Zwift meetups and social rides ?

Well that's still a mystery to me.

This morning i used multiple devices, some on Ant+ and some on Bluetooth, running side by side and the power output was exactly the same on BT/Ant+ which of course we'd expect.

I tried Jepster as above and again, that was completely consistent with another device running at the time.

I even tried the android device i was using yesterday and sitting at 80w it was showing exactly the same power as the laptop next to it.

However, all of that said, i still don't believe for a single second i produced 50w more than usual without something being 'wrong' somewhere here. So i'm going to stick with Ant+ and just keep racing as i was in C. Of course, i'll try to replicate 320w lol... but i know that's not plausible in my world.

I also took the opportunity of a lie in this morning, I don't get many. A day off the bike for me today as I've been doing quite high intensity this week with all the crits and workouts, i need the rest.

Back to it early tomorrow with the workout crew. Enjoy the sunday rides!

Morning weeksy - or is it van der Weeksy now, with all that extra power ?

Maybe it's all down to the rest you've had after yr doping camp surgery - which I hope went well (assume so, since you're back riding)

Nope, not having it Scaredy....

26/1/2021 : 228w
28/1/2021 : 262w
29/1/2021 : 273w
30/1/2021 : 313w

Even before surgery my last 3 Crits were 275, 273, 265. There's simply no world in where 313w consistently exists even in a 6 lapper for me. I don't have that..

I'm going to try a little test on Fuego Flats later.

But i'm wondering if it's something to do with cadence meter not being present ? My cadence sensor is ANt+ only.. so when i try a ride on Android i can't do a cadence. I wonder if that could throw the figures out ?

Cadence only really needed for crank pm I think...

DrP

Thanks for this mornings ride @DrP - great fun. The burgers were a nice touch - and thanks for the warning about the bears! That was a close call....

ha!

So..after that, i think the meetup finished BEFORE the actual route badge.. d'oh!!!

Looks like we needed to carry on back into the fuego flats start..FFS....

NO route badge for me!

DrP

So I've paired the Garmin to the trainer.

It also enables me to see my cadence when on Android.
So,
Android using Bluetooth 90 cadence 220w on 0% flat.
Laptop using Bluetooth 90 cadence 220w on 0% flat.

Now taking into account theres a bit of 3s display Vs 1s display and going over different protocols etc, they were close enough to that above, maybe 1w here or there, bike in same gear etc.

However, all that said, I still don't believe yesterday was accurate. I don't have a cone of shame power in me.

Cheers Dr P and chaps for this mornings ride.

School boy error that DrP, always carry on for the badge on these meet ups.

Sorry I dropped towards the end it was good ride until then. Shame to miss out on the burgers, what happened did you run out of sausage or soemthing?

I didn’t actually drop off as such just a bad sequence of kit issues, first one my phone died so no tunes and couldn’t message. Rode on in silence only 8 or 9 miles to go so no problem, then the tv went blank, the lap top which is out of reach was showing the Home Screen.

So the Zwift app was still running but minimised and when it does that for some reason the hdmi shows blank to the tv. In any case I had to get off the bike to sort, then thought I may as well nip to the loo. Hoping all the while the band would keep reeling me back into the group. It must not work like that as I was sat on my own when I started again with no chance of catching back up. You must need to be putting in some kind of consistent effort for the band to help you out.

It’s the second time that app has minimised itself after an hour and half or two hours so I need to sort that out, it would very frustrating if it happened during a race or big effort.

Catch you all on Tuesday.

Yeah if you stop pedalling altogether then you’ll fall out the rubber band. But even plodding and like 50w it’ll keep you in the group.

Rubber band groups are actually quicker overall in general from some tests it seems.

https://zwiftinsider.com/keep-everyone-together/

Which adds up, I had Volcano and Titan PRs this morning despite never really breaking 200w.

@DrP

i’ve a tacx Neo..it came with a bunch of adaptors… I’m only using the 135 QR.
If your machine is the same setup as mine, and they will fit, i can lend you my others until you get yours delivered to you?
Just post them back when you’re done?

