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Does that apply to over-reporting weight as I’m thinking of doing?
How would anyone know or care ? I've got a buddy who doesn't post much who zwifts at his actual weight, but gets killed in D. I've told him more than once to take 10kg off as it will make the racing a lot more interesting to him.
Used to piss me off at first when riders would smash out performanaces that were way out of their chosen category but these days I don't care whether people weight-dope or whatever (some power meters / turbos supposedly exaggerate output too).
You're racing virtual opponents round a fictitious world in a category whose boundaries are arbitrary and none of you can prove you are what you claim, unless you're right at the top end of A and have backed it up with at least some evidence of real-life racing.
err, ride on !
That's my opinion too. Of course if I was doing some serious competition it would be different - a local rider is seriously competitive in international zwifting and I assume they have to use a certified weight.
I use my real world weight and have the trainer set at 100%.
However during my warmdown last night I was thinking of possible zwifting marginal gains. How much does tyre pressure effect a turbo? would tubeless make a difference? or tyre type itself?
(some power meters / turbos supposedly exaggerate output too).
No supposedly about it, i had to cancel my pro contract and everything... "All of 2018" includes the period I had an elite Turbo Muin 😀
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yeah, you've gone all to shit now, scaled !!
Reverse hilly 3-lapper for me this evening
Not the best course for the (slightly) heavier rider but not the worst either; bit more gradual rise than the other way, I think.
Just couldn't hold them up the steep bit round the corner and had to use an aero on the downhill for the 1st two laps to try to stay in touch (on lap1 with the grownups and lap 2 with group2). Got a feather for the 3rd lap (yay !!) and used it too early so it had worn off by the time I hit the steep bit (duuh) so lost a few more up the road. Near the end, somehow I got another power up just before the finish (yay !!) - feather again 🙁
9/51 in B. Good, for me
Great work on that course, impressed
you should've seen the sprint weeksy, me and 2 others playing rock,paper,scissors with 2 feathers and a transit van 😀 !
I tried a workout last night "Triple Bumps" and completely f'd it. Couldn't even complete the second set of intervals.
I think i need a recovery week and a bit more structure to things. I did a 65k mtb ride overnight on saturday, as hard as i could go and just don't seem to have recovered from that. At the moment my FTP feels like an old number that i'll never see again :/
At the moment my FTP feels like an old number that i’ll never see again
We've all been there. You can't peak every day all day all year. I've had days where 270w seemed ridiculous, but then things happen, you find form and throw in a 280... .then the other day a 288... you'll get it back....
Just did the sprintapalooza with the DIRT team, nice steady group ride and then full on for each sprint. I managed to beat my sprint pr by 6 seconds! I managed the sprint section in 17.97 which avg 710w, i think i am heavily limited by my trainer so a good target for when i get my kickr core. The winning sprint was a mind boggling 13.10s which must be an avg of over a 1000w.
The winning sprint was a mind boggling 13.10s which must be an avg of over a 1000w.
972 by the looks of it on ZP 😀
Good sprinting there man, looks like a fun event
Thanks for finding that Scaled, its had me wondering what it would be. That is really impressive numbers as we were winding it up about 20s before the line so he had to maintain that kinda wattage for a while
Thanks was brutal. Did a 12km warm up then into P race. Then saw it was 49km and drafting. The pace never relented all race .just hard hard at it. Nearly got dropped 3 times, but clawed my way back with 2-3 others. After 15km we were a group of 45, at 30km we were 32, then at 40km we were about 22, all the way to the line. We caught many Bs who had a 2 minutes head start on us. I was crap in the sprint though.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=106004
Week 4 of the FTP builder.
Had to abandon today's tempo ride was out of energy by the first 5min interval. Family have all been sniffling and coughing all week and thought i'd got away with it. Don't think I have.
Now playing catch up, might have to drop the FTP target a bit so I can actually get through the workouts.
3w/kg over an hour - impressive weeksy !
bigdean, wk 4 really ramps it up as I remember. Nothing wrong with rethinking it if you're not 100%
Just 20kg of fat to lose and I'll be a contender.
