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Went for a non virtual ride!!
Ha, I didn't know that paint was on the real thing - assumed it was a zwift creation
Lots of overtaking there. What did you set your weight to ?
drag out of hermitage
Under the old railway bridge and not turning up Slanting Hill?
I'm struggling to think of any others out of Hermitage that would count as a hill.
Lots of overtaking there. What did you set your weight to ?
It’s set to ‘chubby’ at the moment. 👍😀
Did a non-Zwift non-virtual 234 race at Hillingdon yesterday. 50 km in 1:05 and a normalised power of 275 W or 4 W/kg. Certainly in line with the inside results. First few laps were averages of 300-315 W, finished top third in a field of almost 70 riders, most a lot younger than me!!!
So tonight will be a long steady recovery ride on the KICKR. Then a race on Zwift next week. I've signed up for Zwift Power and team STW. So why not?
And I do rather like the Box Hill virtual climb. It's a good rendering of the real thing, I'm just sad I can't my head right to admire the view.
And I do rather like the Box Hill virtual climb. It’s a good rendering of the real thing, I’m just sad I can’t my head right to admire the view
press the number keys on your keyboard and you might get lucky - I forget which ones offer a distant/helicopter view
Correct Beej. They're all hills when you're fat!
Would have ridden up the real thing today but my pedal fell off, did zwift hilly route and ordered spare pedal bits instead.
Well, that wouldn't have happened on the turbo, following dazh round a corner and managed to find a patch of something with less grip than required.
Felt like I lost front and back at the same time, down on my right hip and skidded for a good while. Finished the riri but its bloody sore now! I was all excited about getting a top10 on a climb as well.
Ouch heal fast!
just goes to show you’re better off inside
Had a great time this afternoon. Did the 3:15 Z2 ride today and found myself finding along in a little friendly group being congratulated for my w/kg consistency. Had a great little chat with G Vine (Team Italy) and he asked me to pull the group to the end.
Fees good. 🙂
press the number keys on your keyboard and you might get lucky – I forget which ones offer a distant/helicopter view
'0' is the drone view. If you select it you can then use the + and - keys to zoom in and out and the direction arrows to change the direction and angle of view. It's quite impressive if you like that sort of thing.
WBR one lap volcano. Entered on a whim, but why not. Started at a silly pace as two riders were pulled back at 500 W. Then stayed together until the climb. I hung on to the leaders until two pulled clear leaving a group that fractured into two. First group and 4,5 W/kg climbing. Felt OK, even after yesterday’s real race. Anyway at the summit a few sprint clear and I start the descent. Still pushing 3-4 W/kg, I lose ground as not enough kg! I hold off the last group for a mid-pack 8/15. Story of my racing career. Still, surprisingly good fun. I just need the three lap race.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1472188994 If anyone is interested, 4.1 W/kg, same as the winner, but he had a few more kg
I did my FTP test of Friday following the 4 week FTP booster. Last one i did before Christmas was 269W & Fridays was 285W. So pretty pleased with that along with losing a couple of kilos. This is probably the fittest & lightest i've been for years at this point of the year.
Drag out of Hermitage is on my way home so a good indicator of fitness 🤣
No illusions here about it qualifying as a ‘hill’ 🤣🤣
I guess today is Richmond... We all know that means the fat fellas get a days jolly 🙂
Whilst i don't have the power at the moment... it should still suit me about as well as any other layout. Even if part of that is just psychological.
Not sure the legs have much in them today... but 16:05 for a WBR 5 lapper seems to be the order of the day 🙂
Fat boy didn't get to flat play... Instead due to timings i had to go hilly. So a decent warm up and then went for it.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=51134
Holding my bunch on the flat, meh, easy enough... I pushed on a few times trying to split the group to get a lead before the hills, but i only shelled 2 riders, who probably passed me on the hills again.
Overall my times were GREAT, lots of 2nd bests, plenty of 3rds and the odd first. So i was happy. Performance in the race, i couldn't have done much more really. I'm not built for these courses as we know. But looking through the list i beat a fair amount of lighter guys and a 260w average, i can't be unhappy, especially as i cruised some sections of the flat really.
