Am i right in thinking all I need for this is something like the Wahoo Kickr a laptop with bluetooth 4 and obviously a subscription to Zwift to get going? Also am I right in zwift just has 3 maps? Need to get something sorted ready for winter.
Watopia for example has 10+ different routes, some flat, some climby etc. So while Watopia is only 1 map, it's not just a single route. You can also start on one, go on another at a junction, then another, etc etc
I did a WBR race today, 4 laps flat, pushed proper hard. Finished well, but lost 10 ranking points!
My Zwifting/form has turned to crap after the time off recently. My biggest mistake i think is that i'm trying to ride at my old power, but my HR isn't allowing it after 20-5 mins and i end up blowing up badly... Today was one of them day, my HR was sitting at 170, then 174, then my tempo pace it was still 170, i can't maintain that ! I need to lower my expectations slightly. It could partly be because i'm using the Parkwood, not the Isaac to a small extent, but i still think i'm off my pace.
Will need to reign it back a bit and either stop racing for a week or two and build fitness instead, or lower the expectations and sit with the next bunch back instead.
Tomorrow is outdoors anyway, but after that, Mrs Weeksy is away so i'll have loads of time to pedal while my lad is playing and i'm looking after him.
I have found that somewhat surprising to me, fitness does seem to hold over time thanks to training and zwifting, my times all round are still near/better than my PRs, but more importantly, if we go back to pre Zwift, then I'm 15% quicker on all tested sections. Which can only be a very good thing.
Mrs Weeksy is away in Greece for a week now, so I've got complete zwifting week and nothing outdoors.
Decision time later on which bike, whether I ride or race, etc. I do find the incentive to push more when racing, so ZHR afternoon tea race at 4pm is looking good. It's outside of my comfort distance though so will be a hard one!
Weeksy - what i find after an absence from cycling is the first ride back always seems difficult and statistically lower but the next ride is almost always back to normal parameters. I have just had a break for four or five days and just pigged out, first ride on zwift was awful, i pushed incredibly hard and i still had lower stats. Did the PRS race last night and smashed out avg 290w and i was quite comfortable for the first 1.5 laps. This happens virtually every single time, second ride always back to normal, i have no idea why.
Anybody have any ideas why i keep getting a stitch when on zwift? Doesnt matter if its a fasted ride or one after a meal but i always seem to get one these days. It doesnt get bad enough that i have to stop but its uncomfortable and takes quite a while to ride it out.
Any younger guys or women signed up for the zwift academy then? First group ride done that will count. Had a rest day yesterday so it's ftp test time and another group ride later on.
Oh my word was that tough!
Zhr c race. Went off OK, sitting in bunch then wham, everyone disappeared! Everyone! I had 3.0km left of warm up before 6 lap race, so I thought I'd pedal to the line, then happily as I crossed the line everyone appeared. I was 7s behind a group of 10 and 35s ahead of next bunch.
So, hammered it for 1.5km and caught the group ahead, HR was up at 175 so needed a recovery!
We had 1 chap who seemed to be on a dumb trainer, as well as being strong, he called out 3.3w and sat dead on it for a lap, we were 17s behind the group and 2 laps later mainly thanks to him but with a few of use also helping, we caught them, next group up was 19s and with 1.5 laps to go we caught them too.
We must now have been a group of about 25! The pace was high, maybe too high and the group shattered with 1 to go.
I ended up in a 3 man sprint which I won, but for 30th overall.
Cracking race, terribly hard
Barf!
Weeksy - Zwiftpower and ZHR races have been slow updating lately so results might take longer. I always ignore dumb trainer users as you just cant compare to them as its so vastly different. Good turnout though, i think numbers are increasing of late.
yeah, some real big-hitters are coming back after a summer off 😉
Did a spontaneous KISS race this evening. Finished 6/31. The drafting is so realistic these days! It's a proper racing simulator (apart from bike handling of course 🙂 ) IMO. Especially when you get an attack and everyone looks at each other! I let somebody else close the gap. See- just like real life 😆
Crosshair - when you were drafting on zwift was your avatar in an aero position or arms locked straight, now thats a test of realism for you? Good result by the way
Hopefully easier to "catch" somehow? - I've always been crap at thatThe drafting is so realistic these days!
Always fun to read this !
