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But when it's as fundamental as not racing on a Fast day...........
Surely giving your body half a chance to recover and make real gains for your efforts is more fun/rewarding than the alternative.
Yes, this is an annual debate that lasts most of the year 😀
How on earth does one draft?!!
1. Put more effort in. Are you even trying? 🙂
2. You have no brakes in Zwift; imagine how you'd draft someone IRL if you didn't have brakes... you'd have to approach them gradually UNLESS they were going very fast in which case you'd slow a reasonable amount just by stopping peddling. IME the faster someone's going the easier it is to draft them. Very little point drafting someone who's dawdling anyway... and anyone you can catch up with very quickly you'd have to shed a lot of speed to avoid overshooting (which you can't do)
But he wants weight loss... training his own body to rip apart lean muscle mass because it desperately craves protein & calories actually sounds like the best way to achieve his objectives 🙂But when it's as fundamental as not racing on a Fast day...........
But when it's as fundamental as not racing on a Fast day...........
Racing on a Fast day is exactly the intention. It's about the weight, the calories, the burning effort on an empty belly, trying to use the other sources to burn the fat, it's why i race on both fast days and the morning after (like today) it's not what you see as right, but as i keep saying, my goals/wants are not the same as yours.
that's pretty good w/kg - your trouble is you're light and your absolute powwah isn't all that high. I'm 80kg so I need a FTP of 270 to match you - and I can't quiteA 20min FTP test only put me at a poor 201 watts but only weighing 59kg put my w/kg at around 3.4
I don't think zwift gives you much if any credit for being small and aerodynamic so on the flat you need watts and probably even I could give you a hard time. Learn to draft (I can't really do it either) and then kick (our) heavy arses up the hills where w/kg counts
No, it definitely does (it has been proven empirically). Couldn't tell you how much or what the formula is though!I don't think zwift gives you much if any credit for being small and aerodynamic
But getting fitter will burn more calories! Going flat out at a low comparative power output is a rubbish way to expend energy compared to producing more power at a lower intensity- which is what fitness does.
By caning yourself and not fuelling up afterwards- you're compromising recovery and meaning the next time you do it, you're barely beyond the fitness you started with. Its why you plateau.
You've significantly increased your volume which has given you some tidy gains in performance but you won't progress further without some kind of strategy- even a loose fitting one.
It just makes the effort you do put in seem like such a waste!
@weeksy (sorry) I think you need to cap your HR if you're wanting to burn solely fat, I think it's Zone 2 (60-70%).
220 - age x 70% roughly.
BUT it's incredibly boring and nigh on impossible out in the real world. Zwift has made this easier for me as previously I was trying to do it in Richmond Park where there are other cyclists to be overtaken. 😆
Re lightness - There's a debate on it a few pages back. Personally I've decided dropping a couple of KG is easier than trying to improve my Watt output lol.
i cant be arsed discussing it any more
😆
Sorry! 😳
By the way, you not tempted to sneak out on the hillingdon circuit to time yourself? When I went to watch it's what I was going to do but turned up too late lol.
By the way, you not tempted to sneak out on the hillingdon circuit to time yourself?
We were discussing going there over the Xmas break, but only for a play. Any racing i do is likely to be Welsh Gravity Series enduro rather than Hillingdon, well that and local XC racing.
Re lightness - There's a debate on it a few pages back. Personally I've decided dropping a couple of KG is easier than trying to improve my Watt output lol.
Might have missed that. I'd be a bit cautious of focusing on w/kg for real world racing. Easy to get a bit obsessed with a target and try and hit it by focusing on the kg. For most UK road racing (flatish crits and TT) it really is more about the w (and the CdA) than the kg. I'd happily put on a few kg if it meant a few more watts, even if my overall w/kg went down.
Different story for XC and hill climbs events though.
