I'm personally aware that the B riders and even the stronger C's are doing me a big favour by riding in the team, as I am sure they could get a better result elsewhere.
I was missing Brian's berating this week and had to go and roll on the lawn whilst beating myself with a fallen branch to feel I'd got the whole experience.
I was missing Brian’s berating this week and had to go and roll on the lawn whilst beating myself with a fallen branch to feel I’d got the whole experience.
If it makes you feel any better, several of my installers got a dressing down instead once I arrived in morecambe (70mi each way) in order to switch on a sodding fused spur because, despite my very specific instructions and our current H&S/covid policy, both of the certified boom operators had shared a vehicle (because it saved about 10 minutes vs, as it should have been, one of the non certified folks to pick them up) so when one got the self isolation notice and had to leave site they both had to and I'm now short 2 ipaf certed installers for 2 weeks. <happy face>
Where I struggle is when I am sitting at threshold for a long time. If I can just drop to 250-260w for a couple of minutes then I can recover
It's easy to underestimate how much difference having a few people in a similar boat makes, having a few people burbling over in the middle really does allow those who would otherwise struggle to hold the front to do so. I know it can feel like you're not contributing much to the group effort but in practice 4 of you "wobbling" around that 250-280 vs one or two is the difference between those on the front being able to pull a good pace all the way and not, it's the difference between the whole group having to ride at the pace of the slowest rider and the group being able to hold onto the fastest. The folks in the middle and on the back really are just as important as the front.
Paino = poor man's tony martin
Phil = poor man's Leanne Hainsby (google her)
Speaking of Tony Martin...my claim to fame is I once kept up with him on the final descent of the penultimate stage of the tour into morzine in 2016.
He obviously had a mechanical and been left behind so they had mistakenly opened the road so folk could get back down the hill before he'd gone through. I grabbed on to his wheel and got a tow for a mile or so until I shat myself due to the pace he was going ..which admittedly wasn't even that fast, given he didn't bother pedalling once.
> Speaking of Tony Martin…my claim to fame is I once kept up with him on the final descent of the penultimate stage of the tour into morzine in 2016.
The MoreSTW team also now have a link to the 1984 Olympics !
https://www.the-sports.org/martin-briggs-athletics-spf651520.html
He also held the UK junior 400m record for 21 years - which ain't no slouch. Alas, none of us are juniors any more.
Hi everyone
Entry link for next week: Category A here: https://zwift.com/events/view/1139532
The whole squad seem to think they are the weak link etc. It's like a therapy group in here sometimes.
And @haloric: B's have to get at least one C across the line to qualify for latte. We place much lower in frappe because there we are competing with teams where a single B (or more...) gets to the end with his 3 A friends. The mixed ability rules couple really well with the draft dynamics of zwift for us as a group. The real difference between the two teams each week (for most of us) is the choice between hanging on for dear life or being more involved in the pace-setting. But both roles are equally important (or even "doing the other a favour"!).
The whole squad seem to think they are the weak link etc. It’s like a therapy group in here sometimes.
😂
Tbf I don't think I'm the weak link, just that on a course that flat most of the work is done by 2/3 of the riders on the front, whilst the others (me included) get a tow round and try to not fall off the back!
My time will come on the hilly routes however, so until then I'm happy to let others to the hard graft!
A quick bump for this week's entry link.
Category A here: https://zwift.com/events/view/1139532
Let's get two teams out again...
I've entered
Can't see what the course is, just that it's 3 laps. Might think again if it's ded hilly!
I entered
In
Three times up the leg snapper, oh the joys....😬
https://zwiftinsider.com/wtrl-ttt-79/
Some tips for those who take part this week.
I am a maybe but likely a no this week. Hoping to have a day out on the MTB this Thursday as have a day booked of work. If the weather looks rubbish I will cancel day off and do the TTT but will be a Wednesday decision so if there is space in the team then I will take it up later rather than take a slot for someone now.
Yeah I'm a last minute decision too so if i can make it I'll join if there are spaces left.
We're sitting on 8 entries at the moment. That's enough for one full team (it would be in latte) but also enough that if more people sign up we'd have enough for two workable teams.
As it stands:
@tpbiker
@phil56
@w00dster
@scaredypants
@zilog6128
@weeksy
@haloric
@ivandobski
As it happens, the power gradient across those 8 riders is pretty smooth, and I think you could get all 8 to the finish. The leg snapper will be the main issue. But I'm also conscious that the whole point of creating the second team was so that you didn't all need to ride together...
Extra riders can solve this for me simply by signing up here to category A: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1139532
But failing that speak up if you think 8 should nevertheless be split into two smaller teams...
I'm happy with either option, just with the comment that I've not ridden much since wussing out last week with a sore back - and haven't done any hard riding ... so if there's a "faster" and a "slower" group, I'm very unlikely to be up to the former
Personally I think one full team is better than 2 small teams, you have more redundancy in case of people suddenly being busy, connection issues or leg failure! If there were 12 total then 2 teams, sure
I can't commit this week sorry folks so I'm out rather than being undecided
Good luck guys. Did 3 laps this morning in 45 mins but only really attacked the leg snapper. I will be riding a real proper bike tomorrow during the day so hoping my legs are shattered tomorrow evening and I can sit on the sofa drinking beer! Might follow it on Zwiftpower though.
How do you follow it on Zwiftpower live?
If there's enough riders for the slower team I'll ride but I'm won't be up for riding as a single joint team.
Ok.
It's one team of 7 at the moment, but if anyone else is lurking that could quite easily become two teams.
