Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Thanks chaps that's 4.4w/kg for the whole Road to the Sky course on ZwiftPower, so 287 watts at 65kg/170cms

I've been following the training programmes pretty religiously which I think has helped, plus I've lost about 26Kg since last October, so have been lucky to increase watts while dropping KGs.

Found myself in the slightly strange situation where I feel I've got a really flat power power curve now though.

51 Min - 4.4
20 Min - 4.5
5 Min - 4.8
1 Min 5.4

Not sure if to change things up to try and get a bit more top end or stick with things as they are.

Wow 26Kg loss, impressive @kelvinshuffle, well done!

Anyone know if I sign up for the ceramic speed mission, will it stop my Everest mission whilst I do it? I don't want to affect my climbing stats by swapping.

You can sign up for both no worries

When do we find out our start slot for tomorrow's TTT?

Still tbc kelvin, registration closes at 7pm tonight so will be after that that times go up.

So what is the course for tomorrow, did it change?

Is it a short flat route by any chance?!

Still out and back again sorry Ivan

You in Ivan? You're not showing in the companion App.

Did I see Mooman was in as well?

65kg/170cms

I’ve been following the training programmes pretty religiously which I think has helped, plus I’ve lost about 26Kg since last October

If thats true - then thats as impressive as your Alpe time. Have you got any pix of the pre-October 14st you to compare to the 10st you today?
I guess for such a short person (only 5`8" shorty here too) losing almost a 3rd of your body weight would make the before and after pics almost unrecognisable.

Without getting all "this one weird trick" there's some photos here

You joining tomorrow?

Ugh just did the route Big Loop for the first time yesterday and did it pretty intensely so I was knackered afterwards, and it never gave me the route completed achievement or badge.

I had the same problem on Sunday when I finished the Quatch Quest - 1,700m of climbing up the swanny as far as my stats are concerned, and it didn't record as a completed route.There's not much that can be done about it, but it's annoying nontheless.

If we're playing that game, to m lighter than that by 10lb now but don't have recent pic

After
[img] [/img]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/40815669823/ ]2019-05-05_07-47-37[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode ]Flickr2BBcode[/url]
undefined, undefined@undefined, fundefined, undefineds, ISOundefined

Before

[img] [/img]
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/41091866210/ ]2018-06-19_05-34-52[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url] - [url= https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dariogf.flickr2BBcode ]Flickr2BBcode[/url]
undefined, undefined@undefined, fundefined, undefineds, ISOundefined

Have to say Weeksy, this thread in particular was a big inspiration for me along the way, so thanks and well done!

Well done both Kelvin & Weeksy👍

I just tried to do an hour on Zwift - yep was looking to PB the Alpe - but some reason my trainer is not getting identified by Zwift .. hopefully nothing serious; will try to do TTT tomoz if trainer/zwift ok🤞

What time again is it?

Well if we are doing Zwift related weight loss stories...I'm 11kg down so far since I started zwifting at the end of Jan.

It's really helped me and this thread was the motivator...so thanks Steve for starting the journey.

Still plan to lose another 10kg if possible but I'm sure that will be harder.

What time again is it?

It's the 6.30 race, enter cat D iirc

Time tomorrow is +17 minutes 🙄

I'm thinking if the later ones are less busy maybe we should move back next week?

That said I'm not going to be joining you tomorrow as I'm going to be out in the sunshine instead taking the long off road way home from work instead sorry.

Wasn't sure how I felt after work today having suffered yesterday afternoon, so despite the lovely weather, I decided to jump on Zwift instead of heading out. Did the Newbury Velo Midweek TT @ Tempus Fugit and averaged 3.8W/Kg (296W) from the 4iiii, which meant I could increase my FTP to 280W after feeling a bit depressed about my post-covid losses last night.

Tomorrow will need to be an easy day, as I then finished my legs off in the 1-lap Innsbruck Mini Crit after ~20mins recovery.

which meant I could increase my FTP to 280W after feeling a bit depressed about my post-covid losses last night.

