Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

I entered the CVR world cup, different class even at the grade I was meant to be, lights went green, watched everyone disappear off up the road, might just have been having an off day.

Had an equipment failure today, did the 19.40 WBR 4 flat lap, got myself into a really good group a couple of dozen B/C's going along at a fair old lick, three laps in and the group was whittled down to a dozen, couple off the front, few out the back. Came to switchback climbs surprised to still be in the group but feeling good then it happened..... ANT dropout, nothing, no heart rate, no power meter, no trainer.....nothing....gutted.

Will have a tinker tomorrow but I think its my USB extension cable as the dongle seems ok. No points for me tonight.....

Picked up a t2240 today as halfords have reduced it for £170 which I thought was a steal. Genuinely suprised how much more interesting it is to ride on zwift than my dumb trainer plus I think compared to the new t2240 the old one was under-reading. I'll have to try find a race to do tomorrow to give it a good bedding in.

Finally after nearly 6 weeks i think the lurgi is on the way out and having not zwifted for a week i thought i would do a quick race. I went for 3 laps of Watopia hilly and a good size field of 65 so ideal. I decided i wasnt going to do more than 400w out of the gate so i tickled along at about 380w but i had to do this for quite a while to get near the pointy end but even then a lot of A’s and a few B’s were well ahead. I forgot i was on hilly and thus the big hill is right at the start and i forgot and was still pulling 380w at the foot of the climb so i just carried on and fought the pain. First 4 mins of race were nearly all at 380w so spent the rest of the lap recovering. In a group of 7 going a good pace so we ended up catching a few that got spat out of the lead group by end of lap 2. I think 2 B riders were still in the lead A group so i was now in a battle for bronze in a group of 9 now. I seem to be quicker on the hills than all of them so used the 2-4 sec advantage to rest ready for a big finish. Then people started to really up the pace in the flat section heading to the sprint so hr went pretty high. So tactically i could attack that last big hill and see if i could hold it through the rollers or just stick with the group up the climb hopefully leaving a bit for a sprint. Decided to lower the gear and happily spin up the hill at 105rpm which actually put me in front with 2 others and the rest about 4s back. We carried on at pace through the rollers with another couple joining us so it looked like a sprint finish between 4 of us. I waited as long as i could as 1 guy got a few secs lead on us and hit the aero PU and with 0.2m to go sprinted, guy in front ran out of juice and the rest got left in my wake. Took BRONZE and ended up 10s ahead of the chasers, very satisfying when you win with tactics. 2 riders in front of me have very strange stats considering the time they did, it looks like they won the race using very little power (the winner looks like at no stage did he ever get near 400w).

Great race Blader, well done. The guy just in front did 327w normalised!!! Seems legit? He had a good smattering of time time in all the power brackets over 300w?

Wow, some big numbers there in w/kg - winner of B avg 4w/kg and avg power 273w. Makes him nearly 70kg. Fair enough I guess but yeh, top top end of B. (2nd looks like 80kg)
Well done blader

The winner though didnt get over 400w max looking at his graph, how is that possible with all those hills and being in the A group? I didnt read too much in to it so may be i missed something. The race although at a good pace didnt really seem that fast although may be a week off the bike helped me. I had more problems with lack of energy as it was a fasted ride rather than the pace, got a bit of jelly legs in the race when it felt like i had no energy but only lasted 30s or so.

Just a weight thing I guess? The bar chart suggests he spent a fair bit of time in that vicinity? Had a high output for the start few minutes too?

It's amazing what difference clinging on to that slightly faster group makes too.

The winner though didnt get over 400w max looking at his graph, how is that possible with all those hills and being in the A group?

(what bar chart are you two talking about ?)

I just hit the little i next to his name and one shows his wattage over the race. I am not bothered by it and i only looked coz my ipad moved the page slightly as it was loading just as i was trying to press my i button, the lack of wattage is what made me realise it wasnt my graph!

Just had a look on zwift and there's a bunch of pros on there. I don't imagine they're actually racing but surrounded by fast riders & lots of testosterone ! 😀

Ah, I see:

Wednesday, December 20th
6:30PM GMT
Lotto-Soudal Team Presentation Ride
DESCRIPTION
ABOUT

Join us for this ground-breaking event. For the first time, a UCI World Tour team is having a Zwift ride as part of their annual team presentation. The 2018 Lotto-Soudal team is being presented and 10 members of the team will lead a Zwift ride LIVE from the Tour of Flanders museum in Oudenaarde, Belgium. Ride alongside André Greipel, Thomas de Gendt, Puck Moonen and the rest of the team for this historic event.

JOIN EARLY!

Please join the event at least 15 minutes before the start to have a good spot on the start line.