I have a tech tip for everyone:
If zwift suddenly starts to crash on loading, with a totally jumbled screen display, try this:
When you "fix" your keyboard to a music stand, try not to jam down any of the buttons - you ****ing IDIOT !!!
there's 3hrs of troubleshooting that I'll never get back
and at the risk of making weeksy all cross, you're pretty fit & quick now by the look of things and I think those ^ geezers may have a point regarding "performance". Unless you've got lots of excess weight still to shed (and possibly even if you have) I think you might try it another way and see what happens. I've lost 10kg by not being a glutton and exercising same as before. Got through christmas mostly unscathed but not sure what I'm going to do now though. Carrying at least another 5 spare kg but I think I'll have to change my ways to lose any more or increase my fitness (that hasn't really changed, just that I'm lighter). "proper" planning rather than just no chocs I think, once I've worked out what proper plans look like.
Anyone using an Ipad2 on Zwift?
Think it is below the minimum specs but just wondering if it does work, and if so if it is useable or really jumpy etc.
Installer refuses to run if your iPad isn't on the compatibility list, so no chance if your iPads are lower spec AFAIK.
Might have missed that. I'd be a bit cautious of focusing on w/kg for real world racing. Easy to get a bit obsessed with a target and try and hit it by focusing on the kg. For most UK road racing (flatish crits and TT) it really is more about the w (and the CdA) than the kg. I'd happily put on a few kg if it meant a few more watts, even if my overall w/kg went down.
I'd second that.
As a very light rider all I see is disadvantages when riding in the UK.
If my targets were road racing in the UK i'd be doing everything I could to gain weight/power.
Think I've just had my best ever race, reckon I finished in the top few Cs (had a great sprint finish with a guy which I won by 0.1 🙂 )... anyone know why todays Asia Thursday Race isn't on ZwiftPower (at all) though? 🙁
I think the London Classique course really suits me... short loop, mostly flat but with a short, steep hill near the end that I can power up & always seem to make up a few places on.
I think the ASIA races are not on ZP matey, i did one a while back and it never came on at all. My 5km TT last night never made it on there either..
hmmm.... I searched for "Asia" on ZP and the tues/thurs races stopped showing a couple of weeks ago... only the EVR Asia race shows on there now.
I don't think any of the 5km races have ever shown on ZP, which is annoying if you're trying to track your fitness gains (so don't bother with them now)
A 20min FTP test only put me at a poor 201 watts but only weighing 59kg put my w/kg at around 3.4
According to my power meter (which I've only had for a few days so am still trying to figure stuff out) it looks like I can do 245W for 20 minutes, or 229W for an hour. Which I suspect would be reasonably ok if I didn't also weigh about 90kg! I'd have to lose 18kg and maintain my power output (or find about 60W at my current weight) to get to 3.4W/kg so suspect you'd disappear far into the distance on any climb. I'm reasonably quick on the flat though.
Anyway hopefully I'll be on Zwift as well within the next few days as I'm waiting for a turbo to arrive. Just a dumb one though as didn't think I'd need a smart one given I've a power meter on the bike. Should I just ride around for the first few rides or dive straight into an FTP test?
@weeksy & crosshair - Saturday 18th Feb (week after Imperial finishes) the circuit is free from 12:30pm. I'm tempted to do an FTP test on it while I have the PM, you guys up for it too?
@mrblobby & fifeandy Really!? 😳 I'm currently dropping my weight down from 70kg to 68kg - I felt healthier at this weight & thought I would be faster in Zwift and the real world if I was able to keep my FTP W around 340!?!?
Anyway hopefully I'll be on Zwift as well within the next few days as I'm waiting for a turbo to arrive. Just a dumb one though as didn't think I'd need a smart one given I've a power meter on the bike. Should I just ride around for the first few rides or dive straight into an FTP test?
Any chance you could cancel the dumb trainer, I have a fairly decent one sitting around that I about to bin. You are more than welcome to it.
