Lots of people aren't registered on Zwiftpower (as I am finding out). Makes it a bit frustrating as you can be in a large field but in ZP there are only 4 of you showing after the race. Most people upload to srava though and the flybys help to give you an indication of where you came and how you performed. Prob more useful than ZP!
The Chop in half an hour. I will be D tonight. Say Hi on your way past....
Good luck mate.... I'm resting today and planning on a KTM ride for lunchtime instead.
Just started my second joyous journey through the 4 week FTP booster this year. If i manage to add another 15W like last time & drop another 5lbs i will have hit my target of a 25% improvement in power to weight, which might actually see me crack the top half of the results sheet in my local cx league.
Since doing some 'proper' structured training i have a new found respect for anyone that has a family & job & still wins bike races.
That was feral. Half of the D's should work in flood defence. There was more sandbagging than there would be on the East coast of the USA.
Just did a 5-lap of the Volcano crit course. It was brutal - large field of what must have been incredibly fit people. Fitter than me anyway. Dropped by the first group at two laps, latched onto the next but then we all got caught by the 3rd group on the road. Had nothing left at the end either. Time for a few days off I think.
Lol and lol. Both made me laugh there.
Sweet baby Jesus, what did I do that for?!
Put the kids to bed and the only race in the next hour was the WBR Friday 13th race. 57k, 13 laps of the volcano crit course. My legs weren't feeling the freshest but ended up in the front group, went off the front a couple of times but it's kinda hard to get your head round a breakaway with 40k to go. This Dutch guy was looking really bloody strong, Bob Stolk. I was thinking that we'd wait til there were ~3 laps to go then have a dart off the front and see if we could stay away. Best made plans and all that, we went off the front with about 7 to go. We had 4 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds. Bugger, looks like this might stick but we're both going to have to work bloomin hard.
Turns out, he's a bit of a unit at 85KG, and averaged 372W for 1:17 😮 I was struggling to hold his wheel for the last two laps but thought I might have enough in the tank for a little sprint but went too early, i got about 12M on him but he pulled it back and did me by 0.33s!
I am now KOM on the 13 laps of the volcano strava segment haha 😀
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=86739
That's a massive effort. I shied sway from a 7 lap race as I thought it too much! So a 13 is epic.
Bloody virgin media won't connect to zwift tonight.
Did the first base race again tonight. Similar course and distance to last weeks so makes for a decent comparison to a week ago.
There was about 20 or so riders in the field. There was also another STW rider - skywalker?
I tried to keep up with the lead group but failed miserably. I then dropped back and rode with another rider for a bit but they eventually got the better of me and I was about 30 seconds ahead of another group. They caught me but then I managed to get away with another rider from that group, he was able to drop me but I managed to stretch out my lead from the last group to about 50 seconds.
I ended up getting a PR on the final sprint
Numbers wise I was up 0.1w/kg on last week and all numbers increased. My HR was also the lowest average of the 4 races I have taken part in so far so hopefully that indicates some fitness gains. My power numbers seem OK so a decent weight loss should see me be a lot more competitive. Just got to keep going.
Innsbruck KISS race for me tonight - up over the hill, should be tough and a completely different kind of race I suspect!
Nice one Robbo. Keep up the work !
I'm trying out the new Scott today on the turbo for the 10:15am short race assuming my meeting has finished by then. Intersted to see how it rides/works.
Wonder how long it is going to take me tonight to complete the course!
Managed box hill in 11 minutes. This climb is about 1 mile longer and a lot tougher so guess it could be 25 minutes for each climb! I was able to manage to hover just below 300w for the climb but don't think I could maintain it for the whole thing.
I am going to let others go if they rush of at the beginning - for me the challenge tonight is completing the course if I manage to catch anyone on the climb that is a bonus!
Did the Kiss EU wake up C race this morning - 1 lap of the lutscher /lollipop course so I thought I'd have time since it started a bit late for me (5:55) given school run, etc
Race start was fine - a few Cs shot off but I got in a good group of Cs and Ds. The climb was a grind as it should be, managed to drop most of my group in the last third or so as it gets flatter. My lard means I then gained a load of time on the decent and then... It took me up the climb again. Hadn't looked properly at the route and had assumed it was just back to the main, flat start / finish. Muppet.