Nice riding weeksy, very solid numbers there. Every race you are looking more like a B.
did the Chop 6 Lap Volcano on Thursday, cannot really remember what happened, got chopped at some point though, spent ages looking for a short race, initially went for some WBR Alpe ride but it was a training thing and i didn't fancy that, wanted to race!
today, a longer race than usual, WBR 50km 5 Lap Jungle, started with a 12km lead in that partially goes up the Epic KOM to the Jungle Gate, predictably split the group everywhere, end up being just me at 2 others, they shelled me on the first lap climb, got caught by a big bunch on the downhill, that i stayed with, they nearly got away on the 2nd lap climb, 5 second gap opened and i had to put in a big effort to bridge back, group gradually whittled down each lap, 3/4 got away on the 4th lap climb that seemed to last forever, was 22 seconds back from them at the start of the 5th, got that down to 4 seconds but just couldn't bridge by the time we got to the top and they disappeared into the distance again, finished solo having stuck 20 seconds into the 2 that were left with me at the start of the 5th
was decent to do a longer race, even though it didn't really suit 12/22 in B from those that are registered
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=106102
well done DR - climby races are no fun when everyone else is lighter than you (apart from a 93kg beast !)
I did a figure 8 race this evening. Ouch. New FTP 287->289 🙄
Luckily got a feather in my warm up so got to use that on the 1st lap, then a transit van which I didn't need but burned before the next banner, where I got an awesome extra 10 points, and same again from the next one which meant I got dropped on the second "big" climb but was about 30 sec ahead of the bunch behind with about 6k to go. Felt fine and was managing that gap right up to the road turning upwards again.
Got caught on the final smallish climb by 2 guys under 65kg leading a little bunch along. Tried to get away with an aero over the top but there was another rise and they pulled me in (I don't think it was double draft but they were really moving even when I overmatched their power as they caught me). Decent sprint (for me) and 4/15 Bs in the end
Highlight of the race was the trash talk at the start from one guy ("Chumps!" "Come at me") who then dropped out on the 1st lap 😀
... and another whose opening comment was "shirt off; duran duran on" - I had no idea that bikebuoy raced on zwift
and another whose opening comment was “shirt off; duran duran on” – I had no idea that bikebuoy raced on zwift
Nice, I approve!
Anyone notice the new layout on zwiftpower when you click your name, or anyone for that matter. It is telling me I can cope with short uphill sprints, anywhere else and I'm c rap. Though to be honest I think my trainer is flattering me somewhat, despite calibration before every race.
TT, rouleur, long climber is all that's on offer here - no discernible sprint
I think that's what comes of only doing races and being mid-pack cannon fodder, struggling to keep up with the bunch; I'm so shagged by the final km that I barely accelerate at all
As you'd expect it sees me as a longer diesel 🙂 I can relate to that and of course my riding and my races suit that.
I shouldn't really have ridden the P race on Sat and i'm paying the price of an aching back... no idea why...Came on Fri morning and hasn't gone away.
I think the world is telling me to take a few days off... i may actually listen this time.
Havent been able to do anything for the last week due to man flu. Commuted in by bike today though in an aim to be fit for Cannock on Friday. Doubt I will get any zwifting in before that.
My profile has me down as a TT then a rouleur!
I think the world is tellin<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">g me to takeI think the world is telling me to take a few days off… i may actually listen this time</span>
... and quietly, without any fuss, all the stars in the sky began to go out
scaredypants : bigdean, wk 4 really ramps it up as I remember.
I'm on week 4 too and it does seem to have clicked up a notch or two.
I wish they'd rejig the display of training plans a bit so you can see what's coming up for the whole week. Sometimes you have 2 workouts that are 'by Thursday' but the companion app only show the first one if you've got another one before those. The full Zwift is marginally better but annoying that you have to fire up the whole thing to get to it. Would be better to have a bit more of this info on the website.
The lack of information annoyed me about the Zwift training stuff. I shifted over to Trainerroad which is a far better experience for planning and changing things around.
TBH I'm finding the Zwift training a bit dull compared to previous Sufferfest videos.. just finishing the FTP Builder plan and then I'll move on to doing races instead which should, hopefully, be a bit more interesting.
have we done this:
email today tell me that zwift is now running up to levels above 25 (maybe to 50) - wonder what "rewards" there might be. Quite a few folk on here must be well up the levels already (supposedly they've kept a tally and will speed up your rate of rise)
All info here. I think I've got enough points to get to level 30 now, just need to do enough "accelerated" riding to move up.
https://zwiftinsider.com/zwift-levels-26-50/
https://zwiftinsider.com/points-levels-unlocks/
Just did the WBR London hilly race. Because I'm no climber I entered as a C but despite being on the limit, WBR take your previous ratings into account and I was disqualified. Ah well.