How last minute are you @oopnorth? @haloric is Martin planning on joining us again.
Anyone else?
The uncertainty means we'll need to make a decision by, say, tomorrow lunchtime.
I can't make it either chaps. Probably a good thing after seeing my performance in the leg snapper this morning in the commute 🤣🤣🙈
Good luck!
How do you follow it on Zwiftpower live?
Once the event is in progress, go to it in zp and choose the "live" tab.
You'll have to filter (I do STW), it's too chaotic otherwise.
Then you get dot progress on the profile, and rider power averages, distance, gaps between groups etc at the bottom.
i'm in, Martin should be signed in shortly, we are easy for one team or two.
looking on the app, several riders are currently (moreSTW) - at least on on their zwift profile
Reminder to me for tomorrow to check which team I'm assigned to & change my ZP profile accordingly
I'm in if that doesn't make things awkward
I can join in for a 2nd team. I still have the (morestw) tag on my zp account.
Joining now really doesn't make things awkward. The more the merrier.
It's clear now that there will be two teams, so we can give it a little longer before distributing riders, sorting tags etc.
Category A here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1139532
I totally thought today was Wednesday. Sorry for leaving you all hanging like that.
We are 10. So let's go 2x5
Team One, STW, start delay is 14 minutes, use discord TTT (STW)
@w00dster
@phil56
@tpbiker
@yanboss - update your tag!
@zilog6128
Team Two, MoreSTW, start delay is 13 minutes, use discord TTT (MoreSTW)
@scaredypants - update your tag
@haloric
Martin (join the forum!)
@retrorick
@ivandobski
** This means STW are going to pass MoreSTW (it was going to happen eventually) so plan to avoid chaos if you can**
Good luck!
I'm going to search for another mic for the discord. I had poor connection a few weeks ago.
reminder: in teams of 5 it's the first 4 to cross the line.
> ** This means STW are going to pass MoreSTW (it was going to happen eventually) so plan to avoid chaos if you can**
We will explicitly ease as you go by, but we will be counting the kms until it does !.
FFS ! can somebody please remind me how I change my profile 🙁
edit - sorted now, sorry.
I have ONLY changed it on ZP and have changed to (MoreSTW) - that's right, yeah ?
> I have ONLY changed it on ZP and have changed to (MoreSTW) – that’s right, yeah ?
Yes.
What I usually do is find the event on zwiftpower ( https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1139532) and then at the top right is a 'Settings' link where you can change your team and your name and tag *for this event only*, which is very useful if you are flipping between tags and teams.
The team bit isn't actually used for results, but its useful on the event page if you type 'stw' in the text box it will restrict results to teams and tags that just have that.
Then you can sort by various columns which is also useful.
Sorry all, internet was all over the place. Thanks for waiting and the tow Phil. Will try and test out running a cable before next week
Messy race!! Great workout though 😀 Apologies for the end, just didn’t have another push left in me after that blue team came through again (for the third time I think?) Was a good battle!
Another solo numpty this week too! Why do We always attract them 😂
Mine connection wasn’t great either, first time I’ve ever had connectivity drops. I was ported go riding in another group doing 134 watts, no matter how hard I pedalled my power stayed the same.
Well that's it - I'm not riding with that team again. ****ing SHAMBLES !
One of them rode off before the start and we didn't see the daft sod again until the top of the hill. What a dozy chimp !
🤡🤠
The best bit was the realisation - "I'm on my own at the top of a hill, where are you guys?!"
(sorry lads)
I bet even that Ganna lad at sky hasn't dropped his team for 6 minutes in the first half lap
Was watching that on ZP from my very quiet ATC sector at work. No idea what caused some of those time splits but good effort nonetheless! Good Work Ian trying to get back on after the split!
All part of the fun!
Provisional times:
A Team - 40:20.772 Avg 39.86kph
Split A: 12:40
Split B: 24:43
Split C: 33.19
B Team - 43:07.586 Avg 37.29
Split A: 13:34
Split B: 26:27
Split C: 35.33
Other than the start that went pretty well I thought, stayed together on the climbs other than that one on the first lap where the first couple of riders from that blue team passed us then the others were a lot slower so that got messy - not our fault though.
According to WTRL we got all 5 riders over within half a second of each other - well, 0.503 but whatevz.
Nice ride I think - no-one off the back at any point - constant unnecessary badgering has its benefits !.
That McElroy rider was either deliberately being a pain or was totally clueless, its probably a 10 year old.
The first time up the snapper with the combined drama of that rider, our lone pathfinder and the alpha team bearing down went pretty well considering, 2nd lap we were even faster i think !.
Never seen so many bumble kits. Wonder if we will get DQ'ed ?.
I think at one point there were 4 teams in succession on the road in the Bumblebee kit? Might be worth considering a change to something less common!
Wonder if we will get DQ’ed ?
We’ve been threatened with a complaint after some virtual handbags. A team in green came through us chasing one of their riders that went up the snapper ahead of the rest. We backed off but just as their last rider went past so did they, leaving us in their draft and confused and whether to come to a virtual stop or resume normal power and take them again. We chose the latter and went past. The moaning started.
They came through again and repeated the whole damn thing. After more complaints I advised them to go past and keep the power on until they’d broken the draft by creating a gap, and all would be good. A few choice statements about THE RULES in caps and we were at the snapper again, so we decided (via Zoom) to hit the climb at 5wg to drop them which we did. What can you do when you are sitting there backing off at 1.5wkg and still catching a team?
