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Now fully catagorised 🙂
https://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=5625
Cat C win.
Funny thing is, i still don't believe i should necessarily move to B despite now having won 2 C races and had a podium. Although admittedly, yesterdays final result on power was nearing the class limits for the first time. (I don't count the 10km race as it's only 17 mins or something daft). But i feel some of the Cat C results flatter me a lot with weak and smaller fields compared to winter, but in my defence, you can only race the people who turn up on a given day.
But a win is a win 🙂 So i'm happy as you like.
Congrats Weeksy!
You're certainly progressing, will you be joining us again on the circuit?
Well done on the class win but as a training tool why on earth wouldn't you want to be in the B's chasing faster, stronger riders rather than trying to manage power outputs to stay within category limits?
Instead of Zwifting last night I headed to the nearby Hogg Hill circuit for some laps. First target was to see if I could do 10 miles in under 30 minutes (on the lower circuit which is flatter) as I'm toying with entering some of the club 10-mile TT's so wanted to see if I could at least manage a 20mph average. Turns out I was just about able to do so (20.4mph average) and suspect I might be able to go a bit quicker on that on a TT route which wouldn't have as many corners.
What was more interesting though was that I averaged 276W, which is 3.1W/kg and a lot more than I'm able to average in Zwift for a similar period. About 40W more in fact, despite using the same power meter for indoor and outdoor rides and my average HR being about the same. Despite using a fan when on Zwift I suspect it is probably mainly heat related.
Weeksy - move up to B, you will only improve cycling with better people. I was winning Cat C a couple of weeks ago and was hovering around the limit for a while on 30km plus races. I moved to B and the freedom of not worrying about cat limits and chasing fast riders had me do the mgcc race on tuesday and record a 3.5 w/kg and beat most of the other B riders who in the past i couldnt live with. Ok this has been aided though by the drop in numbers but the race stats dont lie.
You're certainly progressing, will you be joining us again on the circuit?
I'd say that's pretty unlikely Nath. I may be better, but i'm still not good enough IMO. We can discuss "oh i only needed XYZ at this and that race", but the simple fact is, based upon what i've seen, what i know and from CHs racing and segments etc, i'm still going to be dropped uncerermoniously from a Hillingdon race.
I'm still not against the idea as a concept, but until i feel i can go there and have at least a possibility of holding the bunch, it's just a waste of £20. Add to the fact i no longer have a road bike 🙂
Well done on the class win but as a training tool why on earth wouldn't you want to be in the B's chasing faster, stronger riders rather than trying to manage power outputs to stay within category limits?
I backed off in the last 300m, not the last 15 mins. In a 1hour race, the MAX i'm going to average is 3.0w/kg, so i'm still a chunk under the Cat limits. In some races i can win/podium, but in plenty of races i'm getting dropped by the really quick C's. So i honestly don't believe i'm not pushing myself at this stage.
The problem you get at this stage is when you're really close to the top of C, you're WAY out the back of B's. I'd last about 400m in a B cat, nothing is going to change that at the moment, i simply don't have it. The only thing that would happen is for me to end up riding alone, TTing it and watching 99% of the Bs pull away and leave me. In the C races, with a decent field, i get a decent battle a lot of the time 🙂
In Zwift land a lot of it is about motivation, playing close to the pointy end of a race motivates me more than being out the back.
That's mightly impressive !so wanted to see if I could at least manage a 20mph average. Turns out I was just about able to do so (20.4mph average)
The problem you get at this stage is when you're really close to the top of C, you're WAY out the back of B's.
It's even worse when you're close to the top of D as the gulf between 2.5W/kg and 3.2W/kg is a huge one. I'm still a D although have been into the C range on a couple of races and even B on those short 1-lap ones. In D I'll usually place although might need to hold back a tad at times, whereas in C I'm nowher - although not usually last.
If you draft properly- 2.7/2.9 will get you midfield in B....