Oz West Coast Tour stage 1 @ 12.00 today for me.
In the interest of curiosity, i've set up the Isaac and given the KickR a spindown test. I think in the last week i've got enough data out of riding on the Parkwood to see that if i'm faster/powerful today then it must be down to the bike/tyre etc rather than me just having a good/bad day.
It's a tough one as i prefer the riding position of the Parkwood and the tyre noise from the commuting rubber doesn't worry me, but it's only about 70psi and obviously has more tread than a GP4000.
We'll find out the answer about 12.15 i guess lol.
[quote=scaredypants ]yeah, some real big-hitters are coming back after a summer off
think I might hold off until october...
ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH That was going so well.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1167653132/analysis
Was siting in a bunch of about 20 of us, mid way through lap 5 of 6 and my turbo went nuts and bombed out, first showing 0w and then -- for a few seconds... it came back in, but i'd lost 15s to the bunch and was standing still.... That was it, game over ! Really frustrated.
Regarding the Flywheel, it's not necessarily about that, but the riding position too. I was clearly sitting 5bpm lower today on the Isaac than the last couple of turbo rides, i was back to cruising as 160bpm
178 and 165, Max / Av were from last race the other day, today was 175 / 163. Maybe not as much as i thought before checking, but the riding on the Isaac felt easier.
Hoping Wahoo have an answer for me, mine is under warranty so should be easily replaced if necessary.
@Blader- 😆 Nope, 90degree elbows on Zwift and in the dining room 😉
@Scardypants- I found myself able to coast into the draft when closing gaps with a hard burst.
I think it's as good as it can get without steering (which is oft-talked about but no sign of).
Cheers. Had a bit of a try tonight. Does seem a bit easier to "hit" but we'll see next time I do a race. Presumably makes it harder to ride away from others ??@Scardypants- I found myself able to coast into the draft when closing gaps with a hard burst.
No harder than real life 😆
Rejoined this evening and did the FTP test.
FTP last feb 275w ish, FTP test today was averaging at 140w before I gave up three quarters of the way through in a sweaty wheezy mess. Checked calibration of trainer and thankfully it was way out - will have another go on Wednesday and hopefully normal service will be resumed!
I don't "[i]do[/i]" real life, CH !
Did the XRS race tonight and i reckon that was the hardest i have pedalled other than the breaking 7 minute box hill challenge. I was ruined by the end and it took over half an hour and a shower to cool down, i felt like the ready brek kid for a while, just glowing red. I ended up 2nd (missed out by 0.25s) in Cat B and just 18 secs behind the overall winner, finished with 3.53w/kg and avg 305w.
Scaredypants - were you in the race or just passing by?
Edit: Cat B winner finished a bike length in front of me but on zpower he has been penalised 60s for using power ups yet is still ahead of me, how can that be?
Also back on Zwift for the first time in ages tonight. Did the Kiss race in D. Bit odd as it said the race was 3 laps but then somehow it ended up being 4 with the first lap not seeming to count.
Anyway, found it hard work. Not been on the roadie for a while in real life and it showed. Didn't feel great but you need to start somewhere! The race itself was a bit crap. Not many in it and ended up riding almost all of it alone. Couldn't even tag on to any randoms as they were either flying or pootling!
Good workout anyway as always.
Was just starting off and I saw there were 2 STWers riding so thought I'd say helloScaredypants - were you in the race or just passing by?
Well done Blader- great result! 31points on CVR too.
Scaredy- ah, fair enough 🙂
I did have one dig off the front and it wasn't hard to break the draft. Getting a gap was another story mind you 😆
maybe next year CH - seems thruxton's closer to my house than I thought
Any discount codes or offers knocking around?
Last year Strava premium got you a month or so free.
I'll be rejoining the zwift ranks next week - needed a couple of rest weeks 😆
On the treadmill no doubt Nath 😆
Thinking about trying Zwift over the winter, any trainers worth looking at. I will be smarting from scratch, is there anything better value than the tacx flow smart? I am assuming that the resistance is computer controlled?? I may not like it so don't want to spend a lot.
A question that's been done to death I'm sure, but here goes anyway....
Suitable turbo trainers currently available with a max budget of £400?
Edit, MRMO, just buy one for around the £500 mark then I can buy it off you used. Everyone's a winner 😀
Hahq CH, 1 run in the last 3/4 months - the racing bike isn't setup for Zwift at the mo. That's a weekend task.
