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Excuses first.
Over 20degC still in the room.
Threshold efforts outside yesterday afternoon.
Too early.
No breakfast.
Compute winding me up.
No warm up.
2 laps of London Loop which I've never raced. Couldn't hold the power from the start and got popped out the back of every group and went backwards up the first half of Box Hill. Started picking riders off and then a big effort up the final ramp to get onto a few riders for the descent. Worked until Box again with the group but well down on power. Upped the power and took the front on the first hairpin then again after the second to drop my companions and try to bridge to the next 2. Managed to drop the 3 I was with but couldn't quite make the 30 second gap back. Got to within 10 seconds but I knew I had to recover on the way down. Last couple of km torture maintaing the gap to those behind. Last in B on ZP and didn't even beat the top legitiamte C which is the first for a while.
212 watt average. WTF needed yesterdays tailwind up the hills.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=74540
So now I know what kind of sprint I can manage, short and not very powerful!
Good battle with another D around the WBR London classic x 3. They basically sat on my wheel for 2.9 laps while I made tentative moves to try and drop them. The closest I got was about 8-9 metres on the first go up 'horseguards', but I was dragged back over the top.
Last lap I decided I was going to jump first, but was too ambitious and went with about 500 to go! The 5 metre gap didn't last long and I was easily overtaken with about 200 to go, live and learn!
Good to be back racing though. Matt
Three loops.long race last night. I'm starting to really like that route. Started steady with the pack splitting in a/B and C/D quickly. The A/B stuck together for around 10 minutes then the as and a few Bs got a few seconds in the rest. I was slow to respond thinking it would all close up again as there were still As in the back half. Closing the gap was painful, took around 5 minutes of high effort to close the 6-7s. Was worth the effort though as the lead group quickly pulled the gap out. There was one A Vet who put in a few attacks to split it up a bit. I managed to hang in while the other two Bs were dropped. Managed to stay with them till the big hill and which point they sailed off into the sunset (as I expected). I had the best part of two minutes on the trailing group which I managed to increase. The climbing was painful over Leith (I think) hill but not so bad up box hill. I was suffering now the the bridging effort. Good result though, first B in the road and on ZP. Not that far from the last A (1min) as well.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=74473
Great ride that Nixie, really close to that last A, next time!
Hanging on to the faster group is something I need to work on, it's really seems to pay dividends, especially on the flatter section like the start of your race.
Matt
Great to see a few back Zwifting.... I'm picking my new Snap up today after a longish debate with Wahoo regarding it's failure.... Happily they've now agreed and it's been in Evans for a few days but i was away this weekend, so collecting the new one today...
Starting to race again on Zwift due to Zwiftpower returning, cooler garage temperatures and too many outdoor TT's being cancelled with roadworks. Aiming for the 13:30 hilly today, and getting ready for Innsbruck on Saturday.
Thanks Matt, shame the while feild didn't finish. From the unfiltered list looks like a lot of people dropped out during the race.
Hopefully yiuyou be back online soon weeksy.
So Innsbruck is live on Saturday, cool.
Change of approach for me.
Since the restart since GDPR I've dropped back to C and will see what happens with skill points to be upgraded or maybe upgrade myself again if it's becomes silly.
Also planning on trying to race people rather than just clinging onto one of the front groups which basically makes the entire race a high threshold effort but yields good results. Will try and find a group I can influence and sprint against. Generally this will mean losing the C race as someone will always cling onto one of the stronger groups but hopefully it'll mean I get better at competing for when I can actually ride with those groups while having something in reserve.
6 laps of Richmond Flat (think I'm bored of this bit of race route now) and legs still a bit knackered from the weekend so a sensible effort found me a group and after 2 laps my legs came around from lack of warmup. Whenever I found my way to the front I added a little bump in power to add some stress onto the rest and a couple of bigger digs up the little incline to make everyone work hard. Along with similar from a couple of other riders nobody dropped. A couple hit out early at about 800m to go for the sprint and I wrongly assumed we'd get them back in the last 300m but misjudged it and was just tagging onto the back of the leaders by the line. Looking at the riders profiles we were all reasonably matched.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75058
Nice plan Tom, it's always much better when you get interesting racing and not just burying yourself. I'm not sure if i've got any legs for today, but if i do, the 15:05 WBR 3 lap Volcano flat is likely to be getting me out there to ride.... Although it also depends on number of entrants as well as the legs.. I won't be joining if less than 30 setting out.