God workout and perfect for a fasting day.... I SO need them 600 cals now !
Lol -19 CVR points, awesome.
Well I did a race today as well, totally by accident. I had had a rubbish nights sleep to the point I almost didn't get up. Dragged myself out of bed and found it was Richmond. I decided to have an easy bimble around the flat course when I saw SZR had a group ride. This is rather unusual as normally at this time there are no event options. I tried to join it and although the app said I had joined it didn't take me to the start.
Thinking I had a problem I decided to try and join the next event which was a WBR 1 lap race. Not only did I join it took me straight to the start!
Although I didn't feel the best I decided to do mainly as I couldn't figure out how to quit out of it. I had entered C. Off we went and I hit 250 to 280 watts for the first k or so and ended up in a group of 12.
Normally after about 5k I am hanging on but surprisingly that wasn't the case this time. The pace was quite solid but felt reasonably comfortable which shocked me somewhat.
I decided my goal was to stay with the group until the hills and then see what happened. One or two guys tried to break away but we reeled them in.
We hit the hills and I hit 4w/kg and dropped everyone but 2 who were just ahead of me. We got caught by another guy at the bottom of 2nd hill. The first two guys took off and I dropped the new guy and caught the other 2 at the top. Worked really hard to the last hill and passed the other two guys. Caught a couple of stragglers up the last hill but then on the flat bit got passed by the same two guys again. I just couldn't catch them.
Ended up 6th, took a minute off my pb for the lap and averaged 3.1w/kg which was a record for me in a race. I am stoked. All the hill work I have been doing is paying off. Interestingly Weeksy I was 4 seconds slower than you but clearly in a tougher race 😉
PS Tiger really liked the box hill video. I never realised cars were allowed on it.
@jk501 Nice!
Well I decided to avoid an endurance ride and rest day on the 4wk FTP Booster and went straight to the last workout - The dreaded FTP test.
First a slight disclaimer that I have never taken one of these tests with a power meter, only on the road to find out my FTHR. Any FTP values in Zwift have been obtained on Watopia Mountain, usually in an event.
Aim was to sit at a steady 380w for the 20 minutes (like in my previous post), but I couldn't find a suitable gear. It was either 340w or 390-420w @95-100rpm. So I ended up trying to maintain 400w. Good God that was hard work. The first 10 minutes were manageable, and I was feeling reasonable. At 15 minutes it was starting to hurt and the HR was climbing into the 170s. At 18 minutes the real mental battle started and the power dropped into the high 300s for a while. With one minute to go I just shut my eyes to avoid seeing how long I had left, and pushed as hard. I think I hit 460w at one point.
The result? An increase from 346w to 392w. Absolutely astounded! I can barely walk, my legs are like jelly
Next goal is RideLondon 100, so swapping to more endurance based riding now and hopefully lose a few kg in the process. Just in time for the new mountain to be released. I may even ride outside!
Did the ZBR social ride tonight, after nearly killing myself on the WBR 3 lap volcano race the night before. Social my ass!
The blurb reckoned 1.4-1.6 w/kg, I was putting out over 200w and couldn't stay with the guys off the front. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and eased back till I found a group of 4 who actually were putting out something like 1.6/1.7 w/kg. Made for a much better second half hour and I got to practice group riding (much easier when you're not dying like a dog!).
How can you tell who the ride leader is on these social rides? I hope it wasn't the guy three or four minutes up the road!
Matt
No trophy for me today as i actually went out in the real world, 2nd time this year! Did a lumpy 35 miler and it felt great, legs still strong at the end.
Interestingly Weeksy I was 4 seconds slower than you but clearly in a tougher race
That can easily be the case on Zwift.... different groups, different profiles etc. My group was more than 20 early doors which made the flat stuff really easy.
The result? An increase from 346w to 392w. Absolutely astounded! I can barely walk, my legs are like jelly
Wowsers... that's big numbers right there !
How can you tell who the ride leader is on these social rides? I hope it wasn’t the guy three or four minutes up the road!
There's a guy who has a big floaty gold thing. It's unlikley it was anyone up the road, they usually stick to the required pace give or take. There's always some who go off the front though.
