This thread continues to inspire - well done, those who have lost lots of weight! I feel like I've started "getting on with it" without having to make New Years' resolutions.
Did my first FTP test in years last night - Rubber Glove - and I'd forgotten what it took. My FTP was lower than I'd hoped, and puts me at 2.5W/kg, which I can definitely improve by upping the W and lowering the kg! I also somehow managed to hold about 350W for the last 30s, which makes me wonder if I could have given a few % more throughout the rest of the test.
It's definitely given me a benchmark, and something to train from. What's everyone's experience of the Zwift FTP builder courses? I hope with instant power reporting and a bit of pre-empting, I can manage to get the 10s sprints done properly.
was planning on joining you on this but thwarted by a bug in the iOS app! Instead of London it spawned me on the last map I rode (Watopia). Was wondering why I was sitting on the start line warming up on my own!! 😀 When I restarted the app I saw the course schedule was all black (for Watopia). It wasn't until I removed the app from memory then restarted it that the source schedule was correct and it put me in London. Race had started by then though! Boo!I'll take a slightly early lunch-break today though and jump on the 11.05 KISS Americas C race.
Talk about hanging on grimly for near death, the 2nd Box Hill nearly killed me, i stopped once and lots 2 places but dragged myself back to 2.2w/kg somehow and crept over the top with a 25s lead on the guy behind, hung on for the end.
Was arguably the hardest race i've done. Went off at 3.2w/kg and held that but a group of 10 just left me for dead, putting out 3.6 or so which i just can't do for more than 20s... i was tehn 30s ahead of the guys behind in complete no-where land, no wheels were coming by me at something i could get hold of, so i was just trying to grind out 2.8w/kg for as long as i could. Box hill 1 went pretty well, i held my place in the field, but after that it started to go wrong after Tower Bridge as i was hanging on.... Just made the most of it i can really.
Taking tmomrrow as a rest day... really.. really really.
HAhahaa, my first time up Box hill was 1min 40s quicker than the 2nd try !
Lapw 2 was 3 mins slower than lap1.
Talk about getting the tactics all wrong !
@Toasty- Sorry, I don't understand your comment about calorie apps. I use MFP and just add in a conservative version of my exercise calories from Strava. I aim for 1700 net calories which is BMR - 350. Yesterday for example, I walked for three hours during the day and did 1200 calories on the bike which meant I could trough my way through about 3700 no trouble.
I tried a 500 calorie deficit last year but it left me drained and useless for much else and ultimately contributed to my falling out of love with cycling and putting it all back on again. So I have working on a slow and steady basis since August and most of the days I ride, I actually have to eat more.
Is anyone able to get onto zwiftpower? I've been getting a 404 screen since yesterday. Is there anywhere else that list the races/results?
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Much like crosshair, MFP here and I have cals from exercise sync'd from Training Peaks (which works out cals based on power and duration) which sync's from Garmin connect or Trainer Road (and probably soon Zwift.) And have all that sync'ing with Withings wifi scales for weight tracking. Though it's more a case of maintaining weight here and making sure my diet is well balanced. Works well for me.
Long time lurker of this thread here and was very curious to try.
With this weeks iOS release and no turbo of any sort I'd thought I'd try the very local gym's wattbikes and see if it would hook up using my free 25km.
Great success I'm pleased to pass on to anyone else about to try this method.
Using an iPhone 5s once I initiated a workout on the wattbike screen the power readings were visible on the pairing screen and obviously then paired no problem. Obviously the iPhone was ludicrously small to use but I got the general idea. I'm going to investigate mirroring the iPhone using airplay to an android or windows tablet for use in the gym.
The only downside is it wouldn't pick up my Optical wrist HR which is a Mio fuse. Not sure why. It broadcasts on both ANT + and Bluetooth. Maybe not BLE though. Also couldn't save the ride but maybe that's because I'm not subscribed.
Obviously the Wattbike isn't smart in terms of resistance but I don't see that as much of a problem. I just stuck to a comfortable cadence and increased resistance manually when I found myself going up Box Hill.
I suppose gears on a turbo just flatten the resistance anyway so it's just approaching the effort as if on a bike with infinite gears.
Not sure I'll get a smart trainer just yet but will no doubt subscribe for a bit.
Sorry, I don't understand your comment about calorie apps. I use MFP and just add in a conservative version of my exercise calories from Strava.
Similar sort of numbers here 🙂 Set to lose 1 pound it gives me 2060 calories, so far today I've walked 15000ish steps and I go play squash at 9. This gives me about 3200 calories for the day. Which is enough to stuff my face more than I normally would every meal, tomorrow I won't get chance to walk as much as I'm not exercising, which means I get to eat just over half.