Didn't have time for another ascent (and had done my legs in assuming it was just one ascent) so just let it there. Need to find some shorter one lap races that start about 5:30.
robbo - FYI at around 2.7w/kg I do the innsbruck climb (the one where you turn left to start the climb) in around 30 mins which is a bit quicker than the Watopia epic kom for me
Ouch nemesis sounds tough! The Mrs is out tonight so no hurry - will just do what I can. The climb is categorised as a CAT 2 so may struggle with the second ascent but it is all good exercise! Wonder how many will turn up to the race as it is such a tough course.
Bit of a daft race that one... Was trying out the new bike, which went well... but the Cats were ridiculous. The other Cs didn't drop below 3.5w/kg and were showing at the end with the Cs ahead of me averaging 4w/kg ! I mean seriously ! Times and segments were good... but i spent most of the race sitting on some other blokes wheel. He was trundling along at 3.6w/kg average, so what the hell.... just sat on him to the end. It was a great start to the race, but wasn't my best time ever for the 2 laps.
Rest day tomorrow as up at Silverstone.
I actually find climbs easier. Well not easier but I generate power better on them. I struggle to get a good, consistent, high power output on the flat. Haven't quite worked that out yet - on the flat I like to spin and I think I generate power better at lower revs like when climbing.
In other news I've seen that I generate more power than Adrian Timmis. Trouble is that he literally weighs half of me 🙁
Holy ebikes that was a fast race. 3 laps of Innsbruck with a massive field made for a rapid race. I simply cannot get my head round how quick the A group goes up that hill. I was leading the race at the foot of the hill so nailed it to the top with an avg of 527 watts! and i still got dropped like a brick. I ended up in the second group on the road wich was a mix of A and us lead B riders the next 2 laps required a 500w avg up the hill to stay intouch. I was in the bunch sprint finish but didnt really have any power left so it was a very one pace sprint for the line. I ended up 4th in B and only 0.93s behind the winner. The overall winner of the race beat us by 2 mins!
527 watts! 😯
What Scott is it Weeksy?
Nemesis - it was brutal, i was nearly in full sprint mode for the duration of the hill and still got left behind. I do weigh 79kg but still it disheartening getting dropped when you are sprinting up a hill.
edit: suffice to say it was a pr up that bloody hill.
Suspect there's some serious weight doping going on...
So what time in the climb did that get you?
Good work blader.
Nemesis - I am with you finding it easier on the hills. Being a portly person when I haven't actually got to drag my mass up a (real) hill I find I am able to generate power better which I thin translates into better performance on hills with Zwift than I would manage in real life. Going up Box Hill at the weekend I was overtaking a lot of people which surprised me but like you suggest I can put a lot of power down on hills but sometimes on the flat I find myself spinning along at 160w. That also seems to be when I drift of on races as well.
According to strava, Kleiner Hugel segment (aka that bloody hill) was done in 51s,avg 19.8mph, avg 527w, hr avg 171.
51s! 😯 😉
Some big efforts going on there. Well done all.
@blader1611 That sort of speed up the "small hill" does seem to be standard for leading B. My best effort @53s has pretty much the same power and I distinctly remember it getting all too like a sprint on every lap. Is it just me or does it steepen just before the top
@roboo1234biking Just beware you are going up the hill twice in that event. It finished at the top the second time. Like you I did initially find I could climb quite well. I find it easier to get a sustainable rhythm around 65rpm out of the saddle. Been working hard of spin climbing as well recently as it can be less tiring on the muscles. Remember though your game weight does have an impact on your climbing so your are still in effect dragging your mass up the hill. I think the climb segment is called 'Tacx T2058.94 2018 World Championship Innsbruck - Main Climb' on strava. Seems to start immediately after turning left once over the motorway. Took me 21mins flat out (327W avg) and 24mins (274W avg) when trying to keep the heart rate down. Obviosuly your going the other way tonight but should give you an idea of how long it will take.
