STW Zwift Autumn Race Series 1

Mmmmm Bakewell tart!

Sorry folks I’m out, not feeling 100% anyhow then got soaked and cold on the commute.

Think I’d probably make the effort if it were one or other but the urge for an early dinner and bed coupled with the fact I really don’t fancy getting on the turbo after I’ve got showered and warm wins out

That’s a shame Brian – have a shower and a coffee – you might change your mind in half an hour

have a shower and a coffee

What I really want is a tub of Ben and Jerry’s on the sofa! Not sure that’s likely to have the desired effect though!

But yes, you’re right. Positive attitude and all that!

I’m feeling rank, not sure I can manage a hard effort tonight. Will maybe rock up at start line and see how I get on first few laps.

I’ve attempted to buy myself some fitness by spaffing some drops on the 2021 Aeroad. Purple, which is worth 1/32 of a second per lap

1st one for me tonight. How does it all go? Do I click on the Meet Up button, then wait on side of road for a start??

Lol excuses everywhere! You’ll all still go like lunatics

How many laps is it?

@giggsmaster as you describe. Once the meet up/race starts congregate on the beacon at about 100w. When everyone is in a decent blob that’s when I say go. Basically don’t rush of until I say go and ride on one big group!

Thanks @robbo1234biking

I’m not believing any of you…I know you are all bluffing! 😉

Good luck all, is it Paris tonight? Might be able to log in and watch but won’t be riding.

My warmup is nearly complete. I think I’ll ride the TT bike after testing it on the fan flats. My avatar looks a bit fat when sat up on the road bikes but sleek and slim on the TT bike 😉.
See you all on the start line 👍

**** laptop finally connected….
I’m running zwift full-screen, which has messed with the twitch settings…

Think I’m better off warming up, rather than trying to get that working!

Alas… no stream from DrP today….

I’m on the fan flats at the mo… see you in a bit!

DrP

Sorry to ask again, but how many laps tonight?

I tried all sorts earlier and could not get a picture from zwift running full screen. Had to switch to windowed 🙄.

Hmm… with more time I’ll look into it…

Edit… it seems you HAVE to be windowed with obs streaming…

DrP

4 or 5 I think to.

5 with a lead in

Oh dear. My chicken with bacon and cheese is repeating on me and struggling to get my legs going!
Tired just warming up…

Can see me coasting this one…

Thanks zwift.
No invite pop up to join Meetup ffs…

Piece of s h I t e…

Have fun…

DrP

Gonna do the road academy session 1 at 2000 instead!

DrP

Lost wheel on Robbo group on lap 3. Got caught by next group just starting lap 4 but I was dead.
Went in too deep early on with that incline and paid dearly

Incline was a little fast in lap one 😄.

That was tough. Legs not awake on lap one. Pushed too hard at the start of the incline to try and force an early split and paid for it near the top. Still a split did happen which left the lead pack a bit more manageable.

Lap two I tried to attack on the hill but again didn’t have the legs for it. The pack pulled me back in before the top. I had a quick rest then thought stuff it and attacked right from the back going down. I think that caught everyone but Phil napping as the two of us almost walked away up the road.

Lap three I had a draft, Phil had a feather. I rather meanly sat in and let him do the work going up then dropped the hammer as we reached to the top. After that it was TT time. I think Phil has 30s on my handicap wise so was trying initially to get that gap, then later to see how big it would get. Really good job by him though staying away from the chase group for 2 and a half laps.

Thnaks robbo, I enjoyed that again. 🍻

Stick a fork in me, I’m done. Between trying to force a split on the hill early doors then covering moves before trying to get the split just before the start of the last lap I’m knackered despite not actually posting big numbers.

Post ride interview.

That was tough yet again. couldn’t handle the lead group after sprinting to try and get on feom the go, I was just coasting back with little watts and got dropped had to lay down 400w for longer than i was comfortable just before the drag uptp the climb. then decided to try and form a split but went too early and run out of steam.

hung back for saavoyads group and managed to stick with and finish second I think in the sprint by Parky.

well done to woody, andeh and southside Johnny for sticking with the lead group.

going to be close between woodster and me,he might just have pipped me at the end.