Don't get me wrong, if I had some vague consistency to my lifestyle I'd probably like it 🙂 I just feel I do better eating comfortably on rest days and not over eating on exercise days.
I don't think there's anything to say the calories have to even out each day. Weeksy's 5-2 is just calorie control by another name- so you could average your numbers out over a week.
I just like MFP for the reality check. It's scarily easy to buy and eat a whole day's allowance!
Oh indeed, same 🙂
I do use it, more so as a reality check as you say, I like the barcode scanner for quickly adding sarnies and things while at work. Today for example certainly wouldn't balance, tomorrow probably won't, Saturday we're going for some sort of family meal, so I'll have a really vague stab at guessing it. It's all a bit fluffy 🙂
I only really asked as I was curious how weeksy did such a good job of finding the balance between starving himself and having no energy and overloading on carbs every day. He seems to have found a good balance given the speed of the loss 🙂
I've lost 8-10kg since June but that's prety much only cutting out cake,chocs etc
I'm fitter, faster 😀 and not so 😳 diabetic any more
cutting out cake
No deal.
oh, don't get me wrong - I've only cut out cake after slices 1 and 2
(haven't eaten a choccy bar for months though)
Three weeks into Zwift and up until now I have been beasting myself to try and keep up with people, stay in groups etc and never letting up on the power.
Up until today when I was so knackered that I almost stopped pedalling and was still travelling along at a fair old rate of knots behind someone. Am I the only one who doesn't really know how drafting works?
downhill, I'm guessing. It's [i][b]quite[/b][/i] like real life in that pedalling down steep hills to go faster than freewheeling uses loads of energy for not massive gains; similarly, drafting down a hill you sometimes might even need to brake just to stay in lineI almost stopped pedalling and was still travelling along at a fair old rate of knots behind someone
Anyone doing the BRS Ibex race?
Well I did a real life ride today and within 5 miles I'd come off on muddy roads and broken a finger.
The virtual world is much safer
Oh dear dear me.
Zwift has ruined my perception of hills. I did a very hilly cycle (for a Londoner) yesterday and it felt like my rear brake was on for most of the climbs. 😆
Will have a crack at the 1.15 PM ODZ Magnum race this afternoon if work allows... anyone else? Slightly different race format in that the first ½ lap or so is neutral, be interesting to see how that affects the racing!
[quote=nathb ]Zwift has ruined my perception of hills. I did a very hilly cycle (for a Londoner) yesterday and it felt like my rear brake was on for most of the climbs.
that's why I have the realism turned up to 100%.
So, am looking to do some long audax's next year, so endurance rather than speed demon. Should I just do a couple of group rides and a couple of races a week or follow a training plan? I am leaning towards the first for keeping me interested even if it does yield slightly lower gains
jam bo - Memberthat's why I have the realism turned up to 100%.
Yeah, I have to do that was well, otherwise my mental correlation between the gear I'm in and the speed Zwift says I'm doing is all wrong. It also seems to work better for sprints along with using instant power rather than 3 second. What I still can't seem to get to work, is a reflection on what happens IRL if I just get out of the saddle, without changing gear ramping up the cadence in a sprint. I know I can go from 15 to 25mph easily like this in a matter of meters, but in Zwift pretty much nothing happens. It means for sprints I need to pre-plan them and be carrying the majority of the speed before the white line.
Well I enjoyed the ODZ race with 3 "neutral" miles first before racing proper began (especially as I can never seem to leave enough time for a proper pre-race warmup!" Definitely getting fitter too as my average w/kg was up from normal despite it being a slightly longer race than normal for me... of course it could be a zPower/calibration issue but I'm putting it down to a couple of hard rides and a gym mesh last week and then a proper 2 days recovery over the weekend 🙂 Very tempted to get a decent smart trainer or power meter sorted out soon though to take out the uncertainty!
Well I enjoyed the ODZ race with 3 "neutral" miles first before racing proper began
how did that work out? I find the 150% from the off and hang on for as long as you can not much fun, get dropped and seem to end up pretty riding a solo TT for most of the races.
I only gave it full beans for a couple of minutes then settled into a group of other C cats riding at a sensible pace! Finished at the back end of C but was expecting that (only averaged 2.67 w/kg for the race). Managed to draft for most of the race, mainly other racers (but occasionally random riders) - found it's definitely worth a bit of extra effort not to get dropped (unless there's another group a bit behind that you can drop back to).