I am hooked on the WBR chop races. Not sure if it the new Wahoo Kickr or something viral but my ears are popping and I have lost 30 Watts somewhere.
Suspect the former to be the culprit if I am honest. Still, all the gains I made over the last two months might not be as high as I though they should still be comparative to where I was. If you get what I mean.
I'm quite optimistic in that context, i calibrated my Snap and 300w didn't seem that much of a problem... Which is good as it puts me right in the mix for C at the pointy end. Whether i can sustain that for a race distance is VERY much open to debate... but hopefully i won't be far off my 267w i seem to average on many races.
I'm aiming for the 1pm hilly figure 8 today (taking advantage of school holidays).
Right signed up for the 'Gravel' 12 week training program. Sick of being fat (story of my adult life)
Got a chunky race/challenge in October (that isn't a race) that will mean I have to shed the lbs and work on my fitness.
Tried TrainerRoad but have cancelled that as I find that Zwift is a better platform for me so we'll see how these new structured training programs work.
FTP test later today to benchmark
In addition to my last post. Offspring has now claimed my old setup and signed up to the free trial. Doubly irritating as not only is he faster than me anyway he is now going to get a 30 Watt boost from the hardware.
Looking on the bright side, he is unlikely to want to stump up the monthly fee so I will only have to watch him go up the virtual road for a few days.
Interestingly (or not) I was faster for 20 less watts over the first 4 laps of this race than the 4 lap race I did a 4 weeks ago where I clung onto the front group until halfway and then held off 2 chasers. I may not have beaten the 2 who were chasing me then if I'd been with them though but this was certainly more enjoyable/interesting.
Urrrghhh, I feel sick. Sprinted too hard. Second placed B today though I did out sprint the fourth placed A (hence sick). Literally got him on the line. A/B group split into two on the first climb and then the lead group fractured again. I managed to jump from group three to group two on the downhill taking two others with me. We stuck together till the KOM forward climb at which point the A started to pull away. I managed the drop the other Bs and go with the A. Tried to stay on their wheel till the end. I wasn't going to sprint but they didn't go till 250m so I went for it. Nearly gave up but as above just overhauled them on the line. Quite a way behind lead B though who seems to have stuck with the As.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75168
Just signed up for Zwift in an attempt to get some fitness up after injury, loving reading all these posts and looking forward to getting the bike on the tacx tonight for the first time! Is there a section on Zwift for unfit blokes over 40 looking to increase fitness?
can you pick the track yet on zwift or does it still work on rotation?
Rotation but there is a 'hack' to allow choice on startup. Think choice is there for events now.
Keyboard99
Are you planning to race or just train? There are pleanp of non fast groups and Also training tailored for all levels
Don't be fooled by Innsbruck flat, it's not, there's a sodding mountain in it!
🙂 looks to be a sodding mountain in all the Innsbruck routes. Can't wait to give it a go.
Just wanted to train really to start with, lost fitness due to MTB injury and won't be back on that bike for 3-6months, so picked up a cyclocross to stick on the turbo trainer. Did the FTP test today, bloody hell, talk about sweat, first time on a turbo aswell. I saw there was a MTB training type course so will try that once I get over the shock of that FTP test 😉
<table class="table table-bordered">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Distance</th>
<th>Hrs</th>
<th>Min</th>
<th>Elevation</th>
<th>Avg Watts</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>18.2 km</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>44</td>
<td>438 m</td>
<td>109</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I don't think I clicked stop on the ride, realised it was still on 30mins later as it was only a 1h20m test.
Cannot see the results clearly in Zwift. Looking at the import into Garmin Max avg power 20mins was 174w, I have no idea what that is, time to read up.
Did the FTP test today, bloody hell, talk about sweat, first time on a turbo aswell.
Don't underestimate how debilitating the heat is when it comes to performance. Apparently if you're putting out 250w at the rear wheel, your body is producing 750w worth of heat and even with a powerful fan running it's really hard to dissipate that effectively when it's as hot as it is currently.
