Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Yes if she wants her own account she has to pay. However there is nothing currently stopping her using your account and changing the name, sex, weight and height when she logs in. My wife uses my account sometimes and does this.

is that why you're so high up the Box Hill leaderboard Jason 😉

So now we have virtual epo, ebikes and getting your Expert XC wife to smash out segments for you 😉

And I thought it was just being fat, old and unfit that was hindering my progress.

Hi All,

just wanted to say that I have signed up to the STW Zwift Group and put (STW) in my profile name. Working shifts I tend to ride at different times of the day/night, will try to post on here when I am.

Question, why is the power from my Kickr not showing on the Zwiftpower site?

Are the people climbing it in 5 minutes on virtual EPO or have they hooked their ebikes up to their trainers?

Yes. Cheating is so easy I'm pretty sure it's rife.

I could adjust my weight down 20kg in several clicks next ride and be knocking out a steady 5-6 W/kg

I could [s]adjust my weight down 20kg[/s] halve my weight in several clicks next ride and be knocking out a steady 5-6 W/kg

Fixed that for me 😉

And sometimes Jason wears his wife's [s]undies[/s] avatar 😀

Actually, he probably didn't but because of the relative log in times, his name and kit didn't change on my display (happens when people switch bikes in the pen too and you get everyone saying "he's not on a TT bike!!") but I was a bit 'DOH!' when I saw the results 😀

So now we have virtual epo, ebikes and getting your Expert XC wife to smash out segments for you

Strava times should all be my own, I am pretty careful in deleting her rides from my Strava account. I have just checked and her fastest time up Box Hill is 1 second quicker than mine, that gives me something to aim for 🙂 All my times on flats and descents are much quicker than hers. She can't generate enough power to keep up, but has the benefit of being very lightweight. .

It annoying the way it doesn't update the avatar for people already logged in. I think the name changes now, whereas in the old days that stayed the same too.

Well as I died on my arse to get 30th on the list and 27th on the other, I can't see it being me.

I put out about 250w on box hill, so I'd need to be over 500. Which is about my 30s speed

I'm way down in 35th - looks like I need get down from my current 11:14 to 10:30 in order to take that 30th place off weeksy. Might be doable as I was holding back a bit during the Cat-D race I set my PR on so as not to breach 2.5W/kg for the race so only averaged 229W for the climb.

Let me know, I've got a 9.45 in me if that's where I start and end my ride. If you get below 9.30 thought you can have it

How do you check the box hill standings then? I think i did box hill yesterday so would be interested to see how badly i compare.
I seem to have the highest avg speed on the stw group which i am fairly confident in saying in the real world that would never be the case. I am still trying to find the best set up for my dumb trainer to be more real world realistic on zwift. The watt readings fluctuate wildly (in a matter of seconds it can change 150w without me changing cadence)all the time so can i assume thats the zwift power curve they have for my trainer?

PR on so as not to breach 2.5W/kg for the race

Does Zwift formally record your average power on a ride? Only shows up on Strava for me.

How do you check the box hill standings then? I think i did box hill yesterday so would be interested to see how badly i compare.

Thanks scaredypants. It appears i am 6th and only 13 seconds from top 3 so that might be my new challenge.

Strava question as much as Zwift......

Do rides have to be public to appear on Club leader boards, I keep my zwift rides private (my dirty little secret) but would they need to be public to appear in STW Zwifters?

Another leaderboard would give me more targets to go at.....

Yes they do. Private rides don't appear on any of the leader boards.

If you are worried about people seeing all the training you are doing you could set up a Zwift only Strava account with a false name.

managed to smash my box hill time by a whole second.....one bloody second 😀
so no change in the standing but its makes it just a little bit harder for markgraylish :p

I was holding back a bit during the Cat-D race I set my PR on so as not to breach 2.5W/kg for the race

I did box hill yesterday so would be interested to see how badly i compare.

I'm 44th! I need to lose a minute to make 43rd.

Third on Box Hill, second might be possible if I attacked it fresh, but first is just a dream. Went up it twice today but with 80km done already they were not my best attempts and it was raining.

You're not supposed to admit to sandbagging

It was my first race and it wasn't until I was part way through it that I realised I was in danger of averaging 2.5W/kg though, so held back a bit! Not that it mattered as I still didn't place.

Still, if I can either lose 20kg or gain 60W then I might one day be competitive in Cat-C...

managed to smash my box hill time by a whole second.....one bloody second
so no change in the standing but its makes it just a little bit harder for markgraylish :p

Bugger! I managed to shave three seconds off my best time but you lot have been out practising so I've dropped down three places overall 😥

Nevermind, I'll consolse myself with 4th overall for the full lap! 😀

GCN are doing a KISS Takeover night on Tuesday at 8pm.

1 lap of figure 8 - it'll be brutally quick!

