Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Just finished the Castelli series race. Zwiftpower shows me provisionally 5th in Cat C but, strangely, all the Cat C's ahead of me where pumping out way over category W/KG whereas I'm (just) inside the limit. So I may have got a category win - will have to wait until results finalized.
However, the reason I'm posting (not bragging, honest!) is that I don't really understand the stats and symbols Zwiftpower is using nor the logic why some riders get bumped up a category whereas others don't. I'm also confused as to why my entry does not show all the stats other riders have.
[url= http://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=2183 ]Castelli race[/url]
Is there a Zwiftpower 101 somewhere???

Have you registered and linked your Strava account?

Just finished the Castelli series race. Zwiftpower shows me provisionally 5th in Cat C but, strangely, all the Cat C's ahead of me where pumping out way over category W/KG whereas I'm (just) inside the limit. So I may have got a category win - will have to wait until results finalized.
However, the reason I'm posting (not bragging, honest!) is that I don't really understand the stats and symbols Zwiftpower is using nor the logic why some riders get bumped up a category whereas others don't. I'm also confused as to why my entry does not show all the stats other riders have.
Castelli race
Is there a Zwiftpower 101 somewhere???

I wouldn't worry about the figures for a good few hours, sometimes mine shows all my data pretty early on, sometimes not until the rese finalised. It's all a bit weird.

woohoo! The Neo I ordered from Amazon on black friday has just turned up! D'oh! I wasn't expecting it & don't have my lockring tool or chain whip handy!

Very jealous @zilog6128!

I got my first trophy last night!! 😀 [url= http://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=8544067 ]My Numbers[/url] are starting to look very consistent too, zwiftpower is going to be great training tool!

There's not much choice tonight....

I did notice they were back in stock. Having cancelled my amazon order here and got it from my LBS, they've still not had their delivery 🙁

Annoying as I have 3hrs to do today and not sure I fancy battling with Barbara so Zwift would have been a nice option to have.

Fair enough, was going to ask how you were getting on with yours!! Hopefully will get a chance to test it out tomorrow, otherwise it'll be Boxing Day!

Have you registered and linked your Strava account?

Well that's annoying....I just threw a TT race win away by [url= http://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=1929 ][b]0.81 seconds[/b][/url]..

I had it in my legs to sprint but didn't until they did, I'm really not sure why I did that. 😕

Wahoo kickr down to 799 for a limited time at SigmaSport and Wiggle too I think. Even at that price though I'm still not sure why you'd spend an extra 100 quid over the new Tacx flux.

an extra 100 quid over the new Tacx flux

Just got around to trying my Neo... boooooo metallic scraping sound! Went away after a couple of hard sprints then came back after another (but more intermittent maybe). Might give it an hours proper ride tomorrow but I guess it'll be going back 🙁 Interestingly the numbers I was putting out were way bigger than with Z Power on my KK Rock n Roll. Would be chuffed if they were accurate!

Zilog, sorry to hear that. Any idea if yours is the new 2017 version? I'd assume it is if you had to wait for stock.

I think any power based on wheel speed, the best you can hope for in accuracy is consistency between sessions. The Neo is very different though and is meant to be pretty accurate assuming it works!

Sorry a little off topic - but is there anyway to use my smart turbo to ride a section from Strava... like to copy a ride my mates done? (in the real world).

Any idea if yours is the new 2017 version? I'd assume it is if you had to wait for stock.

I found a guy on the DCR comments thread with the same problem, he said Tacx advised him to send it back but he rode it for a few days & the sound abated. May give that a go (certainly can't be arsed boxing it back up right now!)

Have you updated the software on the Neo? a few people have reported that this has fixed strange sounds.

I did it yesterday, not tested it properly since though. May have another go tonight if I get time.

How much were the Neos on Black Friday out of interest?

£850

Sorry a little off topic - but is there anyway to use my smart turbo to ride a section from Strava... like to copy a ride my mates done? (in the real world).

