Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Found me - says I am unlinked. What does this mean?

zwiftpower appears to be broken at the moment.

Found me - says I am unlinked. What does this mean?

I don't know how it works,but have you linked your Zwift account and Strava account to Zwiftpower. Mine are linked and I never have a problem with the results appearing.

I did the TBR race this morning (cat B) and managed to spend nearly the entire race in a group which was a nice change. I was at the front of the group with 0.4m left so decided to sprint for the line but every time i do this my cadence goes up as you would expect but the watts drop down to less than 50 and i am sure it ends up slowing me down. I got dropped by everyone even though i was doing 140rpm like i was stood still, i dont think my sensor likes me going too mad. This is a shame as i could have won the cat b category otherwise. Any reason why this keeps happening?

wheel slipping?

Does anyone ever join races, then go easy, as a recovery ride? I raced yesterday but quite fancy something a bit more entertaining than blind spinning tonight. I'm in cat D, so I can't see it hugely mattering if I trundle along slowly.

just join one of the slower group rides then?

Jam bo i am using a dumb trainer so wouldnt have thought it really matters as long as my cranks are spinning.

If Zwift detects wheel slippage then it will throttle back your power until the slipping stops. Although it should flash up a warning on screen telling you what is happening. Had this before with my last (dumb) trainer.

I'm in cat D, so I can't see it hugely mattering if I trundle along slowly.

did my 2nd race this evening - took the tips about starting a bit too literally and was 3rd to arrive at the start line, then spinning at 650w with 10 sec to go

I was first off the blocks by miles, almost literally looked back to see where everyone was and slowed down ... at which point some othe rrider came past like a train. I like to think I could've held him for the flat bit at least but there was no way I was going to catch the bugger back up

I'm 16th on the "live" result but only one of the top 20 has a wattage that hasn't flagged red, and that's not me. Winner currently showing 4.3 w/kg 😆

Pulled a muscle in ma' ass too 🙄

Scaredypants, I wonder if I rode with you at some stage? I was the first rider under 3.2. I started well and was in a good group, although made a mistake on the descent after the Reverse KOM and got dropped by that group. Decided to ease off a little to be swept up by the group behind, hung in with them until the KOM climb, and then gave it full beans from there to the finish. Despite the mistake in the middle the race went fairly well.

Got news for you - if you're jason robinson, you won (the red card's been well & truly waved) !

(and I'm shagged)

Jason, I've looked on the flyby thing and you certainly got pretty close to me first time up the hill, though I'm not really sure how close the circles have to be to be "together"

Must admit I hardly looked at any names throughout- the only one I thought I'd remember (as we were almost entirely together throughout) isn't in the finishers list, though I'm sure he did, and beat me by a bit

I do think I'm a bit hooked, though riding in "B" next time might alter that !

Might be of interest to you lot.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/01/zwift-in-vr.html

Apologies if already posted.

Yes looking at the Flyby I think I was 2-3 seconds behind you at the top. I remeber a couple of riders ahead of the group I was in at that point. If i had known you were a STWer I would have made more of an effort!

Jamie, I hate to think how much I would sweat wearing those.

I'd have drowned the thing within 5 minutes If I'd had that strapped to my head tonight !

you must've battered yourself up the hill Jason - my group was going bloody hard (for me anyway)

It's odd, even on zwift I'm a shit climber 🙁

Right then I don't like doing this but.... - wife volunteers for Elmbridge Can - charity to help refugees coming into the UK. She is crowdfunding for a family to help them settle, trying to raise 7k. They are almost half way to achieving it.

To help I'm going to cycle 100 miles on Zwift - if anyone wants to donate could click below. I've just joined the STW Strava group + will post evidence.

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-syrian-refugee-karim-to-resettle-his-family/

Any help much appreciated.

Right - got everything set up, and working just fine. Did 2 laps of Watopia hilly and very impressed with the smart turbo changing the resistance. Not so convinced with the 'features' on Zwift yet - featherweight boosts and draft boosts and so on - but I guess that's part of the game and it doesn't stop you beasting yourself alongside.

No warm up or cool down, just eased in and then back out of my laps so no idea what a good time is, but stats show about 35 mins.

Next question - I'm linked up through Zwift to Strava but the ride hasn't appeared. Does it normally happen quickly or take some time. I can apparently find the .fit file and load from that but I thought it was supposed to be seamless.

Zwift will upload to strava pretty much immediately after you save and disconnect, my rides are usually on strava before I leave the mancave

Strava rides normally show pretty instantly for me

theotherjonv - did you tell zwift to save the ride when you closed it down ?

mashie - I'll bung a few quid

maybe explain to everyone how big a deal a 100mile ride (single ride I assume) is to you ? Might loosen some wallets

yes, def saved as it's showing on the Zwift dashboard. Only thing I can think is that I hadn't linked before the ride so on finishing the ride the accounts were still unlinked. I then linked them but maybe it doesn't apply it to retrospective activities. No issue, will be doing another (FTP test -ulp!) tomorrow and will see if it then transfers; in the meantime I copied it over easily enough from the activities folder.

Thanks scaredy - the big deal...... well it will be a single ride, probably join the Sunday morning endurance 168km. It will probably be quite dull and hard work... (not very good at making a big deal out of this am I!)

jamiep
A 20min FTP test only put me at a poor 201 watts but only weighing 59kg put my w/kg at around 3.4

When/how does Zwift update your average watts? Yesterday I noticed that I was at 220 watts, which I certainly didn't input and haven't done another test. I do remember something about my FTP flashing on screen last week but I didn't pay attention. Or could 220 be the default? Thanks

After a ride where you've exceeded it for a 20 min period.

