Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Went out for a 25 mile leisurely cycle earlier today in this glorious sunshine. Totally forgot I'd said that I would turn up for the team series this evening.

So it was a bit painful, but I got GOLD!!
https://zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=7564

Mainly drafting Adams, but he later left me for dead (clearly his trainer isn't calibrated) and I had to TT the rest on my own.

Got this jersey too (3rd pic): https://www.strava.com/activities/1006799739

Top work sir!

Jumped on turbo for a 45km race with zhr about to start. Got the Giro on next to me to keep me going

Did the cat A P race (49km) yesterday afternoon and there were only 9 of us. I managed to stay with them all till about 1km to go but miscalculated the last hill and missed the sprint up it. Race was won by a vision team rider (A Webb) but he only beat me by 21 seconds and they were nice friendly bunch with a bit of banter. The fan was having trouble keeping me cool though in the hot weather.

You people are either animals or your garages/sheds are air-conditioned !
I can't imagine turboing over the past week - would probably have drowned

blader, I assume this was on one of those chat channels? Tell me you weren't typing 😯

Another "suggested upgrade for exceeding category limits" for 5 riders, but it seems at them moment that every race I enter they're allowing people to blast the limits for no punishment.

In an open race I kinda accept it, but this was a C race only.

Poor form.

Scaredypants - not a discord channel, i was typing messages via my phone but even more worrying was that i had no spelling errors, now that is a REAL achievement.

Just done the team italy gladiators race and won GOLD for cat B and finished 3rd overall. That was a great result with my best stats to date and with no power ups. I think there were only 24 riders. Box hill done in 7:15, can anyone show me the link to stw boxhill table?
https://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=7765

[url= https://www.strava.com/segments/12744502 ]Official Box Hill segment[/url]

Pah, 2 seconds behind Nathan. 189bpm though, no one can match my hummingbird heart!

Did the ODZ race earlier, neutral for the first 3.5 miles, seemed utterly pointless. Group split on Box Hill, ended up in the second group, then got dropped into no man's land on the second lap, managed to hold off a group of three 20 seconds back for 8th.

In an open race I kinda accept it, but this was a C race only.

The trouble is where do you impose the limits? Is it the limit for the race or is it for your FTP? If it's a short race you'll be able to ride far harder, but I've never seen category bounds change by race distance.

If the same people are doing it then that's annoying.

The trouble is where do you impose the limits? Is it the limit for the race or is it for your FTP? If it's a short race you'll be able to ride far harder, but I've never seen category bounds change by race distance.

If the same people are doing it then that's annoying

HArd to argue in that context yes... Crosshair comments on another forum givning me some needling at times that i should race up in B cat as my FTP is 296w, giving me a weighting of about 3.20w/kg, which puts me right on the borderline for Bs, my argument is that this is my short 20min FTP, not my hour FTP by a long long way... The race we did on Sat was a 1hr+ race and i only hit about 2.8-2.9w/kg for them.... But i still get confused with the results at times, sure, i get the 0.1 allowed... So you can hit 3.3 overall... but some of these guys were blasting 3.3 and way above, that's where it kinda loses it's point.

Of course, we're now 2-3 days later and it really doesn't matter... i worked hard, did my best... Move on 🙂

I got +2 points on the Virtual Rankings.. LOL.. that seemed like a LOT of effort for +2.

There's no such thing as a 20 minute FTP, you have a 20 minute power output, which can be used as a proxy for your FTP, I'd assume that's what the categories are based on. That said, There's no way I can ride at 4w/kg for an hour (or even 40 minutes), but I race A, I've won a race, and have never come last, it's a bit of training after all.

There's no such thing as a 20 minute FTP, you have a 20 minute power output, which can be used as a proxy for your FTP, I'd assume that's what the categories are based on. That said, There's no way I can ride at 4w/kg for an hour (or even 40 minutes), but I race A, I've won a race, and have never come last, it's a bit of training after all.

There is in Zwift world though as it bases your current FTP upon your 20 mins power data, not your 1 hour power. That's how Zwift gives you it's figure isn't it ?
It's the only method i have of getting an FTP unless i do a dedicated program/test.

