Don't be fooled by Innsbruck flat, it's not, there's a sodding mountain in it!
🙂 looks to be a sodding mountain in all the Innsbruck routes. Can't wait to give it a go.
Just wanted to train really to start with, lost fitness due to MTB injury and won't be back on that bike for 3-6months, so picked up a cyclocross to stick on the turbo trainer. Did the FTP test today, bloody hell, talk about sweat, first time on a turbo aswell. I saw there was a MTB training type course so will try that once I get over the shock of that FTP test 😉
<table class="table table-bordered">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Distance</th>
<th>Hrs</th>
<th>Min</th>
<th>Elevation</th>
<th>Avg Watts</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>18.2 km</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>438 m</td>
<td>109</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I don't think I clicked stop on the ride, realised it was still on 30mins later as it was only a 1h20m test.
Cannot see the results clearly in Zwift. Looking at the import into Garmin Max avg power 20mins was 174w, I have no idea what that is, time to read up.
Did the FTP test today, bloody hell, talk about sweat, first time on a turbo aswell.
Don't underestimate how debilitating the heat is when it comes to performance. Apparently if you're putting out 250w at the rear wheel, your body is producing 750w worth of heat and even with a powerful fan running it's really hard to dissipate that effectively when it's as hot as it is currently.
As I understand it, your body has mechanisms to stop you breaking yourself, a sort of internal governor. Plus it pumps blood closer to the surface of the skin to try and lose heat. That's blood that's not going to your leg muscles. Plus there's a self-preservation mechanism.
Anyway, what I've been finding with Sufferfest sessions is that I hit a wall at around 45 minutes of intense work when the heat becomes overwhelming and the only way I can complete the session is by dialling down the intensity. In the cool none of these workouts are a problem, but throw in the heat and it all goes badly wrong...
... and in short you may find your FTP is higher when the weather gets cooler.
Five laps of Innsbruckenring tonight. Mostly a flat loop with a 50m gain ramp three quarters of the way around. I really liked this circuit. Took a while to settle by which point most of the As had gone. From the second time up the hill I was with a single A till nearly the end. There was a big B group we managed to keep at least 10s back. Lap four I sensed Iay have a chance to beat them as I could open a few seconds on the hill. Lap five really went for it and powered the last 3km home. Also took over a minute out of another B who had stayed with the As for four laps and got past them with half a km to go. ZP shows me as silver B which I'm happy with. Annoyingly the A I was with isn't listed.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75628
<div class="bbp-reply-author">weeksy
<div class="bbp-author-role">
<div class="">Subscriber</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
Don’t be fooled by Innsbruck flat, it’s not, there’s a sodding mountain in it!
Amen
</div>
Nothing race wise on so I did the UCI lap which was a grunt of a climb. Starts off fine at 5-8% with a few cheeky 10-12% bits thrown in when you don't expect it. The one part that was a bit of a shock was that 8% climb around the back of the town. Not great when you have already worked hard up the hill!
Great course though and a solid 45-50min workout. I really liked it.
Yesterday i did a 4 lapper of the Innsbruck flat... With the lump in the middle 🙂 I ended up bailing just before the end of lap 3... I was dying and had nothing at all left. I think it was partly down to lack of racing lately, partly down to heat in the garage and partly just me being mentally weak a few times lol
Slightly disappointed in myself, but i was dead.
So today i joined the ZHR C tea race... This was the same course but 3 laps not 4.... It went better... Lap1 i was in the lead group of 10.. Comfortable until the hill and we kicked up and split the bunch, but in the next 2km we all bunched back up including catching a bloke who'd pulled out 10s+.
Onto lap2 we had 10s on the group of 6-7 behind and between 3 of us working on the front we pulled it out to 15s... but by the time we hit the lump it had been closed.. I wasn't able to put out any more than 4w/kg on the lump so the group shattered and we were a 3... fighting for 8-10th overall.... Onto lap 3, 1 guy aid goodbye and bailed... so we were a 2...I honestly thought the other rider had me, we were chatting a bit as we were not really working that hard. 1 min+ behind the 4 in front of us and 2 mins ahead of the group behind now.... So taking it easy... Up the hill we paced eachother at 3.8w/kg and got up, then it got serious with trying to position.
I went early with an aero at 1km, but wasn't there... They caught my wheel nicely too so sat there... with 0.3km to go i went a bit at 5ish... I hung on for 8th overall.
