You just wanted the 10,000 post!
😋 only realised as I went to edit the first one.
Ah, makes sense if they had been upgraded.
Cheers
Doing the 12.35 London hilly race. Just checked who is logged on and there is a cat d racer at 43kg! That is just over 6 stone - can’t be right!
Could be a child
I did the 10.10 4 laps of the classique today
This time I went for "upper" mid-pack mediocrity :-/ (9th of 30 Bs)
Managed to keep an aero for the final but lost the bunch by a few yards up the "hill". Couldn't decide whether to burn it there to try to catch up or save it. Saved it and did manage to get a few places but you always wonder, right - "could I have been a contender for 6th" ? 😉
Seems il pinguino was in my race too - briefly, that is, until he and some bigger boys left make their own a mile further up the road. As the age-old saying goes, "Who is il pinguino" ?
Not sure, but he's got some pace!
@nixie shouldn’t children be playing gta or call of duty on a Sunday. Not playing at bike racing! 😀
@nixie actually I have too say my little lad sat and ate his lunch whilst watching me race today. It isn’t so encouraging when he says ‘daddy that man is going faster than you can’t you go faster?!’
Probably been asked, and so I apologise now, but, can I used a mountain bike for Zwift?
Would I be horrible disadvantaged?
I have 38-26t on the front and 11-36t on the back, 29er.
38 ain't enough imo. I used a 38 for ages, but have chucked on a 42 I think it is now. I mostly use 2 gears, the smallest 2.
I reckon based on testing the 29er costs me 15-20w on my hour average.
jonzi,
yes, you can but
1) If you use a wheel-on trainer it'll probably slip and will definitely be noisy
2) You'll likely run out of gears if you're pushing hard (probably on either wheel-on or direct - 38's just not very big
If you've already got the trainer, give it a go & see. My bet is you'll end up with a frame rescued from the tip as a trainer bike, using bigger chainrings
... then in January you'll have bought a new road bike in the sales ;-D
Yeah buying a road bike is what I am trying to avoid.
Cheers for the advice, ill have a think.
I run one of these on a 2nd wheel. Tacx big 700(29er) x 32mm. Works perfectly well and is quiet. Only minor issue is the indexing between the two wheels is slightly out, so a bit of a compromise.
I've done the roadie bike on there and it is more effective but it's not as 'nice' for me, so i stick 29er and can't see any reason that will change. It also means my 2nd bike still has a purpose, for example i'm using it today to drop the car off for some work... I wouldn't have taken the roadie if i'd had one...
Only other downside is i have a pair of super duper Fox Forks in the 29er turbo bike which seems excessive 😀
I run an 26" MTB in a wheel off trainer so the wheel size is inconsequential. It has a 42 or 44 on it and rarely use the 11 cog. Never got anywhere near spinning it out in a situation that needs power. Briefly used the road bike on it but didn't do any testing but the difference should be minimal.
hopefully they have lockout 😂Only other downside is i have a pair of super duper Fox Forks in the 29er turbo bike which seems excessive
I run an 26″ MTB in a wheel off trainer so the wheel size is inconsequential. It has a 42 or 44 on it and rarely use the 11 cog. Never got anywhere near spinning it out in a situation that needs power.
That's a good use of an old MTB. I never use the drops on my road bike (using that as I had it and never ride it outside).
Surprised by those of you using only 38, 42 or 44t rings! You must be spinning like nutters. I'm about to fit a 53 to mine as often find myself right down the end of the block even on climbs (currently 52 front), admittedly only at around 65ish RPM. I'm hoping the extra tooth will and a slight bit of extra sprint power.
Hmmm, ZP down for upgrade again, wonder whats coming now.
I'm hoping to join the GGCC race just after 8 tonight. Its London loop up box hill which I've not ridden for months. Will be interesting to see if I've improved.
42T front and a 11 or 12 rear, i'm at 300W and 82-85rpm. If i need more than that, i don't have the legs/lungs anyway
That’s a good use of an old MTB. I never use the drops on my road bike (using that as I had it and never ride it outside).
Shared with my wife so easier for both to swap between. Although most of my riding is road the last few years I'm training for MTB races generally over winter so makes sense for that.
I'm lucky to see 600-700watts in a sprint at the end of a race so not really an issue.
@nixie are you using a power meter or a smart trainer?
Smart trainer, elite direto.
Ah yes of course same as me. You've got a "bit" more power than I do though...