I'm going to attempt to get onto the 7.40 Wahooligan series event again (assuming child cooperation) on the not so fun 'Greatest London Flat' course. Not much in the way of hills tonight then. If not I'll be targeting the same KISS race.
Point to note on Zwift segments in strava is that the 'Zwift insider verified' ones are the best to use ime as they're pretty spot on compared to the in game timings. Others like the tacx ones I've found aren't consistently the same.
Good point, I didn't see a verified one in my strava feed for just the climb. Only appears to be one for the whole course.
What Scott is it Weeksy?
Scott CX bike with 28 Conti GP4000s fitted for now.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-bike-day-crosshair-special-scott-speedster-10-cx/
@nixie yeh I realise that the game will slow me down but in terms of real life tiredness in comparison to climbing it in the game I think the game is easier it is just the speed that is adjusted. This is prob because I hav a tacx flow which tops out at 6% so you find a nice consistent rhythm and the avatar just adjusts speed according to the gradient there after. So you don't get the real life tiring that you would get. Apparently going up this side it is tougher as this is the steeper side! Looking forward to a mountain top finish though! 🙂
Got back on it last night for the first time since about March and was well and truly wiped out. I didn't adjust my FTP, then went straight into an hour long training session. FTP has now been scaled back in a bit until I go through a proper build up again!
@nixie regarding the waholigan tonight I believe it's a time trial, so a full honest ride without people sitting in all race 😊
My PR on the innsbruckring "little" hill is 48 seconds. For me as an A rider is probably 95 % flat out sprint. My average was 7.6 wkg and although I have been dropped many times on this hill I did stay in the group in this race...until we crested the top and I eased off, only for the group to keep going hard down the other side. I had nothing left so ended up joining the group behind anyway 😂 48s puts me 248th out of 66000 on strava so I would say your 50-52 seconds is still bloody good going 👍
For reference I'm 65kg, best time up Tacx T2058 was 19:18 @ 304w avg (4.7wkg) with the second lap dropping to 21:00 dead.
7.6w/kg... i think i'd have to weigh about 35kg for that !
Just realised that 'that bloody hill' isn't the innsbruck big climb 😳
Suddenly 527w makes sense. I'm not a million miles off that, just weigh a good bit more...
LOL 527w up the long one, hell that's up in Froome territory surely?
Well, exactly!
@didgy2 damn I'm going to suck then! Where do they publish that it is a TT?
I've also noticed that many do not slack off on the little hill after the top. You think you;ve stayed on when suddenly they are 10s down the road. Same for the short lump before the second half of the descent.
@nemesis 😀 527W up the monster hill would be quite something!
At 90 Kg I despair at the W/kg you lot put out. Yes i could loose a bit but I am never going to be in contention.
Back to trials if I were not afraid of the falls at my age.
Bugger..................
I know! I can do 310 up it, probably a bit more if I really buried myself and I'm not particularly fit and given I used to row and am well aware of the kinds of power figures that similarly big guys can do, I could sort of rationalise it but not at less than 80kg..
90kg? Lightweight 😉
By my reckoning at 2.7 w/kg I can get good racing mid pack without obviously troubling the leader board
As to losing time at the top of hills, that's just experience - always plan to go at least bit beyond the top of a climb before slacking if you have to - at least that way you're at speed when freewheeling
Just looked at that Tacx climb and my best is 20:16 which is avg 325w. My box hill best is 6:31 so not too bad for nearly 80kg.
I dream of 80kg.
Arguably after a summer of BBQ, beers and croissants I should up my Zwift weight by 4kg, but I can't bring myself to do so. Plus the fact I'm working to get it down now too.
Weeksy i hear ya, i reckon i am about 82 kg although having done over 350 miles in the last fortnight i reckon i might be closer to 80. I havent weighed myself in 7 years and even then i only had that done at hospital before a major op. I am going to do a hilly race one of these days and put my weight down to 60kg to see what happens. Its last stage of tour of Innsbruck tomorrow and its a killer with over 3000ft of climbing so might be an ideal time for a major weight loss!