Very kind offer 🙂 I need the e-thru axle with the 1.5 thread is if you have it. If you do, very happy to borrow it to get me going. Garmin are quoting 3-5 weeks delivery if you are okay with that. Drop me a message.

Which adds up, I had Volcano and Titan PRs this morning despite never really breaking 200w.

@weeksy there is only one thing for it! More crits this week for testing. Your HR was well down yesterday compared to your normal crit HR so would suggest an issue with the power output unfortunately.

The rubber band works well on our morning workouts as we arent really worrying about terrain etc that is just a distraction from the work being done. It ensure we stay together and as we are doing the same intervals it works well as we surge and rest at the same points. i think we were doign a VO2 workout once and one of us was out of sync so in the rest intervals that person would be accelerating and vice versa so it yoyoed on the road.

Got TdZ Stage 6 done at a very sedate pace. Managed to actually do a recovery ride and ignore the want to race!

My HRM has been all over the place recently from not working cat all, to showing me at 242bpm, that's why I bought the new one. I don't believe it's been accurate lately so the recent data may be completely wrong.

Tomorrow I'll Crit with Ant+ and new HRM
Tues I'll Crit with Bluetooth and new HRM just out of curiosity

Speaking of AdZ

DrP, what are you planning on riding at in terms of Watts or W/Kg?

i'm going to be aiming for 3w/kg..circa 210 watts...
keeping HR <140 so as not to burn out..

Will see how long I can keep that up. It's actually quite a good climb because the lower corners are a bit steeper, and i found i was standing for those (still at 210 +/- a bit), so hopefully will keep teh bum sore spots varied!

DrP

Was @weeksy's mystery surgery insertion of an additional lung? My gut says issue with a wheel-on trainer and a newish bike. Tyre pressure or calibration?

I had a chilled TdZ around Innsbruck this morning. The temptation to attack the legsnapper was strong but found my way to a group cruising at 2.5 w/kg so was nice. Then knocked off another New York route. 2 hours recovery and legs felt great afterwards. Feel guilty somehow🤔

My gut says issue with a wheel-on trainer and a newish bike. Tyre pressure or calibration?

I calibrate/spindown before most rides.

It's another question though as to which spindown do people use. I used to use the Wahoo app spindown and then the Zwift one, but 99% of the time i just use the Zwift spindown now.

Forgive me if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs. I always use the manufacturers own app not zwift. I've not had such a massive variance in power before. Weird.

With wheel on you have to set the tension as well in the manufacturers app don’t you? I had a tacx when I had a wheel on trainer. Glad I don’t have these issues anymore.

Does anyone fancy a team effort on this race next Saturday? Same time but not a crit. It’s a good course though and only a small amount of climbing.

https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1659979

Does anyone fancy a team effort on this race next Saturday?

I'll play, but 230m of up won't help me at all.

I will be doing the 12:30 zhr crit tomorrow though in C.

I'd enjoy a team effort - did one with Weeksy and Crust once and that was good fun
but can't on Saturday; working 🙁

(how do you know what route that race is on? I can't see that at all)

The link takes me to the event in my app which says WatopiaFigure of 8. Good thing is team vegan so you can ride as a team in their description so you might have some other teams to race against as well. Bs should be able help a bit more as well as no cones.

(how do you know what route that race is on? I can’t see that at all)

in an attempt to be less pathetically needy, I tried to answer my own question and found something you all probably knew about years ago:
https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/

i’m going to be aiming for 3w/kg..circa 210 watts…
keeping HR <140 so as not to burn out..

Ok, might join you for 2 reps then!

“Might”

Ill certainly set up enough water and food for that anyway.

i’m going to be aiming for 3w/kg..circa 210 watts…

Lol...for me that's more like 260 to 270w...but will do my best to stay with you.

Does it matter which category?? For Saturday I may join see how legs are.