So up for that. 😈

Right then - 1 lap of the pretzel done 1 to go

😯
Not only a crazy long turbo session, but a crazy early start. Nice work!

Crazy. Just been looking through event list too. Still undecided what to do and when.
Need to clean my lads cube first, finish my Parkwood and lastly my Whyte wheels. Oh, then check over my new bike bag and see if the whyte fits.

I'm thinking maybe something at 4pm when the match is on so I can watch it and ride.

Tell me about it - just started a deep house trance playlist!

It will be interesting to see if the GCN ride is glitchy like the other two huge group rides they've done.

If my hip is fixed- I'll definitely swap my intervals for a go at that on Tuesday 🙂

Haven't zwift ed for a few days now, missing it! Off climbing today and hoping that my neo arrives tomorrow as I missed out on last week's batch.

@CH keep it moving - Z2 and stretches afterwards for a couple of days.

I wanted to go out and play today, not really feeling Zwift this morning - but I'll be on it from about 11 if anyone wants to join.

I've just abandoned the 8.15 Zwift race, I woke late, hr strap and cadence wouldn't pair, got on turbo with 1 min to start then couldn't put consistent power out once underway. I'm never as good in the morning, especially if I don't have breakfast. Going to try the mountain race @9.50 instead

Trek Madone, 100km and pink kit unlocked - 😉

Gentlemen of STW,
Can i pick your brains. i recently completed a sub 2.0 ZZRC race last friday. It was my first foray into a group ride, and i enjoyed it.
However i can find no trace of the race nor my stats on zwiftpower. any idea why not? Is it because it was a ride rather than a 'race' proper?
Any ideas gratefully received...

Morning, Mashie !

Saw you go over the mountain an hour or so ago - wasn't on the bike so couldn't ride with you
you get a new bike for riding 100km? Might try to explain that one to MrsPants

Think I may be on Zwift a bit...broke my collarbone on Thursday

Cheers scaredy got your ride on - last hill and 25 miles to go

i'm in Nath

50k mostly at Z2 done, I got bored after 90 mins 😐

Did anyone do the mountain race at 9.50? Thats quite a long climb on there and i have to work very hard to keep up with others, was averaging a cadence of about 108 all the way up just to keep in touch. Does it take your weight in to account?

Yes Blader, very much so. Big/heavy = slow/hard.

However i can find no trace of the race nor my stats on zwiftpower. any idea why not? Is it because it was a ride rather than a 'race' proper?

If it was a group ride it won't appear on Zwiftpower, it just tracks race results. There are a few exceptions with group rides that have a race for the last lap.

I did the first 2 hours of the SZR Endurance Ride this morning. A good group ride that pretty much stayed together the whole time.

So maybe just maybe I'll enter a Mountain race this afternoon. This one has "4 laps for A clasified riders, 3 laps for B Classified riders..." etc.

But how does it know? I'd be a B, is it using my FTP or W/KG to work it out an populate the race leaderboard? And why doesn't it show me, or does it and I can't find it?

You select your Cat on entry. When you go to it on mobile you click the + symbol on your power related Cat.
W/kg

Anybody any ideas why my give kudos box is greyed out on strava? Never been able to kudos people i ride with so feel a bit rude, could it be ipad related?

Did a 55 min ride, took hilly route which is very unlike me. Took 10s off my kom on first climb, but over 20s off the shorter later climb. Could have been more but Mrs Weeksy rang me 2 min into climb and was trying to talk to me!
Jumped on with the odz 2.5 ride which was a great pace, right on 2.5 at the pointy end but an easy 2.2 if you wanted to sit in bunch, perfect for a nicely paced ride at my level.
I saw Nath closing up, but they went right and I went left. I think Nath followed them. Oops.

Enjoyed that. Especially the fact I can just jump in shower. It took me 2 hours to clean bikes after FoD yesterday!

Anybody any ideas why my give kudos box is greyed out on strava? Never been able to kudos people i ride with so feel a bit rude, could it be ipad related?

Haha it was too busy @weeksy - lost you! Also bloody thing put me 30 secs behind your group so without a warm up I had to chase you all down!

Aiming for a 50 miler - half way through now just having a slow spin at the mo

The drivetrain, after yesterday's blizzard, is not very happy. This squirt lube is a bit pants in the rain...

All done folks, thank you all for the kind emails, support and donations
https://www.strava.com/activities/832597648

Just finished the 180 min ZHR. Spotted a few STWers out there.

Fantastic job!

Have to add - the tacx neo is an amazing piece of kit

Awesome effort mashiehood, Ride On! (maybe not immediately though...)

Just about to jump on-bought trainer today, ordered bolt thru adaptor, ant+ dongle and lead. Will get setup this week. Sounds like a giggle

Can someone link a old idiot guide to this ans smart trainers at the budget end of the market please. I'm currently riddled with plague flu and unable to think straight but this does look a good way of boosting winter training.