Due to not many signing up etc yet... i got a bronze, but was really an 8th 🙂
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75761
Just done the Lutscher course and its a brute. First KOM i did in 20 mins which was pure torture. I finished the race in 2nd place overall but due to fat fingers i entered as a C rather than a B so got dq’d. I did however increase my ftp to 319w so i guess thats what a week off the bike does for you.
Did 4 laps of the 'flat' course yesterday as well. Enjoyed it a lot - I think it is a very good course but that hill is a bit of a brute.
First time on the course so didn't know how long the hill was. Front group split on the hill and I got dropped. Tried and failed to catch them back up but a group of three of us formed about 20secs behind. Trouble was they just wanted to sit in my wheel so the gap got bigger and the 3rd group on the road started catching. Got a bit annoyed so I made a break for it, all the time thinking they would catch me back up.
But they didn't - ended up doing three laps on my own and still enjoyed it. Even had a decent gap by the end.
Stupid never-ending zwift race! It was supposed to be KISS First Base, 7 laps of the volcano.
All started off perfectly with a gaggle of seemingly genuine Ds getting away then settling down around the 200W mark. I was having to put plenty in on the hills, but nothing too problematic.Then the laps and the distance to go stopped going down, if you were lucky you got one lap reduction for each two you rode.
I'm guessing that didn't help the group stay together and at the end of lap 4 (actual laps) splits appeared and we were in two groups, with 5 off the front and me in the second group of 3. We stuck at it for 2 more laps,until a small acceleration got me a gap, though I think people were losing heart now.
Just closing out my 8th lap and the distance stuck again at 12.3km, enough's enough and I called it a day.
Matt
LOL that's a fair few laps of the Volcano at race pace ! Good work 🙂
Just about to start a 18:15(Aus time) race around the volcano. See how it goes today..
First Chop race last night.
Didn't realise that there was only 3 cups up for grabs. I'll probably work more next time but I doubt that'd have got me to the finish in a position to contest it anyway yesterday.
Good format and everyone seemed to be racing in category. C's held together and I was comfortable for the first 2 laps. Caught by the B's going into the tunnel and then couldn't follow the front up the switchback climb. Kept together with 4 other Cs and waited too long to sprint. Couldn't get back round the person who launched the sprint.
Zwift was playing up a bit as it looked like only 1 B was closing in but it was all of them.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=77222
EVR europe race last night on the brutal Lutscher loop. I didn't really pay to much attention to the route layout (flat -> UP -> down -> back UP) so wen too hard on the climb thinking that was it. No you have to do it twice. Lap one I was staying with a couple of A's and B. Despite my heart trying to escape I kept up with them will the start of the second time up the hill. Had to rest then and dropped about 10s back. I clawed it back once but could not hang on and dropped back again to aroudn 15-20s. That left me as third B on the road which I was happy with. About two thirds of the way up I realised the B behind me was closing rather quickly. They came past quite quick and try as I could I could not latch on. I did at this point switch from spinning to out the saddle pumping and managed to start closing the gap down the the A-B group that had earlier dropped me. The Lutscher climb goes in flatter - steeper blocks. I was able to take 4-5 s out of the group on each steeper bit before falling back a little on the flatter sections. By 400m to go I was down to 2s but had nothing left to close that. Finished fourth B on the road but have a silver in ZP ( https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=77288). The in game first placed B was a long way ahead so guess they were upgraded. FTP now up to 314W based on that race. Weight seems to be down to under 79Kg so probably time to update my Zwift profile.
Nice one Tom, goor to see the A group didn't get you :D.
Been waiting a while for this one. Have been wanting to do Alp du zwift but wasn't a high enough level so had to be during an event. Road to sky starting from the pier rather than the flying boats. Got a pb up the KOM during the warm up as I stuck with the two As. I stuck with them all the way to the climb and tried to keep the group pace up to give me a lead over the other Bs. I had 30s when everyone was on the big climb and the As had predictably disappeared. I managed to keep the average power up and the gap in place. The following group clearly tired more quickly as in the last 3k the gap opened up to 1m 30s. The As both dropped out at some point which gave me the overall as well as B win. So tired now!
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=78847
AweskAw work!