I suppose if I'd ridden harder for longer when the race began I'd have been at a group nearer the front but I don't think I'd have been able to sustain the pace. It wasn't massively different to a normal race to be honest but the neutral bit was a nice warmup.
nathb
Zwift has ruined my perception of hills. I did a very hilly cycle (for a Londoner) yesterday and it felt like my rear brake was on for most of the climbs.
On further inspection it turns out my rear wheel bearings weren't tight, so I was braking when out of the saddle, coupled with a slow puncture. 😆 😳
Had a nightmare in my first group event SZR sub 2. Event started and realised my trainer wasn't paired, any reason connecting a HR monitor would disconnect the turbo? Faffed and raced to catch up and then near the end I managed to jam my chain and waste five minutes putting it right. Also caught the SZR big group and then seen a bunch of SZR people go off and went with them, turns out they were the SZR joy ride group from looking at zwiftpower and seeing I'm dq'd for going to fast, wondered why everyone was going so fast for sub 2!
Will try another sub 2 tomorrow and set things up a bit better before the start.
Had a session today, can't remember the name of the event I did but it was a 3 lap affair.
2 laps of ramped efforts, then one banzai lap race at the end.
I was hanging on to the back of the lead group with about 3km to go & f*cking Zwift crashed! Thankfully it didn't lose all the data but it did lose the event.
Will have another go tomorrow in the ZTR Europe race & try again.
No races when I got on today so went for a potter up the mountain.
Zwift was in full effect yesterday, both me and a riding mate over at Surrey Hills, showing that while it may be a video game, the simple fact is, it's a game changer. ! Climbing from both of us was a lot better than you'd previously expect to see 🙂
I did wonder the other day, whilst riding up Box Hill in zwift how good a representation of it is. Can any compare their zwift time to real world time?
I was much slower on Zwift than my fastest time in the real world last time I rode it but that was before I got a smart trainer so who knows how the virtual power was making things go
simple fact is, it's a game changer.
Rider gets stronger, fitter and lighter with regular exercise... who'd have thought 😉
Rider gets stronger, fitter and lighter with regular exercise... who'd have thought
I guess it's to an extent where misconceptions come into it.
Before Zwift came along i thought i was doing regular exercise... but it seems regular is maybe a word that can confuse matters. I always thought i was putting the time in, the effort in and doing my bit. But now it seems that to actually get better.... my 'bit' needs to be more like what i'm doing now, rather than what i was doing back then.
It's very nice though to go out into the real world and notice the effects. More so for my mate this week (lurker rather than poster on here) who has been on zwift 6 weeks now, but his improvements are great !
Why are speeds so high in zwift?everything appears calibrated but I'm doing 20mph+ for an hour which I would never do in the real world.
i think it's aero/wind resistance maybe... or the fact it's in a 'perfect' world. I don't worry about speed really. more HR/power/distance as my metrics. Once you've ridden the loops enough times then speed comes into play as you're riding against your previous best speeds, but as to the actual speed, it's not important IMO.
Guys, this all sound great!
Can I use zwift with my rollers and a Garmin edge 500 (with HR, speed and cad sensor)? Would I just need a Ant+ dongle for the PC?
[quote=grenosteve ]Guys, this all sound great!
Can I use zwift with my rollers and a Garmin edge 500 (with HR, speed and cad sensor)? Would I just need a Ant+ dongle for the PC?
i think you can only use rollers with a power meter.
there's no wind, you can be drafting pretty much constantly, plus no safety factors to worry about e.g. Traffic, potholes, junctions, lights, etc. Just put your head down & turn your legs. The only real life scenario I've encountered which was remotely comparable was when I did Ride London - my average speed there was way higher than a normal ride, too.Why are speeds so high in zwift?everything appears calibrated but I'm doing 20mph+ for an hour which I would never do in the real world.
and the hills are piddly.
I think the science behind the algorithm is pretty solid but it does depend on your cda. Mrblobby will probably find he's the same or slower on Zwift for the same power output. I'm slightly faster on Zwift but I am like a sail in real life.
So the miles you rack up on Zwift do need a pinch of salt either way but who measures training volume in distance anyway 😉
Thanks for the comments, thought it was probably wind related but wasn't sure as thought it tried to mimic aero resistance using your height and weight. Will take with a pinch of salt though.
who measures training volume in distance anyway
noobs like me. I have never trained with power before, in the past I have only really ridden my bike and if my average speed is creeping up over time, assumed I am getting better. Is it worth getting training peaks/ strava premium to be able to quantify work volume from zwifting?
noobs like me. I have never trained with power before, in the past I have only really ridden my bike and if my average speed is creeping up over time, assumed I am getting better. Is it worth getting training peaks/ strava premium to be able to quantify work volume from zwifting
I think his question may have been a slight dig at me, more than at you.