It flashes up as you end the ride.

The offer to update FTP always seems to come up just AFTER I've told the thing to close down, so I often miss it
Despite that it did update yesterday so I think it may default to "yes please"

my zwift always seems to vanish in a puff of logic immediately after saving/uploading to strava. I've never had to close the application.

I will also make it hard by doing the pretzel twice (nearly 3000m of climbing!)

Yeah, I'd already clicked close when the FTP message appeared.

How can it calculate FTP if I only ever go on the mountain courses? I thought the test was 20 mins on flat.

My w/kg when climbing if typically around 3.5 - 3.8 and never falls below 3.2, so that update to increase my FTP to 220 might not be too odd (3.5*59kg = 206; 3.8*59kg = 224)

my zwift always seems to vanish in a puff of logic immediately after saving/uploading to strava. I've never had to close the application.

jamiep, your [url= http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/what-is-threshold-power ]FTP[/url] is an estimate of the max steady power you can sustain for an hour. There are many protocols for estimating this. Zwift does it by looking at an entire ride and taking the 20 mins over which you averaged the most power, it then takes 95% of this value to estimate an FTP. If it's higher than the value you currently have set then it replaces it with the new value.

Doesn't really matter if it's on a climb or a flat (though in real life this will influence the result as climbing and riding on the flat are physically different efforts.) Most will do a 20 min test in as repeatable a way as possible so you can compare results with previous efforts.

If you're getting notifications that Zwift is increasing your FTP from just riding around then you're probably some way under due to the variable nature of just riding as opposed to doing a proper test.

This may sound arrogant but it isn't intended...

Is anyone doing "The Friday Criterium Autumn Race" on Friday evening at 7pm? I'm planning on entering in C/D (pref D) and quit before the end/results - so if anyone wants a domestique/wind block/pacer give me a shout 😆

Thanks, mrbobby, helpful. I am riding hard-ish but just tempo, not trying to smash out a 20min test. I didn't want to do another test, after nearly throwing, but I might have to...

I'll be doing the Sub2.0 at 8.15pm tonight if anyone fancies it.... Normally i'd be doing a race but want to watch the Footie while riding, so will do a slightly easier ride so i can watch too 🙂

I'll be on from 7.45pm though doing a 2.0ish ride as i want to ride longer/easier... So that should suit me too.

sub 2.0 means w/kg i assume? That's still close to a FTP ride for me at the moment, based on last night's evidence 😉

Also donated Mashie - post up when you're doing this and I'm sure some of us will join you to provide a bit of support (at least some of the way!)

sub 2.0 means w/kg i assume? That's still close to a FTP ride for me at the moment, based on last night's evidence

Then something is wrong somewhere. Having ridden with you only once even i'm not convinced your FTP is anywhwere newar that as it has me at 280 or so FTP and we're i think fairly similar.

Thanks, mrbobby, helpful. I am riding hard-ish but just tempo, not trying to smash out a 20min test. I didn't want to do another test, after nearly throwing, but I might have to...

Otherwise just ride/race whatever and it'll (probably) update as you go
(I did their short test when I first signed up 2 months ago but I'm well above that now and CBA to do another one - old school turboing's not something I enjoy much anyway, though I'm sure it's better for structured training)

Weeksy, I'll be on the Sub 2.0 ride tonight.

Tried my first race last night (KISS D). Did about 9 miles and was quite well positioned, then Turbo threw a hissy fit and I stopped dead on screen whilst at about 100rpm. I think I just forgot to tighten the QR in the clamp before starting (Tacx Flow Smart). Properly enjoyed it though and thanks for the inspiration from all on here to just get on and have a go. I definitely push harder in a race environment.

Cool mate.

As per other earlier posts, i've put my name as WEEKS STW KISS (D).... i'll probably edit out the KISS D bit and leave in the STW, it will work well for picking out eachother during rides... I know Jambo also now has the STW tag in there too 🙂

I'll jump on with 2-3 mins to go

It was a self deprecating winkie comment 😉

I did say based on last night's evidence which was no warm up to speak of, then just having a crack around 2 laps of W-Hilly. I'm a crap starter, I do need 20 mins or so to get going and pushing hard in those 20 mins jellifies the legs in no time. But I was hovering around the 200 mark for most of it = 2.1-2.2w/kg and I've done enough FTP and timetrials in the past to know i wasn't full gas. I did put in a bit of an effort up the hill second time which was about 240 average for maybe 5 mins which would be 2.6w/kg

But I'm not near you yet - I might have riden with you at Swinners but i was blowing out of my arse for a fair chunk of it.

I think I'm doing the EVR race tonight at 8, thought out I was out of luck but realised the category ranges differ per race series. I can comfortably sneak into the C cat. I spent last night warming up my tyres and properly calibrating the turbo, I'd always calibrated cold and I've upped the pressure to 110 from 100.

I'll stick a STW tag in there too from now on (although I'm keeping my real name, which is "Alastair Graham").

Thanks, mrbobby, helpful. I am riding hard-ish but just tempo, not trying to smash out a 20min test. I didn't want to do another test, after nearly throwing, but I might have to...

I've only done 3 Zwift rides so far, with the first of them being an FTP test. Oddly enough that was by far the lowest average power of any of the rides so far, and both subsequent rides have seen my calculated FTP climb (although it's still over 10% down on what I've been doing on outdoor rides).