Given Zwift the boot this weekend and decided to opt for real work experiences...Have a good idea to reccy the Vale Velo route i'll be doing in a couple of weeks, ended up doing around 83 miles in 5 hours, 2 days later and i'm still broken and sore. Not sure the endurance training on Zwift has actually helped or hindered me!
Good work all, raining today so I think I might have a go at WBR 3 Laps Greater London Flat Race (40.2km/25mi) Today @ 19:35 🙂
or go for the first run of the year but I think Zwift maybe....
PS Tiger really liked the box hill video. I never realised cars were allowed on it.
Ta, yep some people live up there and National Trust car park is at the top.
There’s a guy who has a big floaty gold thing. It’s unlikley it was anyone up the road, they usually stick to the required pace give or take. There’s always some who go off the front though.
Cheers Weeksy, I didn't see one of those, just ended up hanging with a couple of people who had PACK after their names. Seemed logical at the time!
Back to business and after a bit of a drowning outside this morning to go collect the car after been serviced (only 5 mile ride). Got home in time to take on boxhill twice for the end of season mgcc ride.
it must have been watching Tigers video that inspired me to smash out two equally fast laps. First box hill climb in 7:10 and second in 7;12. I was in a lead group of 3 but one dropped out at the start of the second climb as he had cramp. Me and the other guy were not backing off and at one point he was 2secs ahead but i knew my steady tempo would draw him in. I saw him slowing slightly as the A group caught us so i blindsided him and went with the A’s with a feather PU,not pleasant as i had to up the temp to 5.3w/kg over 420w just to stay with them. Eventually i snapped very close to the top but i had put 20s on my pursuer so i just kept the tempo high and blocked out the pain. Hit all the ramps at full gas and kept the pace high to the finish line. I won GOLD by 28 seconds so a perfect ending to the mgcc winter training season. The guys in Toronto have said that i should now move to the A group in their pursuit races but those guys are just too fast. They were nearly 3 minutes faster than me.
Epic performance again!
I'm mid ride currentlyon a 200-230w hour
The blurb reckoned 1.4-1.6 w/kg, I was putting out over 200w and couldn’t stay with the guys off the front. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and eased back till I found a group of 4 who actually were putting out something like 1.6/1.7 w/kg.
It's been said here before, but w/kg is an absurd metric to pace a ride by unless everyone is pretty much the same weight. In the real - and Zwift - world, flat speed is down to brute wattage, not you watts per kilo, unless you're heading uphill. If one rider weighs 60kg and another weighs 100kg, which is quite feasible, at 2 w/kg they'll be putting out 120 watts and 200 watts respectively.
For the lighter rider to match the heavyweight, he or she'll be at over 3 w/kg and still 20 watts down. Guess which one'll be quicker on the flat.
I don't know why Zwift has chosen w/kg as the dominant metric, but it causes a lot of confusion, particularly when people try to use it to define the pace of a ride. If you're pottering along on the flat and can't stay with someone putting out a lower w/kg figure than you are, that's probably why.
The result? An increase from 346w to 392w. Absolutely astounded! I can barely walk, my legs are like jelly
That's a colossal power increase in what seems to be a very short time and a whopping FTP. How are you measuring it?
Edit: I don't mean to sound dubious, but a 400w ftp is up around pro level. It's about what Alex Dowsett put out for his hour record in May 2015. I guess you probably weigh a little more though.
There's an element of being good at FTP tests, which is worth quite a bit. But yes, that's a monstrous increase, unless it's over a winter and I'd suggest is not solely the result of training. Not that there's anything wrong with that - you need to be good at the tests for it to be consistent, and if your old value was the result of poor pacing then your new one is even more valid.
But yes, I'm assuming you're comparatively weighty, as that's a huge number.
Blader, that's some seriously quick times up box hill, i think 6:55 is my best up there and that wasn't in a race, just a group ride where I'd saved everything for the climb, well done that man 😀
Aarrrrggggghhhhhh Scheiss Computer
Got another random graphics card crash tonight, just a minute off the end of a big workout! So doubtful any of it will be recorded. Ah well. Justifies the purchase of the new computer I have just made 🙂 Just need it to arrive now
That is the hardest thing I've ever done on a bike in under an hour!!!!!!!!!!! Managed to hold the 'A' front group until the last 2km finished 22seconds off 1st A . Phil A also STW in there
Fell off the bike dizzy and shaking..