I can get midfield in A with 3.3.
Bit harder at the moment CH, the fields aint what they used to be, certainly in the times/events i've been riding. Struggling to see 40 in a race, of which only 5-6 are of a B level, so getting into drafting isn't quite as easy as when you have 40-50 wheels to tag onto.
From looking at todays events for example, 19 out of 23 events running in the daytime are E everyone catagory, out of them 19, the biggest field was 44 riders, which sort of sums it up for me.
I'm not actually disagreeing with you on the logic, but the fields just are not what they were 2-3 months back..
Mixed fields should make it easier to draft a faster wheel. It comes back to what we were saying in Naths thread- the Cat boundaries are actually quite arbitrary and don't necessarily reflect your result.
If you can hang on... 🙂 Which isn't my strong point.... I'm a plodder as you know not a sprinter/hanger
I think the Cats issues are why KISS have stopped using them.
I've also done better when they were bigger fields as I found that with a fast start I could hang onto the C's which would comfortably keep me clear of the D's. The last race I did though I rode 3/4 of it completely alone as I'd burnt off the D's by that point and the nearest C was far enough ahead I'd have no chance of catching him (although I think if I'd been with him from the start I would have been able to). Still won D no problem (by miles, and only needing 2.2W/kg) but it was pretty boring and wasn't much different from a training ride.
The problem you get at this stage is when you're really close to the top of C, you're WAY out the back of B's.
You're not though, are you? Your result yesterday would put you 11/14 in B, not winning, but in no way "WAY out of the back". In [url= https://www.zwiftpower.com/race.php?id=4773 ]this[/url] race (same one, couple of weeks ago) you'd have been 4/10 in B with the same time.
If you draft properly- 2.7/2.9 will get you midfield in B....I can get midfield in A with 3.3.
You've got to be ****ing good at drafting to do that. I got 4/5 in A with 3.82w/kg, next lowest was 4.24 (the guy I beat), the others were >4.3.
Previous one I did I was 4.15w/kg (only 30 minutes), for 2/4, next lowest power was 4.28.
Yup, 11th out of 14.... but 1min 25 behind 10th. I'd have had the same battle with Pax that i had, but that's about it.... the guy in front of me was a lifetime ahead.
Clearly, there's no shame in being near the back of B... but as i'm still below the Cat limits, there's no reason not to with Cs is there ?
Nope, none at all. I'll stay in A, even though my FTP is less than 4. I've only ever done "all category" races, so it's a bit of a moot point. I ride as hard as I dare and form a bunch with those around me, if they turn out to be As, Bs or Cs then so be it!
Well happy with tonights ride 🙂
Out with Crust for what is now our usual 50km evening ride, it was light, dry, lovely and sunny and warm. Coming into the final few KMs i thought "I wonder what i can do on the segment from the Bridge back up to the Ridgeway?"
This is a segment i must have ridden 100 times or more over the years, so i know it and it's been a good gauge of where i am fitness wise.
My previous record was 5min 35 and tonight i did a 5min 18. That REALLY pleases me as it proves i'm clearly where i want to be in a fitness context, i like to have things verified sometimes and this does that IMO.
Over the course of the ride we averaged 18.5km/h which considering it was off-road and also fairly hilly in places, you can't be unhappy with, that's a decent chunk of speed for me and him 🙂
Well done Weeksy!!
I've just cancelled my Zwift subscription, ends in 24 days though. 😆
Really nice little social ride this afternoon. I got home 10 mind too late for the P race, so jumped on the PACK ride, specified 2-2.2w/kg.
Spent the ride playing as sweeper and dragged 4 people back into the pack, one guy we pulled back 3 times. Was great fun and made the ride fly by.
It wasn't a tough ride, but was ideal for what i wanted.
Went out on the Whyte today... Had a plan for some shorter, sharper, harder efforts as many of my rides at the moment seem to be longer/easier so wanted to really get the HR working hard.
