Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

I use one of these https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NH12O5I USB extension cables...

To get the https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LIIMHP4 ANT+ dongle close to...

The turbo and a Coospo H6 BT/ANT+ hrm similar to https://smile.amazon.co.uk/CooSpo-Monitor-Bluetooth-Waterproof-Compatible/dp/B07D4J5VDK

Please tell me this a new feature...

Just logged in to zwift.com to sync my weight, to see that under "Membership," I now have the option to suspend billing for up to 8 weeks! 😮

I've been rather careless and not cancelled my Zwift monthly subs over the summer, barely used it all since July, £13 is more than a week's lunch money for me at work on my 3-day week.

Handy feature for a week's vacation or even simply a "rest week."

Never seen it before, I'm waiting for some of you to tell it's a feature that's been there ages! 😆

Windows and Zwift updated today. I rebooted the PC just in case but Garmin HR now pcked up on Ant.... then joined a group ride and got kicked to Windows twice.

Hardly ever been kicked to windows ever (luckily) and never twice in sdame ride.

Tinkering now to try and get HR working again as that might be symptom of prob.

Reinstalling Ant dongle, Zwift now... blah blah. Just a heads up ij case anyone else riding tonight and using windows, you *might* have issues??

Bugger, looks like my HR monitor is toast. Downloaded sufferfest but it doesn't see the strap either.

Ordered one of those Cool Poo ones off Amazon.😁

Read the instructions on those coopoo things, I had one and it didn't connect in the normal way everything had to be connected via the coopoo app or some such nonsense. They might have changed now but if it doesn't seem to work it may be that.

I'll see when it arrives tomorrow mate. Cheers for heads up.

It's the later version with BT4 and Ant+.

Reviews seem ok, "only" £20 so worth a punt.

CooSpo Heart Rate Monitor Bluetooth ANT+ with Chest Strap for Running Cycling Gym and other Sports https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07D4J5VDK/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_i_RDPuFbFFA0HJD

Had a race tonight sans HR monitor to see if Zwift booted me out but all ok.

Did a reinstall of Zwift just in case too.

Still didn't pick up HR so installed sufferfest and that didn't pick up the hr either. Buggered around with ant dongle but as ant works with the turbo fine.... I'm guessing it's it's the old garmin HR. Hopefully.😁

Well, the Coo Spro HR monitor works a treat. Zwift found it immediately and gave me the choice to connect via Ant or BT.

Connected via Ant and all is well. Uses 2032 button cells, which is what my old garmin HR used so I have spare ones of those stored up. Comes with a battery too.

Not bad at all for 20£. Nice and comfy also.👍

After doing an outside lunch ride yesterday i thought i'd also do a little race.

It's a course i enjoy rather than one i excel at. The leg snapper went well first time up, but last 100m of the climb i lost the bunch i was in and ended up with 2-3 others in G2, but that was OK, it was still a decent position.... I ended up riding with them for most of the next lap, until the last 2km where i didn't have a lot left.

Struggling with leg power from the crash along with hand position on the bike, but was nice to get the HR up into the decent figures, which i felt i've lost for a while.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1055199

Your HR goes pretty high! Only time mine goes into the 180s is on a ramp test. I am hoping that means I am limited by my muscular endurance at the moment so can grow my FTP plenty! Aiming to hit 330w by Mountain Mayhem next year!

First time in a while i've hit 180bpm, i think the leg snapper encourages it. 402w average for 1mins 15.. that's always going to poke the HR up isn't it !

That's a bloody good effort weeksy and looks like a small field which always makes the races tougher.

Anyone else fancying some race practice at 17:05 today ?

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1068173

Alas no chance I'd be home from the office in time weeksy - though I do wonder if I could get a power meter then run zwift on my mobile and record my commute...

No. Silly idea.

I'd love to Weeksy as I've never done a crit (need to sort this!!), however work rules me out

Enjoy!

