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Started the Norseman Winter Race on Saturday afternoon, cat E (whatever that is) and went off reasonably quickly top 60 or so out of 300.
As we hit the start of the Alpe du Zwift I realised that I was amongst MUCH stronger riders than me and by the third turn about 60 riders had come past me at about 4.5w/kg and I had passed nobody. Really, really demoralising, which meant soon I was struggling to hold 2.5 feeling sorry for myself. Wished I started the hill at the back of the group and picked the odd rider off.
My turbo was chucking out some odd readings too, so that was all I needed to bail after about 40 minutes. I wanted to throw my turbo out the window...
Managed to crack 13 minutes for the Jungle loop on Sunday, but two poor rides really. Snow has melted now so I'm going to get out for a ride in the woods tonight. Need a proper ride 🙂
Hmmm 3 stages of TdZ left, I should have got another one done last night while watching the superbowl.
Stages 6,7 and 8 though... Do i fancy the alpe on top of another 90k or so :S
so anyone doing a race in the next hour or so?
Dead. 54km race, that's 160+ in the last 3 days
The little hill killed me, start of lap 5/6 I knew I was dead. Fell off my group and just held 220-240w for the last 12km
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=144869
Way out of my comfort zone that length race!
just got a 2nd in B (ZP) !! best ever result in B
6pm 3R Watopia Flat Reverse, won by Dan Bigham with 5.1w/kg average and 403w NP - so just an easy spin for him
held onto the front group for a bit, then got dropped and managed to stay with the 2nd group, first split, we caught them, big group 30 riders at least, 14 riders within 1 second of each other, people were playing their aeros too soon, seemed to get mine spot on, steamed through the whole group bar 1, normally find myself going backwards through the group in the last km,
pleasantly pleased,
Nice power and HR!
iamtheresurrection
Subscriber
As we hit the start of the Alpe du Zwift I realised that I was amongst MUCH stronger riders than me and by the third turn about 60 riders had come past me at about 4.5w/kg and I had passed nobody. Really, really demoralising, which meant soon I was struggling to hold 2.5 feeling sorry for myself. Wished I started the hill at the back of the group and picked the odd rider off.
My turbo was chucking out some odd readings too, so that was all I needed to bail after about 40 minutes. I wanted to throw my turbo out the window…
We all been there. Toughest thing to do in that situation is just try and finish.
Decided last minute to do a race tonight. The 7.05pm advertised 27km 3R Gotham Grind Flat Race looked ideal ... turns out it was only 17km though!!
I been feeling washed out and constantly tired the last 2 weeks. So the shorter distance was probably a good thing after all.
As expected for a very short race; it kicked off very fast, and aside from a couple of gentle breathers ... it was fast.
Managed to stay with the front group till 2km to go; just had no strength in legs to kick when they did final attack, and rode in 20 seconds off the front group for 4th B rider ZwiftPower results
It's been over 4 weeks since I was last on zwift - been poorly and busy, then skiing, now busy again
Missing all the derring-do on the pacific ocean. Back in March with some racing hopefully
Wasn't really much happening tonight that caught my eye. Wasn't keen to race in New York and really wanted to do a race with more than about 15 riders. The only one that cam,e close was the Tour de Zwift Stage 8 up and over Box Hill with a second climb and summit finish. Quite like that circuit and with 68 riders entered in the B race I thought I would give it a go. Almost didn't get to start it due to crap internet and constant drop outs on the first lap resulted in me being dropped ever further down the field (It seems for every 5 seconds of lost internet connection you lose about 2 seconds on the road regardless how hard you pedal to compensate). When it settled down a bit I was in a small group of about 10 from 10-20th which I managed to drop most of on the last steep climb and following descent. So when the final climb came around there were 4 of us sat from 10-14th with no chance to catch leaders but far enough ahead of anyone else as not to worry. One guy blew out on the climb and I was just giving everything to hang on to a german lad just ahead. Used a feather on the final corner to get ahead but they other 2 came back at me on the run in to the line. Big gear, pedal like mad for last 100 metres and I took them both just on the line. Almost puked with the effort. HR went to 189 which is unheard of! I also got an FTP increase from 281 - 291 and after the results came in was give 6th in the B race. Happy with that. I was easily the heaviest rider in the top 10 too.
Nice to see more STWers on Zwift.....
I have a bit of an issue with Windows 10 and security settings.
Zwift was running fine up until tonight where I rode my arse off for over an hour, exited, saved to strava in the normal way but nothing.......
....so back to the manual way, documents / zwift / activities..... but the most recent activity in there was Saturdays final stage of the tour, nothing from today. So where is my ride?
