Good work Weeksy. Isnt zwiftpower going to become more irrelevant and the race results are now listed in the companion app (with all rides not just those on zwiftpower)?
yeah i saw that, i dont much care in honesty in that context, i just want exciting races and thatt was deffo exciting 🙂
Thing is Zwift have shown no interest in any kind of policing of categories. ZP does that, yeah its not perfect but it does work reasonably well. ZP also offers more that Zwift don't, such as leagues. I think the most compelling point is that the KISS super league which Zwift appear to be well behind is being pushed via ZP rather than on a Zwift owned site. For those more interested in the racing ZP is going to be relevant for a while in my view.
From a league context I'd like to see a race series of say 7-10 races, full and complete separation of Cats, so you race as a C against only Cs... Full DQ for over power riders and completely different layouts to suit the fat boys and the light boys. It would mean of course i won't win.... but would be a series worth making time for.
With so many races being all Cats starting together it just screws up the racing as some Cs jump in with the Bs and that's it... race is over.... You then get 1-2 WAY over power limits and it's over again.... It's all a bit screwy.
It's a great idea, but needs work.
How the hell do zwift/turbos work out my cadence so accurately?!!?? its witchcraft I tell thee.
Noticed last night that its a lot more accurate recently. I don't have a cadence sensor but zwift is able to calculate my cadence pretty accurately, even changes in cadence when I slow down/speed up. How does it know, and how does it know I haven't just changed gear?
@weeksy the 3R ultimate racing league is like that, as was the wahoologan last autumn. 7 races of which best 5 count towards league table. Completely separate cat races. Variety of routes (2 laps Richmond long, 2 laps great London flat, Jungle circuit ITT and Volcano flat with volcano climb to finish). Neither of the last two race have been kind on the sprinters and the ITT catches out those who should be a cat higher. Its also very competitive!
@trailwagger my directo has a cadence sensor, it won't be the only one.
Excellent Nixie, will look into that 🙂
Anyone looking for a trainer?
I see SportPursuit is flogging Direto (1, presumably) for £540 - that may be ded cheap or if it isn't, might imply that there'll be bigger bargins soon as the "2" comes fully onstream
@trailwagger If your turbo is measuring power the torque isn't constant all the way round your pedal stroke, so each revolution of the cranks will give two spikes for each full turn. Hence easy enough for the turbo to calculate the cadence from that, which it transmits to Zwift.
decent ride yesterday, 14;40 Park Perimeter, course seems to suit me, highest post christmas wattage, slightly egged on by one of the other riders, motivated me a bit, randomly seemed to take an interest in me after i dragged him round half a lap solo, kept calling me out, we got caught by a small bunch, almost got dropped at one point towards the end of lap 3, had to dig in to get back on, got dropped at the same point on lap 4, solo'd in - 24/119 on the companion app
Sat i did a Tour event, i'd ridden it before but wanted to clock up some KMs with company. Cruised it mostly and then a push up the volcano, set a PR on the volcano climb which was nice.
Sun i was bored at home and snowed in, so saw a mate about to start a 2 hour ride.... Pinged him a Whatsapp to confirm he was in and jumped on with him, we then did a 2 hour event and 65km... So a decent bit of non-competitive Zwifting over the weekend.
Struggling to find a nice event for today.... there's an 8pm race series which i could do as it would be interesting... but 8pm is a bit late for riding.
Cruised it mostly and then a push up the volcano,
You can get off and push on zwift?
You can get off and push on zwift?
The speed i go uphill, you'd be forgiven for thinking that was the case 🙂
Just ticking off my TdZ catch-ups.. managed Stage 1 on Saturday (with heavy legs from riding in / through the snow) and Stage 2 should complete the set this evening.
Not a lot that looks fun today....Could i manage a 50Km race, 6 laps of the Innsbruckring.. Sheesh, i don't know about that....
The rest are just Zwift tours though. But if i can't hold a bunch on the hill etc it could be a very lonely 75 mins.
Started the Norseman Winter Race on Saturday afternoon, cat E (whatever that is) and went off reasonably quickly top 60 or so out of 300.
As we hit the start of the Alpe du Zwift I realised that I was amongst MUCH stronger riders than me and by the third turn about 60 riders had come past me at about 4.5w/kg and I had passed nobody. Really, really demoralising, which meant soon I was struggling to hold 2.5 feeling sorry for myself. Wished I started the hill at the back of the group and picked the odd rider off.
My turbo was chucking out some odd readings too, so that was all I needed to bail after about 40 minutes. I wanted to throw my turbo out the window...