Any chance you could cancel the dumb trainer, I have a fairly decent one sitting around that I about to bin. You are more than welcome to it.
Thanks for the offer but I think it'll arrive tomorrow and is part of a bundle of stuff I ordered. Suspect you'll get plenty of other candidates offering to take it off your hands though!
Nath, potentially I could come up for a play but it is my Wedding Anniversary so I can't guarantee it 🙂
@mrblobby & fifeandy Really!? I'm currently dropping my weight down from 70kg to 68kg - I felt healthier at this weight & thought I would be faster in Zwift and the real world if I was able to keep my FTP W around 340!?!?
Well 340/68 is clearly going to give better results than 340/70, but for UK racing i'd rather have 345/70 even though its technically 'worse'.
W/Kg is nice on sustained climbs with buttery smooth surfaces where you can wear down heavier riders, but since there's very few of those climbs in the UK and there aren't any races that finish at the top of them, give me raw W every time.
I can play if i've not entered the WGS enduro the weekend before and spannered the beejayzus out of myself and in plaster 😉
I started with a dumb trainer and recently got a smart one; wouldn't be without the variable resistance now - it makes it so much more entertaining. Sorry!Just a dumb one though as didn't think I'd need a smart one given I've a power meter on the bike.
Having put myself through the FTP test I wouldn't bother unless you were only going to use the workout mode (which would be missing the point!) Zwift will assign you a new FTP anyway if your 20 min power is sufficient, so you could always just do the first 20 mins of a race as hard as you can instead!Should I just ride around for the first few rides or dive straight into an FTP test?
Well 340/68 is clearly going to give [u]better[/u] results than 340/70, but for UK racing i'd rather have 345/70 even though its technically 'worse'.
It'll be very marginal and if it's hard to do or sustain and impacts training I'd not bother. If it's fairly easy then you might as well as you will be marginally quicker when accelerating and you'll likely have a marginally smaller frontal area too.
A few years ago when I was starting out on training seriously I did use w/kg as a key metric. These days I don't think much about it. It's more about how much power I can generate in a low CdA position. Still watch the weight, though mostly to make sure it's stable.
Having said that, you'll often hear people say their best racing was at their lowest weight, though a lot of that is down to them being at their fittest at that point.
I started with a dumb trainer and recently got a smart one; wouldn't be without the variable resistance now - it makes it so much more entertaining. Sorry!
I've actually got a smart trainer in my other house so know where you're coming from as that was good fun. Sadly it's too old to be of any use with Zwift though. I'm not sure how much turboing I'll actually do yet - which is why I've gone with a dumb one this time, but there is definite possibility I'll upgrade if I get into it.
A 20min FTP test only put me at a poor 201 watts but only weighing 59kg put my w/kg at around 3.4
Wow, I think I weighed more than you when I was 12 years old, and I was very skinny (but tall).
I put on 1.5kg over Christmas which isn't bad for me as last time I was at the in laws for a week i put on 5KG. Still at 96kg I'm need to lose some, realistically with a young child in the house I'll be happy with 92kg as sustainable weight. A few years I got down to 88kg and was riding lots, the hills were almost enjoyable. I ride in the flatlands so weight isn't an issue on many rides but when we do hit the hills I shoot out of the back of the group.
On another note I done 6 Zwift sessions so far, all have been in Watopia - is that by chance oris it always on certain days?
OK, never done the indoor thing before but this thread has me convinced. One daft question probably, but here goes,,, Turbo trainers vs "exercise bikes" - any reason to choose one over the other? Why can't Zwift, etc, work on an exercise bike - or can it?
Cheers_drive They change the calendar each month. Today is London for example. I think course selectability is imminent! Not sure about peak but I saw 3000 people on the other night!!
This time last year, 1200 was noteworthy....
You should see the course calandar at the main screen just before you go ride.
Prototype- Zwift needs your power to calculate your Avatars speed using an algorithm.