Looking at the virus warning it would seem that my firewall has stopped zwift making "Unathorised changes to folder", So what do I need to change to allow my rides to be saved, assume its all to do with my firewall settings that Zwift in the eyes of Windows 10 is no longer a trusted program?
Ignore the above..... think I've found the issue......
That's impressive on all counts farmer, position, HR and power increase.. Awesome stuff !
I'm on a day, maybe2 of rest/recovery meh....
On Sunday morning I did the Epic KOM ride. I realised that I have never done it before so thought that I should give it a go. It wasn't actually that difficult just a long grind between 220 and 240W but the gradients weren't as bad as I was expecting. Once I got to the top I also did the radio tower climb. The gradients are much worse on that one! It also seems a bit pointless as everyone just goes up at 3-5 mph but there doesn't seem to be a reason to go up there. Flew back down as a cool down and luckily just pushed over into Level 12 unlocking Alpe du Zwift. Might be giving that a go at the weekend just to say that I have done it!
Yeah that last section is a proper slog. I guess in the real world you'd do it just to get up and look at the views etc... but in Zwift world that's not significant of course.... So, i dunno.
Yeh I think that the trouble. Other than to say that I have done it I don't think I have any reason to go back up there. I don't think I am going to do a race during the week this week. Going to do a few recovery commutes now the weather has improved and then hopefully do something on Saturday.
You can hit 100kph on the way down from the radio tower extension. It's also useful in races.
LOL you're assuming there i can still pedal after getting to the top 🙂
Zwift crash course required pls, tried reading this thread for tips but it's mainly chat in amongs the info.
Just started using zwift want to get into some of the racing but...
Looking at a few races (knights tomorrow night for example) and it seems they want you to join their strava group. Are some better than others?
It looks like a registration with zwift power is required for the races, worth doing? Just seems like i need to register to whole load of groups etc for racing.
Is there a way to get my Garmin Vivoactive (which i use for HR) to talk to Zwift or the Kickr? Or easier just to get a Wahoo HR monitor?
Does the coloured block in front of a rider when you pass them equate to their category as defined by Zwift?
Lastly, i was riding round new york last night and someone gave me a thumbs up, not entirely sure why or how you do it. Using an iPad for Zwift.
If there is an idiots guide then send me there! Ta
I am not in any Strava groups for the race series. I don't know 'knights' though, not entered any of theirs. You may get more information from Strava/Facebook joining though but it won't stop you from racing if you don't.
Zwiftpower is where you see the results. If you want to be in the results in that context then you need to do it.... however, again, this won't stop you from racing on the day.
The colour is the Cat they've entered, either by clicking in the pre-ride screen or in the Zwift companion App. Techincally you're racing only the people in your C, but genrally you just race whoever is around you.
the thumbs up you get from clicking on their name on the list when riding, the one on right hand side. You can also do it within the Zwift App.
If your running zwift on the laptop with a ant + sensor then you can output your Garmin hr to that. The garmin doesn’t output Bluetooth I don’t think though.
I've not joined any strava groups other than my team one.
Zwift power is essential if you want to view the results in a sensible place (and keep a better track on how your doing).
I think you'll need a bluetooth HRM to talk to your iPad. There are plenty of cheap ones that just work. No need to get a wahoo (I use a decathlon one which will talk to both Ant+ and bluetooth le).
The colour in front of a riders name in an event is their cat yes. There is nothing in front of their avatar which indicates cat.
Ok, thanks. Will sign up to zwift power and sort out an hrm.
The coloured block denotes someone doing a Zwift workout.
ZPower is essential to make racing meaningful (whatever that means in online racing) IMO. Not just for you but other people also as they can then see who they have raced against and the results generally filter out people going over the category limits.
ah that coloured block (the orange hologram screen). If your device is sufficiently powerful enough that block has the other users live data on it from their workout.
Starting to enjoy Zwift a little more now that I've got a laptop that can actually play it at more than 15 FPS, and I reached level 10 yesterday.
Did a race up Alpe du Zwift this evening, came second in B category and quite pleased with result. Was an inch from toppling from the bike at the end; there's something about racing real people that makes you work harder.
So from initially being quite skeptical of the whole thing I'm beginning to really enjoy it. My neighbours still think I'm mad.
Can't see myself on it every time I use the turbo - there's a lot to be said for loading an easy workout on TrainerRoad and just spinning away while watching a crap film.
Incidentally - I only figured out recently that you can ride the off limits areas of Watopia by joining a race or a group ride going through there even if your Zwift level isn't high enough.
You don't have to stay with the group or the race, just leave the event once you're through the barrier.