After my issues the other day i contacted Wahoo. Was an interesting conversation and i'll be carrying out their instructions later today when back from work.
To do a spindown, in the Utility app select the SNAP with BTLE connection and at the bottom of the page under the four boxes, select Spindown. Follow the instructions and make sure that the spindown time is between 10 - 15 seconds. If it's more than 15, tighten the roller about a quarter to half turn and then do another spindown until you get to the 10 - 15 seconds.For the advanced spindown, do this after the normal spindown to make sure the time is correct and then if you tap on the grey SNAP icon at the top left of the SNAP info page (above the four boxes) ten times and it will give you an option for firmware and for advanced spindown. Do the advanced spindown. It will walk you through a 3 minute warm up and then will ask you to spin up twice. The second time will give you the brake factor which should be between 0 -2.
When i bought the Snap i was told the advanced spindown was done pre-sale on the newer revisions and not required. Nowhere was i told i ought to do an advanced spindown at a later date. So i've only ever done standard ones.
The question i'll be asking afterwards though may sound daft but want to confirm. Does that then mean assuming i need say 2.5 turns to get it right that i should then always set to 2.5 turns in Zwift too. I currently use the generic '2 turns after contact' as my standard setting. But sounds like i need a bit more, so i assume that's both in and out of Zwift too.
standard spindown with my normal 2 turns gave 12.8s
advanced , spindown 1, 13.6s temp 17.2
spindown 2 5.2s 17.2degrees
Brake factor 1.68
So in he end my standard 2 turns was correct it seems
DCRainmaker had a chat with Wahoo about spin down tests and other things, but you need to skip to the last few minutes to get to it although the skipped bits are quite interesting describing how Kickr's work.
[url=
Rainmaker and Wahoo chat at Eurobike[/url]
Interesting vid.
Don't forget he's talking about the wheel off Kickr. For the Snap, you really have to spin down every time you take the bike on or off too or if the tyre needs a lot of air between uses.
I fitted a new back wheel last week and because I was using my power meter for the power, didn't bother spinning down and it gave me some odd resistance! An advanced spindown and a couple of normal ones sorted it out though.
I like Wahoo as a company- the tickr I've got is really good and I'll probably go for one of their head units if my Garmin 800 ever gives up.
If they make the new Kickr Climb compatible with the old Snap's then I'll buy that too 😀
Anyone doing any events later today/this evening ?
Not sure what i've got in the legs, they felt stiff this morning, but i'm happy to have a try 🙂
Does anyone else find it difficult selecting your category for a race? I have just done the EVR ASIA race but using my ipad the category letters are tiny so there is always a scramble to select the right one. Today i did pretty well but half way through the race i realise i have selected C instead of B and the inevitable has happened, i have dq'd. Thats the second time now and its annoying, i think i am going to have to use mobile link instead as that is far easier to select.
I select mine hours in Advance with the Mobile Link App on phone, you then know exactly what Cat you're in etc. I don't have an iPad though so not seen your version.
Struggling to find anything that massively appeals today.
17:05 maybe for 3 laps hilly, but looking a small field currently and with my high prowess it's more likely to be a lonely one.
18:00 for SZR Summer at 1 lap of Fig 8....
18:35 WBR 4 laps flat may suit best, but only 1 rider in C at the moment, although as all Cats go off at the same time i guess it doesn't matter.
19:30 Zwift academy ride could be interesting....
20:05 possibly for the EVR Europe, but 4 laps of hilly.... Sheesh... not sure i have 4 hilly in me !
Doing my last evening TT tonight, I came second last time and would like to finish a bit closer to the winner. I have changed my TT position in a desperate attempt to go faster.
I raced twice on Zwift yesterday afternoon and finished second in both. There was only 10 minutes between them and I was well down on power for the second one.
Weeksy - 4 laps of hilly this morning and i have to say its quite a tough course, big hills and lots of rollers means it breaks up the field so every chance you end up solo.
Well I started off with 20 min warm up and was having terrible turbo issues, hanging power, power at -- and just not right.
Thought I'd risk the WBR 1 lapper, it bombed again.
