Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

i might go riding outside. 😉

interesting read! I'd assumed all the data comes from Strava but in reality it's an ingenious bodge involving positioning riders around the course and then intercepting the data sent to the Mobile Link app! No wonder it's starting to break down as Zwift becomes much more popular. Makes me appreciate the work the Zwiftpower guys are doing even more but they need to get it properly integrated/automated with Zwift. I'm sure the Zwift devs have got a lot on their plates at the moment though!

Hadn't noticed it before but on reading the KISS FAQ there's a "team" field on your Zwiftpower settings page. If you enter "STW" for example this will appear next to your name in blue on the Zwiftpower tables just like wot if you were in a proper team!

 

[b]jam bo - Member[/b]
i might go riding outside.

LOL...why on earth would you do that 😀

Hadn't noticed it before but on reading the KISS FAQ there's a "team" field on your Zwiftpower settings page. If you enter "STW" for example this will appear next to your name in blue on the Zwiftpower tables just like wot if you were in a proper team!

I've done that for my profile in Zwiftpower.

I did the SZR sub-2 ride yesterday. That was 3 laps with the first at 1W/kg, the 2nd at 1.5W/kg and the last one at 2W/kg. I was pretty well behaved (keeping beind the ride leader) until the ride leader said "see you next time" with a couple of miles to go, then I TT'd it in from there. Loads of people must have completely ignored there being a leader though, as more than 30 people finished in front of me - one of them 20 minutes ahead!

That's pretty much how it goes Steve, i don't understand it at all. If you want to race and beat people, you race... if you want a social group, you social it.... How hard is it for people to grasp ?

weeksy -
So next time at Hillingdon you're TTing off the front 15 laps from the end

Not a chance 🙂

Plan is to hit the turbo at 7:30pm to have a proper warmup 🙄

Might try and make the GCN race if I can get back from work in time.

Nath, is your zwift vs. the real world data both from the stages?

@richP - no I haven't done a Zwift race with the stages yet. But my tests only showed a 5W difference between the two.

It's a little annoying having a single sided PM. I like to do 2 or 3 mins pedaling per leg to cool down and to reassure myself I'm pedaling efficiently. The avatar doesn't move when using my right leg only haha. 😳

I'm hopefully gonna find the time to do the Zwift FTP workout tonight.
Zwift updated my FTP value on Sunday to a higher value, I think but that was during an hour long ride after I'd done a few sprints & sustained efforts on the hill segments.

Any idea how long it takes to do the test?

And when can I find my FTP value within Zwift? I take it I need to be in the Zwift program, rather than in the website.

I find it weird that some stuff is on the website profile, while some other stuff is only available in the program.
You'd thought it would all sync to your profile & be available.

I find it weird that some stuff is on the website profile, while some other stuff is only available in the program.

I have done the FTP test, IIRC it was 45 mins total ish. Someone has commented earlier that the warmup it gives you is a bit excessive so you might want to edit your FTP first to a lower figure to make the warmup a bit easier.

Personally, having done it once, I don't really see the point except to satisfy your curiosity (or if you're doing a course of workouts and want to track your improvement). For me my Zwift racing stats/results are a decent indicator of progress (as well as being a lot more fun than doing the FTP test!!)

I'd set my FTP to 229 before doing the Zwift FTP test (because that's what riding outside with my power meter gave it as) and as part of the warm-up for the FTP test I think it had me doing 300W for 5 minutes (which is pretty much me maxed out) with the end result being that my 20 minute average power during the warm-up was about 20W higher than in my FTP test. Not only that but normal riding since has pushed my estimated FTP in Zwift up by about 50W compared to the FTP test (and it's now a lot closer to what I do on outside rides).

To be honest I don't think I'd bother with the FTP test - just do an hours hard ride and let Zwift estimate it for you.

720 riders to GCN tonight, it's going to blow up! 😆

I'm currently last on Watopia's Figure 8 haha:
https://www.strava.com/segments/12118421

[b]Your PR 1:05:37
13196 /14041[/b]

Would love to join in, got to go out for a meal tonight though! Might log in & keep an eye on one of you though!

Cheers zilog6128 & epicsteve....

Yeah, I did wonder if there was any point in doing it, but am debating whether to do the 12 week FTP builder workout session, so thought it would give me a baseline to keep track of.

I don't have Strava Premium (I'm not paying any more monthly subscriptions than I do already!) so I guess I'll have to keep a note of the ftp results myself as they inevitably (ahem....) climb.....??

I'm up for tonight - "Alastair Graham STW KISS (D)"

Feeling pretty knackered and fatigued at the mo, combination of work and 6 month old toastling in the house. Should be able to get middling though with any luck. Definitely seem to be improving gradually.

Really not up for trying to reach new bounds tonight, always say that though then half kill myself 🙂

Did 45 mins of watopia flat, first lap at 2.0 then for lap 2 it was 2.4-2.5 and then some gentle stuff. Bit of a cool down and then did something I've been meaning to test for ages now.