Back from holiday and looking to get working on the weight, so seeing a post on anohter Zwift thread that Eemy is racing short circuit tonight at 6:10pm i think i'll jump in on that one with him. Short hard and fast, sadly with a kick up in the middle which won't suit, but we've got to start somewhere. Nice gentle warm up first and then go play 🙂
Who's having a crack then ?
I think i'll go for the 17:10 greater london flat 2 lapper today... works quite well in timings etc.. So why the heck not 🙂
Quick question. I use zwift on ipad and i assume this is the reason why i dont get the little indicator to show me how close fellow riders are?
Just did a 4 lap of london classique with people who thought it was fun to do multiple attacks on every lap! It was pretty brutal in patches and Horseguards hill was used as a sprint track, my avg wattage for the hill was 497w, 523w, 556w and last lap 561w. I hung on and ended up in a bunch sprint but only managed 3rd in B, pretty tough racing lately.
What that hills not a sprint track? 😁
Nixie - i prefer it when the hills are used for a moderate upturn in speed rather than having to nail it. To be honest i was at the pointy end with a bunch of Cat A’s so it was always going to be like that. I guess the attacks on the Mall were a bit more of a shock to the system as i try and recover there for the sprinty horseguard hill.
Yeah keeping up with As on that track is not easy. I can do it a couple of laps but normally by then I'm broken.
Had a fun race today, 4 of us in a bunch, 2 in B and 2 in C, the faster of them were pushing 4w/kg everywhere so I was hanging on. We dumped one guy 3.5km out, so we were 3. As we came out of the underpass, the 2 blokes hit 5+ and that was me done. They pulled away but I had 30s+ on guy behind and less than 2km, so was ok.
I've raced every day this week since holiday and enjoying it. Results, well I am doing ok, but now as well as zwiftpower says as most are not fully registered now.
Weeksy - results have been annoying lately as quite a lot of people i have been racing have been filtered out. I had a great race this morning, me and 1 other B were in with the lead A group. Pace really hotted up and i managed to stay with them and drop the other B by over a minute. The results showed him as dq and my nearest B was over 10 mins behind! Satisfying sticking with the A’s to the end mind you. Roll on winter for bigger fields.
Well I stupidly entered my first zwift race this morning, 3 laps of the flat! Entered as CAT D and got blown away by everyone! Looks like I averaged 1.8w/kg 146w. Strangley my sprint KOM time and wattage was pretty good, 4.2w/kg for 33secs.
I've mainly been doing the Gravel Grinder workout course which clearly gives you longer rest periods rather than none 😉
Height of embarrasment was the winner lapping me with about 30yards to go before the finish and I was going balls out trying to stop that happening 😉
Onwards and upwards!
Keyboard99 - well done and dont worry we have all been lapped before. Once you get used to the courses and tactics you will improve vastly.
Just did the Deutschland tour stage 4 and finished 6th out of 118. A very nice race.
Well i just got a pleasant/disappointing result. Did the UCI worlds course Austria which is very tough with a huge 20 min climb and then the crazy hill in the middle of Innsbruck. I was behind a couple of B’s on the climb by about 12s but managed to tempo them back by the top which was incredibly hard. Big 500w effort for the hill in the town and 1 B rider just left us all for dead so it was a race for silver. Just held off another rider to take SILVER or so i thought. Results show i didnt get any trophy coz i got bumped to A group as i finished with a 4.0w/kg avg, nice pleasant surprise as thats a pr but no trophy and the actual B winner was 2 mins slower.
Oooops. We all dream of being bumped to A.... well, i dream of being bumped up to B actually hahahaha.
I did plenty last week, but a weekend away with family means i've not done any for a few days.
Nothing suitable for the fat boys in laters racing, so i can see myself just cruising around this afternoon, which is probably a good idea as my legs are very very tired
Signed up for a 9 week training program. Had no real aspirations so picked one called gravel grinder for want of anything more interestingly named.
Three weeks in and never having actually "trained", just gone out and ridden my bike for fun. What I have learned already is:
I like my cadence around 80-85 rpm and am not too happy with changes to that. Especially low cadence.
I don't seem to like constant changes of pace. Seem to be happier holding a steady but higher wattage than switching up and down.
That having lasted this long I will most likely see it out.
Weeksy - most races today seem to involve a fair bit of climbing or you are stuck with that hill in Innsbruck. I wasnt too keen either and only did that particular race coz i hadnt done that route (turns out its just part of lutscher and Innsbruck so nothing new).