We're mates IRL me and him 🙂
Well speed and distance are subjective aren't they. A mile downhill doesn't equal a mile uphill and a mile into a headwind doesn't equal a mile drafting a tractor 😉
Likewise, the mileage accrued in a 100strong Zwift group ride will likely be a lot more than the same time and intensity riding on there solo.
You can use average speed over a segment to measure progress though and the simplest way to do so on zwift is to use the TT bike (which won't draft other riders).
Can someone recommend the best first race for me? lowest category and up to around 1 hour and if it's worth getting on those live chat things or not? I like the idea of the cat and mouse as it looks like there maybe some guidance to how to ride in a group?
Is it worth getting training peaks/ strava premium to be able to quantify work volume from zwifting?
Yes and No.
Yes if you put in the time/research to understand what all the charts are showing you and understand any limitations they may have.
No if you just want to use training zones to get fitter.
Can someone recommend the best first race for me? lowest category and up to around 1 hour and if it's worth getting on those live chat things or not? I like the idea of the cat and mouse as it looks like there maybe some guidance to how to ride in a group?
The KISS Europe race at 8pm GMT tonight would be a good race to begin with. Enter any group - doesn't really matter - go for Group D if not sure.
I enter races via the Zwift mobile app but there are probably other ways.
The first two minutes of the race are horrible!
Well, my 500Euro sweetener from work has come through for a work related idea that I had entered into our Ideas program....
Already had 50Euro , so down to 450Euro & and after conversion to £ & with tax taken off it looks more like £270..... 😐
But, still enough to get me a Tacx Flow Smart as a little Christmas present to myself....with a bit left over!
Just need to get one ordered & get back on it now my manflu has receded!!
Kiss first base races are perfect as all D cat riders only.
[quote=weeksy ]Kiss first base races are perfect as all D cat riders only.
yeah right...1/3rd to 1/2 the field will get DQ'd, the 'winner' will probably average at least 4 W/kg...
Lots of prizes to be won in tomorrow nights kiss birthday bash races
Really? Elaborate?
Is there one for dying on your arse?
The hugely popular KISS Race Series is celebrating their first birthday with a KISS Birthday Bash this Wednesday 21st December at 8pm UTC.
About the Race
The race is a format known as an Australian Pursuit Race (APR). Unlike an ordinary road race, an APR is run as a handicap event. Held on Watopia’s Figure 8 route, groups of riders start at different time intervals based on ability. The first rider over the finishing line is the winner, so groups that start later must close the time gap to the leading groups in order to win the race.
Racers will be separated into 6 groups based on your best segment time for the Watopia Figure of 8 Course (here is the Strava segment link).
Please join the correct group for your segment using time bands:
Group 1 00:49:01 or longer
Group 2 00:46:01 to 00:49:00
Group 3 00:43:01 to 00:46:00
Group 4 00:40:01 to 00:43:00
Group 5 00:38:01 to 00:40:00
Group 6 00:38:00 or faster
Live Coverage
The event will be covered live by the awesome broadcast team that is Nathan Guerra and Jonny Noblett at www.beam.pro/NathanGuerra.
Prizes
KISS organizers have also arranged a bonanza giveaway! All racers who complete the race and are not disqualified based on race rules will qualify to go into the random drawing which includes fantastic prizes from 4iiii, PedalPower & Cycligent/Team Experimental.
Prizes include:
Pedal Power are offering a fantastic list of prizes:
10 Waterbottles each with a gel and bar
CeramicSpeed UFO Chain
Garmin ANT+ USB dongle and Garmin Speed+Cadence sensor (as a package)
PowerTap G3 wheelset and Powertap Joule GPS bike computer (as a package)
PedalPower cycling kit including socks, cap, gillet, and a soft shell jacket
2 Tacx turbo trainer tyres, Tacx tablet stand, Tacx Trainer mat, and a Tacx Vortex Smart Trainer (as a package)
From 4iiiiUK: a 4iiii Precision Powermeter and HRM Bridge
From Cycligent & Team Experimental: a pair of BePro Powermeter Pedals
Group 1 goes at 8pm and then the other groups at 3min intervals afterwards
That sounds great, well up for that.