Disaster this morning, I'd downloaded workout, forgot to join meet up but did so this morning in plenty time, zwift didn't give me option to join though. Started work out by myself by but was lacking motivation by this stage and legs just refused. Done more Kms than usual for last 6 weeks and add in races and try for last 2-3 weeks, need a rest and easy week. No Tuesday race this week and will see about TTT later in week.

I thought you were online @karnali so was surprised not to see you. Late join is on for these meet-ups so if you are running behind (or Zwift throws a curveball) you should still be able to join.

Hope you have a good 'recovery' week!

Well to finish off that little bit of weirdness.... it was simply just some weirdness.

Yesterday i used Ant+ and did pretty much exactly the power, pace, HR that i'd expect.

Today i used Bluetooth on the same Android device as i got the cone on and got the exact same power, pace, HR as i'd usually expect. Neither of them were anywhere near 320w

Just realised I made an error - England are playing on Saturday afternoon at 4.45 so I wont be riding then (Rugyby not Football!)

Does anyone fancy joining a race around 1-2pm?

I know Zilog and Weeksy were interested in the original suggestion but not sure about anyone else. Doesn't look like there is much on at that time though (well group rides and workouts).

@robbo1234biking - I'm up for a Saturday race, happy to fit in with whatever works

https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1659921

There is this event at 12:45. I have never raced this route before. It is only half the hilly route basically.

No sandbagging restrictions either!

That looks good. The Two Bridges Loop looks like you do half the hilly KOM before bypassing. Same length for Bs and Cs so hopefully a mass start? It also means us slow B's can contribute without fear of being DQ'd I guess.

Two Bridges is a great punchy race route robbo. And team support could be a real help - making sure you stay with the main group (the esses --> reverse KOM repeatedly can catch you napping) and by being there as a wheel to follow when it all breaks up into a mad scramble up and after the final climb.

I don't think I can make 12:45.

EDIT @slowpuncheur B's start a minute before C's in this event
More EDIT and more importantly, categories can't see each other...

I think so, but based upon your rides last night in C, i won't be staying long 😀

If you Bs want to ride in the B race then go for it.

Looks like a fun route though.

I am being exceedingly antisocial with my Virtual riding - just the way my schedule is at the moment.
Have been trying to do TdZ though.

Stage 7 (group B) this morning, I joined 2 min before the start, with no warmup and on a MTB. This made it rather hard to get to the front, however when on the mud MTB definitely seemed to help me keep with a small group near the front.

I finished 5th which is my best TdZ result yet (although not actually a race, not cat A etc). However, this brings me to my motivation for this post to share that MTB seems to be a good tactical choice for stage 7. I was surprised that most other riders seemed to be on Road (or possibly Gravel) bikes.

Now suffering doing the ride with no warmup, IMS which will no doubt be followed up by increasing levels of OMS and DOMS.

Anyone fancy the TDZ stage 7 (group A) at 1900 today?
I'll be doing it as a gentle spin...last zwift ride before Sunday for me i reckon...

Gonna play about with live stream settings again (am i taking this too far!!)

Anyone??

DrP

Not sure if I can make Saturday, if I can I will be there.

Did my stage 7 this morning. Definitely the MTB is the best way to go in the jungle, I was flying past roadies and went from the back of the race to finish in 50th. I don't get why some just want to do it on a road bike or Tron...unless they are using it as an intensive training session. some tried to keep up with me but were doing 4.2w/kg compared to my 2.2w/kg on the MTB.
In the jungle MTB will always be king...unless you like riding through treacle!

[quo https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1659921

There is this event at 12:45. yeah I would be up for that as a C. Is this part of the WTRL race series or just a standalone?

Anyone fancy the TDZ stage 7 (group A) at 1900 today?

Did my stage 7 this morning. Definitely the MTB is the best way to go in the jungle, I was flying past roadies and went from the back of the race to finish in 50th.

@zilog6128 I started in the pens on the MTB, used it all the way round, the roadies got a good 2 km down to the start of the gravel, but then went backwards very fast. Just start on the MTB, swapping won't save you anything for that very short road section.