Do you have a Garmin? There may be a way of dowloading the Strava file into Garmin Connect and then following the course on your Garmin, with the Garmin applying the correct resistance....that's all theoretical though, Ive never tried it myself but my 520 can control my Tacx Vortex Smart.
Similarly, there are other apps out there which do something similar using videos & gpx filed (Eg Kinomap & Veloreality)
Ive used Veloreality to ride up Alpe dHeuz and several other places...

Zilog, Neo any better last night? Still waiting for mine. Suspect it'll be the new year now before I see it. Bit disappointing but still happy to be getting it from my LBS for warranty conveience!

alexxx
Sorry a little off topic - but is there anyway to use my smart turbo to ride a section from Strava... like to copy a ride my mates done? (in the real world).

https://www.cycleops.com/virtualtraining/apps-pricing

Uses google maps/streetview, so you just create a route on there and follow it.

Zilog, Neo any better last night?

Otherwise it seems to work perfectly. Makes a big difference to the level of immersion. At first it was a pain having to adjust gears for the climbs but it feels cool to click up through them as you crest a hill! Probably makes it slightly harder than a dumb trainer as you lose your rhythm a bit but I think I found it easier to keep a wheel when drafting - you have feedback from the trainer so your rider doesn't gain/lose speed without you noticing as the terrain changes. Spinning out as the motor picks up downhill makes it feel very realistic!

Zwift assigned me a new FTP of 244 vs 213 after the race which is obviously a big difference... the ride felt much more natural though. On my old trainer (KK Rock n Roll) it always felt very "sticky" in the bigger gears and I could never maintain a decent RPM (had to drop to 70-80) whereas with the Neo I can spin along at 90 just like I do IRL (whilst putting in the appropriate amount of effort obviously)

Zwift assigned me a new FTP of 244 vs 213 after the race which is obviously a big difference... the ride felt much more natural though.

I think (based on my own experiences anyway) is I find it easier to push in a race than I do with a dedicated FTP test. I'm too competitive not to.

My FTP has jumped through races, yet if I do a dedicated FTP test it feels brutal by comparison.

Most of my riding ha been through Zwift this month now & i've been heavily on it over the Xmas period - seen some good gains, so it's obviously working for me.

Seems to be two base/recovery rides for about an hour whilst watching films & 2/3 races a week. If I keep up with the weight loss & performance gains i'll be knocking on 4w/kg by the end of Jan, which would be pretty awesome 🙂

I expect effort levels need to increase exponentially for ever decreasing gains though...

^^^ my comment was an update to a previous post where I mentioned the difference in wattage being reported using my new smart trainer (Neo) vs my last race a week or so ago with my old dumb trainer (Rock n Roll using V Power) rather than a comment on FTP test vs racing!

(Although I agree that an FTP test is more brutal than any race!!)

Ouch! I just did a race after eating (30 mins before) and with a 60 second warmup (running late). Needless to say I got a stitch 6 and a bit miles into a 10 mile TT race. 😆

Having eaten my last Pizza for at least a month, I'm now on a diet to lose 2kg as fast as possible to take me down my "race weight" of 68kg. So Zwift here I come!

The reason for this post is would anyone be up for a Saturday morning group cycle? Going to try and do a 50 miler, I think that specialised challenge is still going? 8)

Really lost my Zwift mojo lately, not sure if the legs are feeling it from the outdoors stuff, or it's a motivation issue due to Xmas and no races falling within my timesscales, but i'm just massively struggling to get anything useful done on the Zwift side of things.

Today was a little less terrible than yesterday, but i wouldn't say i was setting the world on fire that's for sure.

With a new smart trainer that actually works I am now zwifting and enjoying it.

Question though - how good is the graphical experience for others when in a big pack? Currently mine is pretty average and I suspect the ageing macbook pro is responsible. Great just riding along or with a few for company but when tangled up with 30 in a big bunch it all becomes very jumpy and laggy.

(Although I agree that an FTP test is more brutal than any race!!)

In other news, I've bolted my trainer onto a coplate, which arrived yesterday - giving it a go later. From an initial twiddle, I think the pressures are going to be fairly crucial ! 😯

What is a coplate?