Good racing and once again thanks for organising robbo

Really really struggled there. Almost climbed off after lap 2 but managed to hang on to the group I was in. Assumed my 2nd place on gc had disappeared up road and knew nothing I could do about it, but Phil began to come back to the pack and when I noticed crazy Harry 45 seconds down it was game on for the gc win.

In the end we managed to peg Phil back to 5 seconds on road but Harry fought back well to only lose 30 odd seconds and take a narrow (but well deserved after last week) gc win.

I’m sure I should thank robbo for organising, but given how rank I feel right now I’m not sure it’s appropriate..😂

Also, is it just me, or does everyone think ‘there is no way everyone is suffering as much as me right now, I’m about to get dropped off back’ midway through every single race..🤣

Massive thanks to Robbo for the series. Top job sir

Got surprised out by the first lap sprint that happened in exactly the spot I had predicted it would, which made me doubly surprised, thrice cross.

Not even 600+w could get me back on, so then I met up with the mid C self help support group. We spent 5 laps looking at each other. Tried to help with the odd breakaway but that was stupid ‘cos I was actually already on my limit, and barely holding on some of the time.

Let my drafting bonus too late for the finish, but got new best 1m,5m and 10m powers, so must have been trying.

Great series, thanks Robbo, looking forward to the next one, and the WTRL league…

Not much that we could do there and I started right at the front so was 5 seconds down on some of you. Tried to split it up to do something but I knew I wouldn’t have the legs to go at the end but couldn’t make the break stick earlier in the race.

That Cat C self help group would make a decent WTRL team.

I felt absolutely awful on laps 2/3. That climb up to the Champs was killing me, more psychological than anything. Was sure I was going to get dropped. Last lap I actually felt the legs coming back, unfortunately not enough to catch Phil, who timed his break to perfection.
Thought the first ‘group’ on the road settled well-the gap to Harry & Savoyad remained pretty constant-especially after their outstanding performance last week!
Once again, thanks Robbo. A great series & a good cause too. Cheers

Enjoyed that even if I did feel distinctly quesey after the finish.

Went with the front group from the start but couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t do more than 300ish watts. Turns out I was in the little ring which I never use then when I went to shift up dropped the chain.

So fell off the front group just as it was splitting and managed to get onto the 2nd group on the road sitting in with Weeksy, Rob, Zilog, Hudson and others. After a couple of laps I decided to try and split the group and did about 30secs of 400w hoping a couple of faster riders would come across for me to sit in but no joy so sat up.

Tried again a couple of laps later with the same result then found myself on the wrong side of a split a lap or so later which only just came back together – it was the potential embarrassment that helped me stick with the chase.

Coming into the final sprint I waited slightly too long, I would have gone long but someone beat me to it and getting back on terms drained the legs. In the end I think I got 5th out of the group but essentially we all finished on the same time.

Great racing and huge thanks to Rob for organising and everyone taking part for making it a laugh.

Thanks Robbo that was a great intro to racing,

can i ask if we all blobbed and you said go or was the gun jumped??? It could be i missed it but i had the same last week. Ended up having a fun ride around with l abbott, stumpy01 and one other (sorry forgot who)

That was my favorite race of them all. Slowly getting the hang of this racing thing. Didn’t make a mess of the start. stayed with the first group for about 4kms, then stuck with the first group that dropped off (Robbo’s group) and managed to hang in until 4kms to go when I fell off the back on the last long climb. Just couldn’t get back to them and was solo from there in. Improvement on my normal 15kms solo 🙂

Thanks again Robbo for organising, hoping you’ve something else in the pipeline.

I was about to flag that there were some stragglers when Robbo called go but there was a pretty big blob in place and if it had been any later the drop through the underpass would have made a complete mess of things.

I’ve just looked at the handicaps for tonight. Whilst I’m not going to complain, I was given 14 min, which doesn’t seem quite right? I assume because it’s flat you have been especially generous to me. I won’t complain though as I think Andrew h, who finished in the same group as me and was a rival for the podium places had an even smaller handicap!!??

Phil and crazy Harry would need to put 4 min into me to score as many points on the handicap system, which on a tt of that length they’d probably struggle to do. On a race like today they would have absolutely zero chance.

Ah thanks mr hoppy, i think i was around 300w, above ftp, trying to do the roll out!