Well, that was my first foray into Zwift for a couple of months, I like the new Innsbruck flat course, that hill is just about perfect for me (with a feather!) I just fancied a spin on Zwift last night so jumped on a 4 lapper of that course not knowing what to expect.
I wanted to catch Bodyguard on the telly box so knew I probably wouldn't get to finish whatever I started. Managed 3 laps and was still in the front group, I'd forgotten how hard on the legs this was, I'd not raced since 'Ard Rock and was off sick on Friday with a pretty brutal stomach bug (I weighed myself post race, which is normally when i'm at my dehydrated lightest, I was 2KG heavier than I was on Saturday morning!)
Heart rate was stuck about 13BPM lower than i'm used to, 189max vs 204ish, putting that down to illness but I did get a nice little FTP bump from 327 to 334.
In the end the Mrs was still watching the end of the GrandPrix highlights, i could have finished the race!
Anyone else get annoyed that they don't show the distance of the races on the Companion app? Seems like an easy thing to add and I can't believe I'm alone in thinking it.
It is annoying and is possible. All WBR races show the distance so no reason the others don't. Might be Zwift's idea to get traffic to go to Zwift insider to look at route distances.
I also think it's about time they just include the "warm up" distance into the race, as lets be fair, when has it never been raced! Road to sky the other day is almost 10km run in.
It's a shame that Zwiftpower only has a fraction of the racers fully registered at the moment.
Today i did a team Italy race. 4 laps of the shortish Innsubruck layout.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=82152
It was SO much better a race than that implies.
15 in a group for lap 1, with me and 3 others kicking off up on the hilly bit, but then we were pulled in by the end of the lap.
Next lap (2) it was me and 1 guy... we went on the hill.... again pulled back late on... but the group had split to 10 now.
Lap3 it was 4 of us on the hill... again a group of 4 pulled us back.... Onto lap 4 we were 6 riders... one guy went off the front about 5km out, putting 4+ out... we/I let him go... On the kicker it was 4 of us.... we hung together and down the other side... I lost the wheel as i got my timings wrong to free-wheel. They pulled 3s on me at 2.1km out.... i hit the boosters in my legs, 400w+ for what seemed like forever ! i got back and we were a 4.. into the final KM it was cat and mouse, sitting, waiting, waiting. I went at 400m... I kicked ahead, not enough, tehy had my wheel.
I got 3rd in the group and 4th in C overall.. but it was a brilliant and involving race for sure. !
Great stuff... I'm sitting here 90 min later still shivering !
I've been seeing more showing up on ZP recently. I did the wahooligan super league race one tonight. It was a big field and loads (129) were on ZP. With gaps between each category there were no As to hang onto today. Predictably for the Innsbruck not really flat course the ramp was the chisel that split the pack up on each lap. I stayed with the lead split till the last lap when I missed the few who went early at the bottom of the hill. I bust my one minute power output to do it though and there was no let off down the other side. I was in the second following group at the end but stop sprinting at the wrong point (got confused by the banners) so ended up 12th. https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=82171
Was nice to be in such a big field and for so many to be on ZP.
I also did a 3 laps of London flat last week. Again a big field but the As broke away early with a few Bs. I was in the lead B group which had two straggling As. One of them gave us a good tow for long periods that helped us real I'm a good number of riders who dropped off the lead group. This was a good fun race, though such hard work. Finished with a long sprint, I got a bronze in the wash up. Literally took third on the line. https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=80893
Nice one Nixie. Good performances buddy 🙂
I did a race last night for the first time in a few months, been busy getting married, diy’ing, work is demanding and the lure of food & alcohol was too great.
So a couple of weeks of dossing around on the bike and gym 5 times a week (rowing/running/weights) I’m currently sitting at 74.4kg with an FTP of 293w so 4.4kg heavier and 46 less watts than I had before getting married (4.84w/kg) This has been a HUGE mental challenge as I already rebuilt my cycling after buying a house in Dec and not cycling for 2-3 months coming from nearly 5w/kg.....