Sure, i can make the jump up to B, i can race for 45s then TT alone for the next 55mins... but where's the point in that ? in C cat i get to ride with a bunch, play with the leaders, ride ahead, ride behind and then eventually i'm usually dumped out the back somehwere between 80% distance or 100% distance, but i very very rarely (only once) win the race on actual merit and on-screen, although i have been gifted a few on DQs.
For me, i'll push myself more, harder and better in a race instead of being dumped after a KM.

njee20 -
Pah, 2 seconds behind Nathan. 189bpm though, no one can match my hummingbird heart!

😆 read my workout description 😈

I'm topping out at 205bpm at the moment, nice to meet someone else with a ridiculously high HR when cycling 😆

Weeksy I think you're fine in C as you're rarely ever going to race at your FTP efforts, unless it's a short TT race, I wouldn't move up until you're forced to.

Example, not a humble brag, is I FTP at 4.5w/kg at the moment, bar some weird stuff going on pre power meter days I very rarely go anywhere near that: https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=8544067

Also looks like I'm about to be promoted on Zwift rankings to elite status 🙂
All be it at around 160th lol http://zwiftrankings.com/vcr/client/racer/98508/2017r05/all/1

There is in Zwift world though as it bases your current FTP upon your 20 mins power data, not your 1 hour power. That's how Zwift gives you it's figure isn't it ?
It's the only method i have of getting an FTP unless i do a dedicated program/test.

It uses your 20 minute power output as a proxy for your FTP, which is common, because very few people have the mental fortitude to ride flat out for an hour. The common wisdom is either 95% of your 20 minute power or 90% of the average of two closely spaced 8 minute efforts. The FTP that Zwift offers is your FTP though, it's not your 20 minute power. I've never actually looked if that's the exact formula it applies.

I still don't really know if event bandings are intended to be based on anticipated effort during the race or FTP though, I presume the latter, but that does mean you can't read too much into people finishing races some way above the supposed bound for the category.

FTP converted to w/kg is a guide to see which category you should enter.

What you actually push out during your best 20 mins of the race is what is taken into consideration.

So if someone is 4.1W/kg on their FTP results it's their choice really as to which category to enter A/B. But if they were to go full out then they risk the chance of a DQ.

FINALLY invested in one of these:
[img] [/img]

I hope this keeps the sweat at bay for Z1 workouts 😆

I got this jersey yesterday, what is it?

[img] [/img]

(Yeah this workout killed me 6x12 mins @320w with 3 mins rest in between, lost about 5kg in weight through sweat ha)

FINALLY invested in one of these:

Mine's pretty powerful; I've never been up to the third stop on the dial but I still sweat like a <whatever> (just that my sweat all blows over to a puddle on the opposite side of the bike 8) )

A nice profile of Tim Cartwright ahead of next weeks Live Zwift race!
I hope Tim and Rachael Elliot smash both the races for Newbury Road Club!!

http://worldcup.cycligentrankings.com/blog/racer-spotlight-tim-cartwright-2/

Nathb - i believe that shirt means you have to give me 100w of your power and an extra 20 bpm, thanks.

@scaredypants - I've been using a crappy tower fan, the recent heat has been too much for it 😆

@blader - haha thanks for clearing it up 😀

I hope this keeps the sweat at bay for Z1 workouts

If it can't cope with z1 surely you're in a world of trouble?! I've given up wearing a jersey for turbo training at the moment, far too hot in the garage!

I've given up wearing a jersey for turbo training at the moment, far too hot in the garage!

Me too! I'm sure that I look rather fetching. Planning to do an early morning one tomorrow, so hopefully not quite so sweaty.

Yeah the tower could just about cope if it was right in my face 😆

I've just discovered [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00124WEKC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ]THESE[/url] bib shorts. They're perfect for zwifting for an hour, highly recommend! Saves the better ones for outdoor rides.

A couple of sizes too small for normal people though! 🙂

At that size i would have to buy 2 of them, one for each love handle!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

My Snap seems to have gone screwy. I was riding the mountain, suddenly i had a 2000w power reading, then 0.... Now it's 0 in Zwift and 0 in the Wahoo App !

Leaving it powered off for 10 mins to see.... but it's not looking good for it !

Weeksy - hope the power down works for you.

I shall be participating in the 11.00 KISS race today if anyone is zwifting.