Nice one Goat, good to see you back on the mend!

Time tomorrow is +17 minutes 🙄

Did those of you who rode last week have much joy with the warming up on the pairing page trick? 17 minute feels long enough that hardly feels worth warming up before hand

I'm in but don't expect great things!

Did those of you who rode last week have much joy with the warming up on the pairing page trick? 17 minute feels long enough that hardly feels worth warming up before hand

Going to the pairing screen works fine. It must be this one, though - Don't do what I did a few weeks back and go to the garage where you choose your kit, and try and warm up - pedalling on this screen will actually move you on the course.

Also checking the start time it's +17 from the 6.33 start time so 6.50 right?

Should be for the 18.30 as far as I'm aware, it's 17 minutes after banner up anyhow, that's the important thing. Someone needs to take charge of the stop watch for that.

Just seen that Ivan's dropped out for tonight. How many of us does that leave? 4?

My internet has been really flakey and I'm waiting for a new router to arrive. Worried that it may drop out again like it did on Tues. Worth cancelling this week?

I'm still a no i'm afraid... both legs and route are not the best, so i'm a nope for this one.

I've only done "Out And Back" once apparently, albeit at just over 2W/kg during an early TT Tune-Up session, IMO on paper it's quite a flat ~25 mile route with a ~10min climb up the volcano and a ~5min climb up the Watopia Reverse KOM covering ~600 feet of the ~1000 feet total climbing.

My hunch is that I would pick the Tron bike, because of the speed on the rest of the route besides those two climbs, or the Cervelo S5 with Zipp 454 wheels.

This article of 4-main TTTT tactics popped up https://zwiftinsider.com/speed-tests-ttt/ in the last day or two.

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at I [I]always[/I] pick the Tron bike cos it's rad 😂 (even tho it bugs me that you can't tell when you're in the draft). There's only a few seconds between the different bike/wheel combos surely? Or is it really worth picking the best bike for each course?

Just seen that Ivan’s dropped out for tonight. How many of us does that leave? 4?

https://zwiftinsider.com/category/reference/speed-tests/ There's some difference between bikes and wheels, but some courses are in that "grey area" which aren't flat and aren't really climbing routes either.

No visual clue regarding drafting is a downside to the Tron bike, maybe having a dedicated front rider on the Tron for the TTT would work, while others choose another frame.

Don't forget to activate the Ceramic Mission challenge for extra marginal gains on all bikes this month. 😉

I'm still in for this evening.

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at VERY interesting reading on that ZI link re. the draft effect btw. As everyone probably suspected (although we totally failed to do it on the TTT last week, or the hare & hounds this week 😂) properly organised "chain drafting" or whatever you want to call it is [b]way[/b] more efficient than "churning" at the front (which is what we do lol).

Basic overview is: the more riders in single file in front, the greater the draft. 4th rider in the chain can hold a wheel with approx 33% power reduction! That is massive and could potentially allow a C rider at the back to keep up with a strong B or A at the front. Or allow equal strength riders to ride more efficiently by resting at the back and taking organised turns on the front.

The 17 minute wait will start at 18:33. Pen D is just delayed slightly behind pen A (where we were the last couple of weeks).

The organisers' site is showing our team for this evening as:

kelvinshuffle A
dknwhy B
phil56 B
savoyad C
zilog6128 C

Time would be on the 4th from 5.

Did anyone else plan to ride? I can't see any bad tags or people in the wrong category. @mooman? (are your tech issues solved)

Can I join the TTT?

Is there anything special I need?

Would I be quick enough or just a hinderence?

VERY interesting reading on

I only realised [so went and googled] when it was mentioned up there about the tron bike having no visual cue that there's any way to tell you're in the draft on Zwift.

