Zwift Team Time Trial, Thursday

Great news @haloric. There's still space for you - and for anyone else interested in riding this week.

Sign up to category A here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1080949

I'm not going to be able to ride for a few weeks because of Thursday evening family commitments. I do plan to return though, and I'll keep putting in the entries, stalking the results and nudging this thread until I'm riding again.

I’m out for this & next Thursday unfortunately due work commitments. Was contemplating asking my boss if bringing the turbo to work was acceptable. Good for Tuesday night as it stands.

I am in for tomorrow, looks like at least 5 of us on the App?

@twisty are you joining us tomorrow evening as well to make it up to 6?

If I don’t make it out on the bike through tomorrow, is it okay if I join you guys for the TT in the evening.

Is it structured in terms of taking a pull at the front or a case of having a go when you feel upto it?

It's definitely OK to join in @kirky72
Our strategy is very informal: Join the blob, do what you can. No structured pulls at all. And if you get dropped, an effort will be made to cajole you back on.
Have you ridden the TTT before? The logistics at the start are weird. I'll explain them properly if you need.

I’ve only done a solo event before.

I'm not going to make it this evening sorry folks, had to head to Cambridge this morning and can't see me being home before 9pm

@savoyad - Adam, do we have a team for this evening?

Yep. We have a team and a start delay for this evening.

Start delay is 6 minutes. So in the pen by 19:40 and we are off at 19:46:00.

The start list at the moment is:

@phil56
@zilog6128
@haloric
@robbo1234biking

Plus, I think @kirky72 might join as well. I'll do detailed instructions in the next post.

There's still room for more if anyone else is interested: sign up to category A here https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1080949.

OK @kirky72 there's a small amount of hassle involved first time. Full info is here: https://wtrl.racing/ttt/TTT-Rules-and-Info.php
But basically:

1. Enter the event. Category A here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1080949

2. Attach yourself to our team by tagging your "rider name" in zwiftpower. Go to Zwiftpower --> Zwift Profile --> Settings and then add (STW) to the end of your rider name. [if you don't have a zp account, you need to get one...]. you don't need to change anything in zwift itself, just zwiftpower.

3. Get on a road bike and dress up as a bumblebee. Do the same in the game as well. Then join the event by the event start time. So 19:40 tonight. But that's not our start time...

4. The start: when it says GO, you MUST NOT GO! Stop pedalling entirely - you need zero power so you don't roll forward - and wait patiently in the start pen for our start time. Tonight that's a 6 minute wait. So we're actually off at 19:46:00. Then, you can go!

5. Comms (including a countdown to our start) are on the STW Voice channel on discord. Here: https://discord.gg/qyeruR - it is possible without (just join the group as everyone rolls out at the start time) but it's better with.

I think that's everything. If anything is unclear just post in here and you'll get an answer...

It's not necessary to be in team colours but it is helpful when passing (or being passed) to be in the same.

I've found that if you change your kit when you are *in the pen/event*, it changes for you on your screen, but not for your team mates, they still see you in the old kit, so go bumblebee before entering the event is preferable.

It's also very easy to pedal by mistake with muscle memory whilst waiting for the start time, I tend to get off and do some mild exercise/eat a donut whilst waiting.

3 C's and B tonight then. The 3 C's are very closely matched so hopefully we should be able to work together well to get a good result.

Will have to watch the ramp at the bottom of the KOM as you cross the bridge. The rest of the hill isn't too bad but that is likely where we might split.

I might give this ago tonight if there is space for one more?

Only issue I've had before is I don't think my profile is set up correctly so I didn't count towards team results. Can someone confirm?

Just checked @tpbiker and I think you are fine. You counted in the results when you last did it on the 20th August. You aren't in the STW team on zwiftpower but it doesn't use that just the tag after your name.

Don't I need some kind of stw tag or something?

Either way I'm now entered.

It’s also very easy to pedal by mistake with muscle memory whilst waiting for the start time, I tend to get off and do some mild exercise/eat a donut whilst waiting.

@tpbiker

Yeh sorry you do you need (STW) after your name in Zwift and on zwiftpower. Your zwift power looks OK but you might need to put a space between the tag and the 7783 and the two names have to match I think.

I don't think you Zwift name is relevant to the results, only the ZwiftPower name is relevant. Hence they do not have to match.

You will see lots of people in the event with no tag (because its the Zwift name on screen).
https://wtrl.racing/ttt/TTT-Rules-and-Info.php

Things are not going as planned here. Looks like I'll be home a bit after 7pm so I might make the line this evening, I may not. Depends if I need to do exercise to shake off the early start and 7 hours in a van or just eat dinner and slump really.

I won’t be making My debut tonight fellas, started with a minor cold on Monday which has grown steadily worse and feeling more chesty, don’t want to push my luck.

Hopefully recover over the weekend ready for Tuesday.

Mrs told me she’s got a late shift for the last race of the season so either I miss the race or don’t take my daughters to their dance lessons. I gently mentioned it to them but at their age the world revolves around them and they don’t understand the importance of a online bike race series. Hopefully the dance studio only hav8ng opened two weeks ago might have to shut again before then. 30 kids in a room dancing, coughing and sweating doesn’t seem right does it when not one of her friends or mine can enter our garden or house.