Anyway I joined a race last night on the Innsbruck “flat” course, a firm B rider (3.9w/kg), I chose A’s to avoid controversy.. I’m pleased to announce I didn’t come last and outsprinted the group of 6 or so riders to the finish line 🙂
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=82177
I’m on a trainer road plan but will mix it up with Zwift races and I’m going to swap a road bike for a MTB (voodoo bizango/Bokor) if I enjoy it I may even try some XC races lol. See you on Zwift!
Hi Nathb, i saw that you were on last night smashing out some big numbers. Nice to see you almost down to my level in B albeit briefly. I dont think it will take you long to get back up to speed. Congrats on the marriage and welcome back to zwift.
i see Tim C smashed that race you were in.
Nice work after time out Nath... !
Good job Nath. HTF do you get to nearly 5W/KG though!
Well done nixie, I did the A group wahooligan super league race with 4 laps. 51 A's, but still only 29 on ZP showing. I believe there were 220 starters with 129 on zp. I guess as people start riding inside again they will sign up, lots still seem to have no idea they have to, but if they have cancelled Zwift for the summer they have had no reason to know about it.
I had no rider list showing (seems some had it and some didn't) so as we hit the hill for the second time I was comfortable going up at the same speed all the others around me were going but didn't see a group go off the front. Without the rider list you just cant see the orange numbers etc and react.
When I realised I chased down the hill and through the sprint section but had no idea how far they were in front or if I was closing. No one else was with me so I figured they could see it was pointless. I sat up and waited for the group of 8 behind to catch me, which ended up taking ages. Over the next 2 laps I pushed the pace to prevent the chasers catching but the others just wanted to drop to 3wkg if I eased off. each lap up the leg snapper we dropped 3 riders and headed to the line as a trio. I had no pu so planned to sit in and try and come around but one of them launched at 600m with an aero. second guy had a draft and tried to follow but didn't close it. At 200m I came around him and just pipped him before the line.
Finished 24th and felt really good fitness wise but disappointed missing the break. I'll be more aware next week.
Anyone else lose rider list recently? happened in quite a few of my races. Any ideas on why? I have the latest update etc but it's happened before that.
Cheers guys!
@nixie I was doing 14-16 hours a week on the bike - I took a career break 😆 I also seem to respond well to training and my “natural” unfocused/pottering about/not taking cycling seriously ftp seems to be around 300-315 which at my normal weight puts me at 4.3-4.5w/kg.
Hoping that’s the case anyway, like I said trying to rebuild for the second time this year isn’t going as well as I’d hoped, these 4kgs aren’t shifting quickly 🙁
Looking at getting a Tacx turbo (the £200 one from Halfords) and trying some Zwifting over winter.
How does it work when people say you need to get in a group from the off? Does it reduce your effort if you are in a group the same way it would as you were in a real race?
If not then surely you just need to monitor your own output and smooth your effort over the race and you should eventually drag in those who have raced of at the start and not maintain that effort over the race? Happy to be corrected on my base knowledge!
CHOP race in 2 mins. always fun these ones
How does it work when people say you need to get in a group from the off? Does it reduce your effort if you are in a group the same way it would as you were in a real race?
If your in the pack you get a drafting advantage just like in real life. If your out on your own its hard, hard work and a group putting in the same effort will drop you like a lead balloon. Races tend to start hard but calm down fairly quickly. E.g. for most of race I'm putting out somewhere between 250W and 350W, at the start its more like 350-450W for a short while. Even if you only get dropped a few seconds off the back of a group it can involve a big effort to get back on again.
@nathb, ahh OK, good effort. I not going to get there anytime soon then as I don't have that amount of time. My FTP is around the same as your base one but I think I've got 5KG on you. Currently around 79KG and averaging 3.8W/KG in races though hoping to get to 75KGish to help my running. My big worry though is that weight will put me in A without really having the legs to compete.
Training will sort that, but it’s always a fine balance between losing weight and maintaining/building ftp. Eat your veggies 😆
Disaster this evening, someone pipped me across the line: https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=82688
i put far too much effort in versus the rest of them 🙁
LOL i bet he enjoyed that moment of glory for sure !
Eat your veggies
Plenty of this going on, unfortunately also plenty of cake and beer as well!
If you put in more effort then at least you can console yourself that your are clearly fitter than them :D.