Managed to crack 13 minutes for the Jungle loop on Sunday, but two poor rides really. Snow has melted now so I'm going to get out for a ride in the woods tonight. Need a proper ride 🙂
Hmmm 3 stages of TdZ left, I should have got another one done last night while watching the superbowl.
Stages 6,7 and 8 though... Do i fancy the alpe on top of another 90k or so :S
so anyone doing a race in the next hour or so?
Dead. 54km race, that's 160+ in the last 3 days
The little hill killed me, start of lap 5/6 I knew I was dead. Fell off my group and just held 220-240w for the last 12km
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=144869
Way out of my comfort zone that length race!
just got a 2nd in B (ZP) !! best ever result in B
6pm 3R Watopia Flat Reverse, won by Dan Bigham with 5.1w/kg average and 403w NP - so just an easy spin for him
held onto the front group for a bit, then got dropped and managed to stay with the 2nd group, first split, we caught them, big group 30 riders at least, 14 riders within 1 second of each other, people were playing their aeros too soon, seemed to get mine spot on, steamed through the whole group bar 1, normally find myself going backwards through the group in the last km,
pleasantly pleased,
Nice power and HR!
iamtheresurrection
Subscriber
As we hit the start of the Alpe du Zwift I realised that I was amongst MUCH stronger riders than me and by the third turn about 60 riders had come past me at about 4.5w/kg and I had passed nobody. Really, really demoralising, which meant soon I was struggling to hold 2.5 feeling sorry for myself. Wished I started the hill at the back of the group and picked the odd rider off.
My turbo was chucking out some odd readings too, so that was all I needed to bail after about 40 minutes. I wanted to throw my turbo out the window…
We all been there. Toughest thing to do in that situation is just try and finish.
Decided last minute to do a race tonight. The 7.05pm advertised 27km 3R Gotham Grind Flat Race looked ideal ... turns out it was only 17km though!!
I been feeling washed out and constantly tired the last 2 weeks. So the shorter distance was probably a good thing after all.
As expected for a very short race; it kicked off very fast, and aside from a couple of gentle breathers ... it was fast.
Managed to stay with the front group till 2km to go; just had no strength in legs to kick when they did final attack, and rode in 20 seconds off the front group for 4th B rider ZwiftPower results
It's been over 4 weeks since I was last on zwift - been poorly and busy, then skiing, now busy again
Missing all the derring-do on the pacific ocean. Back in March with some racing hopefully
Wasn't really much happening tonight that caught my eye. Wasn't keen to race in New York and really wanted to do a race with more than about 15 riders. The only one that cam,e close was the Tour de Zwift Stage 8 up and over Box Hill with a second climb and summit finish. Quite like that circuit and with 68 riders entered in the B race I thought I would give it a go. Almost didn't get to start it due to crap internet and constant drop outs on the first lap resulted in me being dropped ever further down the field (It seems for every 5 seconds of lost internet connection you lose about 2 seconds on the road regardless how hard you pedal to compensate). When it settled down a bit I was in a small group of about 10 from 10-20th which I managed to drop most of on the last steep climb and following descent. So when the final climb came around there were 4 of us sat from 10-14th with no chance to catch leaders but far enough ahead of anyone else as not to worry. One guy blew out on the climb and I was just giving everything to hang on to a german lad just ahead. Used a feather on the final corner to get ahead but they other 2 came back at me on the run in to the line. Big gear, pedal like mad for last 100 metres and I took them both just on the line. Almost puked with the effort. HR went to 189 which is unheard of! I also got an FTP increase from 281 - 291 and after the results came in was give 6th in the B race. Happy with that. I was easily the heaviest rider in the top 10 too.
Nice to see more STWers on Zwift.....
I have a bit of an issue with Windows 10 and security settings.
Zwift was running fine up until tonight where I rode my arse off for over an hour, exited, saved to strava in the normal way but nothing.......
....so back to the manual way, documents / zwift / activities..... but the most recent activity in there was Saturdays final stage of the tour, nothing from today. So where is my ride?
Looking at the virus warning it would seem that my firewall has stopped zwift making "Unathorised changes to folder", So what do I need to change to allow my rides to be saved, assume its all to do with my firewall settings that Zwift in the eyes of Windows 10 is no longer a trusted program?
Ignore the above..... think I've found the issue......
That's impressive on all counts farmer, position, HR and power increase.. Awesome stuff !
I'm on a day, maybe2 of rest/recovery meh....
On Sunday morning I did the Epic KOM ride. I realised that I have never done it before so thought that I should give it a go. It wasn't actually that difficult just a long grind between 220 and 240W but the gradients weren't as bad as I was expecting. Once I got to the top I also did the radio tower climb. The gradients are much worse on that one! It also seems a bit pointless as everyone just goes up at 3-5 mph but there doesn't seem to be a reason to go up there. Flew back down as a cool down and luckily just pushed over into Level 12 unlocking Alpe du Zwift. Might be giving that a go at the weekend just to say that I have done it!
