Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

Was a good race that Ewan,

I was in the lead B/C group for the first lap but then dropped back into a small group a minute back, we were never going to catch the front group and even after a couple of laps we had a minute on those behind so it became a bit of cat and mouse, no-one was in a particular hurry.

It was my forth race on three days so didn't have a lot in the tank, four laps was probably one lap too far.

So how to the new ZP rankings work? great idea, adds another level of competitiveness, but can't find any details anywhere.

What's your name on Zwift Harry (I'm E.Panter)? I don't know which group I managed to hang with for the first 20 minutes. When I got blown out the back I was about 1.5 minutes in front of the next group I think, managed to hold them off and overtake a couple of others who got dropped - was a bit nervy not riding with anyone else but seeing the group behind me get ever closer! Had to man up for the last k...

I just got the ZwiftPower result for the 16:05 WBR 1-lap race I completed today. 9th out of 27 in Group C at 2.9W/kg normalised 240W which was not bad and close to my Zwift tested FTP of 247W. I think I might be able to do a little better though.

I went too hard at the start (as usual), overcooked it and found it hard to recover at the 230-240W I'd made my mind up to try and hold. I got in a group of about 6 or 7 Cs & Ds for most of the race but had no sprint at the end. I did have hard, hilly ride on the road last night though.

One question for more experienced Zwifters regarding drafting. Do the power numbers which are shown in your box on the left reflect the actual power you are putting out or are they adjusted down to take account of the draft? E.G. If it shows 200W is that the actual figure you are producing in the draft or are you actually only having to put out 160W?

The watts shown are exactly as you are producing them (well, a 1 or 3 second average depending on what setting you are using).
The draft merely affects your avatars speed. Likewise, only the inclines alter the resistance you feel- drafting doesn't have the ability to adjust that either.

So if you are seeking to maintain the speed of the bunch (say 25mph), as you approach from behind at say 300w/26mph your Avatar will suddenly attach themselves to the riders in front and it's here you can waste power. Depending on the speed difference, you can even roll right off for a second and then carry on at the new wattage- say 240w.
If you don't, you can end up riding at the solo power still (300w in our example) but not making enough watts to break the draft and move on to the next rider in front.
IYSWIM 🙂

It used to be rubbish! There was a 'sticky draft' era where riders would break away at crazy speed and slam right into the draft of a random guy going 18mph!! Luckily they've smoothed it out since then.

Thanks for that clarification crosshair. I guess if I was actually holding say 240W and in the draft then those in front should theoretically be producing nearer 300W, is that correct?

I used First Person view in this race and actually found it a little easier to hold the draft position rather than yo-yoing so much.

What's your name on Zwift Harry (I'm E.Panter)?

S.Ram (No relation to the popular component manufacturer).

seeing the group behind me get ever closer! Had to man up for the last k...

Can't say we were giving much of a chase, no-one was willing to put in a shift (Certainly not me).

Looking forward to the next one, not tonight though, Curry house is calling.

Forza- In theory yes... but in practice no. It seems to give you draft right up to the point you pass someone, so the 4 wide group on the front are alternating so quickly that nobody ever hits the wind. Once the initial surge has finished, the bunch never seems to decelerate regardless of the lack of fresh watts on the front.

For some reason I've been demoted to 17th (from 9th) in Zwift Power and some of the stats have gone. Is that normal?

EDIT: Sorry I wasn't logged in to Zwift Power. All back to normal now.

I had a go at a race this evening. WBR flat thingy. Was fun - got in a decent sized group and we basically stayed together the whole way. I was nowhere near strong enough to drop them, but could stay on OK. Wasn't sure where the finish line was so didn't really sprint at the end. I didn't really have a clue whether the people in my bunch were in my category - many hadn't altered their names. Could some of them not even have been in the race?

One question: there was a distinct lag between me pushing on and my guy reacting. I'm using a pedal power meter, and probably have some smoothing switched on - does that affect the reactivity or just the displayed power?

There's a symbol to the left of their name which tells you which group they're in.

On the mobile link thingy or PC screen? (My screen is a bit too small / far away!)