I've had 2 tacx flows (£200 at Halfords) the first lasted 3 months and the second 2 months. The resistance motor? Literally falls apart. This unit only reads a max of 800w. Sounds high enough but in a sprint most hit this or higher fairly easily. I have power meter on my road bike and hit over 1000w and I'm fairly little. Sprinting on zwift I still go flat out but avatar will only move at 750 ish watts so I lose lots of ground against others. If you are a heavier rider you will probably hit higher than that even if it's for short distances. I've now bought a Wahoo Kickr. More expensive but we'll worth it.
Didgy2, i have a tacx flow and its been faultless for 2 years but i agree about the limited watts. Does it really affect the gameplay? I always thought once you got past the limit it went to virtual power curve. On strava it has registered 867w which i assume it took from zwift log. I am not really sure though but it would be nice to know although i am planning to get a kickr core when its released.
Well I am officially well in to Zwift! Having spent the last year lurching from one catastrophe to another and slowly going from around 98kg to 107kg and even the impetus provided the corpulent collective to try and keep me trim I have finally got a bit of a regime going.
Finally cleared the garage so have an Apple TV box (4k one - brilliant Zwift solution, was using my iPad but this is just less faff), old 32" TV and my trusty Kinetic Road Machine Smart 2 in there (honestly - for the money I don't think you can beat the Road Machine - ok its not smart smart but it works supremely well) and am hitting Zwift 3 or 4 times a week currently and thoroughly enjoying the Academy to get me going.
Have done one race but with an FTP that equates to about 1.4 w/kg I am in no danger of winning anything yet but it's still fun and I'm happy just pootling around trying to get the kilometres in and the power up.
Then there's the rat's nest of various fitness apps trying to talk to each other with the end data all somehow ending up in Sporttracks - god they don't make it easy do they?! MFP, Garmin Connect, Strava, Fitbit, Zwift all somehow eventually feeding the data between one an other and then in to ST. Can't wait for the Kinetic inRide v3 to come out so it'll send power data straight to my Elemnt Bolt or Fenix 5 so I can simplify the number of apps trying to keep each other happy.
you lot have had a stay of execution - I was going to renew my zwift for September and resume my utter domination* of the whole scene** but the weather's turned nice again so I'm still out humiliating*** actual people
* mildly competitive involvement
** "bottom of B"
*** how would you feel if you had a sweaty old man sucking your wheel for miles on end ?
Scaredypants - that gives me enough time to get rid of my pot belly thats developed over the last 6 weeks while looking after the kids. I will then look forward to watching you disappear off up the hill. Battle of the B’s on the horizon.
Have done the trial on zwift android on my galaxy tab s2. Works great though need to get hr minitor to link, i've been told to use zwift companion on phine but will need an android phone first.
Did a short race up the volcano and thought i was going to fall off the bike at one point managed 24th out of 32.
Also had a ride up the radio tower, tough but when ploddin in a rythum not to bad but would hate to race it.
My problem is at 100kg i need big'ish number to stay competative i can probably loose a max of 5-10kg so that means training to get stronger. Is will power available as DLC?
that gives me enough time to get rid of my pot belly thats developed over the last 6 weeks while looking after the kids
2 easy clicks !! 😉
I know theres a lot more important things to be concerned about ... but .. how can I change the flag that is showing on zwiftpower back to my Welsh flag and not the Zwifterland one?
Have purchased a Tacx Flow second hand to give zwifting a go. Don't pick up until the weekend though
I have got an ipad and a laptop. I was just going to use the ipad but as this isn't Ant+ I assume I will have to use the laptop so that I can connect HRM and cadence sensor (both Garmin)? If so I can pick up an Ant+ sensor on Amazon.
Also if I use Zwift will this just upload directly to my Strava account? I like to keep a track of all miles etc on there so it would be useful if it did but reading dannybgoode's post above it looks like I might need a myriad of apps to get it to work.
Like dannybgoode due to a rather high starting weight my FTP is going to be in the 1 - 2 region but it is all going to help especially when the mrs is out of an evening and I am looking after the little ones.
Zwift will upload to Strava if you allow that option.
I had to get a wahoo HRM to pair with zwift.
For an extra £100, I would suggest upgrading to an Apple 4TV to run it on ... much better and easier.
Good thing about zwift is no matter your weight per kilo output you categorise with others pushing out the same, so no getting disheartened losing the wheel of the weight-dopers in the first 5k.
Good luck.
ps.
Zwiftpower is a must too; its racing innit !!