Yeah that last section is a proper slog. I guess in the real world you'd do it just to get up and look at the views etc... but in Zwift world that's not significant of course.... So, i dunno.
Yeh I think that the trouble. Other than to say that I have done it I don't think I have any reason to go back up there. I don't think I am going to do a race during the week this week. Going to do a few recovery commutes now the weather has improved and then hopefully do something on Saturday.
You can hit 100kph on the way down from the radio tower extension. It's also useful in races.
LOL you're assuming there i can still pedal after getting to the top 🙂
Zwift crash course required pls, tried reading this thread for tips but it's mainly chat in amongs the info.
Just started using zwift want to get into some of the racing but...
Looking at a few races (knights tomorrow night for example) and it seems they want you to join their strava group. Are some better than others?
It looks like a registration with zwift power is required for the races, worth doing? Just seems like i need to register to whole load of groups etc for racing.
Is there a way to get my Garmin Vivoactive (which i use for HR) to talk to Zwift or the Kickr? Or easier just to get a Wahoo HR monitor?
Does the coloured block in front of a rider when you pass them equate to their category as defined by Zwift?
Lastly, i was riding round new york last night and someone gave me a thumbs up, not entirely sure why or how you do it. Using an iPad for Zwift.
If there is an idiots guide then send me there! Ta
I am not in any Strava groups for the race series. I don't know 'knights' though, not entered any of theirs. You may get more information from Strava/Facebook joining though but it won't stop you from racing if you don't.
Zwiftpower is where you see the results. If you want to be in the results in that context then you need to do it.... however, again, this won't stop you from racing on the day.
The colour is the Cat they've entered, either by clicking in the pre-ride screen or in the Zwift companion App. Techincally you're racing only the people in your C, but genrally you just race whoever is around you.
the thumbs up you get from clicking on their name on the list when riding, the one on right hand side. You can also do it within the Zwift App.
If your running zwift on the laptop with a ant + sensor then you can output your Garmin hr to that. The garmin doesn’t output Bluetooth I don’t think though.
I've not joined any strava groups other than my team one.
Zwift power is essential if you want to view the results in a sensible place (and keep a better track on how your doing).
I think you'll need a bluetooth HRM to talk to your iPad. There are plenty of cheap ones that just work. No need to get a wahoo (I use a decathlon one which will talk to both Ant+ and bluetooth le).
The colour in front of a riders name in an event is their cat yes. There is nothing in front of their avatar which indicates cat.
Ok, thanks. Will sign up to zwift power and sort out an hrm.
The coloured block denotes someone doing a Zwift workout.
ZPower is essential to make racing meaningful (whatever that means in online racing) IMO. Not just for you but other people also as they can then see who they have raced against and the results generally filter out people going over the category limits.
ah that coloured block (the orange hologram screen). If your device is sufficiently powerful enough that block has the other users live data on it from their workout.
Starting to enjoy Zwift a little more now that I've got a laptop that can actually play it at more than 15 FPS, and I reached level 10 yesterday.
Did a race up Alpe du Zwift this evening, came second in B category and quite pleased with result. Was an inch from toppling from the bike at the end; there's something about racing real people that makes you work harder.
So from initially being quite skeptical of the whole thing I'm beginning to really enjoy it. My neighbours still think I'm mad.
Can't see myself on it every time I use the turbo - there's a lot to be said for loading an easy workout on TrainerRoad and just spinning away while watching a crap film.
Incidentally - I only figured out recently that you can ride the off limits areas of Watopia by joining a race or a group ride going through there even if your Zwift level isn't high enough.
You don't have to stay with the group or the race, just leave the event once you're through the barrier.
Was an inch from toppling from the bike at the end; there’s something about racing real people that makes you work harder
You're not the first, nor the last 🙂
Nice result though too.... trophy in B... impressive. We have quite a decent little team at STW i think considering some would believe non of us ride 🙂
Debating the 3:05 climby one today... couldn't be a less appropriate race for me and would likely be using it more for just someone to ride with than pushing myself hard... but part of me doesn't want to see a crappy result on my rankings score lol
But i don't really know.... It seems London is the default today, so could just cruise round the flat for the session, but there's very little to keep you going sometimes unless racing...
This should keep you occupied :0)
https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/gcn/power-climbs-vo2max/
LOL GTF out of here...
That looks evil!
Oh FFS.