When training properly I'm quite happy to turbo before work with Fell or XC running after work, this would sit quite nicely if it's reasonably cheap.

In the second show of poor time management of the morning I missed the start of the 9.50 mountain race by 10 seconds. Ended up doing my first workout, I didn't think I could to 30s intervals of 530w but apparently I can.

Kryton- heed all the tips about race starts! It's full gas from the get-go! You want to sprint with five seconds to go. Join the race at the first opportunity T-30mins and you will get a front row spot. The start pen is a physical space so it makes a difference.

If it's your first time using the event module-try something else earlier in the day and you might save a problem or two.
Good luck 🙂 I imagine you to be a high B or A???

Is there a schedule of which course Zwift runs on which days?

Join the race at the first opportunity T-30mins

Arse I'd better get going it starts in 18 mins 😀

Only interested in the intensity work TBH, not the position.

Edit: I just joined, 2nd at the front oh ****...

How do I know whichg riders are in my category, or are those the only ones I can see?

Don't worry, starting position doesn't mean anything!

Think I might start off with the US Sunday Spin ride at 5 tonight. How do I join a group ride?

Use the mobile link app, list of events and press the plus icon on the one you want. Once your in zwift you'll get a reminder pop up to take you to the event.

Super. Sounds easy. So I don't need to make sure I'm on some part of the course at a specific time?

It puts you in a start pen. Start ride as normal and you'll see a button bottom left, join event. Anytime from 30 min to race time

Click it.

@MrBlobby No, those days are gone 😉

When you log in, after you've paired, there's a course calendar on the right hand side with a list of the closest events above 🙂

Smashing, thanks guys... though it is sort of starting to dry out a bit out there.

just did the sub2 group ride at 2pm.
not being much of a road rider it took a bit of getting used to in terms of the constant pedalling and keeping in groups which i was particularly bad at. however it was kind of fun and a good guide post to where i'm at. lots of room for improvement.

I just joined, 2nd at the front oh ****...

Reminds me in real life of a team i put together for Mountain Mayhem BITD when there were thousands of riders. We persuaded a mate to do the first lap including the run. Thing is - he really is an excellent middle distance runner so was about 2nd or 3rd onto the bike after the round the field and round the tree start.

Conversely, he's quite a shit cyclist and watching him being swamped like a baby antelope being run down by a pack of hyenas was possibly the best part of the weekend.

Jeeez.

Not help by the fact I seem to have been grouped with the A riders. Took the advice above and flew off the line at 700w... only to find myself back on the line 30 seconds later as I was trying to avoid puking to have to do it all again.

This mornings 50k didn't help me much, i decided to back off halfway and just TT round relatively easily at 230w to the end.

No idea of the result, where do I find those?

Zwiftpower.com

Hey? How did you manage to get over the line before the start?? Confused.com

I can't see my race on there at all (16:00 ZHR Great Watopian Mountain Goat Race) 🙁

Hey? How did you manage to get over the line before the start??

Me? I did find my self alone on both starts. I took the advice above and was wound up to 700w with 5 secs to go, at 0 I was gone...

On the second - my actual designated category race - I sat up and waited for the first bunch to catch up so I could draft a bit.

So you started with the A's and then managed to get back in to the correct Cat start pen in 30 seconds? I couldn't get logged out and in again that quickly on my laptop.....

Sorry if I sound thick- I've re-read your post and still don't really know what you mean happened 🙂

Hi,
Just got a quick question. So does someone on a dumb train have an advantage over someone on a smart trainer in a race because the resistance doesn't kick in on the dumb trainer ?

Cheers Shaun

I started at 16:00 - I assume with the A's. I rode hard for 30 seconds, then a window popped up and said my event was about to start. After the countdown, I was put back on the startline with about 5 mins to go. I started according to Strava my race proper at 16:10.

I didn't have to log out/in it did it all for me.

shaun, works both ways - you're more consistent but at the bottom of a hill they all suddenly ramp up the power. You'd need to change up a few gears to make it "the same" for you. At the top of the hill, their resiatnce (and so power) drops off and they have to change up some gears wjile you just charge on at full power

On the flat - same for all pretty much

Ah I see- gotcha. So you must have joined two categories at once!
Every day's a school day!!!!

Ah, great. Yeah that makes sense so it's not really an advantage for anyone it's just bit more life like for the smart turbo ?
Cheers scaredypands

Kryton- I've just tested and it won't let you join different cats in the same race. You must have joined two different races!!

That's right Shaun. Watts are Watts which = speed. Doesn't matter if your turbo is dumb or smart. Smart trainers just change resistance and not the watts. You create the watts

Well, except when watts aren't watts.
Doesn't take much imagination to cheat the system on a dumb trainer.