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Damn shitty companion app. Didn't register me on the event properly so missed the race start. Why cannot they not remove the stupid same network restriction! Stuck now with only a training ride till 9pm!
what does ^ that mean nixie ? Have they stopped you picking events from the app - used to be the only sensible way
Tried to do Stage 1 of Innsbruck. Ouch! Made it a couple of km up the climb for the second time and then bombed.
Ah well. Still doing so much more training than before and it was certainly a work out I can feel now!
Will concentrate on finishing the Academy instead. Didn’t like the Innsbruck kit particularly anyway 🙂
No you can still pick from the app. Just for some reason I joined via app and was getting notifications about it but the game itself didn't let me join the event. I managed to join a later one though. It might have been a WiFi issue. Hence annoyance that the companion app only works as a game compamion when on the same WiFi network.
Didgy - might have to go back and check on 2000w but I did think I saw that. I'm more of a Hoy build than Froome mind...
I definitely had it on 1100 as I have a screenshot of that coming down from the radio mast and hitting 100kph.
But I'm sure you're right about more expensive trainers being better in terms of response, etc though you have to weigh that against cost and whether most people will benefit so much. For me at least racing is just a way to jazz up training - I don't really care about the results per se so if the flow makes racing more difficult I don't really care. I can see how you could get into racing on Zwift as a thing though at which point investing in a better trainer would be worthwhile.
If I zwift using a power tap wheel and ant+ dongle from gamin, I assume it won't adjust resistance etc for hills and drafting as a smart turbo does, how will that work for races etc?
So after my earlier annoyance I did a lap of the UCI circuit up the big hill at a steady pace. I still had the desire to race though so half way up I signed up for four laps.of the Innsbruck ring. 25km and the big hill probably wasn't the best prep for four hard laps!
So lap one started fairly steady. Till the hill that is when the As tried to break away. I dropped a few seconds back but managed to haul myself back onto them soon after the sprint. Was so tired though as we went into lap two. It was a rinse and repeat as the lead pace allowed the following group to catch up. Once again the As went on the hill, I nearly kept up but just couldn't get onto their wheels over the top and off they sailed. I ended up with one ambitiously rated C until a few caught up to make a group of six.
Things stayed this way till the last time up the climb with the odd probe at the front. One rider was doing most of the pulling with the rest of us sitting back. My plan was to go big on the hill and gap them as I was sure I was stronger there. So nearly worked as the two of us pulled clean away but I only got a 2s lead on him. With the earlier hill climb and lap one effort that was never going to be enough and he caught me with 1km to go. I could stay on his wheel but the gap opened quickly as the power levels rose. No sprint needed on his part as I was done. 60km and over 600m climbing tonight is the furthest I've been on zwift. To my surprise I get the gold though as they aren't on ZP. https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=84161
Great work and sounds like a cracking race Nixie 🙂
I did a 3 lap Innsburkring yesterday, but didn't have the legs and bailed after lap 2... Need to get back into the 5-2 diet and some less intense riding at the moment. Get the calories down rather than killing myself racing constantly.
Do people use turbo tyres? The second hand turbo I have brought came with one but I don't have a spare wheel to put it on at the moment and I don't want to faf about swapping tyres on the bike I will be using as it is a do it all bike (commuting, weekend rides and now for the turbo). At this stage I cant believe I will be pumping out much power
Yes i do, but i have a spare wheel for it. I turbo on a 29er Parkwood though so i already had a spare wheel for it.
If I zwift using a power tap wheel and ant+ dongle from gamin, I assume it won’t adjust resistance etc for hills and drafting as a smart turbo does, how will that work for races etc?
hill - change to a harder gear to simulate the resistance
drafting - too subtle for me; I've never felt it drop (I'm not very good at drafting though so maybe I lack feel)
Zwift doesn't really care how you do it, it just sees your power output. People on non-smart trainers stereotypically put out less up the hills because the resitance doesn't rise but than more down them. Makes racing a little bit different, I suppose, but still easily doable
Stage 2 on Tour of Innsbruck today and its up the same hill as stage 1. I have tired legs so i think i will go very slowly up hill and then i am going to go full gas on the downhill to see what top speed i can generate.
I'm in the process of starting the 5-2 and endurance/distance stuff, but less in the way of racing. So i think i'll jump on the tour about 11.30 as i'm picking up the new full suss for my lad before that. Won't be going hard in the slightest though, 200w max/average.
I'm sure this has been answered before somewhere in this thread, but there's no way I'm searching 233 pages, so apologies, but ....