As I understand it, your body has mechanisms to stop you breaking yourself, a sort of internal governor. Plus it pumps blood closer to the surface of the skin to try and lose heat. That's blood that's not going to your leg muscles. Plus there's a self-preservation mechanism.
Anyway, what I've been finding with Sufferfest sessions is that I hit a wall at around 45 minutes of intense work when the heat becomes overwhelming and the only way I can complete the session is by dialling down the intensity. In the cool none of these workouts are a problem, but throw in the heat and it all goes badly wrong...
... and in short you may find your FTP is higher when the weather gets cooler.
Five laps of Innsbruckenring tonight. Mostly a flat loop with a 50m gain ramp three quarters of the way around. I really liked this circuit. Took a while to settle by which point most of the As had gone. From the second time up the hill I was with a single A till nearly the end. There was a big B group we managed to keep at least 10s back. Lap four I sensed Iay have a chance to beat them as I could open a few seconds on the hill. Lap five really went for it and powered the last 3km home. Also took over a minute out of another B who had stayed with the As for four laps and got past them with half a km to go. ZP shows me as silver B which I'm happy with. Annoyingly the A I was with isn't listed.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75628
<div class="bbp-reply-author">weeksy
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<div class="">Subscriber</div>
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Don’t be fooled by Innsbruck flat, it’s not, there’s a sodding mountain in it!
Amen
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Nothing race wise on so I did the UCI lap which was a grunt of a climb. Starts off fine at 5-8% with a few cheeky 10-12% bits thrown in when you don't expect it. The one part that was a bit of a shock was that 8% climb around the back of the town. Not great when you have already worked hard up the hill!
Great course though and a solid 45-50min workout. I really liked it.
Yesterday i did a 4 lapper of the Innsbruck flat... With the lump in the middle 🙂 I ended up bailing just before the end of lap 3... I was dying and had nothing at all left. I think it was partly down to lack of racing lately, partly down to heat in the garage and partly just me being mentally weak a few times lol
Slightly disappointed in myself, but i was dead.
So today i joined the ZHR C tea race... This was the same course but 3 laps not 4.... It went better... Lap1 i was in the lead group of 10.. Comfortable until the hill and we kicked up and split the bunch, but in the next 2km we all bunched back up including catching a bloke who'd pulled out 10s+.
Onto lap2 we had 10s on the group of 6-7 behind and between 3 of us working on the front we pulled it out to 15s... but by the time we hit the lump it had been closed.. I wasn't able to put out any more than 4w/kg on the lump so the group shattered and we were a 3... fighting for 8-10th overall.... Onto lap 3, 1 guy aid goodbye and bailed... so we were a 2...I honestly thought the other rider had me, we were chatting a bit as we were not really working that hard. 1 min+ behind the 4 in front of us and 2 mins ahead of the group behind now.... So taking it easy... Up the hill we paced eachother at 3.8w/kg and got up, then it got serious with trying to position.
I went early with an aero at 1km, but wasn't there... They caught my wheel nicely too so sat there... with 0.3km to go i went a bit at 5ish... I hung on for 8th overall.
Due to not many signing up etc yet... i got a bronze, but was really an 8th 🙂
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=75761
Just done the Lutscher course and its a brute. First KOM i did in 20 mins which was pure torture. I finished the race in 2nd place overall but due to fat fingers i entered as a C rather than a B so got dq’d. I did however increase my ftp to 319w so i guess thats what a week off the bike does for you.
Did 4 laps of the 'flat' course yesterday as well. Enjoyed it a lot - I think it is a very good course but that hill is a bit of a brute.
First time on the course so didn't know how long the hill was. Front group split on the hill and I got dropped. Tried and failed to catch them back up but a group of three of us formed about 20secs behind. Trouble was they just wanted to sit in my wheel so the gap got bigger and the 3rd group on the road started catching. Got a bit annoyed so I made a break for it, all the time thinking they would catch me back up.
But they didn't - ended up doing three laps on my own and still enjoyed it. Even had a decent gap by the end.
Stupid never-ending zwift race! It was supposed to be KISS First Base, 7 laps of the volcano.
All started off perfectly with a gaggle of seemingly genuine Ds getting away then settling down around the 200W mark. I was having to put plenty in on the hills, but nothing too problematic.Then the laps and the distance to go stopped going down, if you were lucky you got one lap reduction for each two you rode.