It's in the list of riders nearby you in the panel on the RH side of the PC screen.

OK cool, thanks. I guess I need better eyes or a longer cable then!

Well after my strange experience the other night, when I became some turbo-charged demon, I returned to reality yesterday. Average power was back to human levels - it was fun while it lasted though!

I'm sure someone, somewhere is running an e-bike on Zwift. Maybe with a concealed motor. Have you checked inside your seat-tube recently? 🙂

Following on from an earlier post...

Any thoughts on how this will work as a very low cost way to try zwift

My non resistance rollers (though they seem to be plenty hard work..)

IPhone 7 running the zwift app, connected to a Bluetooth speed /cadence sensor on the bike

Set the app to undefined turbo (ie not undefined rollers) which seems to give me sensible speed for effort (eg similar to what I'd do on the road) - undefined rollers had me going at 4mph..

Pedal!

If that works then I will probably get an iPhone to hdmi cable so I can run it on a bigger screen

I've also noticed that I can run as various named (but not smart) turbos which also seem to give sensible speeds but will then not be limited to 400w ( though my legs might be...)

Thoughts?

Thanks 🙂

where do you live, nemesis - anywhere near Salisbury/Southampton ?

No, more Bristol way. Why?

I'm having minor surgery on Monday & will be off my trainer for at least a week so could've loaned it to you for comparison. Bit far for you to travel though, I assume

Thanks for the extremely kind offer but yes probably a bit far. I'm happy enough trying out my Heath Robinson method for now. So far it seems to work acceptably

I'm not used to riding rollers but I shudder to think about staying upright while watching my avatar on a screen, taking corners & such 😯

(I once jumped for a header while running in a gym & watching a football match)

Lol. I think I'll be ok with that. I know plenty of people who manage with smart rollers on it.

I think it would end up being frustrating Nemesis.
I may be wrong but even if it aligned nicely at one speed/power combo, it wouldn't necessarily match on the rest of the power curve.

It will certainly get you going but it wouldn't really get you racing or training with much consistency- which are the two biggest draws for most folks.

I imagine most people would agree that a smart trainer turns it from moving wallpaper into an immersive experience and worth every penny.

Just trying out Zwift on the trial and I am impressed so far. Will be signing up after Xmas when I am officially allowed the trainer 😆 (Tacx Vortex Smart). Means I can keep fitness levels up after changing jobs and not being able to commute on the bike at the moment.

Tried my first race last night (WBR 1 Flat Lap of London) as a C. My FTP test showed me as 294W and at 90kg I should have a w/kg of 3.2. The other Cs I was following on the warm up lap were putting out way in excess of that (3.5 - 4). Is that normal? Is the warm up lap part of the race, because it certainly felt like it?
Needless to say I was blown before the race started, so dropped out.
I'd like to get into the racing, but could do with some advice on how to start. Is it just a case of riding strictly to my own pace, or MTFU and go for it?

Decided to swap over to one of the training workouts (Wk3 FTP Builder), which went very well.

How can I find out the other STW users on Zwift? Would be nice to throw a few ride-ons to people I recognise on here. I'm P. Hunter

Warm up is part of the race. C races always have some rogues in the putting out too high a power etc. In theory, they're DQd in final results.

If you do a search on STW within Zwift, you'll find some of us.

Racing is a skill you improve at with time and practicing. You'll work out when to hold, when to pin it, when to slow and wait for bunch behind.

I seem to have broken my hand yesterday when on the way back from our 4th pub and 6 pints in. It was slippy! Had a high side and it's very delicate now! Oops!

Tried my first race last night (WBR 1 Flat Lap of London) as a C. My FTP test showed me as 294W and at 90kg I should have a w/kg of 3.2. The other Cs I was following on the warm up lap were putting out way in excess of that (3.5 - 4). Is that normal? Is the warm up lap part of the race, because it certainly felt like it?

Somehow I've ended up classified in A. Possibly my obsession with attacking short koms. I'm a poor B at best. Taken the edge off my racing!