What race series would you guys recommend?
I've only done a couple of Zwift Academy Races so far, and finished towards the bottom end of Group B. ZwiftPower seems to think I should be racing Group C based on my stats, but my FTP is around 3.4 W/kg so I reckon Group B is right. I was probably a bit fatigued when doing those races (they were done mainly to complete the Academy, rather than treating them like proper races), so dropping to Group C would probably be sandbagging somewhat - plus, I'm not really bothered about where I finish as I'll just be using Zwift races as part of my 'training'.
Ideally looking for races that start around 8pm on weekdays.
Also, just wondering how much people treat these like real races. Do you make sure you're rested beforehand, do you fuel properly, etc.? I'm focussing on weight loss at the moment and am training daily, so I'm coming into everything a bit tired and in calorie deficit.
My usage is very dependant on how our two girls have gone to bed so I can't make plans to compete in a whole series. For me its whats on when I'm free. I don't fuel as if it where a real live race and a lot of the time don't even warm up (time can be that tight I get into the game 1 or 2 minutes before the start!). When in them though I treat like a real race and try my hardest to win. Mostly I seem to end up in KISS or WBR races as those are what start around 8pm. I quite like climbs so favour those over flat races given a choice. If your looking at 8pm races I may see you around (must remember to add STW to my game name).
I have the same issue: kids in bed, dinner made & eaten - run around flinging kit on trying to make the start time.
I've added STW to my Zwift name (Mark QT) - I'll maybe see you disappearing off into the distance sometime soon!
I'm doing thw 12:00 tour now
Qtip (and others) consider joining the WKG league races. The winter league is due to start early October. Its a weekly race usually in the evening (BST). Think it will be around 12 races for the next one and they include TT, Flat, Hilly and the infamous one11 (111km) Each Cat gets regulars so you compete against riders you are used to each week and build up friendly rivalry. The races are live streamed and Vlogged as well.
Until the winter league starts we have a Wednesday Mini Crit which is basically 2 laps of the flattest courses which is fast and furious and a Monday hilly race up the biggest hill on which ever world is scheduled.
The racing is competitive but not obsessional like the CVR etc and with good banter. People tend to race these no matter how they feel just to keep in touch and keep some points coming in.
Here's a Vlog sample, bit long as it's the One11 but you can jump around just to see. You see Jesper Anker and Tim Fairford etc in here.
Take a look at the WKG facebook group and join.
For more serious racing at a higher level you have the CRIT Racing league, CVR World cup, WBR Wahooligan league (all Cats have their own competition). If you do a Tuesday/Thursday night KISS race (8pm BST) then add another 10% it will give you an idea of standard. One of the hardest races at the moment is the Aussie Crit race on a Tuesday morning. For these you have to feel good, be well rested to stand any chance of a good result.
Ooooof that was a bit hilly for me ! Ouch. Hills are not my friend.
111km on a turbo, I’ve not built myself mentally up to that and probably won’t!! But fair play if you can/do!
Been playing around with my saddle height as since changing saddles it hasn’t felt right. Confirmed with the age old heel on pedal method and measuring saddle thickness. Needless to say I’ve ended up moving the saddle up 13-15mm. What better way to test this setup quickly works than a 25 min ramp test.
FTP history
28th July - 280
19th August - 293 (saddle changed between tests)
6th September - 311 = 4.2w/kg
Very happy with that, now to just shift those few kgs and I’ll be back to a mid hitting A racer 🙂
Good job Nath. Strange how little changes have such effects.
Nice Nath... I have no idea how you hit 311 at a low weight lol. I'm struggling at the moment for performance. I'd be lucky to see 270w i think, with my best being just on 300. But that's been on a TT race, not a dedicated FTP/Ramp test... I don't have the mindset for one of them.
I'm thinking a rest day today, yesterdays tour of Zwift was harder than i'd planned with a long climb in it.. I seem to have averaged 263w up it from looking at Strava, lower than i expected actually. But my average HR was 170+ which is about 97% of my max lol... For an easy day... that's a bit much 🙂
Thanks guys, hard thing now is to lose the 4kg and gain power!
I don’t think “easy day” is in your vocabulary sir 😆
Ramp test is very good as it only takes 20-30 mins and you can get on with cycling after it - very quick recovery compared to the traditional 20 min test.
Ok picked up my second hand Tacx flow today. Cost me £90 on eBay including a turbo tyre so a bargain. Has hardly been used.