I just assumed it kicked in when you're close enough and that's that but it seems not. Now I'm wondering why I always seem to end up alongside rather than directly behind, suggesting I'm not actually drafting at all. That said I figured that my avatar sitting up/standing was directly linked to my power/cadence so I've probably been digging my self out of the draft every time thinking I'm slacking.

I reckon the more the merrier! Tiger what cat are you? Do you have a profile on Zwiftpower?

Would I be quick enough or just a hinderence?

Think of it this way: you might be a hinderence but in the same way putting on 4st will ruin your ability to fly unaided.

so I’ve probably been digging my self out of the draft every time thinking I’m slacking.

The real trick with the draft effect is that it's a [b]range[/b] of values needed to hold wheel so you need to back off until you start to drift back, thus finding the lowest possible power output. This allows you to ride WAY more efficiently & conserver energy. Rather than everyone just surging forward at the front like a pack of racing greyhounds which is what we do at the moment 😂

Basic overview is: the more riders in single file in front, the greater the draft. 4th rider in the chain can hold a wheel with approx 33% power reduction! That is massive and could potentially allow a C rider at the back to keep up with a strong B or A at the front. Or allow equal strength riders to ride more efficiently by resting at the back and taking organised turns on the front.

We do/have tried it, but it's not quite that simple compared to on a road, you can't just ease off a tiny bit and stay directly behind.
Out of all our riders i think i'm arguably right up there in Zwift skills as i've done 350 races etc, but even for me it's far from 100%

I assume we'll be using the discord STW channel this evening? @Tiger6791 you need to download the discord app to your phone if you haven't already and find the discord address further back in this thread

This should be the Discord link

https://discord.gg/5Vmsd9

Seems super hard to ride in a line on the TTTs, so easy to yoyo off the back doing this. The game engine seems to blob you together v easily.

Heard some strong espresso riders talk about taking your pull from the back being key to speed in the TTT - In an 8 it's the back 2 who pull through the group for a short hard turn at the front. Better avoids the sticky draft of the front two peeling off and slowing you down as you come through. Obv you'd need to be pretty dialled in with your formation for this to work.

Here are the instructions for @tiger6791 (and anyone else tempted...):

- enter the event on zwift. It's category D (you must enter D) here https://www.zwift.com/events/view/713952

- tag yourself in zwiftpower by adding (STW) to the end of your rider name (in zwiftpower - zwift profile - settings - rider name). This is how the TTT system picks you up as a member of the team

- follow dangerourbrain's discord link above. there's a text chat channel and a voice channel in there so we can hear each other panting.

- make sure you are in the pen by 18:30 (maybe 18:33 but to be on the safe side). Before the event says GO, you must stop pedalling completely (!) and we'll spend 17 minutes sat there watching other teams set off one by one. Don't pedal during those minutes or you'll roll over the line (the workaround is to go to the pairing screen but get back out in time for the start if you do that)

- At our start time one of us will count us down to go. The rest is easy.

That's all. See you later.

In an 8 it’s the back 2 who pull through the group for a short hard turn at the front.

EDIT: although interesting that they are doing it in pairs, not singly

kelvinshuffle
Member

I reckon the more the merrier! Tiger what cat are you? Do you have a profile on Zwiftpower?

I'd say I was a Cat D now (maybe C? hard to know)

Zwift profile here, take it with a pinch of salt though, the person in that profile with trophies against B races was a different version of me 🙂 (and on a much quieter version of Zwift)

https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=288273

I think you'd kill D if you didn't go out too hard.. I'd say you're a decent C.... not quite a race winning C at the moment, but up the sharp end i think

In an 8 it’s the back 2 who pull through the group for a short hard turn at the front. Better avoids the sticky draft of the front two peeling off and slowing you down as you come through

Makes a lot of sense looking at the article. If rider 2 pulls slightly out of sync with the rest your group would be ruined. Rider 3 is relying on sticking to 2s draft 4 to 3 and so on so any break in the line sees the riders behind spat out very quickly. Taking turns off the back completely gets rid of that risk.