I’m hoping to join the GGCC race just after 8 tonight
I'm thinking the beginners race just before that... C cat and 5 laps, should be ace. I would like to try a full draft race..
Depends on the wifes car as i may have to cycle home.
You’ve got a “bit” more power than I do though…
Not that much more. I've got a tendency to get out of the saddle and grind the climbs out at lower RPM though which forces me in the higher gears.
I would like to try a full draft race..
Just make sure you stay in the draft. Its very, very hard work to get back if you drop even a short way off!
Without sounding too cocky, it's my forte in normal races along with it being only a C race... so i should be ideal for it on that layout.
Yes I'm more of a spinner now. 90-100 RPM average in racing and don't get out of the saddle much on the turbo.
@weeksy DD sounds ideal for you. I didn't really notice it last week but due to the amount of people in the race I was probably in a group I shouldn't have been so DD left me still at the top end of my power. When I lost the group I couldn't get them back and I tried.
which races tend to have DD? Doesn't seem to be any way of id-ing them from the events list unless I'm missing something?
If you look on Zwiftpower there's a little truck icon.
If you're just in the app then it'll have #DoubleDraft in the description.
ta! The Kiss beginners' race @ 8 has it (according to ZP although it's not mentioned in the desc.) so I might have a crack at that just to see what it's like!
Just a quick 1 lapper, thought I'd squeeze it in as a warm up for the 3 lapper.
Had every intension of going easy as it was just a warm up.
1 second in and Chimp brain takes over and f&^k it.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=104797
Then DNF the 3 lapper in the lead out as I was goosed..... Doh!!
Another win for you though big fella! Well done.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=104755
3rd for me today, bloody box hill and fat fellas don't mix!
Thought this might be of interest here. Cheap Tacx fluxes on eBay from Halfords outlet
blimey, that's quite a bargin
Whoops!
Forgot to sign up to the race I was going to do so had a nice 2w/kg want ride. Banged out. 9.5 London sprint so happy with that.
Sure you were signed up at one point as I went looking at the event to see who it was. You were there then weren't there two minutes later.
Yeah, I'd cancelled the double draft flat one and thought I'd signed up for the one you were in, ended up faffing with the gears on my new hard tail and had forgotten to actually sign up
😁 I nearly swapped to the one you were in. T. Cartwright showed up to mine and showed the whole field a clean pair of heels.
I don't get what's happening with ZP power. The in game results gave me a 4.1 w/kg average, so did the ZP results until after I'd finish my extra lap. After that my average had dropped to 3.9w/kg. Does doing extra miles in the same Strava entry confuse ZP?
Race went quite well. Not to crazy from the start with most of the As and loads of Bs grouping up. Box hill had the predictable effect with the fast As breaking off the front around the first switch back. I managed to hold onto the lead As till around then which is better than I've managed before. I then ended up in no man's land between the lead As and a couple about 10s behind. Made the climb harder work than it needed to be but resulted in a PB on the zwift insider segment.
Just over the top the two As behind closed up with me and we descended together. The lead B group was a way back but they had numbers so closed up on the ramp out of the underground. This suited me as I got to hide for a bit and recover. Didn't manage a massive HR drop but was plesantly surprised to be cruzing along breathing wise. Makes a nice change.
Box hill was again the spanner. I kept the pace high from the underground and the group was well strung out by the first corner. Most of the B's were dropping back. I tend to find I get a second wind the stretch between hairpin 1 and two. Keeping the pressure on here whittled the group down to around five who stayed together till the top. Just as it flattens I put in an attack which left one other A and (later to be upgraded) B. We kept the speed up on the descent to clear the group behind. I kicked again out on the ramp out of the underground which dropped the B nicely. The other A had seemed strong all race and I was just expecting to get blown away in the sprint. I went early to try and catch them napping. Seemed to work as there was no response as I powered up.
Came fifth overall which I'm happy with. Was nice to be in a race where I could try things rather than just hanging on. Did a third lap for fun after which resulted in an inpromptu race up box hill again 😁 (childish I know).
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=104869
Well done indeed Nixie.
I don't know what's happening with ZP either. I'm now showing 6th in yesterdys race with a guy at 4.0 average winning C. 🙂
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=104990
That's my kind of race, short, sharp and mostly flat.