RIDE INFO

This is a moderate pace group ride and not a race. Please respect the pace and stay near the ride leaders. The first lap is a social pace ride and the last lap the pace will increase. All are welcome to join!

COURSE: Watopia Flat
LAPS: 2
LAP DISTANCE: 6.4 mi / 10.3 km
TOTAL DISTANCE: 12.8 mi/ 20.6 km
PACE: 2-2.5 w/kg on lap 1 but the pace will pick up on lap 2.
RIDE LEADERS: André Greipel & Thomas de Gendt

LOTTO-SOUDAL TEAM MEMBERS

André Greipel
Thomas De Gendt
Puck Moonen
Harm Vanhoucke
Rémy Mertz
Sander Armée
James Callum Shaw
Jelle Vanendert
Enzo Wouters
Frederik Frison

just hit the little i next to his name

Had my first race tonight on the smart trainer, its incredible how much easier it is not having to stare at the gradient numbers but feel it instead.

I started off feeling good and strong trying to hold in with the lead group of C's in the SZR 4 lapper at 6pm. Managed to keep in until halfway up the climb on lap 3 and then a timetrial to the end with no one to work with. Finished 4mins off the leaders in the end but there was no way I could sustain the pace. Zwiftpower results show average power at 3.0w/kg which im really pleased with, a pr by 0.2 and a final result at the moment of 14/74. I guess a good chunk of the lead bunch must have been dq'd.

3.0 is proper strong for C mate. Will be interesting to see final results.

Happy then?

well done rmg - yeh, looks like a lot of promotions to B in that race

and a pretty huge field too

Yeah really happy with it though my hr curve looks painful. 161 average with a max of 171bpm. My personal max is only 174

[img] [/img]

I'm getting a little fed up with Zwift racing, I still think it's an amazing platform and enjoy riding it but there seems to be more and more inaccuracy between real life and Zwift results.

For example in last Tuesday's CVR World Cup league race zone E; I raced and finished in 109th place, being 15th in Div D, and now up to 6th place overall. Then the rider who placed 108th liked my Strava log, so I popped over to his Strava log to do the same back, to be friendly. Then as I looked at his activity list I was amazed to see his FTP was significantly lower than mine, he has been clocking less than half the mileage I have this year. He hardly ever rides outside and no sign of any real races!

So given I've been racing XC all year and just done a couple of the Swedish CX cup rounds with good results, I'm amazed he can be faster than me!

Maybe I'm naive or just slow! But all this talk about variable trainer outputs and slower riders placing better in races takes a little of the competitive fun out of it. Maybe I should just buy a cheap trainer and sell my Neo to get faster lol.

see his FTP was significantly lower than mine

And his weight?

Fair question, can't see that on his profile but being a stalker and looking at his photos I'd guess he's simlilar 😐

Dammit I missed my chance to try and ride behind Puck Moonen for a lap 🙁

[img] [/img]

I didnt see Puck unfortunately, however Andre Greipel gave me a ride on...that is going on my CV 😆

Fair question, can't see that on his profile

Ha I got passed, by someone who'd done 260 miles averaging 5.0w/kg who apparently weighed 60kg last night.... now that's properly cheating, assuming the distance was real why would you fake the rest of your figures? "Dear Strawberry" if anyones interested 🙂

So you can! Actually the person in question was 2 in front of me, and his weight is stated as 65kg, apparently. So either he's 16kg lighter than me or he's lying!

I think with Zwift racing you just have to think "right, i'm racing him/the" and accept them as competitors at that exact moment in time. You'll find later some people are so far from reality it's ridiculous, but you can only race whos next to you. The rest doesn't matter to an extent. You give it your best and you go with it.

I'm struggling at the moment with it all. This month has turned into a bit of a chore. The legs are tired and the mind is weak... Another 35km today taking me to 7880km for the year... So just 120 left. My plan is to potentially find a short 1 lapper tomorrow and then i've got 4-5 days off for Xmas as i'm away with family. I could of course take the bike with me, but in honesty, the rest will do me good. I'll then come back on the 27th and have 100km to knock out before NYE 🙂

Then we're onto next year and different goals instead of the distance we had this year.

but there seems to be more and more inaccuracy between real life and Zwift results.

There's nothing real about zwift. You just have to ignore any comparisons you might be tempted to make between zwift and real life. Last race I did I rode 60km at an average speed of 43kph. In real life I've never managed more that 34kph over 30km. And I'm sure there are many who lie about their weight in order to increase their w/kg. I can't think for the life of me why, but I'm sure they do.

It's pretty much what drove me to start Crit racing fo' real- the wondering about it all.