Gave it some thought and was trying stuff in wahoo app, noticed the button said "disable erg smoothing" which meant it was obviously enabled. Couldn't do any harm to try, so hit the button to disable it and did more testing, all seemed good. No hanging power, no drops etc.
So hoping I had some legs I did the 3 laps hilly race. First lap great, all went well, 6 in group, but up the hill on lap 2 it was 4+ or losing ground and I lost 10s to all apart from 1 guy. Me and him dragged eachother along until the hill on next and final lap, he pulled 24s on me and I was toast. A B rider caught me and we tussled to the line, I went at 400m but it was too early, he passed me with 100 to go.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=11632
Happy enough with result for a hilly one though 4th out of 15 in C ain't bad for a tubby fella.
Suitable turbo trainers currently available with a max budget of £400?
keep an eye out here
https://www.evanscycles.com/bike-accessories/ex-display-home-trainers_c?sort=-price_inc_vat
For the Snap, you really have to spin down every time you take the bike on or off too or if the tyre needs a lot of air between uses.
sounds like a faff
which is why something like the watt bike atom, is going to sell like hotcakes
https://wattbike.com/gb/product/atom
I really like DCrainmaker reviews but when I hear him talk it always reminds me off a muppet.
Dirtyrider - that price might inhibit it selling like hotcakes.
Dirtyrider- Snap is 'only' £500 though, with all the same features as the wheel off Kickr and quieter too. I keep mine rigged up all the time and only spin down perhaps once a fortnight or longer. Do check the tyre pressure every ride though.
I like the look of the Atom I must admit but if I had that budget, I'd probably buy a new Snap+Climb based on Jesper's go on it or a Kickr+Climb if I really had to spend £1500.
Going to do a gentle one today, thought about a race, but makes sense to have an easy day instead. Jumping on a 1.5-2.0 ride with about 200 others in half an hour or so.
Put some new grips on the PArkwood, soft spongey ones, see how we get on with them.
Social ride of 3 hilly today, nice cruise really. Arguably harder than it should have been, although only averaged 114bpm for the ride, it felt harder. Was about 2.0w/kg at a guess, so gentle enough.
Gives me about 250km for the 7 days, which is a decent start to the month of getting back into shape.
Zwift and broken Fibula recovery? My leg is in plaster and I am going slightly ga-ga from being unable to move much. I would imagine doing a little static bike stuff with flat pedals when out of cast would be less stressful than suddenly jumping on bike for real after the break. Any suggestions for things to do on zwift? I cannot be alone for thinking of using it for a gentle recovery?
Fair bit of milage done there weeksy. I have never done a social ride on zwift although i am not sure how social it is when hardly anyone communicates.
I have had a component swap round so i can utilise a spare bike to build a permanent zwift bike and not have to use my nice carbon one. Nothing special or unique in that but i have been pleasantly surprised by how much difference new gel bar tape has made to the comfort of my hands. Had a quick spin on the turbo and felt no vibration at all, smooth as you like so gonna give it full berries on a zwift race tomorrow. I must be terribly dull if bar tape is something to look forward to
Wally - i used a turbo to recover from many knee surgeries and it was the best thing for leg recovery. To be honest i did it pre zwift and even staring at the garage wall was great after such a long period of inactivity (11 months in cast/brace). Just dont get too excited about exercise again and over do it.
I have never done a social ride on zwift although i am not sure how social it is when hardly anyone communicates.
Todays had no social side at all, although they were all Japanese. But usually there's some good banter along with helping struggling riders out a bit etc.
Blader- some rides utilise Teamspeak or Discord to have a chat. It's only really suitable for low intensity though, the sound of random sweaty people and their Turbo's gasping into the mic isn't that entertaining 😀
We did set it up for the Pretzel rides I was organising last year.
If you have the mobile app then you can sit back no handed and group-message as easy as Texting. That's probably why my real life position is shocking- too much Zwift texting 😆
I've never managed to work out how to send messages properly - I can do the "message all" but surely there's a way to message an individual ?
I also type mine on a keyboard strapped to a rickety old music stand. Often totally unintelligible
Sending messages on an ipad attached to a wobbly mount is quite entertaining. As i furiously delete and re do words i forget to breath and end up having to do a small recovery pedal. I use the discord app when a race has one but quite a lot dont seem to use it. I used it most on MGCC rides over winter and got to know the organiser and a few people on there.