Took a while to get it set up, update firmware, fit bike etc but got that all sorted and set off on Zwift. Did about 30 minutes and was sitting about 1.4 to 2 w/kg. Didn’t feel the resistance change a massive amount but was having to work harder to maintain speed. Started up the epic mountain and at times was only managing 2mph so I guess that is the game managing the gradient for you.
Will look at doing an ftp test tomorrow night to give me a baseline to work from and go from there. Currently 116 kg so any weight loss is going to help!
Robbo - nice one, a great starter turbo which takes a few rides to get used to the gradient changes.
Nathb - i said you would be back pretty quick, i guess i can say bye bye to you being in the B class. My current ftp is 318w but i am 80kg but i might be able to ride with you for a while or until you drop the watt bomb. I am hoping the change to a kickr in a month or two might improve my race results as i wont have to deal with delays or limited watts.
Can you really notice the gradient changes? I didn’t really need to change down gear which is what I would have expected to have to do. I almost ran out of gears.
Can you really notice the gradient changes? I didn’t really need to change down gear which is what I would have expected to have to do. I almost ran out of gears.
You certainly can with a Kickr. For some reason mine went into dumb mode yesterday, partway through a session. I knew something was wrong as soon as I hit a climb over about 2˚ - ended up stopping and starting a new session, which fixed it.
If you have a controllable trainer and can't feel the gradients as increased resistance maybe worth checking you have the difficulty slider in the settings panel switched on. I think standard is 50% but you can up the difficulty to make gradients feel more realistic. If it's off you're essentially running a non-controllable trainer, ie it'll read your power output and control your avatar speed accordingly, but without increasing the resistance you feel, so you won't have to change gear to cope etc.
Been looking around for a turbo to start zwifting and came across this https://www.probikekit.co.uk/turbo-trainers-bicycle-rollers/cycleops-hammer-smart-trainer/11574291.html . Was looking at the kickr but this is quite a saving
Robbo - you should definately feel the resistance change, if you cant feel the difference then there is something wrong with your trainer. Try the bike in biggest gear with steady cadence and go from 0 gradient to anything above 6 and see if it gets tougher, i think you notice it more in a big gear. If you are a big fella then may be it will feel slightly less but you should still feel it. You could try turning your pedals by hand as you should def feel it then
Grim168 - wahoo is releasing a cheaper version at the end of this month called the kickr core, should retail at £699.
Cheers blader, for that money I could get the climbing attachment as well. Was looking at the kickr in the first place
Think I had it on manual mode. With erg on I think it will work. Can use the Zwift companion to easily switch between the two modes.
FTP completed tonight. 211 W. Puts me at 1.8 w/kg so firmly in the middle of cat d. Guess I should be able to try some races now. Mrs is out on Tuesday so might try one then.
The Kickr Core looks ace. Basically it's pretty much the same spec as the current full-on version, but as with the latest Kickr proper, has a silent belt drive. The older ones have quite a high-pitched hum to them. Hard to find discounted, but Wiggle stock them and if you have, or know someone with a Platinum discount and are prepared to wait for one of their 17% off weeks, you can get it, erm, 17% off list price, which would make it £580. Or normal 12% off, £615.
Come back and tell us how you get on if you go for the Climb thing as well.
@blader1611 Thanks! I'm sure you could easily keep up with me @leeroybrown didn't have an issue 😆
Robbo, just to confirm that the flow has a significant change depending on gradient - defo noticeable.
Things to check - erg mode off, trainer difficulty - the 'harder' you have it, the greater the difference between flat and climbing. I typically have it as hard as it'll go as that feels more like real life to me (it's not actually harder as it works out power the same either way but the resistance will be higher for a given gradient up to around 7%)
And also confirmed this morning that the Flow will go over 800w. Despite feeling crap, I did a mini sprint at 888w, peak 901
Oh and also got green and polka jerseys but I was cheating by world hacking into innsbruck 🙂
I left it on manual for the FTP test last night so might have another go later on tonight and see what happens. Will try playing around with the trainer difficulty setting as that might help. I could adjust the incline on the FTP test but it either seemed to be manual or ERG. It was recommended not to use ERG for the FTP test.
Not sure if my wheel/tyre is having an affect as well. I am using my only bike on there so until I get a spare wheel I am using my commuting tyres which are Schwalbe g-one speeds (38c tyre). I cant go above 70 psi on them so wondering if that affects the results.
My heart rate hit 174bpm so am I am working hard in any case just that the numbers might be skewed!