Anyone ever feel they have reached a plateau or possibly your genetic limit. I did an FTP test last week and just gained 1w. It's been a lot of training for very little gain. I do think I could train to do more but to go from a low B at 3.2 to contest races at 4wkg sometimes feels beyond me. Thats the monkey talking hopefully.
Anyone ever feel they have reached a plateau or possibly your genetic limit. I did an FTP test last week and just gained 1w.
There's a question indeed.... I often feel like that, especially when i see other riders who ride less and 'worse' than me but can completley destroy me. It doesn't always seem that effort = performance. However, i'm fairly guilty in the context that i don't train logically compared to known training plans.
Whilst my performances on Zwift have improved in the past year, taking my FTP on the Parkwood then, to the Parkwood now... I think i've gained about 7-8% only in the past year... Is that an indication of my efforts, my hours or my 'training' i don't really know. But realistically i have to accept that gaining more power is fairly hard now, 288w is a decent figure for a 47 year old, to get over 300 next year well, not sure that's possible. Weight is where any gains are going to happen, but then, that's fairly unlikely due to my eating and structure.
For me to be a competitive B and still be at this weight i think i'd need 350w FTP... that's not happening in any world in which we live... EVER !
350w might not be achieveable without a coach and nutrition and loads of time to train and rest but a FTP of 300 to 320w should be "relatively" (it'll be hard and painful but doable) easy. You must have some easy gains available if you stuck to a training plan. Commit to something for 3 months (you are allowed to race, maybe once a week in this period if you really have to) and see if it actually does work. For me do the base 1 and 2 of the medium plan on Trainerroad (12 weeks) and see what happens. I can send you a free month. Run TR on your phone alongside Zwift running on your main system to keep interest.
And clearly if you could lose 10Kg you'd be a decent B but that's probably harder than gaining the watts where you are at.
I'm at a plateau too - seems I can get up to a smidge over 3.5 (as 95% of my 20 min race power) but I don't think I'm going beyond that without some proper training, and I don't think I'm going to do that
Maybe end of Feb I'll do a 6-weeker and see what happens but I'll be riding less in the early new year so will probably be starting from a gnat's lower than where I am now
It's fine by me - there's always someone to race with on zwift and in cx (and I bet mtb racing too). Maybe not so much on the road as the bunch and droppage are a lot more significant there
(a sprint (20-120 seconds) is what I "need", really)
FTP is not the be all and end all.
You need to think about muscular endurance, cardio, vo2 max, peak power and then all that in a relative balance according to the events you are wanting to perform well in.
Vis a Vis Froome's and Hoy's FTP may be broadly similar but neither could compete in the others event on a equal par.
You must have some easy gains available if you stuck to a training plan. Commit to something for 3 months
That aint happening in my world, i don't have the desire or willpower to ride like that
Weeksy - you're kidding yourself, a competitive B is perfectly achievable without losing 10 KG or an FTP of 350. And you don't need a training plan or anything clever.
I'm competitive in B, usually finish in the top half or better and the occasional gong. I'm just over 2 kg lighter than you now (was 1 kg heavier) but that's more than offset by the fact that I'm 62. My FTP is 300 as calculated by Zwift.
I started in D last winter, worked up to C and by spring could hold my own in B
Only thing I do different to you is the short races - I focus on trying to do events that are at least 45 mins or more. I find these tend to 'settle' into a pace that's manageable after the initial frantic effort. I have to bury myself to hang on sometimes, but that's where the gains come from.
Stop telling yourself (and posting!) that it's unachievable - it really is within your grasp if you're prepared to put the effort in.
Interesting about the longer races. I tend to avoid them for the same reason as weeksy. I will give them a go and see. The problem I have in races on zwift reflects that in real life. I race on the roads and while I know I can compete in a sprint, I either get dropped before it or am destroyed by pace changes before I get there. I had been concentrating on building FTP to make this easier and on zwift that seems logical as everything is based around FTP figures. Concentrating on effort recovery at threshold is more likely to be what I need. I don't know if I'd stick to one of the plans though as it is so boring compared to racing. I wonder if the plan would be any better anyway?