I know theres a lot more important things to be concerned about … but .. how can I change the flag that is showing on zwiftpower back to my Welsh flag and not the Zwifterland one?
If you go to:
https://my.zwift.com/profile/edit
Log into your account and there's a flag selection menu. Just choose Wales and you're sorted.
I wore out the drve belt on my Kickr 🙁
On the tacx flow and the apparently limited watts - I have one and it shows well over 800 - IIRC my max has been well over 1000. Have you updated the firmware as I have a vague recollection that newer versions removed the 800w limit
Robbo - the flow does bluetooth so you can connect via that to your ipad - I did that with my iphone when starting out and still use BT via the Zwift companion app on iphone. I got a dual bluetooth/ant HRM from Amazon for about £20 (CooSpo is the brand) which also works perfectly.
Er sorry, read your post properly now robbo. The flow will do cadence and power/speed via bluetooth (seems accurate enough to me though some say the cadence isn't so good).
If your HRM is ant+ then yes, you'd need to do it via your laptop and a dongle but I'd suggest just getting the bluetooth HRM is you want to use your ipad or just have the option of using both (as the laptop will do bluetooth of course)
And ref Strava, it's very simple - in fact I think that's the only thing I have linked to Zwift now. Link your strava account at zwift.com and then finish ride in Zwift and it automatically uploads to Strava as a 'virtual ride' - counts towards challenges but can be separated out from real riding if you want
And ref FTP, I started off from a low base (1.4W/kg IIRC but I'm still big) and now up to about 2.8 so good progress quite quickly. Just need to shift lard now and I'll start to fly up those climbs 🙂
And I found even at <2.0 that there were plenty of people to ride against in races/events - sure lots of D category riders are pushing out numbers that are well over the official range but just ignore those.
Cheers for the responses! Should be up and running at the weekend!
'Enjoy' 🙂
I hated turbos until I got Zwift. It's made a huge difference for me - gone from slowest to one of the fastest in my mtb group and more importantly means real rides are so much more enjoyable as I'm not constantly struggling.
Make sure you download the Tacx utility app and update the firmware and calibrate.
I checked and I've got loads of power results over 800w - I can do around 2000 in a sprint
And finally, the Flow casing can get unclipped if you knock it (with a foot when knackered IME...) after which it makes a loud rubbing/squeal/grinding noise. It just needs clipping back together and it's fine again.
So I finally picked up my Kickr. As I mentioned above I have been on the Tacx Flow since finding Zwift.
I have found the Kickr to be vastly better for racing. The smoothness of the peddling, the instant response when you put power down and the reading of higher watts.
I loved the Tacx Flow and if it wasn't for breaking 2 of them I would probably still be on it. Problems I found (for me anyway) was it only read a maximum watt in a sprint of around 800 watts give or take a little. My first race on the Kickr resulted in a sprint. I hit 1100 watts and was able to hold 12wkg for the 15secs to the line. I had pulled a good gap on the others even with them in orange numbers, so I know the Flow was not reading my peak power correct.
The second issue I found with the Flow was delayed response. Again this may have just been my trainer but if someone attacked on the flat or a hill I would hit the power to latch on or chase but there was at least 3 seconds delay before the avatar reacted on the screen. This means dropping the wheel or draft or worse getting dropped off the group. The Kickr is instant reaction. I no longer have to guess or in a sprint anticipate when someone is going to launch like I had to before.
Overall the Kickr is just smoother pedal stroke. I have found I can draft much better and hold position rather than sometimes on the Flow I would be at the front, ease off slightly and suddenly be towards the back and have to pedal like mad to stay in. On the Kickr it's so much easier to just hold position without the yoyo-ing.
Anyway, I like the Flow and it got me from a D cat to A cat this summer but if you like Zwift racing and want to make it as "easy" (you still have to put the watts in) as possible then a direct trainer for me is much better.
Nemesis - 2000W, wow really? not on the Flow i'm sure of that. That is pro level (but by no means the highest) track sprinting power. For reference the highest road racing power in a sprint last year was Andre Greipel at 1600w peak power and 1200w average for the 12 second sprint. I understand that is at the end of a long race etc but Cavendish's highest even in training is 1480w (but he can sustain high level for quite a while)
Didgy2 , thanks for that write up as that is exactly my current experience with the Flow. Mine has been faultless but the delay and limited watts is a factor for sure. I think its a great turbo and an ideal one for starting zwift with particularly at its price point but it does have a limit. I am looking forward to getting a kckr and being able to compete in sprints, i think at my weight and the limited watts,orange numbers very rarely show up using the Flow.