I don't think the wheel would affect it - the resistance will go from pretty much freewheeling to grinding up a climb. I expect that for the training it's keeping it constant and iirc there are people who've found that erg can stay on even when the setting is off (ie a bug in zwift).
Just try riding (rather than a workout plan), set the difficulty to max and ensure that erg is off and you'll very quickly know if it's working
Will perhaps give that a go tonight then.
Looking for some shorter races to try out this week. What is best under or around an hour? Going to be Cat D.
There's usually an 8pm First/Second base race on Mondays which is in theory either C or D only.... which will give you a half decent chance of getting a good race... Sure there'll be some ridiculous 4w/kg riders in it... always is.... but you should get many comparable riders too.
I did three laps of Greater London flat last night. There was one other rider flagged as STW which I think was @Scaled? The pace seemed brutal on this one but that might just have been because I tried to stay with the A's. Seemed that attacks started during the run in and continued from there. I got my timing right for most of them and managed to stay in the draft though it became clear quickly I was going to get dropped, just a matter of when. I started setting mini targets for myself, stay with them till 25k, then 20k and 15k. The continual attacks were knocking the B numbers down though till just three of use remained with the A's. I finally fell off the back around 14k with one other B and an A. The attack started out of the underpass uphill. I used my aero powerup to stay with the group but as this wore out and the pace stayed high I couldn't hold on any longer. Most of the last lap became a game of cat and mouse, the A clearly wasn't going to help and the rest of the B pack was about 2 minutes back. I was debating an early attack when the other B decided the same at around 3k to run. I clung to his wheel and he gave up only to try again half a k later. Same result. After this we cruised till the sprint. He got a slight jump on me with 300m to go. I tried damn hard and caught him on the line (getting my highest ever power output at 1118W at one point!). Unfortunately I couldn't tell who was first and this being a KISS race there was no leader board :(. They are also not on ZP annoyingly. ZP gives me silver but I think that was really a bronze, quite a gap to the B gold though (C. Jehu who I'm sure I had some good races with before).
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=85464
Top race report 🙂 Thanks for that. Yes, he's Scaled.
I may do the 8.05pm 2nd base race tonight on the Classique. But depends on a few other factors with the wifes car, meaning i may have to cycle 19 miles home later.
Just been looking and might do the Kiss race tonight at 8 (first base). Have registered with Zwiftpower etc so I assume there is nothing else I need to do. About 13 miles so wont be too long and nice and flat for a first attempt!
Do you still have to put Kiss(D) after your username in order for it to be counted? There doesn't seem to be a user friendly guide to entering these things!
Nah, i don't believe so...
But no harm in doing so. Have you fully done your bits on Zwiftpower ? GDPR stuff a few months ago.
Hardly anyone seems to have, so the number of people on the full results are usually VERY low.
Yeh I went through it last night. You had to get your zwift user number then it generated a 4 digit number that you put after your surname and then it updated again. Was a bit of a faff but think I got it sorted.
Confused about what distance the race is though - again doesn't seem very clear. The zwift events page here says 4 laps of the London classique https://zwift.com/events/view/85702. The London Classique zwift route says it is 3.3 miles long. https://zwiftinsider.com/classique/ so 4 laps is 21.1km.
Zwiftpower says it is 27km long.
I did three laps of Greater London flat last night. There was one other rider flagged as STW which I think was @Scaled?
Yeah, that was me mate. What a nightmare I had last night! Had that lovely 'everyone else disappears for a bit' so dropped the aero PU that i had and just tried to hammer it as hard as I could in the hope that I was still with the bunch if/when they reappeared. Yeah, that didn't work so well. LIke you said, the pace was pretty high but I was comfortable enough, just not out on my own for that long.
I was even behind the B group at that point but managed to TT on to the back of that and started to take a few seconds out of the A group. Then there was a bang on the garage door. Daughter out of bed, outside aaaaaaaagh.
My wife is on a Zwift trial at the moment and was doing the womens KISS race at the same time, seeing as I wasn't in the running I hopped off and went to sort her out. Ended up with two proper sandbagging cat C's 😀 😀 Stayed with them for a good while before they both disconnected.
I've raced the last 3 nights, after a week in Croatia of beer and still not on top form post food poisoning a few weeks ago. I'm pretty happy with the 4.4w/kg that i'm doing at the moment. Only issue is that there's not a great deal of weight I can drop to get that up. It's going to be a hard winter ready for the strathpuffer in Jan