Firstly, I rage quit on a SZR SUB2.5 group ride.
Bit late, but *waves* as I was in the that group ride.
Is the calibration issues you’ve been having specific to wheel on? Is direct drive a much simpler affair? I’ve nothing to compare only having used direct drive. Pretty sure I just paired stuff and started pedalling.
Quite enjoyed this evening, I don’t think the ride leader turned up so ended up hooking into a group and working with them until the end. I’ve now got more Zwift miles in the last 4 days than I’ve had outdoors in the last two months. So this really rather expensive gamble does look like it’ll pay off.
I think it must be a wheel on issue, the pressure of the roller against to tyre. I had it waaaaaay too tight, must have been introducing pretty significant mechanical friction. Oops.
Well hopefully now I know I won't get dropped in the fist 20s, I might get back to some racing.
Oh my word ! Was that a battle in C
Big group..... 1 lap in with 15 of us, including 2 STWers, and we're flying along, 3-4 riders split and we spent 1/2 a lap closing them, i was happy that i managed to do a decent bridging of the gap to close them, then with 2km to go, 3 split again and up the last little kick we started fracturing, i'd used my Aero earlier to close the gap on the 3, so i was running purely on my legs and the draft. But was going OK... .we caught them on the run down to the line and it was Sagan central, all trying to sprint, funnily though i think we were all dying as no one was out of the saddle. It was a 12 man sprint sort of... I think i finished nearer 12th than 1st in the the sprint, and i think an STWer beat me in a photo finish as i died and eased with 50m.
Damn fun and hard efforts though !
Sorry Weeksy, I was all ready to give you a lead out in the final sprint but my daughter turned up at the door of the man cave in tears saying she was about to be sick.....
These are words you do not want to hear from a seven year old when you're in charge for the evening!
Dropped into the Academy C/D race but didn't have the legs to get into the lead group so finished mid pack.
Awww man, that's a shame. Hugs
Did the Academy race tonight. Not done it before and 8:30 works better as I'm always rushing for the 8pm races after sorting the kids! Didn't expect to do well having not ridden much lately and put on a few lb! Started in D, got a flier start and then settled in. Caught a few groups and had a decent race. Ended up 2.8 w/kg so did much better than expected. Felt good. Was nice to be in a bigger field again. Also first race since the upgrade. That little map with the dots is great!
Did a time trial earlier - for me they're a better way of finding out approximately what my threshold is. Lot less boring than a FTP session
Good news is that FTP rocketed up by I think 1watt 😆
Sounds like it was a good evenings racing had by all and the bigger fields do seem to certainly help.
Scaredypants, it might be only 1 watt but i bet you had to work bloody hard to gain it.
Good work all. I wanted to get on last night, but my eldest missed her bus which meant Dad taxis was despatched. Probably just as well as my legs were still quite sore from Saturday morning's zwift race and a pretty tough ride in the woods on Sunday.
I think it's likely I'll be out on the mtb this afternoon after work rather than zwift as the weather looks decent.
weeksy - Member
https://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=13020
That race you did was 100km, but you've all finished in around 40mins?!
Is the distance wrong or are you only timed for the last 20km or something?
Distance was incorrect there... Was 28km or so i think.
I couldn't have done that much more at that speed, let alone another 70km LOL.
Must admit i am wondering how much the 29er is affecting my speed now, i THINK i'm getting pretty close to my best, but i don't enjoy the Isaac road bike to ride, despite it feeling (and if i recall correctly, actually BEING, a fair bit quicker) quicker and ewasier to pedal, it also gave me some knee issues which may have been pedal related, may have been bike related. But i'm sticking with the 29er on the turbo instead of the Isaac.
I may even have to ask my old neighbour what to do with the Isaac as he left it with me when he moved to Canada few months back as a gift, but i just can't see me using it at all.
You could always set the seat/bars etc to the 29ers dimensions and see if you get on better with it?
I bet your cadence is changing between the two as you’re more likely to be grinding on the road bike?
It seems on the road bike i can power harder and a little bit lower in cadence yeah, but that could be slightly clouded by my fitness which hasn't been back to my best after holiday. But when i was regularly swapping between the 2 bikes, the Isaac seemed to regularly end up 10w higher for a Zwift race. To be honest i don't mind only having the 29er, it's my go-to bike for 90% of my riding anyway, so makes just as much sense to use it.
The thoughts of ever going racing again seems to me like a long distant dream, especially seeing CHs efforts and time lately, so there's no real reason to ride/train on the Roadie.