Well they don't make sharing events easy do they! I'm sure there was a share button before.
If anyone is fool enough I'm planning to do the team cls hills and thrills tomorrow at 18.50.
It's a Cat E ride so that'll be good for finding a group at the right pace for a Friday pm earn my beer ride.
It's New York everything pretzel so has the shinny blue climb. So that will be horrible.

Just a little early for me, I'm back at 7pm. Good excuse to avoid that awful New York climb

I'll be honest getting home and finding my house had been owned to the ground with bombers would seem like a good excuse not to do that climb

Despite the fact the conversation on Robbo's thread seems to have turned to ftps and the like today, I guess this is one for here.

Anyone any idea what the green/yellow/orange (I assume red etc) indicator bars on the normalised power stat on Zwift power are all about?

If anyone is fool enough I’m planning to do the team cls hills and thrills tomorrow at 18.50

Change of plan. My legs are fairly tired after this weeks exertions. I'm not doing that crappy new York climb, I'm going for a curry instead.

That's the difference between your power outputs, so if you TT along at say 270w all the way, your NP will be 270w... but if you peak and trough you'll have a higher normalised power, the greater the gap, the different colour.

Bath Salts shows it really well, rides that same ride at 190, 190, 450, 450, 190, 190, 190, 420, 500. As he goes front to back, then walllops in 800 for the last KM for the win, giving a high NP differential.

9:45 this morning for me... Crit City, see if i can find any form at all.

Usually has a couple of crazy youngsters in it who win, but it's funny watching them lobbing out 4.5w/kg in C

the greater the gap, the different colour.

I assumed it was something like that but ta for confirming. Looking at the courses I've got orange bars on and the like that makes a lot of sense - looks like it's mostly ones with decent down hill sections.

Good luck in the race. That's an early start for a competitive effort.

I'm trying something different today with a sub 100w warm up for 45 mins. Just working on laptop and rolling would London flat at minimum effort and lowish resistance. Not sure if it's a good or bad idea but we'll see.

Target for today is all 8 laps around the lead group, 6 won't be terrible, 4 will be bad. I expect at least 80% if this will be in my head rather than my legs. "I'm done, can't hold it" is a common thing in my brain come race days at the moment and I just need to suck it up and dig deeper.
I did 7 laps the other night if a crit city with Richard Dalen, fast C, I was there all the way, then sort of just threw my hand in when it got proper tough. My average HR was 167 which I should be able to hold, but I think what did me was a 176 peak up the dolphin kicker. Average power was 269w which I'm happy with at the moment, but need to maintain it slightly longer.

I expect at least 80% if this will be in my head rather than my legs. “I’m done, can’t hold it”

80/20 isn't a ad split on that, think I'm closer to 90/10.

Im terrible for sitting up either 5m from the line or when I fall out the back of a group I missed draft in despite knowing if I kicked a bit and tucked in properly I'd actually rest up better than plugging along in no man's land.

@weeksy. I think you have a good plans. Z1 warm up for 45 mins sounds sensible. Throw is a few short sprints and high cadence drills near the end of the warm up to open things up a bit.

@weeksy let us know how you get on, a proper warmup is something I really struggle to make time for! Anything to help ease the pain of the TTT though 😃

Anything to help ease the pain of the TTT though

It might sound silly but shout up and pull on the front for a minute or two. That way you can dictate pace rather than crying blood trying to keep up, otherwise all that happens is whichever sociopath is on the front is ticking up a few watts at a time trying to guess just how hard they can pull before the band snaps 😉

Would that be the same sociopath recommending 2 minute TTT pulls on the internet?