Absolutely Mother Ducked!!! Av HR must be in the 170s
Wow!
https://www.strava.com/activities/1475208474
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=50695
wow that's a lot of effort and a lot of Bs behind you.. respect man. I thought i trained hard until you came along !
That’s a colossal power increase in what seems to be a very short time and a whopping FTP. How are you measuring it?
All measured via my Tacx Vortex bought just before Christmas - regularly calibrated. I'm not saying that it is accurate by any means, but I'm using it as way to see if I have improved. As I said that was my first proper FTP test, rather than just setting it in Zwift events. I'd only previously performed FTHR tests, and I never managed to get anywhere near what I did on the trainer (10bpm difference at least). I guess without the distraction of trying to avoid being cleaned up by a car I was able to bury myself deeper. The last minute was absolute torture, and the last 10 seconds were throwing up territory. I did find that my recovery was relatively quicker than I expected though.
Edit: I don’t mean to sound dubious, but a 400w ftp is up around pro level. It’s about what Alex Dowsett put out for his hour record in May 2015. I guess you probably weigh a little more though.
I'd be dubious that I could maintain that for an solid hour, which makes the FTP figure a bit of a joke. Maybe I'll have to try it one day. I'm just under 94kg at the moment, but am 6ft 4 so it's spread out. I suspect that Alex has a better w/kg than me, plus he'll be less of a wind-brake. Apparently I leave quite a large hole in the air for people to draft in.
Cool. I was just intrigued. And yep, that sounds like an FTP test. The Sufferfest 4D 'Full Frontal' test is quite unpleasant - includes two five-second sprint efforts, followed by a five-minute one, then - when you're nailed - the 20-minute test and finally a one-minute death rattle...
I guess the accuracy of the figure is irrelevant as long as it's consistent.
I should be having a go at The Chop ride @ 8pm in C-B grade if anybody fancies it?
I won't be going silly tonight though 🙂
Rest day today...
You don't know the meaning of it 🙂 You'll be flat out from the gun and pinned at 300+w
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I guess the accuracy of the figure is irrelevant as long as it’s consistent.
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<div>except on zwift, where it gives you a false w/kg and will have you smashing round in races etc, i guess thats part of the problem though with accuracy of trainers/power meters</div>
except on zwift, where it gives you a false w/kg and will have you smashing round in races etc, i guess thats part of the problem though with accuracy of trainers/power
He's a big lad, has been training hard for 3 months and regularly calibrates his turbo, what more do you want him to do?
He meant from his first test to his 2nd test... the actual numbers are not important, but the improvement gap is... Whether it's actually 400w or 300w doesn't matter... as long as it's the same turbo, setup etc each time
Tallpaul is added to the list of people to avoid in races 😀. Sheesh those are some big numbers,
I bagged a SILVER in todays wbr race which was 1 lap of greatest london hilly. I wasnt really keen to do boxhill again after yesterdays double hill torture but not really much else to go for. So imagine my surprise when we turned right instead of left at the boxhill junction, i had no idea where i was but realised it was leith hill climb. I have done it once before but only warming so i had no idea of the course so thought this might be interesting. Err no it wasnt, it was brutal, far worse than boxhill in my mind but this might be due to the ridiculous pace before we got to the climb plus my tired legs. I got up in 6:12 and in a group of 3 but i was suffering and ended up having to bridge a 5 sec gap on the downhill due to a stuck chain. I had nothing for a sprint so had to just consolidate 2nd. I ended up with avg 290w for the race but it felt like 390w.
Good job I don't race (yet).
I'm sure that in a race I'd be rubbish as I have no idea about tactics, and can't stop yo-yoing when trying to catch a draft.
except on zwift, where it gives you a false w/kg and will have you smashing round in races etc, i guess thats part of the problem though with accuracy of trainers/power meters
That's just Zwift for you though. I think you have to accept that not everything on there is accurate and never will be. Short of forcing everyone to use a certificated power meter and scales, there's not really much you can do about that.