I had a 29er on the turbo until I found a cheapo 2nd boardman road bike on the local classifieds ads. The 29er was a lot more comfortable but the biggest ring I could get for it was a 48t, where the road bike has a 52 or 53. I can certainly crank along better now and go faster on the sprints, but it is quite uncomfortable. I think more of my (considerable) weight is over the front so my arms are taking the strain, and my hands start going numb after around 20mins. I angled the bars up a bit and that has helped a bit but still get it just takes around 10 mins longer to kick in.
I guess the extra speed is worth it 🙂
In a gearing context i just find myself lower down the cassette, i'm in 9th/10th all the time on the 29er, whereas on the Roadie i was 3-4 gear in on the big ring instead.
As long as i've got gears that suit my cadence, i'm not worried in that context.
My tyre on the 29er is only rated to 80psi so i run it about 75 or so, which could also be a minor factor i guess.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not blaming the 29er for my performances, most of them lately have been in my head rather than the bike.
Although i did pull back 14 points on Zwiftrankings for yesterdays ride.
In the interests of cheap testing, i've just ordered one of these.
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-tyres/kenda-k193-kwest-bike-tyre-700x35c
Less treaded than my current one. Which is this (or very similar)
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-tyres/rubena-landmark-city-tour-trek-tyre-700-x-38c-40-622-black
The Kenda does 100psi and seems almost a slick.... So... why not, lets see what happens.
I'm more of a cranker than a spinner. I used to find I ran out of gears with the 29er and I had absolutely no chance of keeping up on the descents. I tended to only shift up on the longer climbs.
Those tyres look like they might be a bit sketchy in Swinley 🙂
I had a turbo trainer tyre on my bike as at the time it was only used for that.
What about getting a cheap spare wheel and fitting a turbo tyre and swapping between the 2 wheels?
That's what i do mate, i'll fit that Kenda as the turbo tyre. I'm not sure a 700x25 etc would actually seat on the rim correctly. Thoughts appreciated from all though... It's just a generic DT Swiss 29er wheel. I could always try the Conti GP 4000 on there that's currently on the Isaac though if people think it would seat on a MTB rim ?
I tried the 17:05 WBR race again yesterday and managed to stay with the lead group until the end even taking part in the sprint. Finished 8th in the A's with enough points to move me up to 154th in cat 1 on CVR. Off for a bike fit today and hopefully a few more watts.
Back on Zwift on Thursday morning.
As you will be on the turbo weeksy even if it does fail you are unlikely to get hurt so you may as well try it, i certainly wouldnt advise going out in the real world as a test.
Speaking of real world i might just get out in to it today and risk my life and wheels with a tour de bradford,well somebody has to. I am going to try and curb my competitive nature and treat this as a pootle round old stomping ground and pay no attention to my garmin.
Speaking of real world i might just get out in to it today and risk my life and wheels with a tour de bradford
LOL i did 100km of trails at the weekend 😉 I'm doing the outdoor stuff for us lot too 🙂
I had a turbo tyre on a 19mm id disc rim pumped up to something like 90-100psi. Wasn't too bad to get on the rim, no harder than a WTB tyre that it replaced. Had it on there for 700km with no problems.
Hey! I did 37miles outdoors last week!!.....
And 123 miles of intervals indoors 😆
Depends what you want out of racing Weeksy, you can learn the craft and probably mix it in an occasional sprint with a LOT less effort than I'm putting in.
I'm only working this hard because I'd love a Cat 4 podium/win and then my Cat 3 license next year. My body isn't shaped for breakaways so I need all the Powerz 😀
Depends what you want out of racing Weeksy, you can learn the craft and probably mix it in an occasional sprint with a LOT less effort than I'm putting in.
I'm only working this hard because I'd love a Cat 4 podium/win and then my Cat 3 license next year. My body isn't shaped for breakaways so I need all the Powerz
I get that, but realistically, without increasing the training, decreasing the weight and increasing the power, i'm unlikely to get to even where you WERE, let alone where you are now.
Life and time dictates that i can't put in the weekends in the same way you were this year, it's just not going to happen.
Add into the mix that i don't actually like or enjoy the road bike, means it's all a bit of a pointless consideration for me.
I've got some goals and plans for next year, things will become a little easier in the Events context then, so i'll just be using Zwift as a training/fun tool for now as i have done previously.
I think i'll be attempting to kick the 5-2 and do a bit more regular healthy stuff, yesterday just sitting there feeling like i was going to pass out, was not good.... I felt tonnes better after some food 🙂
I'm out braving life and death in the mean streets of London racking up my outdoor mileage Monday - Friday for STW'ers. 😆
Anyone racing tonight? I'm not sure which to do..
Nothing really jumping out at me or my legs tonight.
I'll save myself for the 8pm tomorrow.
Well outdoor ride completed and i stuck to my task of not racing, quite liberating really. The bike and I survived riding through Bradford but it was a pretty lumpy route with a cat 4 climb that was quite testing, it was only 30 miles at an avg of 15.2 mph so a nice recovery ride.