Well it's registering power again... But tbh i was 40 mins into a ride when it bombed out so i'm not going to ride again today.

Sod it... i'm in with you 🙂 11am KISS

That was a tough race weeksy,some big hitters in there. I nearly missed the start so sprinted flat out for the front group but put too much in and ended dropping in to a second group. Had to ride indoors to keep an eye on the kids so the heat was far greater than the garage so it was quite sapping.i managed a strong pace throughout though and caught up quite a few riders even though i solo'd much of the race.
Weeksy it looked like you were in a good group.

Loads of fast lads in there today, proper 5+ up the hills, so you did massively well holding them. Saw your overal power, damn fine performance buddy.

We had a good group of 3, then 6, then 4, then just 2 of us on the last lap. Both me and him made a break for it at different times but couldn't make it... I went for it in the sprint and beat him, going at 550m with a aero PU.
Enjoy the race and the course, but the hill means the groups are destroyed mostly.

A Webb from vision team usually sprints up most of the hills and it just splinters the group. Those guys are way too quick for me to hang on to for very long if its a hilly one. It is a bit of a tough course that and i dont really know the layout that well.
That is me done for zwifting this week as i am doing a very hilly sportive on Sunday with a hill that is my nemesis. This is why i have done all this training so that i can beat this hill. I am in good shape thanks to zwifting, i just hope thrashing myself for an hour equates well to a 6 hr hilly ride.

My face-fan packed up the other day so I'm now rocking around 34 fan inches after picking up a tower one from Wickes 8)

Gonna race TFC tonight. One lap Fig.8.

Its pretty humid out so i reckon 34 fan inches is a minimum requirement today. I am still using a 14 inch desktop fan which is so underpowered its barely worth turning it on. Good luck with the race tonight crosshair

Thanks mate!

It was a good race. Fast and furious Figure of 8.

I hung with the lead group until the reverse KOM then teamed up with a good group of B's. I missed a selection through the Esses because I honestly thought a group of 6 would bring them back but we didn't! That cost me the B win I think.

After that it was draft city until the KOM climb. I hit it hard enough to follow R Ford but kept a bit back. He attacked- I followed. He eased, so did I. He attacked again and I popped him to the banner just because 😆

Then he drilled it down the hill for a bit, so I stuck in his wheel hard. At the bottom of the hill, my fat avatar pulled out a gravity based lead so I attacked to see what he had. As soon as I realised he was chasing, I eased again and sat in once more.
Another guy was gaining and caught us at the sprint. So I bridged as he passed us and rode his wheel to the Esses small climb.
He went full gas up it so I followed then switched back to R Ford's wheel as this guy was cooked.

Ford went early through the Esses so I followed hard. He knew he couldn't shake me so sat up through the rock tunnel and I drafted to the 300m line.

Then knocked out a 1300w effort to put 20 seconds into him 😆

Tactics and drafting are king on Zwift- I think I got a 2nd in B Cat with 3.2w/kg :0

Well done buddy!

2:05 up the KOM climb- seriously, this 'Peak' from my Crit training plan is epic! Legs feel so good!!

Lol! 3.14w/kg for Silver in B 😆

11mins in Z1 and 11 in Z2 and this in a 48min race. Smarter not harder 😀

pissing rain round here - [i][b]almost[/b][/i] a treat to get back on the turbo for a workout

Doh! Was really looking forward to EVR after meeting Timothy Tiermont for real last night. Not to mention a chance to race Scaredypants 🙂 Then pressed the wrong button on the app and hit discard by accident. I tried to carry on riding when I logged back in but couldn't be arsed in the end.
A shame as I enjoy Richmond races 🙁

Chicken ! 😉

(I had a couple of brief dropouts that dropped me off the ?lead group by a few yards - that was too hard to make up after the 1st couple so I decided to wait & look for you CH)

... but you'd gone.

Come back Shane ! 😥

Oh, and I really don't like Richmond

I only really like it for nostalgia. The three climbs provide a tough race too.

The three climbs provide a tough race too

(I have no idea where I am on the course, landmark-wise and although I'd have said "so what?", I don't like that)

I kinda like Richmond's final 500m, in a self harming pain inflicting sort of way, the rest is unremarkable and boring visually.