Well the race went ok, even if the result may not be amazing, 13th on the road and in the bunch until last 300m where I couldn't muster a sprint. Didn't get a PU on last lap which would have really helped. Lap 8 kicked hard and I was near 180bpm just to hang in. 1.2km down the cobbles I nearly chucked my hand in to roll in, but dug and held a wheel, but 500m out I was 18th/19 in group and you're not making up much ground from there without 1000w sprints. Strava measured me at 273w for the race which I'm happy with, I had a few cruise moments when the race allowed, so all things considered, that's a good number

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1069944

we had about 6 Bs on the start line,

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1080893

Went into this heavy legged... thought it'd be a disaster but ended up a fun race. Was 33rd on the road so a LOT of DQs as always in Zwiftland.

Fun though.

Going for a risky Crit at 9:30am. Not sure the full man-flu has left me yet, but there's only 1 way to find out the answer.

Good luck Weeksy! I've still not done a crit yet...need to try but times don't work for me.

Any tips on how to race them? Is it just full on at all times?

hide 🙂 but yeah, mostly 270w after the initial surge off the line. Then either wait for sprint or time an attack late on, but that's hard as last lap is usually fast!

Any tips on how to race them? Is it just full on at all times?

Off the line Pedal hard, really really hard, as though you're trying to find some sort of auto errotic balance betwixt life and death. By about half way round the first lap you should be able to ease off to the point of almost throwing up - not because pedaling harder would make you ill but because your body can't divert enough oxygen to the requisite muscles to actually make you sick.

Hold that until you sprint for the finish or fall off.

Good luck weeksy.

20 min warm up was hard 😀 i think this may be a disaster.

i think this may be a disaster

They're often the fun ones!

Wasn't a complete disaster, i got onto lap5 before being dropped from lead group, which was 3 more than i expected... My HR wasn't dropping on the rest bits so on the rollers i was up at 176, which is a bit too high, i knew i couldn't hold it, so got dropped and Solo'd to the end. Normally i'd have bailed when dropped but hung in for a finish.

I'm going to lay up now until Tues to break this lurgy fully.

@weeksy have you thought about risking managing your effort via the HRM less? Ride without it (or without pairing it to zwift, so you can't see it during the race).

My problem (on the kind of course I enjoy, especially since I became a B) is staying with the lead group until the race gets interesting. So on, say this race last week which had 35km flat lead in to a climbing finish ( https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1080840) I lost the lead group after 10km. After that it was a mix of lonely TT, shifting small groups, other cats coming through the field etc. Maddeningly, lots of riders quit the event ahead of me when they got dropped too. Admittedly that's a stupidly long lead in (what was I thinking?) but a typical outcome for me on shorter course too. I'd like to get to the decisive climb on courses like that in a bigger group, but I am not (yet) managing it.

I've realised though that I'm managing the effort wrong. I get dropped partly because I'm trying to sustain a level which still leaves something in the tank for the finale. But actually I need to get as far as I can - even if it means I crack - with the lead group, sod the finale. Once I manage to get there, I can worry about that! I think - esp recently - you are riding in the same fashion and managing your effort to avoid cracking. My climb is like your final lap. But what's the downside of risking it? Neither of us are getting as far as we'd like because we're focussing on what happens immediately next. We get dropped not because we can't hold the wheels, but because we judge (for whatever reason, rightly or wrongly) that we can't sustainably hold the wheels.

I'm going to try one of the Box Hill Races at lunchtime (either the 3R one or the Chinese one with fewer riders but a shorter lead in) and set out only to stay with the lead pack as long as I can - even if it means sprinting well into the red at times - and stop saving anything at all for what comes next. It's not a failure if I don't PB the climb segment because I get there knackered, and I'm going to stop riding like it is.

I do get your point. I'll race next Tuesday without it and use Bluetooth on phone. But today I knew I'd not last just by my warm up, my HR even then was 10bpm higher than it should have been. So whilst I was watching the HR in the race, it was only a matter of time before I dropped. You could see it lap on lap as I slid a little further back in the bunch until I was last man in there each corner and hanging in.