On dumb trainers, it uses your speed against a known power curve to guess your power.
On smart trainers, they use your flywheel speed to calculate power quite accurately.
On smarter trainers, they use strain gauges to accurately measure your power.
Or you can use any of the above with any type of proprietary Power Meter to measure your power.
You could probably rig a PM up on an exercise bike but generally, they aren't accurate enough in their resistance to satisfy any of the power calculations.
Not even all 'dumb' trainers are supported.
Wattbikes and Computrainers are supported as they measure power and are easily connectable.
There is a rumour of Zwift developing its own integrated exercise bike- a bit like that TdF one that's just come out.
there is a "hack" though where you can choose which course you join... you will probably feel a bit lonely if you're not on the official one for that day though!!Cheers_drive They change the calendar each month. Today is London for example. I think course selectability is imminent!
The fact that you're using your own bike, which you're used to and (should) fit you perfectly is a pretty big reason I would've though!Turbo trainers vs "exercise bikes" - any reason to choose one over the other?
So after reading the majority of this thread, I decided to spend my Christmas money on a smart turbo and sign up to Zwift. I have put a trainer tyre on the rear of my Boardman 29er and had a quick play with Zwift and the trainer tonight and all seems to work well. Looking forward to having a proper ride on it tomorrow once everyone else is at work and school.
Any chance you could cancel the dumb trainer, I have a fairly decent one sitting around that I about to bin. You are more than welcome to it.
Any chance you are still wanting to shift that trainer on? My wife is looking for one, as she can't get on with my rollers. I'm at; rtabner AT gmail.com
After falling off rollers yesterday entered kiss race B today. Got sadly dropped. Annoyingly my ftp:kg is bang in middle of B race hence why I tried?
I'm guessing the guide for ftp/kg isn't taken too seriously and riders drop down a cat to stand a better chance? I'll try C next ??
I'm in a spotty jersey 8)
(TBH I was doing a 20 min test and not even looking at the screen so I've no idea where I picked that up!)
Wow! Good skills. I've never had a jersey. Been second on a few sprints but never quite got it.
London so up Box Hill I presume......
No idea, I was Frooming my garmin the entire effort! How do I find out?
After mentioning it up there ^, I finally managed to do race that wasn't in Watopia. I actually didn't enjoy the flat on London that much, didn't find it as engaging and didn't appear to do as well although I think I came 8th after disqualifications which is my best result yet. I find it hard to draft in Zwift, no problem in the real world.
The in game leader boards and jerseys last 1hour but next time you ride up it, it will give you your 30 day PB's as you begin the KOM segment.
Strava will show you a map of where you went but it won't match the course because of the magic tube station that takes you to Box Hill 🙂
I'm not sure if there's a Strava segment that matches the in game KOM Box Hill one?
Today was my first time outside Watopia too. Looked a bit grey and it was raining, i want a virtual world to get away from that!
It might be because im on an ipad rather than a bigger screen but i had difficulty with the gradient at times - kept going along bits (in the central london part not box hill) that were about 4% or 5% and it didnt look like a climb only felt the resistance change which kept catching me unaware, unlike on watopia where you see the climbs easier in advance so can get ready to shift down without getting bogged down in too big a gear.
jonno101 - Member
After falling off rollers yesterday entered kiss race B today. Got sadly dropped. Annoyingly my ftp:kg is bang in middle of B race hence why I tried?
I'm guessing the guide for ftp/kg isn't taken too seriously and riders drop down a cat to stand a better chance? I'll try C next ??
Yeah a lot of people seriously ignore the ftp/kg and w/kg, the trouble is though if you drop down to Cat C all the legit Cat Cs are going to get dropped and then drop to Cat D. Which is where I get dropped and at Cat D there ain't nobody left to sandbag!
+1Today was my first time outside Watopia too. Looked a bit grey and it was raining, i want a virtual world to get away from that!
I swear I felt colder when it was raining