I wondered the same so googled it ( 😉 ). Found a video showing a bike on a turbo rocking around from side to side and assumed the coplate was a device to rectify crappy turbo setups. But no, it actually causes the wobble 😀

Presumably giving the user a more realistic ride vs a fixed in place turbo.

Presumably giving the user a more realistic ride vs a fixed in place turbo.

I've just swapped my bikes around from my 9 speed to my "racing" 11 speed. Result is like in real life those extra 3 gears really do help.

As a consequence though, and I have checked my setup etc, I've just been disqualified from a 10 mile TT for being over 5w/kg. In fact my own team has just DQ'd me 😆

Looks like I need to crack on with renting a power meter and supply some data to Zada... 🙁

As a consequence though, and I have checked my setup etc, I've just been disqualified from a 10 mile TT for being over 5w/kg

Are you a pro, because that's a pro number.

convert -
Are you a pro, because that's a pro number.

Nope, but it's a 14 mile flat TT - I can race to numbers knowing that I don't have to go for another 30 mins or cycle home.

This is what I've got so far using my 9 speed bike:
[img] [/img]

What I'm trying to figure out is has something gone horribly wrong with my equipment or did those 3 extra gears really really help?!
This was the race: http://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=2073#

Possible change in gear ratios aside an ftp high enough to maintain above 5w/kg is pro cyclist territory- not grand tour winner but handy domestique. Admittedly your ftp won't be quite so high as this was only 14miles but it would still be good enough to be very competitive in a uk E12 road race if replicated in the real world. That might be you, I don't know; but otherwise I'd be looking at your setup.

Just came 4th I think in cat D in the KISS race after the DQs. Thought I might get bumped too but seems I snuck in with 2.59w/kg!

Starting to get the race tactics. When to push to hang on to a group and when to ease back and draft etc. I like it.

convert
Possible change in gear ratios aside an ftp high enough to maintain above 5w/kg is pro cyclist territory- not grand tour winner but handy domestique. Admittedly your ftp won't be quite so high as this was only 14miles but it would still be good enough to be very competitive in a uk E12 road race if replicated in the real world. That might be you, I don't know; but otherwise I'd be looking at your setup.

I've only got a single Cat 4 crit under my belt so far, with no power meter, so I haven't got any real life data to compare against yet.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with my cadence sensor, normally I use a bluetooth one on my other bike but this time I used the Vortex's. Although I doubt that'd do anything? I'll try another tomorrow evening.

This is an updated screen the other was out of date, I'm not humbly bragging, I'm just annoyed as that was a cracking race (ignore the 28/12/16 KISS EU TT as I had a really bad stitch 7 miles into it 😆 ) and once again my equipment has gone haywire 🙄
[img] [/img]

blitz
Just came 4th I think in cat D in the KISS race after the DQs. Thought I might get bumped too but seems I snuck in with 2.59w/kg!

Starting to get the race tactics. When to push to hang on to a group and when to ease back and draft etc. I like it.

My race tactic is to start spinning quickly when the timer hits 5 seconds, then hang on for dear life for the rest of it.

then hang on for dear life for the next 7 minutes...

I've found that the pace pretty frantic for the first few minutes and it really opens up the field. I try to hang on and carefully watch the right hand panel to get a feel for how near the front or back of my group I am. Usually, there'll be a smaller group by that stage and I try and draft and pace myself from that point on or until the last major climb when I try to sneak away!

Another thing: race organisers set different W/KG limits for their categories.
I'm around 3.1 - 3.2 W/kg so do really well when the Cat C upper limit is 3.2 but not so good in races where the Cat C upper limit is 3.4...

Hmmm, I think I'm gonna claim a moral victory here!
7th in category but the first 6 all exceeded category limits! 🙂
[img] [/img]

You're a much better C than me !

Yeah the victory should have been yours mark. At the very least Douglas should have been DQ'd or bumped up to B, that's near A cat performance?!

Anyone racing tonight?

I'm just about to pick up a new turbo trainer wheel, the other one I have isn't quite true and it's scary watching the carbon flex because of it! The missus is pushing I sell one of the bikes so I'm having to try the other on it...