Should really have taken B win. Poor tactics from me but the guy who won it was all over the place on power, dropping to 2.0 then 4.5, then 2.0 all in a 5s window, so didn't know how to ride it. Ended up getting the finish all wrong.
Good job Weeksy, nice power there :D.
I've bagged an early pass for tonight so should be in the 7pm GCN Alpe Du Zwift race. A cool 1000 riders signed up at the moment including a fair few big guns (including segment KOM holder L. Messineo at 34:53!!). Must remember to switch to the lightweight bike and maybe time to update by weight to reflect recent losses (76.5Kg last night when dehydrated, around 77kg normally). https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=99711
Wow is Kevin Williams in it ;0)
https://www.strava.com/segments/17267489?filter=overall
https://www.strava.com/activities/1956492486#49300400571
Can’t make that race tonight so just did a solo mission. 2nd time, took 6 mins off previous time but still need another 2ish mins to crack the hour. That was at a “comfortably uncomfortable” pace, I’m sure at race pace I could do it! Is this a regular race or a one-off?
Also did earlier 1 lapper that Weeksy did, managed to stay with lead group until the incline at end of lead in, as per normal got dropped on incline. Eased off a bit after that to ensure no DQ and subsequently got pipped on the line although winner of C not showing on ZP.
Going to give GCN Alpe race a go shortly, only done fire and ice once before and it took 1:55 so hoping for a bit quicker this time.
Well I guess it had to happen. I was riding at the top end of Group C all through the spring and this was my first race since renewing my subscription last week. And boom, I have been bumped up to Group B 🙁
Whereas I would have taken gold in C I have to settle for 12th place in B (though I was still quicker than the only A rider out today lol). Made the mistake of going to soon at the end and then got overtaken with 200 to go. Will have to practice my race-craft, though it is going to be tough now playing with the big boys. I did get a FTP uplift from 276 to 281 as well.....
I do think a large part in the improvement is due to upgrading to a wheel-off turbo trainer bringing improved power transfer and efficiency. Noticed espeically on the hills that there was no energy lost from slippage.
That hurt, lots. 1:10 minutes to complete. I turned everything on early and was that late up to the loft. I think the trainer had gone to sleep as it too ages to pair. First slight hill noticed an issue. No resistance change. Damn stuck in ERG mode! This stuffed the race a bit as I had to spin like a nutter to get the power output. I've hurt both hamstrings and right knee in the process. Came 124th on ZP but 174th on the road. I did however get my alpe PB down to 48minutes and set a PB on every segment but the final one (couldn't sprint with no resistance). On the plus side my breathing rate never seemed that stressed, even with a constant 160bpm heart rate. Seems it is legs holding me back currently.
Well done btw Welsh farmer.
Did the GCN race tonight, totally mad pace from the start. Sprinting like crazy and still drifting back through the bunch, fell to about 250th by the time we reached the big plane. Then the road kicks up with the short steep climb to the bridge and I started to pass some riders including Emma Pooley. Gradually ticked off the riders, giving myself a target of top 100, paced it ok, didn't blow up and finished 86th on Zwift, 73rd on ZP.
Nice work bigfoot.
Thanks nixie, I would not have done that stuck in ERG mode, well done for finishing where you did.
That GCN Fire and Ice was a killer, if there was ever a race that was never going to suit its a slog up the Alpe....
Should have calibrated my trainer / checked tyre pressure before starting as it took me 15 minutes longer up than normal with seemingly considerably more effort.
Thought given the fact I haven't been on the trainer for a couple of weeks I would demote myself to D, which given the slippage issues proved to be the right decision...... maybe time to upgrade to a wheel off trainer!
You fast climbers depress me! Did the GCN race tonight, no time for warm up so I didn't push too hard to get to the foot of the Alpe. I think I was about 520th at the bottom and 480th across the line. I'd set myself a target of an hour for the climb and beat it by 30 seconds. I guess I should be pleased with that but that's the nature of the beast, there is always more!
I need to drop a few kg and up the power a bit over winter. Sprint power is fine but not much use when you are a minute down on the bunch.
Wheel on trainer here too and yeah it slips a bit on the steep stuff. Strangely I don't notice slipping when sprinting despite quite a bit more power. I wonder does it over or underestimate power output in the sprints? (Cyclops magnus)
those talking about getting direct drive trainers, this was posted the other day - belting price !
You crazy people. Impressed you all made it.... That climb is horrific in my world. Sometimes i think about doing it again, but then i come to my senses and get another trophy in a flat race 🙂
Well done Harry too and lyrikal (sub hour is still a good time!).