My plan for next year is to race A4 rather than just club races and see how it goes. 25 years since my last open race.
Have either of you considered stretching your rides out. If your always doing stuff at max pace and max (for example) 25km distance then you'll be use to doing 25km and being done. If you did say another 10-15km on top of that (at a lower pace) you should find that its easier to produce the same effort you are now over the 25km. I got my best running half time using this approach. I was training with a neighbour that was expecting to take around two hours. We were doing training runs under distance but for up to 1:45 at a time. The only fast running I was doing was parkrun each week. When it came to the event my target was 1:30 which even though I was going faster was well within the time my body was used to moving for.
I'm trying to apply this is zwift by joining some of the big WBR group rides and doing extra distance after races finish. Current aim is to do at least 50km per session where I can.
@lyrikal, not surprised you got DQ'd in that race. You've clearly got the power to be in B even if your not as competitive as you'd like and hills tend to bring out a higher average. FWIW even in A I get dropped like a stone on most climbs (even though I quite like climbing).
@Weeksey I agree with Phil56, you've easily got the potential to be a competitive B. Yours stats still show an upward trend to me. If you combined this with a small weight loss* then you'd be right in the mix. You clearly know the tactics while many don't.
* yeah this is easy to chuck out there but harder to achieve, especially at this time of year. I've spent the best part of 10 years getting down from just over 100Kg to my current 78Kg in small steps.
That aint happening in my world, i don’t have the desire or willpower to ride like that
I know but I thought I'd pick up the slack ;0)
I'll tell you what you could get to in about 8 weeks when I finish the 2nd 6 week block. Starting FTP 269 5 weeks ago and I've followed the first plan fairly consistently with some odd races. It helps me that I'm targeting outdoor stuff in Spring rather than racing on Zwift which is fun but not something I want to do more than once a week and in reality is more like every other week.
But as Kryten says there are other benefits from training other than the actual watts gained.
I struggle with extending the time of rides, not pysically but mentally... When i did the 50km race the other day that was 1hr 10 mins and there was no drop-off from the start to the end as such. But if doing it myself outside of a race then i'm struggling for putting the effort in.
Competitive B.... depends on course and distance and field 🙂
Anyone ever feel they have reached a plateau or possibly your genetic limit. I did an FTP test last week and just gained 1w. It’s been a lot of training for very little gain.
As Kryton says, there's more to fitness / performance than just ftp. Someone with a respectable ftp, for example, could theoretically ride at that level for an hour TT style, but if you have the same ftp, but are able, for example, to make repeated efforts up into VO2Max territory and recover at that pace again and again and they can't, you will break them. Ditto if you can out-sprint them at the end.
If you're a mountain biker, having a high ftp is a small part of if. I used to ride with a mate who had a background of iron man triathlon training. On a mountain bike you could kill him by dragging him over threshold on short, sharp, technical climbs because he never trained to recover from hard efforts above threshold.
The Sufferfest 4DP thing where they measure 5 sec, 1 min, 5 min and 20 min efforts to gauge what type of rider you reflects this. You can then choose to do workouts / plan that address your weaknesses and also adjusts your power targets in workouts to reflect your profile.
It's a little basic compared to having a personalised coaching plan with ongoing feedback, but it's arguably a sharper tool than just working from ftp alone. Of course you can address your weaknesses without doing all that, but it gives you a framework and more than just educated guesses to go on.
Also, more generally, if you're repeatedly doing the same sort of training, try mixing things up to shock your body into responding is the obvious advice.
In my case I've done the trainer road thing yeah. My power output for 15s is up at cat 1, 20mins not so good hence trying to push up my FTP. I guess it's not bad at 3.5wkg. I've been mountain biking for years and I guess thats where explosive power comes from, concentrating on recovering at threshold is the key for me I think.
Long distance stuff I'm ok with. Did a 200 mile ride earlier in the year at 19mph and club runs every weekend end up around 75 miles. I want to make A4 races as easy as possible I think!!!
They'll be the odd enduro race in there too. The road and zwift fitness helps big time with that. I can still concentrate when it gets technical.
Zwift has been great though. My trainer used to be neglected and now I look forward to it.