There's a couple of local sections i know, not massively techincal due to where i live, but plenty of riders over the years
KOM on Mania Enduro Stage 5 Event (4:37)
3rd overall on compton worm (2:05)
That's only my 2nd ever KOM and the first was lucky as the trail was trashed by motorbikes soon after. The KOM above though the trail has been the same for many years now. So i'm absolutely ecstatic with that.
Almost as interestingly was a climb from Blewbury up to the Ridgeway, this is of course my weakest part of my riding due to being 94kg, but i managed a 35th all-time out of 210 riders, which really pleases me too. I'm never going to KOM on hills like that, but it's a bucket load quicker than i'd have done previously.
Great thread weeksy, I've enjoyed following your progress. I've been on zwift a week having bought a Vortex last weekend and have to say I'm hooked! Done 150km on it this week, entered a few races (cat c), won one! Finding the timezone (NZ) a bit tricky but early morning races seem to work for me, Kiss Europe tomorrow morning at 7am NZ time before work should be good. I can see myself putting in heaps of time now the clocks have gone back and we're about to start winter.
Commuted into work today, was lovely out there, planned it in the evening, but DAMN my kit/laptop is SOOOOO heavy... Got to come in at 10KG all said and done.
Hopefully be able to leave it here though for the pootle home, will plan on taking the scenic route and a lot more trail based on the way home. About 19 miles this morning and set 25 PR's on Strava, despite the fact i was not really pushing it and trying that hard. It does go to show again how i'm certainly faster than previous years as some of the times were a massive chunk off my PRs too
I'm still debating whether a fasting day and a 40+ mile commute day are compatible.... currently i'm hanging onto the fasting for now... but i'm not feeling strong in my mindset so may cave at lunchtime
Worked hard on way home. Sadly got stuck by a cattle move, so lots 3-4min around mapledurham.
Eventually ended up at a climb anyone local knows. Its technically rectory road, but to some its Streatley Gravel Hill. It was a place of battle with me and Crosshair once upon a time, until he found fitness and smashed it apart.
Even though I'd been working hard and was the best part of 38 miles into the days ride, I felt good so went for it.
I knocked 12s off my PR but still leaves me about 40s away from him!
I can roll out the excuses about fatigue from weekend, or from bring a chunk into my ride, or even blame it on the fact I've had less than 100cal to eat today, but simply, I'm not there! Not fast enough.
Damn.
short one today so i can ease the legs and do some kettle bells
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Not been on it in about three weeks. Think it's probably time to cancel my sub and mothball the turbo til the clocks go back...
Based upon the fact this now seems to have turned into my blog i don't think you're the only one.
To be expected really as the weather gets nice. the FB group is full of photos of people talking about riding outside. I'll keep it up when WFH I suspect.
Yup, i've ridden outside too, more this month that any others 🙂 But Zwifting still gives me something that outdoors doesn't. High intensity, short time period and competition. It's something i'm just not likely to do outdoor, shoot out for 25 mins sprint 🙂
I did 40+ miles yesterday outdoors 🙂
I keep my subscription going all year. It's worth it for me to drop back on at a moments notice.
I'm doing quite well at fitting in outdoor rides at the moment but the balls I'm juggling to do so are getting a bit sketchy 😆
I quite miss the simplicity of a Zwift race!
It's now in use for recovery rides while watching the Walking Dead.
Only Zwifted once in the last month I think! But we've been having great weather. Will probably keep the sub up; like Weeksy I quite enjoy the competitive aspect, plus we're bound to get a run of shitty weather soon enough!
Ended up with a 5th out of 10 in B. As usual in this short race I get bumped from C to B, which is fair enough in some ways.
Race was going well until we passed the village sprint, then along and over the bridge, as we came to the kick I knocked it down a gear for the hill and got some turbo lag. I get it sometimes in these circumstances and the turbo takes 8-10s to register the power increase. By that time it was showing 220w and the riders ahead had blown away.