Hamstrings fortunately feeling a lot better this morning. Supposed to be doing an 8 mile off-road run event of Saturday. Hopefully they recover in time!
If anyone remembers, I did my first zwift race last week. Just checked results again and all those over the w/kg limit have now been DQ so I have been bumped upto 10th overall. Happy with that and now keen to go again.
This was a short race and full on from the gun. If I go for a longer race does the pace reflect this, or will bit full on from the gun again and will I die?
Weirdly the pace doesn't seem to change much. It's still hard off the gun but to an extent does settle down. Can't recall which Cat you were in, but in Cs for example over a 45min race you'll see about 2.5 as the settled pace, but can depend how you get on with the groupings and whether the Bs are in there too. If a few Bs push it along it can be closer to 3w/kg instead...
Some races are easier from the gun. Normally ones with big climbs or the chop style races where you need to work together.
I find the longer C events 45mins to an hour have a lull in the middle after a bonkers start. If another group is catching up a bit I tend to go to the front to make sure the pace is picked back up. Sorry about that :0)
I think the answer is maybe it depends.
Has anyone done any of the training plans?
If so did they make a difference?
I've almost finished the "FTP Builder" and was looking a doing the "Build me up" one next.
Looking for some feedback before I commit to a 12 week programme.
Has anyone done any of the training plans?
If so did they make a difference?
I’ve almost finished the “FTP Builder” and was looking a doing the “Build me up” one next.
Looking for some feedback before I commit to a 12 week programme.
You should be able to answer this yourself surely? Has your FTP gone up since the start of your builder plan?
I want to do a trianing plan but none seem to fit. I might try and put one together then uses zwift races, lunchtime runs and parkrun for some of the sessions.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=105233
Far better a race than the results make you think. Race long battle. We had a random C who was 4.6w/kg all the way, lightweight so not really pulling away. On the end of lap 2 i bridged with an aero to him, -6s .... It was hard and i couldn't hang in... Midway through lap 4 an A went after him again, he was 6s ahead again and i tried to bridge to both him and the A but failed at -2s.... Damn.... It then went to the final 2km and i wasn't quite there compared to the lighter fellas around me. I was however, very pleased i tried to change and dictate the race on my own terms... It felt like i was contributing to my own results more than just waiting for the sprint. Even though it came down to the sprint at the end 🙂
FTP from 285w > 288w.... Good race though 🙂
<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">You should be able to answer this yourself surely? Has your FTP gone up since the start of your builder plan?</span>
I don't know yet, I haven't finished the plan. I'll find out next week when I do my FTP test after a few days rest after finishing the plan at the weekend.
Just interested to hear others experiences, don't want to commit to the 12 week plan and find out at the end it's only made a minimal improvement.
I started out last year on te 12 week FTP thing but there was a lot of sessions based on Zone 2. Like all of them for a few weeks. Too dull and doing other stuff on Zwift was more interesting. So over the first 2 months I did maybe 3 weeks of it and lots of other trainer stuff including races and rides with efforts.
FTP went from 237 to 259 (although retest was a 8min version on TR). Some of that was also IMO just getting used to using the muscles on the trainer but I did rack up a decent amount of time and effort.
I switched to TR after that and followed their Base Plan which is Mostly sweetspot work which is more interesting (ie harder) without being headbanging. That comes later. 6weeks later I was at 267 with the new ramp test they do. That's been stable all year since then without any structure but plenty of efforts along the way indoor and out.
The increase though hasn't just been in FTP but recovering from efforts is far better than it was previously and times up Strava segments are better or just easier to a simlar time. Ended up getting a power meter for outdoors use which will be more useful next year as a measure on how much improvement has been made. Bigger thing about the PM is though I now ride slower in Z2 and harder when I wish to.
Currently on week 5 of the first 6 weeks of base so FTP test soon and am expecting a decent boost if the current sessions are anything to go by. Went off plan last night and rode up Zwift reverse KOM in sweetspot (with some higher effort at the end) and destroyed my best time previously with at least a decent amount of effort to spare. I'm not trying to do threshold for 20minutes though at the moment.
Plan is another 6 weeks of Base then 8weeks of Build on TR and see how the weather and inclination takes me from there as to how much of the speciality phase I stick to.