On another note i am itching to buy the kickr core but my sensible head has told me to wait till xmas so that i can off set the cost a little with gift vouchers and the slim chance that it might have a bit of discount. Also if there are any issues with the first batch (they are not tacx/garmin so unlikely) then they might get addressed by xmas.
After making good progress down to 78Kg I think I'm back at or over 80Kg again. Beer and way too many double cake days have caught up again. Like you weeksy I can;t quite bring myself to change my profile weight.
Just checked all my segments on zwift power (only just found this), the tacx climb i have actually done in 20:07,avg 335w, avg 4.3w/kg. The reverse is exactly the same stats but time is 18:41 and that was done last week. Box hill i avgd 378w, 4.8w/kg and in that race i still got whooped by over 30s.
Well that hurt. Entered first proper race - the SZR iTT UCI Innsbruck and successfully concluded I still have a LOT of work to do. I suspect I finished last and was probably only averaging 1.6w/kg and nearly blew toward the end but I finished and it was (sort of) fun.
Was a very lonely ride - had someone who was always about 500m up the road but just couldn’t get across to them so enjoyed the view instead :).
Can definitely see myself entering more though...
I only happened to read a comment by one if the organisers if waholigan races that it was all on TT bikes tonight. That was on their Facebook group.
All round great climbing by the sound of it from everyone 💪
Dannybgood, was that an idividual time trial (ITT)? If you do some normal races you can draft etc and is much more fun when you have others around you
Danny - I was about 1.6 when I started just under a year ago. I made rapid progress into the mid 2s and that gives you a lot more people to ride with/against in races
If you do some normal races you can draft etc and is much more fun when you have others around you
No it was a group race but on TT bikes. I did another group race as part of the Academy and I found again I was just in no mans land between the person in front and then someone 1km or so back.
I’m just not fit enough to hang on to a bunch yet but then it’s only in the last month I’ve really looked to train so it’ll take time.
Damn I came (B) second in a TT! Nearly got first as well. I'm so f##cked! Unsurprisingly got a a FTP boost to 325 (I think). Was quite a way back at 3k but took the lead at half way. Lead then alternated between a group of five of us. I pulled a gap on the Surrey foot hills which only one managed to bridge. We stayed together to the end. He was 3s ahead at the Mall turning point, I was almost on his wheel at 200m and dispite being able to put out more power I couldn't keep it up. Happy with the result though.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=87820
@robbo1234biking - I’m ‘skywalker’. That KISS race was my first zwift ride after suspending my account in May, to ride in rl through the summer (in fact I did bugger all). But I was nearing the top end of group C when I stopped zwift in May, so did the group D KISS race last night to benchmark myself for the coming months.
At the start of the race I launched out the blocks, forgetting the first lap was the warm-up! I saw ‘r.b. (Stw) and wondered who it was, so good to make that connection. You held on for a bit but then eventually we formed a break-away of about five riders.
To give you an idea of what it was like in the lead group, we were pushing out between 2.2-2.9 w/kg on average. I led a lot of the time at around 2.9-3, but eased back to control the pace a bit more. I was pleased that I hadn’t lost much power since May, but I definitely noticed a loss in stamina as I was flagging by the second half of the second lap.
In the last half a lap, someone jumped and pulled away, at over 3.5 w/kg, to get a lead of 20ish seconds but we eventually reeled the rider in. Then ‘Trigo’ (?) broke away at well over 4 w/kg and won by quite a big margin. I came in around 5/6th and noticed the peloton were about 3 minutes down on us. Suffice to say I’ll be moving up to group C now I know where my fitness is.
@nemesis, how are you creating 7 w/kg? I heard a podcast (think it was a TrainerRoad episode), where it was mentioned that 5 w/kg is around pro level in real world and that a fully doped up Armstrong would’ve been doing 7 w/kg. Looking at the power charts, that would make sense for 1 min and 5 min thresholds. Were you pushing 7 for shorter bursts?
https://cyclingtips.com/2017/06/just-how-good-are-male-pro-road-cyclists/
Not sure you mean me unless you're talking a sprint in which case of course that's quite possible. Or you misread 2.7
Damn looks like I bust the power boundary and got DQed :(. Now wish I had put my weight back up as would have just snuck under.