First ride on Zwift with my new rocker last night! Didn't actually feel massively different (have a Neo which has a bit of lateral flex anyway) although definitely felt it in my abs/obliques after and also shoulders/arms so some extra stabilisation going on! Possibly cost me a few watts but if it makes for a better workout then all good.
Might have a go at a crit later if time allows, not actually done any non-STW races for weeks now!!

not actually done any non-STW races for weeks

I said to robbo yesterday that some of now have "shadow" power profiles from his race series different to our zp numbers. Suppose you do the TTT, and the Tuesday night race, there's not necessarily oodles of extra time for normal zwift races left...

Possibly cost me a few watts but if it makes for a better workout then all good.

The question, then, is if we do a race (wholly hypothetically) where I somehow have to get a minute clear of you, will you be using the rocker or not? I really think you should. More seriously - what did you get? Branded extravagance, DIY thing, somewhere in between?

Suppose you do the TTT, and the Tuesday night race, there’s not necessarily oodles of extra time for normal zwift races left…

The question, then, is if we do a race (wholly hypothetically) where I somehow have to get a minute clear of you, will you be using the rocker or not? I really think you should.

I've been a member of the DIY rocker group on FB for ages. I do posses the necessary skills (i.e. I know someone with a big flatbed CNC router who could cut it out for me if I designed it 😃) but it was a question of realistically when would I find the time to do it? Probably never! So when someone posted last week about the Lifeline one on CRC which is currently on for £225, I looked around and saw loads of positive feedback then just got it ordered up! You could build one for less of course, but factoring in the time/faff it seemed pretty reasonable - the ones I'd been looking at online from small manufacturers are £350-400+

Jeez that Zwift Academy workout is tough! I'm done in! The last few sessions are real leg burners.

Some improvement to be had, but these should help.

One down, seven to go....

I am doing the workouts but not actually doing the workouts. If you run the workout but dont put it in erg mode you just ride to the terrain and ignore the workout text. I then do a TR workout or freeride and then you still get the credit for the workout. You have to complete 75% of the time but it doesnt matter about how many stars you collect. You still get the credit for completing the stage. Easy way to get the kit!

The workouts this year are definitely focussed on filling in a power curve for their assessment for a pro contract. I think they have gone more and more that way each year.

That one was very focused on the RPM's, running at 90 and 100 for most of it. The benefit is that its helping me in my quest to improve my rpm generally. I used to just spin around 75 to 80, now 90 feels more natural.

85 rpm in the rest sections felt slow 🙂

Hi all, quick Zwift question on 'trainer difficulty'. As I'm currently recovering from a shoulder injury, I've swapped bikes on the turbo, as my Tempest has a far higher front end than my old CX bike (and the CX bikes needs a new transmission and I'm not feeling the love to spend money on that!)

I've gone from 53/39 and a 11-32 cassette to 40 front and 46-12 at the back. A quick test suggests I'll be in the bottom three gears a lot of time.

Is a simple solution to increase the trainer difficulty by say 20% so I need to use more gears? Apparently there's a bit of a downside in terms of power smoothing but honestly I'm not really bothered. I'd rather not just hammer my cassette!

I don't want to change transmission components as I'd need to by 11 speed (CX is 10) and I only intend to use this bike until my shoulder is better (3-5 weeks according to physio).

I run a 40T and basically use 3 gears, but it's not an issue to ne

Yeah it was you I was thinking of Weeksy when I posted.

I'll give it a try for a week or so and see how it goes before messing about with trainer difficulty. It only takes an hour or so to swap cassettes/pedals/etc over. Worse case I'll stick the front of the CX bike on a lump of wood!

I've not messed with my settings as I'm not finding it an issue. Well, unless I run it on Bluetooth then I need 1 if not 2 more gears

I'm all ANT connected so should be okay.

Are there still STW social rides? I'm a bit out of the loop?

The Zwift Academy workout 1 is nails.

Hurts doesn't it Ivan?? Hope they aren't going to get harder as it progresses...eek!