Just going off W/kg I should be a low B, but for a first race I thought I’d be conservative. Didn’t even see the Bs.

Racing is a skill you improve at with time and practicing. You'll work out when to hold, when to pin it, when to slow and wait for bunch behind.

Is the warm up lap part of the race, because it certainly felt like it?

You only make that mistake once...

Weeksy - i assume the beers numbed the effect of pain when it happened. At least you can zwift one handed but sprinting might be an issue, you may have to learn the art of the long attack!

I'm only a middling group C racer (3.0 W/kg) and am finding it hard to hold the pace after the balls-out start. As I seem to be trying to recover from that for the rest of the race I have no sprint in me at the end either.

I think I'm going to try a more measured start in future races and at least sprint at the end to see how that goes.

I tries a one lap race tonight. 10K.
Warmed up for 10 mins, really just wanted to get a bit of peace from the kids. 3,2,1 and off we went. After maybe 30 seconds joined up with either a higher cat or a different race. Followed a cat C and rather than look at the figures just concentrated on holding his wheel. (thanks who ever said about pressing 3 to change the view. Much better) Got to the finish and tried to sprint failing miserably. Looking at the finishing table I was over the W/KG limits for D anyway. No way I could hold that for another lap mind.

So here is my question. Ought I do Cat C for one lap and D for longer races? What is the protocol here?

So here is my question. Ought I do Cat C for one lap and D for longer races? What is the protocol here?

In my limited experience I would say it depends what your FTP actually is. At 3.0 W/kg I'm theoretically middle group C but the longer the race, the harder it is to keep that power output going. The two longer races I have entered I have just about managed to hold 2.5 W/kg. What power you can maintain also depends if you manage to get in a group where you can substantially draft as well.

If you enter as group D though and do manage more than 2.5 W/kg then you should get bumped up to group C results anyway. Other more experienced racers might have a different view though.

I actually just noticed looking at my results, riders whole presumably entered as group D but were bumped up to group C but had a faster time than me were placed lower than me.

Is that how it works then? If you enter in the wrong group for your power output you get promoted to the next but effectively get penalised for that. Is that effectively a disqualification?

Did my first training ride this morning - just a short one but it worked fine - biggest issue being that the iPhone screen is too small as expected. Going to get a cable to allow me to connect to a TV and I reckon that'll be fine for starters.

Going to be having a bash at the KISS race tonight if anyone else is about.

Feel like crap but had a proper rest day yesterday so I'll see how it goes.

Bugger, 8th.

Won the sprint in my group but I just can't get over that first hill with the quick lads.

Probably didn't help that I'm 22kg heavier than one of them. I did put out some good numbers for 1 min/15s power though.

8th is still a bloody good result, nice riding and some big numbered stats too.

I was gong to look at some evening races this week as the wife is away but for the 4th weekend in a row i have developed a new lurgi on top of the existing one. I woke up this morning to discover i had lost my voice and welcomed back the illuminous snot which went missing 5 days ago. If well enough tomorrow i am going to try a very fast race to see if i get an extra power boost from all my snot rockets!

Have race organisers still not got the ability to amend the results on Zwiftpower? Seems to be a lot of races of late with people with higher power avg that than the limits.

I'm in a 'meh' of can't be bothered today for a race. I'll still be in on the pedals, but think it will just be a cruise around and putting some miles in.

Can't face a 4 lapper today, the 1 lapper seems too short to be worthwhile... so i'll just bimble round and pass the time.

edit.
Theres a KISS 6 lap volcano group ride at 10.50am 🙂 C pace, so will jump on that to have some company.

I'm in a 'meh' of can't be bothered today for a race. I'll still be in on the pedals, but think it will just be a cruise around and putting some miles in.

Weeksy I'll be passing close to your door about midday if you fancy joining me for a few miles 🙂

(Btw, is it snowy up your way? I may well head south today instead if it is. I also reserve the right to bottle it when the time comes today go zwifting instead!)

Edit... though [url= http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#9 ]Rule #9 [/url] 🙂

LOL no chance thanks buddy. Me and you ride in very different worlds of ability.... you'd die of hypothermia by the time we'd done 10 miles.