@Dannybgood that is still a time trial as you get NO draft on the TT bikes. 😉
Robbo, when we were talking earlier about 7 wkg we were talking about sprinting (or very short hills) and 7wkg isn't that high for A Cats. Some are 14wkg up there and 22 wkg was hit in the CVR finals
When they talk about the pros having 5wkg they are usually talking about their average when on a mountain stage. On flat stages the GC guys can be as low as 3wkg average if you take out the last 10km.
I can hold 5 wkg for around 20 mins on a climb but my average for a ride would be 2.5 - 3 usually.
Watched a bit of the live streaming and looked hard, as a light-ish rider flat time trials are too hard for me as I just don't have the high watts required.
Well done all who raced today though 👍
No it was a group race but on TT bikes.
I’m just not fit enough to hang on to a bunch yet but then it’s only in the last month I’ve really looked to train so it’ll take time
The point didgy2 was making is that you get zero drafting benefit on a TT bike in zwift. You can race directly against somebody but you can't "sit in" - your required effort would be the same as if you were in front of them
I quite like their TTs - as I'm tactically naive and also shit at the positioning for drafting
(weather on the turn; looks like I'll soon be finding out what the summer outdoors has done for/to me)
Edit: Eh?? that last post from didgy wasn't there "a minute ago" - or did I black out while typing mine ?
I think whether I *could* get a draft or not is a moot point. I was a at least 500m away from the nearest rider at all times. An average of 1.6w/kg just isn’t enough to keep up even in most Cat D races.
But, the weight is coming down and the power going up (I’ve already improved my ftp by 25 Watts in 3 weeks or so) so I’ll get there 🙂
Well I managed it! The course was pretty tough covering the climb twice. The worst bit was that the climb was part of the warm up so it started as you go over the KOM meaning that the warm up was about 45 minutes!
I knew I wasn't going to keep up on this climb so instead of rushing out of the blocks I just let the other riders go other and settled into my own rhythm at about 250W. Then the climb started. The first time up it I managed an average of 263W for a time of 32.45 (2.3 W/kg). The previous highest that I have managed was 1.9 W/Kg so this was a good improvement for me.
I caught a guy up in front at the end of the downhill section, but he gapped me by about 8 seconds on the climb up. I managed to bridge across to him about half way up and then went ahead briefly but he was able to come back at me and he ended up crossing the line 8 seconds in front of me. A few of the Cat D riders dropped out after the first climb so I was just happy to have done it twice! Second time up I did it in 35 mins at 243W average so still decent numbers (apart from my weight dragging me back!)
After the race Zwift informed me that my FTP had gone from 224 to 256 so that is a significant improvement. As I mentioned on an earlier post though it is easier for me to generate power on a slope than it is on the flat.
Final results on Zwift power show me as having achieved an average of 2.1 W/kg so a good improvement already considering I have only been at it for just over a week.
I am going to do the BRT Criterium on Thursday at 19:20 (6 laps of Richmond Flat). Rest day today I think. Was going to do a recovery commute but the wind doesn't look favourable later on!
Top write up mate. Well done on the increases.
Richmond, hmmm. Cool. I'll take today off then I rekon.
Good effort Rob. That's a decent power increase, especially since it's a long sustained effort. I do like the hill events.
I've been upgraded to A in my TT so instead of second I'm mid pack at 26th. Annoyingly the guy who finished ahead of me is 5kg heavier so sneaks into the results. The race leaves me a little confused. In can't always stay with As or lead Bs in races but in a TT I get upgraded. Not sure now if I should keep racing B or rank up.
Nice going Robbo, great effort. Wont be long till you are filling the stw trophy cabinet.
Nixie - thats a great result and some very impressive numbers. Congrats also for getting on my list of people to avoid in a race 😀
well i have woken up a bit under the weather but i have to complete the tour. As its not a race i am going to experiment and drop my weight to 63kg to see if i can notice any difference. Its all the hills in Innsbruck so lots of climbing, not looking forward to it.