@Alex - social rides tend to be the sunday hills ride, races during the week. There are also virtual commutes some mornings if you are able.
Keep an eye on the zwift meetup thread on the forum. Always things on each week.

Small ride report from me. Been a while. Jumped on the Oh crit race this afternoon. Crit you say, that'll be flat then, 50k, no problems. Wasn't flat though was it. 400m of climb in France, first climb straight out of the pens and a stacked field. That did not go well.

For once I'd had a good 20 minute warm up and didn't go too crazy from the off. Then the hill set in. The pack was quickly stretched out and despite being near the front by the top the pressure stayed on a break formed. I was in no man's land behind the second group. That meant keeping the effort on down the hill, first catching another soloist and then with them closing the larger group ahead before the aquaduct Kom.

The lead group were out of reach by now and our group settled down, sadly too much as the third group caught after a big tow from one rider. I did a few good pulls but then sat in for a bit before the second climb.

The second climb again shattered my group. This time the gap over the now third group was big enough that they weren't coming back. We were just 19s down on two that had dropped off the lead group and slowly caught them over the next 10k. There were a couple.of attempts to solo off the front one of which I had to pull the pack to close down as no one else seemed bothered.

Onto the final climb to the finish. I got it very wrong at the start and lost the draft. Somehow got an extra wind though and overhauled most of the group as it fell apart on the gradient. Came in 30th which I think was a good result given the field.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1096117

Top class field there, nice one

@oopnorth - thanks I didn’t realise that thread was still going. Virtual commutes could be good. Get it over with early in the day!

I'm doing 12:45 crit city in D with Figg if anyone else fancies it. I'm just doing it for the ride and will drop out on last few seconds if we're up at the pointy end.

I've entered that in B weeksy - you may well pass me 😁

@Alex it tends to be myself or Robbo doing the commutes with others joining when they can. We sometimes do a couple a week but it has been less lately with everyone returning back to work.

Usually 6-45am starts.

Follow me, craigpin opp north on zwift, plus Robbo1234biking, if you haven't already and we can send invites.

Due to the deluge yesterday and windy morning I decided to do another zwift race this morning. Plus needing to jump to level 33 I picked a race with course badge I haven’t done and should have enough xp to get me there. So 43 mile 2300ft big foot hills , Newbury Velo at 10.05am. I stuck with cat c for now as there’s no way I’m going to live upto my recent stats that have been achieved over 45minute races for what looked like being 1.45/2hr race.

Very tough just due to the length of the race with a few tough climbs here and there. I managed to get in a decent group to start with once the frantic start died down and actually managed to advance a group on each of the longer climbs rather Than dropping a group like I used to do.
Finished 8th on the road and 5th in zwifpower 30 secs separating 3rd to 8th due to a tight sprint finish, 1hr 52 2.9w/kg 234w winning A was 1hr34 B 1hr 39. I don’t get how the 2nd place B only averaged 186w?

reached level 33, unlocked and bought the Venge s works just in time for Robbos season finale.

Have to say I’m really glad that we haven’t been racing over such a duration in the series I’m not sure other than a sense of achievement it’s not overly enjoyable.

well done for sticking with a race for that duration, kirky 🤪

I did a bit of sandbagging today - started warming up for a B cat crit-city race but really not feeling it and was sweating like a racehorse at 150w
Ducked out & joined weeksy & figg in the Ds instead and then failed to do a u-turn before the line so finished the race. I assume there's no penalty other than being booted off the results ? Weeksy, did you do the same ?

Yeah I rolled off, we both get kicked out. Sadly, so did Figg, so he's in C next time. I enjoyed it lots though and was a good workout without being too crazy

Feeling better for Tuesday then weeksy?

Just did ZA workout 1, holy balls that last 8 minutes was tough!! But disappointed in my final “FTP” that Zwift gave me at the end of the session....shouldn’t be as it’s pretty close to my FTP from a ramp test (263 on the ZA one versus 261 on a ramp test).