Did the race. 1 lap of Innsbruck but the big climb, ok. What it never mentioned was the lead in was also the climb, then we went down and back up a 2nd time. Honestly couldn't face a 2nd go up it like that and called it a day. First time up didn't go too badly actually. But 2nd, bah.
I've started using Zwift this past couple of weeks and fancy having a try at a race but not got any idea what I'm doing!
Can I just pick the appropriate category for my W/Kg, sign up and get on with it?
Is there anything else I need to do or know?
I've seen a couple of things mentioning drafts and double drafts but I've got no idea what they mean.
Is there a Zwift Race idiots guide anywhere?
*sigh*
Just looked on ZwiftPower and I've been excommunicated from B and stuffed into A.
Which isn't great because I consistently end up finishing at the very bottom of the scoreboard. Takes all the fun out of the race.
That's pretty much it yes. Pick it and pedal.
All races start off crazy. Hit the power with 5-6s to go on the countdown and hang on as well as you can. Don't be too tempted to just keep going nuts, but hold a high HR.
The rest comes with practice and time.
If you are not an A rider then do not be too disappointed when you get dropped, they normally (but not always) start all the riders together. I didn't realise that the first time I raced and blew up big time trying to stay with front riders!
That sounds straightforward enough.
No doubt I'll get my arse handed to me but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
notmyrealname
I never really wanted to race on Zwift, been on there a long time but only really used it when the weather was too bad to go out. My kids are finally at an age where I can get on the turbo at 7ish most nights without feeling like there are still 100 jobs to do, and entered a few races now since Jan.
I'm sure there are lots of tactics, I haven't a clue what they are. I just keep trying to keep a wheel of the person in front.
No question I'm working harder now on the turbo than I have ever done before, and enjoying it a lot. I wish I had entered races a long time ago...
Anybody with a kickr or kickr core,does the main unit get quite warm after a session? Just want to make sure this is normal.
I have finally settled on a trainer difficuly setting after some faffing trying to get it right. It seems around 75% is good for me.
Did a sprint test on Tuesday while on a social ride and i managed to break the 1000w barrier. I hit a max of 1031w (previous best on tacx flow was 796w) and i managed 11s at avg 880w which i can assure you felt more like 11 days, that hurt and i am def not a sprinter.
Did a mini crit last night on the volcano circuit. Pace went of very fast but I kept with the main group for the lead in and the first lap. Some C's caught us for the second lap which increased the pace so I just couldn't keep up but kept plugging away sitting in around 5th in the D's. Crossed the line in 19min 30secs so kept the power up for another 30 seconds to give me a 20 minute time as I thought I had done pretty well with my power.
When I left the game zwift increased my FTP from 256 to 269W! That was a pretty good gain and I don't think my FTP has changed since September last year. Pretty happy with that!
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=146269
269W that's a long way from a D matey LOL. That's a race winning C at times, depending on your 30-45min power of course, but 269w is strong for D. Maybe time to think about moving up.
Flaperon
Member
*sigh*Just looked on ZwiftPower and I’ve been excommunicated from B and stuffed into A.
Which isn’t great because I consistently end up finishing at the very bottom of the scoreboard. Takes all the fun out of the race.
Had to check if I hadbt written this ...
Zwift had finally seen sense and dropped me into the B cat ... two races this week; started last nights Chop race in the B, and dropped in the last few Ks ... and they moved me back up to A!!! and still only 3.9kg/w
@weeksy - it is right at the top of a D but I couldn't maintain it for a long race. That is where Zwift only using 20 minute power for FTP is a bit innacurate. So I might be able to compete for the first 20 or 30 minutes at C level I invariably drop off towards the end. That is something to work on though and I am definitely showing some progress which is good.
@mooman there's a calculation on your profile under the ? next to your category. You have to work back your 3 best 20 minuntes @ 95%.
Might give you an idea though. You've probably improved on your worst one to bump you back over the limit as an average.
So who's in for what today ? I'm as usual, struggling to find something i fancy, suits me and a decent sized field.
It may have to be the 12:05 Gotham Grind race i think... Although i have no idea what that layout is yet.
I am doing the mgcc pursuit race but if my legs allow it i might jump on that race weeksy although i may enter as a C and just tag along if i can keep up.
I saw you were 🙂 But i'm not in the same league as your races... Your stats have been impressing me massively mate... every time i see you you've got multiple 50+ minutes per day.
Looking at the layout it should suit me reasonably well.... Legs are a bit stiff today but far from terrible... long warm up today to get the KMs in for the week and then a shortish race... sounds ideal.
I might do the 10pm Innsbruckring race tonight. Little one has football so by the time we get back and have something to eat. Saying that tea is in the slow cooker so the Mrs can have hers and I can wait until after a race.