At 63kg you should float up :).
Amazing and hilarious is what i would call that ride. Did the weight doping and put myself down to 140 pounds so i guess around 63kg. I beat my pr by over 2 mins and i had plenty left in the tank, in all honesty i could have kept up with the leaders with a big effort. In the end I finished 6th overall and beat people i could never get near by over 4 mins. It was quite ridiculous the difference it made and surprising.
edit: i have put my weight back now.
And that would be why people do it.
Yeh but you aren't get much benefit from it then are you. Surely the point of doing Zwift is to improve your fitness to make riding outside etc more enjoyable especially during the winter months. Its not like winning a Zwift race massively improves your life!
EDIT: Obviously I have never won a race and the first time I do maybe I will become addicted to winning at all costs!
I dont really see the point in doing it as there is nothing to gain, there isnt a prize at the end. Saying that i am still not surprised that people would do it. At the end of the day its just a video game that we use to motivate us to exercise. I guess i am going to have to lose some fat or a limb if i want to climb that quick again. The riders who have to get zada approved, is weight check part of that process?
I think it might be, it's that plus a real world ride with power meter I think.
I also don't see the point. I just wouldn't get the same satisfaction from winning by cheating. The fact it's hard to get there makes it much more rewarding. I want to win but not at all costs. I'll push myself hard enough to throw up but I'm not going to cheat.
I'm going to give it a few more races in B and see what my averages are. If I keep getting really close to A I'll rank up early I think and try to get better. I've got the impression that some As attack just to drop all the Bs so it might even make some races eaiser.
Is the 13:25 calling me on a rest day.... well... a rest day and a Fasting day too LOL... That would be crazy talk... .wouldn't it ?
I’ve got the impression that some As attack just to drop all the Bs so it might even make some races eaiser.
Of course they do... why wouldn't they ? If i'm in a weak C race i do it too... just hit the power to get their HR up and gradually drop 1 rider here, 1 rider there.. Common sense.
Good point. Tactics I've still to get on top of!
<h3></h3>
i did the WBR Innsbruckring 4 lap flat race earlier - and even though it was only a short climb on each lap .. it was tough!
stayed with front group till 3/4 way up climb on 3rd lap ... then lost them all on descent. Just me and an A cat rode together on last lap .. and managed to just about them to finish.
innsbruckring is all tough!
I think Innsbruckenring is my favourite course at the moment.
Being a bit sad I just did a name search in the companion app for 'STW' quite a few peeps came back.
Just finished the WBR UCI World Hilly Race over the UCI short course. I think I need to admit it's time to join A. Unless the last two days have been a fluke. There wasnt a huge field (40 over all classes). The pace start high and stayed high into the hill. After a few minutes climbing it was clear the As were pulling away, but at the same time I was dropping the other Bs. It was a lonely climb, lonely decent and lonely trip to the line. Finished about 1.20 back from the last A but something like 2.30 ahead of the other Bs. This was basically a ITT for me. FTP went up to 328W while the zwift score board suggested 4.1W/kg. Also smashed my time up the climb by about 2 minutes.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=88094
Good work Nixie - catching up with the A's sounds like the next challenge!
328w, nice work sir. You're in a tricky place now in that context. An enviable place to be i have to say, but a tricky one 🙂
Robbo, got your follow request. Maybe you join me in a C group race and see how you fare? Didgby2, thanks for clarification on the wkg. Has anyone here done the zwift Academy or other group training sessions and found an improvement?
Good work Nixie
328w, nice work sir. You’re in a tricky place now in that context.
Thanks, I think there is only one fair thing to do and that's to go play with the big boys in A. The worst that could happen is I end up in a dead zone on my own which is only going to make me stronger :D.
doordonot - cheers for the offer - don't think I am quite there yet. Hoping to the 7.20 Richmond flat tonight (as long as the little one gets to bed on time). I cant seem to do as well on the flat races but will try and rop a grea or too tonight to make more resistance and see if I can generate more power. I was able to generate 260W for 30 minutes the other day so it should be feasible - maybe I just need to try harder!