Not that Zwift racing isn't valid- it's just human nature to pick holes in it.
In a funny way, ZP actually fuels the paranoia. If you just raced who was in front of you, the leader board flashed up and then you moved on with your life it would be fine but via all the different channels you can scratch the itch of whether they are somebody you 'should' have beaten. And then it's a slippery slope!
My favourite is checking British Cycling for the UK riders 😆

Outdoors it's a lot simpler. There's a line on the track and you can see exactly who's crossing it in front of you!

I think with Zwift racing you just have to think "right, i'm racing him/the" and accept them as competitors at that exact moment in time.

I'm struggling at the moment with it all. This month has turned into a bit of a chore.

Wise words from you all.

We're off to the inlaws for Xmas this year as ever and I'm purposely leaving my bikes at home! Just taking my XC skies and ice skates lol.

There's nothing real about zwift

🙁

I recently received a pair of those assioma pedals. Popped them on the trainer-bike just to confirm that they matched my super-accurate Drivo trainer so I could send 'em back if necessary.
They didn't match.
MrB very kindly interruted his day today to spin up my pedals on his Neo (which he also knows matches another meter). Turns out the pedals are right and my Drivo seems to be wrong

Far, far worse than that though, it's been OVERreading. I'm an e-doper! 😳
Need to get it sorted and then join weeksy and chums at the back of the B bus

Bah, happy Christmas one and all

( 😉 )

How wrong ? lol

MrBlobby has ruined my Christmas !

Happy to be of assistance 😀

I tend to treat Zwift racing as just an interesting form of training. Not having a power meter I was satisfied to get a power number from Zwift that I could use to race/train to on my Kinetic Road Machine trainer.

I'm as careful as possible to set everything up the same each ride and my weight is spot-on as well. It's even gone down 2kg since starting although that wasn't my goal as I was already quite slim. It's just a function of all the extra virtual miles I'm doing now on top of my road miles.

At 3.0 W/kg I'm very often just racing one or two other riders for a minor position but it's such a giggle to out-sprint someone for 10th place in group C! 😆

weeksy, about 10% or a bit more 😳
Apparently I'm not the messiah

Thanks MrB, appreciated (-ish!)

Oh dear... I may keep you in sight for 1/4 lap now 🙂

Scaredypants - i have turned myself inside out at times to beat you and all this time you were e-doping, no more ride ons from me young man and dont even think about having pudding tonight 😀
I think by the time i get back on the bike rather than being at the back of the bus i may well be the size of a bus. I may have to borrow those pedals scaredypants while i work off the mince pies.

😯

Does that mean you are another local Scaredypants??

CH - Southamptonish

Just realised I've missed a trick here.

For Sale, 1 Elite Drivo smart trainer. 11 months' use
£2,000 ?

Blader, pudding is off indefinitely. I've got 10kg to lose

Isn't the Drivo meant to be super accurate?! I have one and it broadly matches my PM (reports a little lower). I'd contact Elite as it shouldn't be that wrong. Get some money back or a working turbo (assuming it's wrong anyway).

Yes joe, +/- 1% and each unit supposedly tested before release from the factory

It's coming up to a year old and may just have drifted - I only tried another meter this week so can't say

Have been in contact with the shop and with Elite; I've also just done another spindown calibration thing on the app. We'll see

I have been riding exactly 4 months today and coincidentally I have just clicked over 1000 miles on zwift. My real life riding is simply mountain biking in a forest next to where I live (although I did do 40k on the road on my mountain bike last weekend which hurt - no I don't know why I did that either).

Zwift is simply fun for me. I am an endorphin junkie and zwift has allowed me to get my fix as I can't run anymore. I am about 20w short of being a B so that is the target for next year. It will be interesting to see if I can make it without doing anything too structured.

Have a great Christmas and new year all. The great outdoors beckons here so there won't be much zwifting.

Scaredy I can't believe I gave a ride on to an e-doper this morning 😯 😀

scaredypants - Has your threshold/ftp moved quite a bit since getting the trainer? If not I guess that indicates it was wrong from day 1

(I've not followed this thread 100% so might have missed a 250w - 300w threshold gain!) 😉

Scaredy I can't believe I gave a ride on to an e-doper this morning

Joe, not massively though I don't measure actual FTP etc much so can't say what it really is (I did an FTP plan recently but ricked my back and didn't get to do the FTP test at the end before I had my hernia done so still an unknown quantity)

Scaredy I can't believe I gave a ride on to an e-doper this morning
You're correct - I wasn't on it this morning
(oh, wait - is it you that's in NZ ?)

Yep that's me. 😉

Decision for this morning is ... 4 lapper of Classique at 9.10am for approx 30km total... or 1 lapper for a quickie at 10.10am for only 10km.

The legs are suffering a bit at the moment but sometimes you just need to get on with it.