on for, ever and ever it seemed.
Still, they're all flat courses from now on, right? Right?
Thanks to all the people that gave me ride-ons, seemed to keep coming all the way up the hill, thanks folks.
Would like to have returned the favours but was trying not to notice cramp creeping into my left calf.
See you all on the road to rack and ruin.
That was tough. Robbo Zwift has upped my power again to 235. The series is certainly teaching me how to suffer properly.
Just recovered from doing the 2000 Richmond TDZ stage 2 with DrP (again, did it yesterday, meant to do the Harrowgate event) after Bologna.
@robbo1234biking My FTP needs to increase again after Bologna to 280W. Forgot to check with you before tonight that you saw my post last week after stage 1 at Jungle increasing me to 271W and I'm more than happy for you to retrospectively use it for my stage 1 time handicap.
Tomorow will definitely be an easy day after those two rides tonight!
Well done all on the FTP increases! Some great performances there. 👏👏
That was mega tough as per usual. Having had one test at pacing the effort over this course last week, decided to just try and add a bit more onto the flat part. Notably I tried to get upto speed quickly at ftp then ease off to 280 then hit the lower slopes over to get a flying start. That but went well but I really hadn’t left much in the locker so was suffering big style towards the end of the steep drag past the arches. Add to spin seated for a while at a much lower effort and then go again when it eased off. Felt like I was going to tank at the 16% but just about survived.
The final figures make it look more plain sailing but I was really on and off and struggling to keep a steady pace. Averaged 290/300 up the climb and 354 over the KOM. So kind of to plan but just didn’t feel good at all at the time.
Zwift power still as my best 3 race ftp at 293 but going purely off this race my FTP increased to 303 finishing after finishing with a 319w. average so dragged up another 4w. Can you increase Robbo please.
finishing amongst the top spots is getting harder all the time, it seems the only way to do it is go above ftp every race. I’m going to be pro by summer at this rate thanks to Robbo. Lol.
Congrats to Julie and a host of new names finishing at the top of the leader board, always a tough one for Robbo to work the handicap for a 20m race with so many unknown quantities.
@tpbiker like several others I increased my ftp almost every other race through series one and two, especially after the shorter or hillier races. Just going all in on the climbs chasing the likes of savo, JR and Ian helps with that. Plus personally I use always shy away from the hillier routes solo and for races, I’ve had no choice in the series and joined the lads at the weekend for some torturous routes which as helped build some form but also to understand my limitations better.
@robbo1234biking I got an increase in FTP to 221
That was hard, I somehow had enough left to overtake someone right at the finish line but couldn't do anything when chipps and a few others went past me on the climb.
Really enjoyed tonight in a suffering kind of way, I think my pacing was a bit off as I had to really dig in over the last couple of Km. My FTP has gone up to 328 which is a pretty big jump from the last race. I think I’ve gone up nearly 80w since November, mustn’t have been trying hard enough 😆
Think we are up to about 15 FTP increases tonight! Seeing as it is pretty much a ramp test it isn't surprising!
Some of you will move up a cat as well but I will do that when I work out the handicaps for next week.
@scaredypants join me on Saturday 10am. I’m jumping in to a TT then see how I stack up against everyone’s times, since I missed tonight’s race.
So it’s FTP increases all round - looks like Robbo’s race series is getting us fitter!
So how are you all working out your FTP increases???
My average for this 18 odd minutes was 311watts...
Looking on strava AND ZP, it hasn’t changed my FTP.
In fact, ZP still estimates my FTP as 284 in my profile... Strava flashed up a few months ago it was 292...
Looking back at my ZP races I can clearly see my race wattage climbing and climbing (for example - I did a crit last year where my average power was 3.8w/kg... I could easily get 4.4w/kg Now!)...
However, the numbers haven’t seemed to have changed in my profile...
Meh...
DrP
@DrP I think it's because for a lot of us mere mortals it was a 20min+ effort 😉 so Zwift is using 95% of new best 20 min efforts as new FTP. I got a message just as I was closing (after the Strava save screen, or mebbes before, I was still hurting).
Well first ever stw race, thanks for organising, should have ridden the course before, poor start going straight off the line, and under FTP on flat and only a couple if watts over on climb, so not a great performance but I can do worse next week with poor drafting skills and little race craft 😆, a tt was probably my best event with someone a few seconds ahead the whole way to chase down.
@DrP for me Zwift flashed up a message at the end of the ride saying 'Oh Yeah', you've increased your FTP 346 to 348, and it seems to automatically update the FTP value in your profile.
I don't think Zwiftpower automatically updates, but that could be wrong.
@phil56...
So even though your ride was under 20 min, it still worked out an ftp change?
Hmm....
Maybe I'll do a ramp test or 20 min ftp in a week or so!
DrP
Dr P, I don’t think my ZwiftPower numbers are updating properly either. I can’t be exact on when they last changed but neither the race Category or the number for watts or W/kg for 15secs through to 20 mins seem to have changed in a while.
Zwift is using 95% of new best 20 min efforts as new FTP
Yes, this. I also checked what Zwift said on Intervals.icu and it estimated the same new FTP.
So even though your ride was under 20 min,
I guess Phil warmed down for at least a few minutes after the TT so that would have given Zwift a 20min best effort.
This is what happens if you get a new FTP in a ride.
https://zwiftinsider.com/adjust-your-ftp/
As this week was an individual time trial if anyone missed it and would still like to suffer I am happy to accept a time from an official event to be counted for the GC. I cant award any points but may keep your GC hopes alive. In an official event the result need to be done on a MTB still.
I mentioned I my earlier post, Zwift seems to take 95% of my actual race (19 minutes) to calculate my 'new' FTP. I did warm down, but at a much lower power out put, and if I look at my best 20 minute effort on Strava (race + first minute of warm down), the FTP calculates at 304W
Weirdly... At the end of the ride I got the "Oh Yeah! We've detected an increase in your FTP" message, but it didn't actually tell me by how much like it has done in the past. Had to go into my profile afterwards to find that out.
ZP hasn't even logged an attempt at a new FTP for this race - guessed because the race itself lasted less than 20 mins.
I'm sure zwift uses more than one benchmark to auto detect ftp. It definitely picks up 95% of 20 minutes. But also at least one (unpublished) % of a lesser time, 10 or 12 mins maybe can trigger it. Not a whole range of possibilities like intervals.icu etc but at least one alternative. It's difficult to reverse engineer what it's looking at from rides on this course though where there will be lots of coincidences in data because of the nature of the effort.
Zp on the other hand definitely only cares about 95% of 20 minutes.