Was an inch from toppling from the bike at the end; there’s something about racing real people that makes you work harder
You're not the first, nor the last 🙂
Nice result though too.... trophy in B... impressive. We have quite a decent little team at STW i think considering some would believe non of us ride 🙂
Debating the 3:05 climby one today... couldn't be a less appropriate race for me and would likely be using it more for just someone to ride with than pushing myself hard... but part of me doesn't want to see a crappy result on my rankings score lol
But i don't really know.... It seems London is the default today, so could just cruise round the flat for the session, but there's very little to keep you going sometimes unless racing...
This should keep you occupied :0)
https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/gcn/power-climbs-vo2max/
LOL GTF out of here...
That looks evil!
Oh FFS.
Did the race. 1 lap of Innsbruck but the big climb, ok. What it never mentioned was the lead in was also the climb, then we went down and back up a 2nd time. Honestly couldn't face a 2nd go up it like that and called it a day. First time up didn't go too badly actually. But 2nd, bah.
I've started using Zwift this past couple of weeks and fancy having a try at a race but not got any idea what I'm doing!
Can I just pick the appropriate category for my W/Kg, sign up and get on with it?
Is there anything else I need to do or know?
I've seen a couple of things mentioning drafts and double drafts but I've got no idea what they mean.
Is there a Zwift Race idiots guide anywhere?
*sigh*
Just looked on ZwiftPower and I've been excommunicated from B and stuffed into A.
Which isn't great because I consistently end up finishing at the very bottom of the scoreboard. Takes all the fun out of the race.
That's pretty much it yes. Pick it and pedal.
All races start off crazy. Hit the power with 5-6s to go on the countdown and hang on as well as you can. Don't be too tempted to just keep going nuts, but hold a high HR.
The rest comes with practice and time.
If you are not an A rider then do not be too disappointed when you get dropped, they normally (but not always) start all the riders together. I didn't realise that the first time I raced and blew up big time trying to stay with front riders!
That sounds straightforward enough.
No doubt I'll get my arse handed to me but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.
notmyrealname
I never really wanted to race on Zwift, been on there a long time but only really used it when the weather was too bad to go out. My kids are finally at an age where I can get on the turbo at 7ish most nights without feeling like there are still 100 jobs to do, and entered a few races now since Jan.
I'm sure there are lots of tactics, I haven't a clue what they are. I just keep trying to keep a wheel of the person in front.
No question I'm working harder now on the turbo than I have ever done before, and enjoying it a lot. I wish I had entered races a long time ago...
Anybody with a kickr or kickr core,does the main unit get quite warm after a session? Just want to make sure this is normal.
I have finally settled on a trainer difficuly setting after some faffing trying to get it right. It seems around 75% is good for me.
Did a sprint test on Tuesday while on a social ride and i managed to break the 1000w barrier. I hit a max of 1031w (previous best on tacx flow was 796w) and i managed 11s at avg 880w which i can assure you felt more like 11 days, that hurt and i am def not a sprinter.
Did a mini crit last night on the volcano circuit. Pace went of very fast but I kept with the main group for the lead in and the first lap. Some C's caught us for the second lap which increased the pace so I just couldn't keep up but kept plugging away sitting in around 5th in the D's. Crossed the line in 19min 30secs so kept the power up for another 30 seconds to give me a 20 minute time as I thought I had done pretty well with my power.
When I left the game zwift increased my FTP from 256 to 269W! That was a pretty good gain and I don't think my FTP has changed since September last year. Pretty happy with that!
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=146269
269W that's a long way from a D matey LOL. That's a race winning C at times, depending on your 30-45min power of course, but 269w is strong for D. Maybe time to think about moving up.
Flaperon
Member
*sigh*Just looked on ZwiftPower and I’ve been excommunicated from B and stuffed into A.
Which isn’t great because I consistently end up finishing at the very bottom of the scoreboard. Takes all the fun out of the race.
Had to check if I hadbt written this ...
Zwift had finally seen sense and dropped me into the B cat ... two races this week; started last nights Chop race in the B, and dropped in the last few Ks ... and they moved me back up to A!!! and still only 3.9kg/w
@weeksy - it is right at the top of a D but I couldn't maintain it for a long race. That is where Zwift only using 20 minute power for FTP is a bit innacurate. So I might be able to compete for the first 20 or 30 minutes at C level I invariably drop off towards the end. That is something to work on though and I am definitely showing some progress which is good.
@mooman there's a calculation on your profile under the ? next to your category. You have to work back your 3 best 20 minuntes @ 95%.
Might give you an idea though. You've probably improved on your worst one to bump you back over the limit as an average.
So who's in for what today ? I'm as usual, struggling to find something i fancy, suits me and a decent sized field.
It may have to be the 12:05 Gotham Grind race i think... Although i have no idea what that layout is yet.