I'm guessing that didn't help the group stay together and at the end of lap 4 (actual laps) splits appeared and we were in two groups, with 5 off the front and me in the second group of 3. We stuck at it for 2 more laps,until a small acceleration got me a gap, though I think people were losing heart now.
Just closing out my 8th lap and the distance stuck again at 12.3km, enough's enough and I called it a day.
Matt
LOL that's a fair few laps of the Volcano at race pace ! Good work 🙂
Just about to start a 18:15(Aus time) race around the volcano. See how it goes today..
First Chop race last night.
Didn't realise that there was only 3 cups up for grabs. I'll probably work more next time but I doubt that'd have got me to the finish in a position to contest it anyway yesterday.
Good format and everyone seemed to be racing in category. C's held together and I was comfortable for the first 2 laps. Caught by the B's going into the tunnel and then couldn't follow the front up the switchback climb. Kept together with 4 other Cs and waited too long to sprint. Couldn't get back round the person who launched the sprint.
Zwift was playing up a bit as it looked like only 1 B was closing in but it was all of them.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=77222
EVR europe race last night on the brutal Lutscher loop. I didn't really pay to much attention to the route layout (flat -> UP -> down -> back UP) so wen too hard on the climb thinking that was it. No you have to do it twice. Lap one I was staying with a couple of A's and B. Despite my heart trying to escape I kept up with them will the start of the second time up the hill. Had to rest then and dropped about 10s back. I clawed it back once but could not hang on and dropped back again to aroudn 15-20s. That left me as third B on the road which I was happy with. About two thirds of the way up I realised the B behind me was closing rather quickly. They came past quite quick and try as I could I could not latch on. I did at this point switch from spinning to out the saddle pumping and managed to start closing the gap down the the A-B group that had earlier dropped me. The Lutscher climb goes in flatter - steeper blocks. I was able to take 4-5 s out of the group on each steeper bit before falling back a little on the flatter sections. By 400m to go I was down to 2s but had nothing left to close that. Finished fourth B on the road but have a silver in ZP ( https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=77288). The in game first placed B was a long way ahead so guess they were upgraded. FTP now up to 314W based on that race. Weight seems to be down to under 79Kg so probably time to update my Zwift profile.
Nice one Tom, goor to see the A group didn't get you :D.
Been waiting a while for this one. Have been wanting to do Alp du zwift but wasn't a high enough level so had to be during an event. Road to sky starting from the pier rather than the flying boats. Got a pb up the KOM during the warm up as I stuck with the two As. I stuck with them all the way to the climb and tried to keep the group pace up to give me a lead over the other Bs. I had 30s when everyone was on the big climb and the As had predictably disappeared. I managed to keep the average power up and the gap in place. The following group clearly tired more quickly as in the last 3k the gap opened up to 1m 30s. The As both dropped out at some point which gave me the overall as well as B win. So tired now!
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=78847
AweskAw work!
Back from holiday and looking to get working on the weight, so seeing a post on anohter Zwift thread that Eemy is racing short circuit tonight at 6:10pm i think i'll jump in on that one with him. Short hard and fast, sadly with a kick up in the middle which won't suit, but we've got to start somewhere. Nice gentle warm up first and then go play 🙂
Who's having a crack then ?
I think i'll go for the 17:10 greater london flat 2 lapper today... works quite well in timings etc.. So why the heck not 🙂
Quick question. I use zwift on ipad and i assume this is the reason why i dont get the little indicator to show me how close fellow riders are?
Just did a 4 lap of london classique with people who thought it was fun to do multiple attacks on every lap! It was pretty brutal in patches and Horseguards hill was used as a sprint track, my avg wattage for the hill was 497w, 523w, 556w and last lap 561w. I hung on and ended up in a bunch sprint but only managed 3rd in B, pretty tough racing lately.
What that hills not a sprint track? 😁
Nixie - i prefer it when the hills are used for a moderate upturn in speed rather than having to nail it. To be honest i was at the pointy end with a bunch of Cat A’s so it was always going to be like that. I guess the attacks on the Mall were a bit more of a shock to the system as i try and recover there for the sprinty horseguard hill.