No problem weeksy, I'll probably avoid heading north anyway as I think the roads are a bit more of a mess. Strong northerly too so probably east west route today.

Ended up on that ride, i thought it was 6 laps of Volcano CCW, but it transpired it was 6 laps of Volcano flat. ooops.

That made the ride 75km and i had no intention of doing that much. The instant chat failed about 10 mins in, so it ended up being a group ride but without any banter/chat sadly. The group started huge and people were gradually shelled out at regular intervals. Pace was pretty high and an average of 220w with a HR of average 138bpm, so i wasn't killing myself, but after a tough ride at the weekend with the locals, my legs were tired.
Just after the hour mark we passed 40km, so i threw my hand in there and bailed on the remaining 50 mins.

All in all, it wasn't a bad ride i guess.. passed the time and gave me some miles.

Ouch weeksy!! Speedy recovery!!

I think I’m done on the cycling front for this year, clocked 7,257 miles of which Zwift is c.30%. Good luck in your racing endeavours folks!

See ya next year 😆

7,567.4km

I'm wondering if it's possible to make a push and hit 8000 for the year.

6,500 or so here - my biggest year ever by quite a margin
Can't see me getting near to 7,000

Going for 5,000 miles by year end. At the moment I'm 283 miles short. Plan for next year is less Zwift, more fresh air but hopefully similar mileage.

just had a quick look; need to climb another 2,000 metres to get the attention-seeker bike. That should be a goer by the end of the year, though I'm off the bike just now after an op

Well first Zwift was Jan 3rd this year. Had a fair old crack at it early part of the year, did a bit too much indoors to the point that I think it was a bit detrimental (also buggered my leg on a slow tired grind up the mountain which ruled out a fair bit of early season real life racing.) Got to level 22 with 3,600 zwift km's over 94 rides. Have a nice fancy bike. A couple of races, a couple of group rides. Having been a bit sceptical at first I rather enjoyed it.

This coming Jan and Feb though, it's all about rule 9 😉

Just joined the stw strava group after getting a good kick up the arse whilst having a mid interval dip. Cheers Keith Allen if you’re reading this!

I have to work outside whether I like it or not so Rule 9 can suck my wellies 😆

I think applying it to winter Crits makes me badass anyway though 8)

Over 10,000km for the year (I hate counting in K's but it sounds cooler than 6355 miles) but it's actually a fairly insignificant amount of hours. Zwift and Crits mean my average is over 18mph 😆

Several updates

Going for a potentially risky/foolish race today, well, from a CVR perspective anyway. It's 1 lap of Road to Ruins, which is the hilly fella. Obviously not something that suits my riding style at all. But today it suits my work schedule etc, so may as well give it a whirl.

I don't know why but i can't get excited about the CVR world cup, either the routes they're picking or indeed the numbers of riders and their power etc. Due to the way CVR have grouped it all, well, i'd be lucky not to be last. Last weeks race https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31137 shows only the last couple of riders at <3.0w/kg and given it was an almost 90 min race for them guys, well, i could easily see myself in last place on it. Which doesn't sound like a lot of fun. We'll see how the results go today, but it's not looking likely i'll enter when it goes to the full races. Sure i get that the best way is to push yourself against better riders, but i know what is actually possible for me and putting in that sort of figure and then more... well, i just can't see it.

I'm mostly hoping not to die of the cold today ! I'm going to even wear a 2nd pair of warmer socks as it's SOOOO cold in the garage today !