10pm ! I'll be going to bed about then.
Think I'm going to do the BRT crit at 7.20 as logn as the children comply atbed time!
I’m going to give the 3R LaGuardia race a go at 17:15.
First time racer so it should be an eye opener for me.
Had missed that crit nixie so I might do that. Think 10 laps put me off but they are only 1.7 mile laps.
The pursuit race today was out of this world fast and it had a twist. Riding in my B group today was none other than Mark Cavendish. We had a good bit of banter during the race but it was so fast that texting was difficult. I actually got dropped for the first time in the pursuit rsce, pace was crazy through the ruins and then the A group came through us like we were stood still, it was impressive and shocking how fast they were going. I think Cav stayed with the B group but i think he actually came second! It was hard to tell as i was a minute behind him. Nice of him to join though and have some banter.
I enjoy this thread even tho I've never done a race. I'm in week 7 (of 12) of the Build-me-up Workout. It's 4-5 hours a week so quite a commmittment and I've found myself in a cold shed when I could be in the pub!
It's felt quite easy most of the time. This week tho emphasis has moved from under/over intervals to lots of vo2 max and 115% FTP stuff. After the last one, I still felt okay and had a go up box hill. Really wasn't sure the training was 'working' but was amazed I could hold 3.0kw/kg (which is not much compared to most on here) after an hour of beasting myself doing intervals.
I'm sure it's easy to get power (and HR) with ERG Mode off. Also how much more 'fun' it was with other riders (and DRAFTING..) than just watching the screen for interval stuff. Still I'll stick with it until the end. All these extra kms (done around 750km on Zwift since 1 Jan) have unlocked the aero bike on level 13...
Do enjoy the odd Cat C group ride. Still not sure I want to try racing tho...
@robbo It's a short and easy enough lap (unlike the five laps up to the NY KOM last week!). Double draft though so watch the gaps. It only appeared last night as there were problems getting the event listed for some reason.
I know this is a wee bit off topic but I used to use zwift but I work away from home and the bike in the gym is Ant+ only has there been any more word on the Android version getting Ant+ compatibility?
I could use it at home and not at work but it sort of breaks the flow and I have serious motivation issues with going to the gym after work and think having zwift would help.
I'm tempted by the 7:20 one now too. Don't bank on me turning up though.
@alex I tend to do races when I'm a bit bored of training sessions. Might not be getting the same benefit but mentally I might need it. I do a few then step back again for a while.
Thanks Tom. I've been doing the group rides for that. But I get a bit bored when I think I can try a bit harder (especially on the hills) but I don't want to be one of those who rides away from the group.
What's the easiest/simplest race to join? I expect it entirely depends on what you're good at. I'm pretty rubbish at anything but I'm okay at hills and rubbish at drafting!
That looks like a big BRT fest in C cat... One of my 'zwift enemies' on too, Patch Harvey. There's not many Cs who beat me every time but i don't think i've ever beaten him.
The Zwift first base races on Monday nights are a pretty good place to start but any races are easy to join. Just check the course in Zwiftpower to see what you are facing!
You'll have to get good at drafting (hanging on?) Any really but not the ones with massive hills as you'll find you aren't good at climbing (in comparison) and end up on your own.
Any of the Watopia ones are good IMO. Enough climbing to be interesting.
Pick a race any race. The more riders the more likely you are to get in a pack of similar ability. I'm guessing you'd be a C so don't try and hold the front end out of the start but do go hard and then try and sit in.
That 7:20 one looks good. If you do get dropped a group will be lapping you pretty damn quick to try and tag onto.
Quick question about the races.
For the start does it all do everything automatically when I'm signed up for it so I just need to start pedalling when the flag drops (or whatever start signals they use!)
Start pedalling before the countdown finished. You'll need to be 120% or above FTP when it goes off (or a few seconds before). Expect pain for the first few minutes. Most races settle down by 5 minutes to a more sustainable pace.
Get into the game about 20 mins early if you can to warm up. The main game will give a count down to join the event in the bottom right and there are several prompts which will auto join. I'd not go in later than 2 mins before the start. If its a big event then up to 10 mins early so you are at the front. The companion app will also prompt you to join the event. Easiest way to sign up is via companion app.
Also some races are mixed start (A,B,C,D start together from different pens). Others are your cat only. If mixed cat don't try and hang on to those much faster than you for too long (though this is a useful tactic for pulling you away from the rest of your cat). Try and keep an eye on where the first of you cat is. I think the position you are shown is for your cat only even in mixed starts.
Thanks nixie, sounds pretty straightforward.