I did notice a big difference between zwifting and real world ride (other than the obvious) was the shower afterwards. Zwifting requires a very cold shower, real ride requires a hot shower!
cold shower ? WTF, it's not the Dark Ages !
Yorkshire, they don't waste money on things like hot water if they can get away with it.
WBR 3 Laps of Hilly Route at 7:05pm.
Anyone joining?
Just done the 3pm 10km 1 lap race and after the usual promotions I’ve got a yet to be confirmed 1st place in Cat C (out of 3) 😀
I was out in front and had built up a 15sec gap by about halfway but as we got to the hilly section they were beginning to close the gap. The group of about 4 caught me around 7km in and on that last little hill before the finish they dropped me. As they dropped me the lead guy used an aero PU and they pulled away. I tried bloody hard to catch back on again but even putting out 450w I was only holding the gap at about 4 seconds. I couldn’t sustain it any longer and pootled across the finish line trying very hard not to puke.
Ended up with an average of 331w. That’s a lot more than I’ve managed in the other short races I’ve done. So pleased to see some progress.
whats all this talk of hot water? Dont come on here if you are just going to show off with your fancy hot water,what next, soap! Gnaar,bloody kids of today, dont know how lucky they are.
Seriously though,if you need a hot shower after zwifting then you either didnt try hard enough or you are in an igloo. It has to be cold to cool down the hot lava and magma that seems to be boiling inside my body.
Ok quick poll of our main zwifters, hot or cold/cool shower after a zwift race?
I don’t need to shower afterwards, my industrial fan keeps me cool enough 😆
Not sure I qualify as a main swifter but I’m giving you my opinion anyway 😀
I try and wait to cool down before showering then it’s a luke warm one. If I don’t have time to cool down then it a cold one otherwise as soon as the water stopped running I’m sweating like a fat lab again.
Muggomagic - that is a great result if that stands and pushing out 331w avg is pretty impressive,well done fella.
I have never done a one lap race or short time trial so might give that a go.
nathb only keeps cool due to the draught from his rear wheel when he drops one of his infamous watt bombs.
Cheers. All I need is some liposuction then I could be a contender 😆
Hot shower for me!
Nice one Muggo! Serious watts 🙂
My monastic dedication to the cause continues so no races for me I'm afraid.
Wow that hasn’t happened for a LONG time, apart from with Mr Cartwright, I’ve just had my a** handed to me!!!
Off for a shower now 😆
You only lost by several seconds and the winner has form and a ftp of 349 so no shame in that.
So modest 😆 Besides, that doesn't count as a race report. 😉
Race report:
3x laps of watopia hilly.
5 riders in my class, 3 of us go off the front. A couple of other class riders stick with us, for a lap?
On the first hill there's an attack, I hang on fine with that. Then there's attack after attack by the other two riders, literally 2-3 real attacks per lap. The guy who won seemed to storm up the hill then stop and wait for us though. I literally just hung on the entire 3 laps, did 1 attack out of about 10 which resulted in the guy who won counter attacking and staying out front 😆 Hung with the other rider until about 800m to go where he launched a final attack, I countered and with the use of an aero got passed and stayed there.
I've just been looking at the stava stats, no wonder that hurt!
5s - 782w
15s - 765w
30s - 656w
1 min - 461w
2 min - 404w
5 min - 349w
10 min - 336w
15 min - 332w
20 min - 326w
30 min - 316w
https://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?id=8544067
Nice work mate. As you say, odd behaviour indeed! When are gonna lay it on the line in a KISS EU race?
I hope they do a UK version of the ECrit series- you'd do well after a real life weigh in!
warm, not hot, shower here but always about half an hour after finishing (I sit and drip on a couple of old towels on an office chair in the meantime)
Lolling at nath's zwiftpower stats (max HR 121 and ONE watt for 20 minutes)
Not sure, it’s not that they don’t appeal they’re just too late in the evening for me.
Maybe Thursday night, if other people are doing it and my legs have recovered...
I’ve put on 3kg so far since being at my prime and then getting a cold lol
I think I’ve broke zwiftpower by continuing cycling for a short while after 😆
hang on - It's gone proper apeshit; thinks you did 4 laps in 40 minutes
*impressed*
It's got it as 4 laps flat.
Electric fan installed, life has been improved considerably.
Did my 1st race last night....WTF it was brutal...it was only the kiss flat race 23miles...these zwifters are crazy!!!
I'm just glad I didn't come last.....only just..lol
Great fun tho
There's no such thing as 'only the..... ' when it comes to racing on Zwift... every race is flat out ! every time, every day, every night ! Wooo !
that's when all the "larger folk" come out with all their megawattsit was only the kiss [b]flat[/b] race 23miles
LOL nah, that's Richmond flat... it's the only actual flat course for us fatties. Even Watopia and Volcano flats have enough inclines in them to destroy any other advantage we may have.