There are more plans on Zwift than when I looked and I'm sure if you can stick to them they'll be effective. TR is better if you want to plan ahead to an event and go through their 3 different phases.
👍FTP from 285w > 288w
proves that you [I]can[/I] make a gain just by smashing it with no structured training 😀
Second race tonight. Mini crit by wkg.
Joined on d cat. Stayed with the front group of about four riders. One guy out front who held 4.5wkg to the line.
Finished 3rd, but got bumped up to c cat which put me 12th in the cat.
How often do you guys race? I have only done two, but it's like doing an ftp test each time, ie pretty horrible!
Only done two races so far, one a week as I'm also doing a training plan so whenever I get onto zwift I seem to have a workout ready to do. My focus however isn't on racing but on regaining fitness lost through injury for riding outdoors and doing the odd mountain bike race (as a make up the numbers type racer). Did enjoy the zwift races I've done though in a masochistic 'whip me a bit more' fashion, although I finished well off the back of B group (my FTP puts me at the bottom end of the group so not too surprising)
How often do you guys race? I have only done two, but it’s like doing an ftp test each time, ie pretty horrible!
ABout 2-3 a week for me. I commute 2 days and "might" have a cyclocross race on a Sunday so don't do more than that. We do have a couple of folk on here 😉 who race no more than once every hour
It's hard if you go full-on but I quite like that, and the bits where it surges are good (if unstructured) training IMO
I don't zwift unless It's a race
How often do you guys race? I have only done two, but it’s like doing an ftp test each time, ie pretty horrible!
5 days a week average. Horrible ? Nah, nor is it an FTP test.. well, very very rarely. There are lulls there are pushes, rarely a consistent effort. The course can itself dictate many aspects..
Simply though, i enjoy racing and have to force myself to not race every day. Today should be a rest day, but i've already got itchy trigger finger for adding myself to something.
I think race efforts are different depending on where you are in your grade. I am fairly low on the B grade FTP range and if I want to compete then yeah it's a full on FTP effort with the very odd easing off. If it's a hilly race then I'm on the rivets just to stay with some of the C cat riders.
Handicap races like the chop series help. I would also so group rides where there are sprints and mini races in them.
When I do the structured training group rides, although they are hard at the time, when I'm finished I sometimes question if that helped my training as much as a hard race?
I think race efforts are different depending on where you are in your grade. I am fairly low on the B grade FTP range and if I want to compete then yeah it’s a full on FTP effort with the very odd easing off. If it’s a hilly race then I’m on the rivets just to stay with some of the C cat riders.
I can relate to this. If I held back a little last night I would of been top of D cat. Whereas going up into bottom of C means I am at threshold permanently just to hold onto the group.
I'm sure it's explained somewhere in the gazzilion pages here but how does ZwiftPower categorise riders for races? Can I find out if I am D or C for example? Do I have to do a race in D and get DQ'd before I'm officially C?
0-2.49 w/kg is D
2.50-3.19w/kg is C
This is based upon a 20 min average.
Thanks Weeksy. I've seen that but I've raced last year at a bit more than 2.5w/kg as shown on ZP. Probably on the cusp of C/D now so I wanted to see what ZP had me down as. Will I always be a C now even if I'm not at the level at present? I'm just going to do a race and see I think.
I don't think ZP cares in that context mate, it doesn't stop you entering a D race, you just get DQ'd if you breach the limits at the end of it.
We all have the same issues to an extent. I'm a super strong C, i've been on the podium in 15 out of my last 20 races, i have more trophies than i can count LOL. But if i go for B, i'm propping up the back of it, mostly becuase the fast Bs are almost as quick in the first 5 km as the As, so they go off super hard and then blow the B/C fodder away, so then i'm stranded in no-mans land ... Too fast for C, too slow for B. So i go with the fast Cs so i get at the very least a good fun competitive race 🙂
Reckon I just need to crack on then. Want to be mid C by end of winter.
i've been thinking about that and suggest that weight doping is probably one way to handle it. Either way - make yourself heavier/slower and the C will be a challenge, make yourself lighter and have a proper go at B. Might end up doing this a bit as I'm sharing an account with my wife and while we are currently riding in the same band (C), I could probably move out the top end of that. And even though it's just for fun, I'd rather not just get a DQ for every event.
Weight doping is not cool under any circumstances. If your under reporting weight your not having a proper go!
Does that apply to over-reporting weight as I'm thinking of doing?