Feeling better for Tuesday then weeksy

Yeah thanks mate, I'm about as good as I get at the moment anyway.
Debating tactics, bike choice (real and virtual) but as we know, thus one is longer than I usually ride so planning when to go, when to hold, when to say enough is enough up the slight inclines etc.

Well I just got sucked into racing the Academy group ride, it was meant to be a 45 minute recovery ride...I averaged 3w/kg for the 45 minutes

When the hammer goes down i just see red and follow.

When will i ever learn?? Haha

Sadly, so did Figg, so he’s in C next time

err "congratulations" to him (?)

Is he on here - don't know the username if so

Well, they then updated it to 95% figures and he got the class win.

He posts on here as Crust and races in Robbos series too.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1097757

I'm sure he will post later, but i was chatting to him after the race and really appreciated your help. It was fun as i kept checking you had him, then when i was sure i was kicking on at the front and dragging our group up to the next bunch of riders, then again, again... As long as you were there i was able to drag the pace up.

Great result

I did enjoy you heckling that lad on the front of our group !
You must have a better setup than mine - no way could I type & pedal

Lol he kept using his power ups at the wrong moments.
I've just got my laptop keyboard in front of me. It wasn't too bad today as plenty of chances to recover and type etc. Even though I was pushing on at times, it wasn't all the time.

Last few days have given me some doubts about Tues and whether I try the road bike or stick with parkwood. With the parkwood I know everything about it, what gears when I'm strong, or when struggling, etc.

Just attempted my first official zwift race in a while, what a load of nonsense. B group, double draft. Spent first 10 minutes hanging off the back putting out well more than ftp, then thought there is no way I'm holding this for an hr, so binned it off.

For those that have been racing in the robbo series, you'll know I'm not an awful rider. I'm a solid b, probably verging on an A. Yet I couldn't cope with today's pace in a double draft event.

starts still as nuts as ever then ?

I binned my first race for ages today (should be a B - nowhere near A) & went into D instead. They started pretty damn hard in the D class, god knows what B was like (and the C race had a quicker overall time than B - crit city so the "larger" rider favoured, I guess)

Aye i get that... absolutely.

In the Crit race i did pacing Crust today.
16 out of the first 20 on ZP were DQ
16 out of the first 20 on ZP were DQ... Crust won right on the limit for 95%

If you also add in that many are not on ZP, it shows how daft it can be at times. You really get to become good at reading Zwift races and letting people go sometimes. You'll see them in C sticking out 4w/kg and think "nah, you're not staying in the results"

Thing is half the fun is battling aT the front, trying to attack, defending an attack etc etc. Ie the racing element. When you are either just absolutely on the limit, or have no idea who you are racing against, it makes the whole thing a bit crap.

I use to race in c, I found it alot more fun but it was still tough and I only won one race ever, which just so happened to have a steep climb at the end. But If I drop back down c then that's just going to cause the same issues for the genuine c riders as I experience now.

Basically the zwift system doesn't work as is unfortunately.

Agree mostly... but i'm not sure what the actual answer is until the pre-check riders before entering the races.

They do have a series or two with Auto dunce hat... if you're destroying the limits you get 'slowed' by the system so they get dumped out.. it's not foolproof, but it's a start.

Zwift Academy workout 2 is.... poorly designed.

Sprint intervals which are ok in themselves but the way it drops your power to next to nothing then you spend the first half of your sprint at 130rpm and about 130watts before the turbo catches up and you can actually get some decent numbers on the board is a bit shit.

I'm sure there's a knack to it but I tried erg mode, regular mode etc and it was still overpowering the resistance until way into the interval.

Ivan - are you running it in a low gear (on your bike) ?
Supposedly that allows erg mode to control things better

No, I generally have it in the highest gear - worth a try next time though, cheers.

Yeap definitely should be in a low gear for erg mode. Small ring in the front and a couple off the lowest at the back for me.

🤮 workouts hurt. Hopefully be worth the pain in a few weeks.