Took delivery of a Kickr snap today but won't be able to play with it till tomorrow.
Scaredypants- yeah, on the mobile app, just swipe left and you'll get a rider nearby list. Clicking on them brings up their profile and the option to PM. Or, if they aren't nearby, you can search for a name you know and if they are riding you'll be able to pm them.
"App" - what do you think I am, under 50 ?? 😳
My App doesn't work, i think it's down to BLuetooth settings on the work laptop ? I don't much care in honesty but there are times a private chat would be nice to have.
Struggling with decisions today.
The Zwift 3 lap Volcano flat looks appealing after lunch at 1.15pm. A couple of other races have bigger fields, but sadly they're more hilly and not really suited to me as a rider profile. apart from the small kick up near the village, the Volcano Flat works reasonably well for me as a rider. Sadly (or maybe happily lol) the Zwift races don't make it onto Zwiftrankings, which is a shame as i'm falling rapidly at the moment with minus points in the last 4 races...
But i think that's the decision for today.
or just set up a whatsapp group, can you do that without sharing contact info?
No legs !
went hard for 1.3 laps of flat, about 25 mins in... but that's it... All she wrote today !
Last couple of times I've been on I have had NO other riders visble, despite a thousand or so supposedly on the site - anyone had this / know why ?
(just doddering around, not racing)
Usually your wifi.
hmmm - on powerline in garage, same as always
I'll go for the nuclear option; off'n'backon
I used to get bad drop outs in Races and group rides and rarely when solo riding and it was 50/50 whether they would reappear. Ethernet cable cured it.
Since we've switched to Gigaclear, it's been perfect though.
thanks for the suggestions CH
... seems I'm in London while you lot are in the Pacific Ocean somewhere 😳
Turns out my 12 YO has an FTP of 3.4 W/kg. Great for the hilly stuff, but he's not got the raw power for the flat or sprinting. He loves the racing side of it though.
Back onto the 5-2 today, which as we all know isn;t the direct answer for everyone, but seems to have worked ok for me in the past. So after a summer 2 months of slacking on the diet and 4 weeks of slacking on the bike, we're back in full effort on both now.
Planning the lunch hour 12pm race today, C cat which is about where i'm living at the moment, flat course, which suits me best generally. Currently 16 in the C cat, so should with luck find a group to race within it for a decent chunk.
I've been experimenting with the power settings and it's now set to instant instead of 3s. Not sure yet which i prefer, but the instant power does give more of a kick when going for it.
how bothered are people about smart control?
I have a tacx flow smart from halfords, and also a kurt kinetic with the inride power meter. The tacx feels like it might fall apart any minute, the kurt could survive a north korean attack.
wondering whether to sell the tacx and how much I'll miss the resistance on the hills. figuring I can just change up/down a few gears as power is power.
ARRRRGH. Lost my dongle......
found it 5 min after race start. So i'm doing the 12.20 WBR instead
I've been experimenting with the power settings and it's now set to instant instead of 3s. Not sure yet which i prefer, but the instant power does give more of a kick when going for it.
I've been running it as instant since I first started, but Saturday I was riding up the mountain and as I turned right up to the radio mast I kept having problems with the resistance dropping right off for only a second or 2 then ramping back up again. Must've happened 10+ times which was bloody annoying as on screen it meant I kept stopping and got overtaken by a few others and dropped by the rider I was chasing. I wondered if switching to the average setting might avoid that happening in future.
The power smoothing only changes your display, it doesn't change the power to your avatar.
I was just going to give it a try hoping it might stop the fluctuations. Assume it’s actually a bug but after a very brief look I couldn’t find anything online. Only happened a couple of times before and it’s only been the once in the ride unlike this where it kept doing it.
Weeksy - the guy who won the overall race in the 12:20 also won the 11.00 EVR race earlier, either he is a machine or something else is going on.
You had a good result there considering you hadnt been doing much of late.
Thanks Blader. I was pretty happy overall. I had to chase in the first 500m as i went off too slow as was getting Whatsapp messages from the wife. But then settled in.
The 3 guys who beat me had spring figures up around 1000w, so i wouldn't have beaten them anyway in all honesty.
There's a lot of very scary people and power on Zwift, it astounds me at times, but then again, out on the trails, it's the same LOL.