That actually went really well. Went off in front group as usual, it was cagey, i think people were waiting for the hill up to jungle/ruins. When we got there we split into 2 groups. 8 in group 1 and 11 in group 2. I was in group 2 and holding my own within the group. About 3/4 of the way up the initial climb, group1 were only 9s ahead... that's not bad. On the next flat sections they pulled the gap out a bit to 15s. Then we hit the long slow 2-3% uphill, we reeled them in and next thing you know we were a bunch of about 18 riders at the front. Over top it's back into a flat and then a slight incline, i had to dig deep on this to stay in and was very glad of the long downhill. One or twice i jumped into the Sagan tuck to gain some much needed rest.
Then we're onto the Watopia flat with the 4 hairpins again with 2% inclines on them, i held my own again and we're down onto the Volcano flat just before the village sprint.. Off we go and i'm sitting mid bunch.
Onto the 2 kickers in the volcano flat and we split, but i got in the front bunch. Just then, 1 guy goes off, 5.5+w/kg, sod that, i'm not chasing that down... So we're onto the tunnel and we've split into 2 group, back over towards the Watopia slight downhill descent/finish. We've got 8-9 in the group including a rogue A and B.... 1 guy goes at 800m, again, i'm not having that, "trust the blob/draft"... So i do... We hit about 330m and i go... we're all going... There's 5 of us putting it in and we've closed 2 back... Can i get the other guy... Ohhhhhhhh NO !

Damn... I think i got 3rd overall in C... Which i'm bloody ecstatic with.... On a hilly route, i'm well pleased.

Dead now.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31768

Zwiftpower now asks you to agree to new terms and conditions and also gives you this output

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4542/38118404595_c2fabc798e_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4542/38118404595_c2fabc798e_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/215oMEk ]new[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

[url] http://www.zwiftrankings.com/vcr/client/result/31768/49873/lifetime/all/6/1/0/0/1/1 [/url]

Meh, that frustrates me ! We're all ranked in the same race there, but the As went off 5 min ahead of us, the Bs 2 mins ahead of us ! So we're not in the same sodding race !

This race for example was a split start, but configured so the results are correct for each group.

[url] http://www.zwiftrankings.com/vcr/client/result/14725/40591/2017r11/all/6/1/0/0/1/1 [/url]

[url] https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=14725 [/url]

sounds like a success weeksy, regardless of how they display results. Well done mate

Wow, spent 20 mins chatting to support earlier, they seem to have listened and split the Cats

http://zwiftrankings.com/vcr/client/result/31768/49876/lifetime/all/6/1/0/0/1/1

Where do you see that new graph on ZP weeksy?

I did road to ruins this morning and also quite impressed myself too. I am currently being slowly killed by the lurgi which changes every week so i now must have more viruses in me than blood. 5 weeks of the thing now and i spend an hour each morning hacking up brown sludge from my chest but i decided i was going to ride anyway. I ended up 3rd in B and found the first big hill to be easy so i pushed the pace in front but then my lack of lungs started to show and i lost 2 guys and ended up in the shortest sprint for 3rd ever recorded. I think i started my sprint with less than 100m to go and i can only assume the other guy was already wasted or he didnt know where the finish was as he started after me.

After race, each person had a little i

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31768 <

Last weeks race https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31137 shows only the last couple of riders at <3.0w/kg and given it was an almost 90 min race for them guys, well, i could easily see myself in last place on it.

Just ended up with a 2nd place in C on the 17:15 WBR 1flat lap! Looking at the stats everything was up on my previous efforts. A PR for the lap and around 20w extra avg power.
My time would’ve had me 10th in B too. Pretty pleased with that 8)

Thanks Weeksy, i had to sign in and agree the terms for the new graphs to show. Can someone remind me what the different time intervals (15s,1m,5m) represent? Is it best average for that time within the race or is it just based on the first 5 mins? My 15s was 7.3w/kg but not sure what that means.

I believe it's your best of each.

Yay! A good STW day all round then!

I was tempted to join you but wasn't sure I'd be back from Xmas tree shopping.

Cheers weeksy. This lurgi seems to have some sort of performance enhancing quality according to my recent races.

Been a good few days here too, two races, 2 Cat C victories.

First one was a team Italy 2 laps of the London loop, I was probably about 10th C across the line but due to 2 times up box hill everyone in front was promoted gifting me the rather hollow victory.

Yesterday got a cracking start on a WBR 4 lap flat, managed to tag onto the back of a group containing predominantly B's which I hung onto the end of the third lap, by this time the group had been reduced to all but As, Bs and a couple of C's. I couldnt hack the pace so sat up, with 2 minutes gap to any chasers I was able to practically coast home, ending up third on the road and first after the others were promoted. Was much more chuffed with that.