Been off the bike since Saturday, feeling delicate still after a "heavy" Sunday night. 😳
There's a cat and mouse type race today that's got me at the very least, slightly interested....12.05 start time...
But i'm not sure the catagory start times are going to make it that fair personally. D starts at 12.05 then C 2 mins later, B 3 mins later, A 2 mins after that.
The power puts me firmly in the lower group, 1-3.3w/kg.... So i'd have a decent start, but on the Watopia 8 course... i'm not convinced we can hold on.... I guess that's all part of the appeal of it May be interesting
I'm going to aim for the KISS birthday bash ride tonight. I've not done that loop that decides the group so I've had to take a punt at group.
At the moment I've gone for group 2 on the basis I recognise some names in there from other races.
I took an hour last night to pootle around Zwift Watopia by myself - choosing, perhaps mistakenly to go up to the very top of the mountain.
Seems pretty relentless! Kept on finding people to chase down - something I don't normally do. Frustration at overtaking someone, leaving them behind at 2.0w/kg, only for them to burn past at 6w/kg to take them back up the road - then to reel them in again. Felt like they were doing something to their weight settings....
Am off to lose 60kg from my avatar 😉
Seriously immersive - turbo has never been this absorbing
Frustration at overtaking someone, leaving them behind at 2.0w/kg, only for them to burn past at 6w/kg to take them back up the road - then to reel them in again. Felt like they were doing something to their weight settings....
they were probably doing a workout session. in the list of names, did they have what looked like a little bar graph, and in their avatar, what looks like a screen in front of their handlebars?
Did (or rather completed) my first Zwift race last night, the KISS in Cat D.
My ridiculously laggy Macbook meant that I could never really draft, continually overshot groups to drop into and so just smashed along. Came 2nd, got DQ'd, so will try C next time, but really enjoyed it - completely immersive and worked tons harder than I would ever normally be able to on a turbo (having done Sufferfest stuff for years).
@Jambo - never noticed whether they had a graph or not - will check next time ta. Was really frustrating when it happened - but nice when you manage to drop someone on a climb
That doesnt happen v.much in real life...
when people are yo-yo-ing past you i think its mostly because they are doing interval workouts.
although I got passed on my way up zwift mountain the other night by someone putting out 15 W/kg....
The guy who kept on passing me last night wasn't even pedalling - maybe he was on some Zwift e-bike?
have you tried lowering the quality setting (or is your Macbook just [i]really[/i] old?) I've had it before when it's been very laggy even in lowest quality mode on my top-spec iMac, problem was resolved by closing Safari (possibly a web page using loads of resources?)My ridiculously laggy Macbook meant that I could never really draft
I'll check again with various settings, but it's a 2007 MBP (with upgraded RAM and SSD). The main issue, I think, is that is has a really old low-spec graphics card, which probably can't handle the load of running Zwift.
sounds quite cool, but being in the lowest group would make you 100% mouse i.e. no chasing so not as exciting as for the other groups!There's a cat and mouse type race today that's got me at the very least, slightly interested....12.05 start time...
Will probably have a go at the KISS race later
race time 🙂
i'll have 50 in my group to chase
but you're not chasing, the idea is to work with your group surely? Anyway, let us know how you get on!!
I'm hoping to do the Kiss race, my one and only attempt at the route was 54 mins so definitely in the slowest group.
lol @ group.
It was the usual levels of insanity. Good group until first big climb then shattered into little ones, i got binned but grabbed 2 riders from next group at they came past me and jumped on wheels, caught the next 3 guys in front back up.... 1 then pulled away again later, but i left the other, so it was me and Kim.. he pulled away on the usual Zwift flat loop hill and into the Esses.. .but i caught and past him past all the hotels to do him by 15-20m over the line with a 350w effort...
destroyed now !
sounds like there was minimal co-operation & it was just a regular race! Then again they could've been yapping away like crazy over Team Speak, you wouldn't know unless you had it!
Pretty much. Fun though but hard work.
Good work weeksy! ...is that an overall win?
A what? Hell no. I was a long way back. But I for see at leat a couple of DQs.
My goal was to survive not win
what looks like a screen in front of their handlebars
oh does that mean they are doing a workout. I did wonder
Damn it.....
Thought I'd do my first race tonight, and saw you all mentioning KISS races. Ah, an APR at 8:00pm- that'll do.
I've done actual real-world APRs, and thought the lap was 18 miles (it seemed to be from the bar at the top). So I went fairly hard (for me) for what I thought was going to be 18 miles......
....hit 18 miles, slowed up and stopped, and the race seemed to keep on going...... 🙁
ah well...
🙂