I'll join in if there is a space left?
I'm registering with Zwiftpower shortly.
Retrorick (STW) is my zwiftpower name, i think?!

Yes, @retrorick there is space. The instructions for new riders are just above ( http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/zwift-team-time-trial-thursday/page/6/#post-11396532)

I 've just updated both so my zwift power profile now has a space between 7783 and (stw)

Looks a hilly course tonight.

Ok. Zwiftpower name for me is Rick M 1254
I think i'll have to add the (STW) bit.

Zwift name is now Rick M 1254 (STW)

I'll familiarise myself with the race rules.

I've added the (STW) bit to my zwiftpower name. Took me a while to spot the settings tab 🙁

OK, updated start list for tonight (everyone's STW tags in this list are correct):

@tpbiker
@phil56
@zilog6128
@haloric
@robbo1234biking
@retrorick

PLUS I think @dangeourbrain is threatening to join in as well (as I read his message, his definition of "things not going as planned" in Cambridge seems to be the opposite of the rest of his TTT team).

If you think you entered but you aren't listed above, check your STW tag.

To confirm: start time is 19:40 plus 6 minutes

See each other in the pen!

Is the 'bumblebee' Jersey the one that is called basic 1, yellow and black stripes?

Yep that’s the one! 🙂

his definition of “things not going as planned” in Cambridge seems to be the opposite of the rest of his TTT team

No it means the same. Today's long job is now another trip or two next week

Just back to the office, going to sit it out tonight. Naff day and just fancy feet up and a beer when I get in.

Started my warmup. I think I've been able to sort out the discord app and I've found a microphone.

Great ride! Sadly lost retrorick during a pass... Phil did drop back but it didn’t work out. Hopefully won’t discourage from another go, they are the hardest part to get right as a group & the rest of us have had a fair bit of practice now! That’s actually one of my favourite routes as the hill is not too long and there’s a nice few seconds to recover on the down.

Managed to hang on with enough encouraging !, thanks all.

Sorry we lost retrorick, he was right with me as we approached that group, not sure whether he got sucked into it or lost power. Big groups rock, we need to get to 8.

There is a 'push to talk' setting on Discord which I find quite useful. I'm currently wearing two sets of headphones - bone conduction for music and inner ear for Discord, plus a sweat headband and glasses - must look a right mess, but still loving it.

Currently 34th out of 112 by the looks of it, nice work.

Ant

Thanks all. Enjoyed that again this week. Just need to sort out the warm up really. Seems to take 5 mins to get into it. I know you can spin on the pairing screen but doesn’t feel the same as a decent warm up.

We actually got faster up the climb each time we did it which I think was down to working out how to do the climb as a team.

The worst bit was the climb coming out of the town or whatever it is before the rollers. That was only gentle but couldn’t get a good rhythm on it. Changed my cassette on my turbo and have slightly different ratios so might just be me getting used to it.

Struggle with the pacing of these races, I shot off the front a few times on the hills but I wasn't putting in any more effort than I was on the flats.

Also, I'm watching the distance between the riders and the gap is 2 meters one second, then 10 meters the next...I'm not sure if it's a zwift bug or something but the gap doesn't seem to grow gradually like it does usually

I saw you lot on my phone app this evening and started up zwift on the pc to see what you were up to but you weren't visible on my screen

What's with the "pass" comments ? Do you have to smash past to make sure the other team doesn't get on your wheels or something ?

Oh, and...

Struggle with the pacing of these races, I shot off the front a few times on the hills but I wasn’t putting in any more effort than I was on the flats.

might you be way lighter then the others ?

I had an 'enjoyable/hard' race.
During the 1st lap I was trying to pace myself and recover a bit when in the group.
Right at the end of the first lap when we caught/passed the team in red i had a connection drop out so I was riding an empty course on my own for around 15 seconds. When everyone re appeared i was 15 seconds down ☹️.
I had a stitch at that point anyway and I doubt could of kept up for the rest of the race!
I think I did ok for the 2nd solo lap.
The 3rd lap had a few more racers around so I did my best not to draft them.

You are pretty light compared to everyone else I think tpbiker!

Scaredypants - when you pass the other team is supposed to ease off but it doesn’t seem to happen much so you have to make sure you are a group and then accelerate hard together to get past as a group. Normally means a hard 10-20 second effort to get past and then you need a bit of a gap out the front.

might you be way lighter then the others ?

Right at the end of the first lap when we caught/passed the team in red i had a connection drop out so I was riding an empty course on my own for around 15 seconds.

Have you not noticed dropping people before on the hills when racing

Yep, but I'm usually having to dig deep to do it. I've ridden the ttt with you guys before and the climbs seemed far easier this time out, whilst the flat bits didn't. Just seemed a bit odd.

The entry is in for next week. 7:40pm on Thursday.

3 laps of Volcano Flat Reverse, 37km in total. This is a new course for this event, but I suspect it will be a fast one.

Sign up to category A here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1092711

I'll be back with nudges and eventually a start delay later in the week.

bump. still noone signed up for this Thursday...

I am up for it (just registered). Should be easy to keep the group together, however if we're doing well then there'll be lots of overtakes which might spell trouble!!

I'm working a late shift in Thursday so I'm unable to join in. I should be able to join in a week on Thursday tho 🤪