On the whole Power up thing, is it ok to use them in races, I am sure I've read on the descriptions about penalties for using them, but still see people using them in the race.
Anyone fancy the 17:05 WBR 3 lap hilly?
ZTR races are generally a little longer with a slightly more sedate start.
And ODZ have some with an enforced neutral. But they just go flat out a bit later instead 😀
The event module has been an awesome leap forward but it did suck any personality out of the races and make them feel the same as each other.
3-2-1 SPRINT 😆
Muggo- Zwiftpower applies time penalties in races where the are banned.
it was only the kiss flat race 23miles
that's when all the "larger folk" come out with all their megawatts
Now you tell me!.. 😆
There's no such thing as 'only the..... ' when it comes to racing on Zwift... every race is flat out ! every time, every day, every night ! Wooo !
The group rides are hard enough for me. May take a while before I pluck up the courage to race, or more accurately, get dropped and do a demoralising ITT 😀
The group rides are hard enough for me. May take a while before I pluck up the courage to race, or more accurately, get dropped and do a demoralising ITT
Even as you move up through groups, you can still easily find yourself out in a TT type scenario. I often do if i'm doing something hilly, partly with the smaller fields we've had but also because i'm now sitting too low for the super Cs on the hilly, but often faster than the group below that.... So you end up in no-mans land.
There's no shame in finishing last or getting dropped..
Yep we’ve all been dropped, part of the Zwift experience 😆
I know I should be good and do my intervals tonight......but WBR 3 Lap Hilly race is tempting 😯
I'm thinking the 1 lap Watopia fig 8 of SZR at 18:00 may be about the best plan for today. It doesn't suit me, but is the only one with a decent field of riders at the moment.
I might do that one Weeksy if I don’t make the 17:05 one. Not built for climbs but a big field should make things interesting.
3 laps hilly at 17.05 only has 11 entrants in it and only 4 in C at the moment... I'm not sure 3 hilly is any more or less suited to you/me than 1 Fig 8. I'd expect there's not a lot in it for both of us either way.
But for me, the bigger field means i have a chance of a battle or 2.
Yep. I may aim for that one instead then. Mrs won’t be happy that I’m skipping dinner time again to shout and swear in the spare room 😆
muggomagic - Member
Yep. I may aim for that one instead then. Mrs won’t be happy that I’m skipping dinner time again to shout and swear in the spare room
Good man. You're playing in C then i assume ?
I'll try and not draft you too much 🙂
Renewed my subscription last night, and tried my first gentle ride since about February. Bloomin' eck, I'd forgotten how much fun it is (in a hard way). Think my FTP needs a bit of adjusting down though, as there was no way I could sustain things.
Anyone done a Hare & Hounds race? Worth it?
weeksy - Member
muggomagic - Member
Yep. I may aim for that one instead then. Mrs won’t be happy that I’m skipping dinner time again to shout and swear in the spare room
Good man. You're playing in C then i assume ?I'll try and not draft you too much
Yep I’ll be in C. I wouldn’t bother as there’s hills so I’ll just be trying to avoid last place 😀
Lol 96kg here buddy. I'm not light!
96kg is that all?! Bloody skinny roadies 🙂
Ha ha. There's very few who call me skinny.
See you on there buddy!
Anyone done a Hare & Hounds race? Worth it?
Nope but I'm thinking about it. Let me know how you get on if you do it.
that 18.00 race looks great - HUGE turnout
no way I'll be ready to start it though 😕
I was freaked out for a minute.
I lied - I'm in, hopefully
After the calibration (ahem) issue, thought I'd ease into some racing with the WBR 3 lap hilly (D). Set off hard, not sure what to expect, and soon found myself in a group of 3 Ds and a load of Cs. I was consistently putting out 3w/kg up, so thought I'd better hand back and try to bring my average down. The other 2 shoot off with the Cs and I find myself TTing between small groups of Cs and Bs for the rest of the race, trying to keep in class, pushing hard on the hills and cruising/drafting on the flats.
Turns out I was auto upgraded to C and ended up in 4th, average of 3w/kg! Not bad to say I couldn't keep up with the SUB2 rides before Monday 🙄 If I'd have stuck with it, rather than trying to stick with the Ds, I think I could have had it, I just didn't want to get DQ'd. Looks like I'm a C then? 8)
Well done! Don't forget that Cats are FTP/kg so you could already be a B if you did 3.0 nay bother?
Ouch! Tough. I think I was last STWer. Damn hard!
Wow that was an enormous field, i cant go through all that on ZP so you are all going to have to give a race report.