Variable resistance! Set it as a controlable trainer in the menu and set off on the start of mountain course. First thing I noticed was how hard it is to keep the power in flat or slightly downhill sections. Usually I'm just plugging along at say 250w and that's me, flat, hills, etc. In variable it drops to 220w at say -2.0% and then hits 280w at a +2.0%
We then got to the climb and the resistance kicked in, oops, gear gear gear, click click click. Oh, that's weird, I've now got 320w on the power display. It does actually feel like you're climbing a hill, but power is arguably easier to maintain as your cadence drops down to say 70 from 90. Hmmm

I'm not sure at this stage which I prefer, dumb or smart. If my legs feel OK tomorrow after new saddle position, cleat position and floating cleats I will try a lap of watopia with both.

Edit. That's interesting, my segment times on flatfish sections were the quickest of 4 tries today when in variable. My sections on the mountain were fractionally down on my PRs, but only a few seconds and I wasn't pushing that hard. Could be interesting to see more results.

I am also doing the KISS race tonight. I will be in the C Race as 'J.Robinson BRT' It should be fun, the figure of 8 course also leads to some good racing. As the race is split into 4 seperate events I am sure Zwift will work fine.

I'm racing B's just to be involved but still resting my hip really.

Nath- you should soooooo knock 10kg offf your weight for tonight- think of the infamy when you're handing Si Richardson his arse on a plate 😀

Nath not sure that you can read much into comparing average power?
If you race on the Stages tonight it could be the perfect opportunity to get some data for ZADA approval 🙂
Hopefully see you on the start line

Weeksy- didn't Joe say the power figures weren't accurate when set as a controllable trainer??

.Weeksy- didn't Joe say the power figures weren't accurate when set as a controllable trainer

As far as I know, Joe always ran it in full smart mode, but I'll throw him a pm on other forum later to check, curious to know.

@richP - no no I only averaged for comparing against the crit race, not the accuracy of the powermeter vs my tacx.

For that I did other tests 😆

See you there!

@Crosshair - nah I'd need to half my weight for that haha

Weeksy- might be worth checking. I thought he said it wasn't consistently accurate in that mode but could be wrong......

I can always bring the Triban+ Stages over for you to check it 😉

Usually I'm just plugging along at say 250w and that's me, flat, hills, etc. In variable it drops to 220w at say -2.0% and then hits 280w at a +2.0%

Not uncommon in real world either. Most people put out more power when they've got something to push against.

Variable resistance!

Only a few rides in with a properly smart trainer here and really liking it so far. As an alternative to getting out for a ride I think the need to change gears (with the associated variances in cadence and power) makes it more beneficial than a dumb trainer.

Weeksy- didn't Joe say the power figures weren't accurate when set as a controllable trainer??

Wonder why this would be?

I've compared the power readings from my powermeter (a 4iiii Precision) with the power readings on Zwift from the T2240 (I can chose whether to use the power meter or the turbo power readings) and they seemed reasonably close.

.I can always bring the Triban+ Stages over for you to check it

This is where I get confused, how would the stages know about the hills and virtual resistance via zwift? E.g when I go uphill, my wheel slows because of resistance, wouldn't the Stages get confused?

More than happy to know the answer via the Triban, at home all day Thurs and Fri.

.Wonder why this would be?

Because the wattage on screen represents a calculation of what your legs are producing based on the flywheel speed of the Turbo at various research resistance setting. The Stages or Vectors or any sort of strain gauge PM measures what your legs are actually producing*. That's why you can use a PM on any old dumb Turbo- the resistance is irrelevant because whatever it is, the PM can measure it with no guess work.

MrBlobby- Weeksy is using another friends BKool and I'm sure he said it wasn't matching his Garmin Vectors when in Variable Resistance mode- it wasn't an issue with Zwift variable resistance per say.

*albeit in the case of the Stages by measuring your left leg power and x2ing it.

Double post

This is where I get confused, how would the stages know about the hills and virtual resistance via zwift? E.g when I go uphill, my wheel slows because of resistance, wouldn't the Stages get confused?

The power meter doesn't need to know - it just measures the power you're putting out (which Zwift then uses to work out a speed). If you have a smart trainer it'll still increase the resistance when you hit a hill, if you have a dumb trainer then you could manually increase the resistance if you want. If you increase your power output when you hit a hill then your speed in Zwift will decrease, even if your wheel speed on the trainer stays the same.

I'd be curious to know without doubt. I'm not convinced yet anyway I'd use full smart mode as I don't think it suits me, but nice to know how right or wrong it would be if I tried it.

Woohoo! I am currently wearing the green jersey!!

Not 100% sure how it works as, having beasted myself on the sprint, I was in 2nd by almost a second. Then the no.1 guy disappeared (do the times expire after 1 hr?) so I guess I inherited it!

Im in for KISS try Cat B / lookout for Ashraf

Crikey almost 1000 riders

Entered through GCN (D) race, STW is in my name

Good luck all

Going for a ride at 8, sounds like it's going to be busy round the island!

Zilog, great work 🙂

10 mins to go, A has 95 already!

Folk are struggling to get online already

I'm in cat B start pen but my hip isn't great so only goal is to finish the course. Will get a tow from some TFC team mates in C hopefully.

Will not load for me. Rookie error to load up so near to 8pm?

Go go go!

Hmmm, stuck at log in screen. :-/

Hah, mobile link has booted me out and can't get back in. Pc still OK fingers crossed

likewise....stuck on login screen, bad gateway.
We take your money, but forgot to buy the hardware shock.

130 in the c-pen. I'm three rows back and think I might get swamped a bit at the start.