Might try a short one tonight, or maybe just a spin round....

It's hard with the DQ stuff, victory can feel empty like you experienced, but it's not your fault. That said, running at the pointy end is really enjoyable.
I even had a few kicks off the front today, but with 10 riders it's almost impossible to get away unless you hit 5+

Just watched the end of the CVR race on CycleView. Like a proper sport broadcast with commentators & everything! Mad. Quite entertaining though!

Might try a short one tonight, or maybe just a spin round....

....alternatively I might just fall asleep on the sofa, any Cat C action tomorrow night?

Not here, I expect 2 days off. Tomorrow is works Xmas party, Thurs likely recovery

Looks like some excellent racing all round. I'd love to do a road to ruins race but I can never find one that matches the time I have available. As it was I rode around there this morning solo in a pb which felt really good. I really like the mix of up and down.

My claim to fame this week has to be getting a ride on from Eric Min, zwifts founder. Funny thing was I didn't notice at the time as I had the football on at the same time and was watching that more than zwift. 🙂

Accidently raced a 1 lapper tonight. Got on and thought ooh wonder if any short races. Yes in 3 minutes!
Got on the back of the front group but let them go as didn't think I'd hold them. 2nd group made some inroads so jumped a 4sec gap to get back on the front then inevitbly someone attacked and I couldn't hang on again.
Grouped back up with the remnants of the second group and got to the line and beat most in the sprint. 4th in C and really 2nd as the front 2 were way out of category.
Now bumped to B myself so sad and happy 10th.

With a decent warm up I could probably have hung with the front group mostly as I now know the effort level for a one lap.

Ive only raced it twice but the road to ruins circuit seems pretty balanced for racing and doesnt favour on rider type over another.

The lighter riders with higher w/kg will get a gap on the initial climb. It should comes back together on the circuit. The climb out, is hard but its not steep so there is a bit of drafting too. The finish from the volcano onwards should then suit the big watts more, but they've had to go deep to chase after the first climb and also stay in the group on the climb out of the ruin circuit so that levels things off a bit.

Back in C again with the win :0)
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31856
I'll take that.

Well done Tom. Another STW podium, that's 4 trophies for team STW yesterday 8)
Some strange results in that race though. The top 4 in C are all over 3.1 w/kg

I noticed this morning that I've had a run lately of + points on CVR. At the moment I'm forecast for promotion to div 4 at the end of the month! Pretty sure I can screw that up between now and the 24th 😀

Well done Tom. In the short races, putting down too much is always quite likely if you're borderline generally.

Div4 Muggo.. .you'll be leaving me after Xmas in Cs then i rekon... Although now i seem to have the power, i'll target the weight and smash my way into the back end of Bs myself hopefully 🙂

I need to lose a lot more weight to make it to Cat B and with Christmas coming up it's more likely to head towards D

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/race-face-releases-cinch-power-meter-powertraining-evan-guthrie.html

new power meter that could be of interest to some.

Finalised results only has me right on the 3.2 limit.

I'll have to do a longer race again to see how I perform in that but realistically I'll bump myself to B in the new year anyway. Might as well try and get a few virtual trophies before then.
One rider beat me within the limits but no HR monitor has bumped him from the results.

tomlevell - Member
Finalised results only has me right on the 3.2 limit.

Maybe I was looking at the unfiltered results.

BTW just looked at the result of my race and I am now the winner! The guy that finished in front was DQ'd for no HRM. Bloody glad I held off the others in the finish line sprint now.

[url= https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=31857 ]WINNER![/url]

Bit like Nibali...

BTW just looked at the result of my race and I am now the winner! The guy that finished in front was DQ'd for no HRM. Bloody glad I held off the others in the finish line sprint now.

Great result but I don't understand the numbers. How can you have an average power of 3.4 W/kg yet 95% of your 20 minute power puts you at 2.7 W/kg?

This is not meant as a dig, I would just like to understand how Zwift Power works these things out.