On another note i did stage 1 of Innsbruck tour today and its a double hill brute. Thankfully it was my recovery day today so didnt quite turn myself inside out. I decided to go easy off the line (495 registered for the race) and then see how many places i could pick up on the kom if i rode tempo at close to ftp. I hit the first hill in 95th place and by the top i was in 24th! I think a few dropped out but it is an awful climb. What was a shock though was that even though i wasnt at full tilt racing i ended up only 20s slower than my time from last week which was vomit inducing effort, i guess that shows that you do get a draft uphill on zwift. I ended up 22nd overall i think but i believe that might have been unregistered users ahead of me as i then just slowed the pace right down for the second climb.
Damn shitty companion app. Didn't register me on the event properly so missed the race start. Why cannot they not remove the stupid same network restriction! Stuck now with only a training ride till 9pm!
what does ^ that mean nixie ? Have they stopped you picking events from the app - used to be the only sensible way
Tried to do Stage 1 of Innsbruck. Ouch! Made it a couple of km up the climb for the second time and then bombed.
Ah well. Still doing so much more training than before and it was certainly a work out I can feel now!
Will concentrate on finishing the Academy instead. Didn’t like the Innsbruck kit particularly anyway 🙂
No you can still pick from the app. Just for some reason I joined via app and was getting notifications about it but the game itself didn't let me join the event. I managed to join a later one though. It might have been a WiFi issue. Hence annoyance that the companion app only works as a game compamion when on the same WiFi network.
Didgy - might have to go back and check on 2000w but I did think I saw that. I'm more of a Hoy build than Froome mind...
I definitely had it on 1100 as I have a screenshot of that coming down from the radio mast and hitting 100kph.
But I'm sure you're right about more expensive trainers being better in terms of response, etc though you have to weigh that against cost and whether most people will benefit so much. For me at least racing is just a way to jazz up training - I don't really care about the results per se so if the flow makes racing more difficult I don't really care. I can see how you could get into racing on Zwift as a thing though at which point investing in a better trainer would be worthwhile.
If I zwift using a power tap wheel and ant+ dongle from gamin, I assume it won't adjust resistance etc for hills and drafting as a smart turbo does, how will that work for races etc?
So after my earlier annoyance I did a lap of the UCI circuit up the big hill at a steady pace. I still had the desire to race though so half way up I signed up for four laps.of the Innsbruck ring. 25km and the big hill probably wasn't the best prep for four hard laps!
So lap one started fairly steady. Till the hill that is when the As tried to break away. I dropped a few seconds back but managed to haul myself back onto them soon after the sprint. Was so tired though as we went into lap two. It was a rinse and repeat as the lead pace allowed the following group to catch up. Once again the As went on the hill, I nearly kept up but just couldn't get onto their wheels over the top and off they sailed. I ended up with one ambitiously rated C until a few caught up to make a group of six.
Things stayed this way till the last time up the climb with the odd probe at the front. One rider was doing most of the pulling with the rest of us sitting back. My plan was to go big on the hill and gap them as I was sure I was stronger there. So nearly worked as the two of us pulled clean away but I only got a 2s lead on him. With the earlier hill climb and lap one effort that was never going to be enough and he caught me with 1km to go. I could stay on his wheel but the gap opened quickly as the power levels rose. No sprint needed on his part as I was done. 60km and over 600m climbing tonight is the furthest I've been on zwift. To my surprise I get the gold though as they aren't on ZP. https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=84161
Great work and sounds like a cracking race Nixie 🙂
I did a 3 lap Innsburkring yesterday, but didn't have the legs and bailed after lap 2... Need to get back into the 5-2 diet and some less intense riding at the moment. Get the calories down rather than killing myself racing constantly.
Do people use turbo tyres? The second hand turbo I have brought came with one but I don't have a spare wheel to put it on at the moment and I don't want to faf about swapping tyres on the bike I will be using as it is a do it all bike (commuting, weekend rides and now for the turbo). At this stage I cant believe I will be pumping out much power
Yes i do, but i have a spare wheel for it. I turbo on a 29er Parkwood though so i already had a spare wheel for it.