We did a club hillclimb on Zwift. The female winner did 5.1 w/kg average over 49 minutes.

She is a bit exceptional though isn’t she!

Yeah, just a bit!

Can’t remember if the 49min was the KoM time or the whole thing though. Probably the KoM.

It’s surely the whole thing. Climb alone was 47 mins at 4.1 for me, it would be slightly more for light people but not that much.

Yeah – whole thing, table shows my time as 1:05 and I know I did 57 for the KoM.

Just wondering, for all those on here with the big numbers, do you race outside too or is it all virtual? If so, what is your discipline of choice and how do you fair?

I don’t have big numbers but do race the occasional mtb race, I’m so bad at it its comical!!!

I race road, where I can hold my own and win sprints. That’s more tactics, observation and knowing when to go.

I finish ok in Expert MTB, again good skills help more than massive power numbers. Repeatability is way more important than max numbers.

I’m about to start racing track and will see how I fare 🙂

I do some oddball events, mostly on a tandem, like MTBO and the tandem triathlon, where we do ok against pretty casual opposition, it’s not high level competition! Did a 55 minute 25 mile TT back in the day but failed to break the hour when we tried a couple of years ago. I do more conventional road running which I’m probably better at, usually placing well in my age group.

Just wondering, for all those on here with the big numbers, do you race outside too or is it all virtual? If so, what is your discipline of choice and how do you fair?

Yeah..I race xc singlespeed… from 4 hour endurance races, to 3 lap/1 hour sprints.
Usually win TBH 😃🤷‍♂️

Also getting into Long distance gravel events..

I race enduro…normally rop 20% in the… fitness is important there, but the fast chaps can corner like they are on rails!

I like being fit, able to make power in the zwift world…. makes the riding IRL more fun

DrP

Highest I achieved was 4.78W/KG a couple of years ago (380W @76kg) That was off probably 10-12hrs a week.

Just wondering, for all those on here with the big numbers, do you race outside too or is it all virtual? If so, what is your discipline of choice and how do ?

Race outside doing TT’s so having a high W/Kg should be beneficial but it all depends on what distance/discipline you do. My main forte is the longer distances so its all very well having a huge 20 min W/kG but it’s not much good if you blow up during a 100 mile/12hr TT. (Last years 12hr Nationals I managed 3.17 for the race)
Same as road and crit races. Having a good 5min power will help you keep in the front pack as someone attacks up a hill. Likewise the ability to bang out 1800W for the sprint. All very well having 5W/Kg but if you haven’t got race craft (and miss the breakaway) or huge power numbers for the sprint you ain’t going to win anything

I’m currently sat at about 320W and 73kg. When I have been on form I can get to around 340W and <70kg. That’s about 4.8? I’m 40 next year and only really started racing in my 30s but have always an athlete in one sport or another.

I’ve had some decent results. I was the regional hill climb champion, way back in 2015. Normally got on the podium each week – top 30 nationals. I won the regional road bike TT competition in 2019. Won the majority of races I entered in the road bike cat. Got a 22:04 on a 10m TT, <1hr for a rolling (slow) 25m and about 4:30 for 100m.

I have won a road race, but normally don’t do very well because I can’t and don’t like to get involved in sprints after being involved in a massive pile up and seeing friends end up in hospital. I tend to try and force a break or cover things for team mates who can sprint. I do ok in cross races. 4th in the league this year. In a smaller (less competitive) league I’ve won loads and taken the overall a few times.

Increasing your FTP is a worthwhile aim. It’s within your control, unlike results so is a good goal. It’s worth understanding how it fits with what you want to achieve. But in general I find good FTP means I’m fast. In road racing I’ve always felt it was more important to be able to go hard and then recover at a high pace. For example sprinting to make or get in a break and then sitting at a high pace to open a gap before settling down into a rhythm. It’s more about the peaks than a constant effort.

I get stick for not following a training plan because I could be better. But I enjoy riding my bike. Structured turbo midweek in winter is a tool to enjoy the good weather when it comes. Once it is warm and light I’ll be outside riding for fun. It probably helps that I like a physical challenge so massive day rides and flat out evening rides are something I do anyway.