In all fairness though, they were all climbing at 5w/kg+ and I wasn't going to hang with them anyway. So I ended up losing 8s to them and that was that. Through the next little roller coaster I lost 1s but I wasn't getting that back to the line. All's fair in racing.
In all fairness though, they were all climbing at 5w/kg+
I can climb at 5W/kg.
For nearly a whole minute... 🙁
Weeksy - you stalking me? Saw your ride on this morning but yet again i couldnt see what bush you were hiding behind
Again, was just searching for events on phone app and it defaults to who's online, so a quick thumbs up
.I can climb at 5W/kg
Me too, but not near the end of a sprint race and not after 40 miles on trails yesterday.
Dammit it happened again! Did a race (which was definitely on Zwift Power) only for it to disappear from the calendar once I finished, and no results! Was the Korea Cat and Mouse race, interested to see how many people from other categories we swept up along the way.
Long one today, will need to pace myself. WBR 50km race
Ended up being a bit rubbish really.
Me and a Japanese guy lost the first bunch, he was pulling on the front at 4.1w/kg but we were losing ground a bit, after 1.5 laps be bailed out ! I was then 1:30 behind them, the guy behind was a Portuguese and 49s behind me.... It then became a 30km+ solo TT. I pulled a lead on the guy behind me, but was miles off the pace of the fellas in front finishing about 3min behind them and eventually abouit 1:20 ahead of the guy behind me.
Good workout, but not terribly exciting.
I've had a similar experience recently - was having a fun race with someone for the first lap but who then baled out (he seemed to blow up on one of the hills then just give up), leaving me over a minute behind the slowest Cat-C guy and miles ahead of the next closest Cat-D. It then became something like a Z3 ride to the finish because there was no chance of me catching the Cat-C guy in front and even less chance of any of the Cat-D guys catching me. With the smaller fields it's more difficult to find someone of a similar pace.
Eeek. 6th out of 9 in C. Despite butting out 2.95w/kg for 1 hour 20 min.
43 miles of trails today, along with a Belgian waffle and banana and chocolate! Yummy.
Great fun until my mate stacked it massively with a pedal strike on a root. I thought we were walking out, but he grabbed a pile of mtfu and rode it.
My legs were feeling it, but I was on a week of 250km+
Up at Rockingham tonight for a track day for the wife on her zx6r tomorrow.
Southern xc series at checkendon on Sunday which was funny as we spent some time in the woods around there today.
That is some weekly mileage weeksy, good work and nice sounding waffle!
Did a race on zwift this morning which was advertised as 4 laps (37km), as soon as we set off the distance marker was registering 64km! Loads of people then began texting saying they wont be able to finish so were only going to complete 3 laps and race amongst themselves. Some dropped out after lap 3 but i am pretty sure the distance marker corrected itself after that lap so i ended up around 7th. Hard work but i slugged it out to the end after a mid race iffy stomach grumbling.
I'm in a quandary for tomorrow, I'm due for an XC race at 9.45am.
But even after a day of not cycling, my legs are knackered, achey and borderline cramp levels. But i know I'll get up in the morning and be able to put on a decent performance, but possibly not my best. Today i spent a large chunk of standing round in pits, so that won't have helped things.
More of a worry is that I'm not sure i can be bothered racing anyway. I'm enjoying the Zwift racing and the long rides outside, but whether i can build up the get up and go is open to debate.
You're supposed to half your weekly volume for a race taper, not double it 😉
I'm sure you'll go and I'm sure you'll do well!!
Tapering isn't really my thing, my training was planned in DEC/Jan to be xc racing oriented but as things progressed in the coming months and the events were entered it ended up being long distance epics that are now the focus.
It just so happened that the first entry I had for southern xc had to be cancelled, so it then fell 6 weeks later, tomorrow. But the training distances have been ramped up.