STW Zwift Autumn Series 2

Shortest retirement ever

Very [ageing] rock star though.

I also don’t look forward to flat races, but it looks like there may be a nice little bunch made up of us lightweight guys, once we get spat out the back!

Urrgh I do not feel good today. Lots of wake-ups from the little one in the night mixed with a cold.

Nixie, best be careful with tonight’s race. Maybe just treat it as a z3 workout for an hour….so cruise around at 270 watts towing me at 250! That’ll be almost pleasant for us both!

I always found this was the issue with November/December races.. it wasn’t “am I fit” but “am I well “…

Often I’d forgo a brass monkey race cos I developed a cough and cold the week before!

Heal up dude…

DrP

So it will be a ROLLING START tonight. Spawn point seems to be on the Mall so race until the distance is up (it is just flat laps but the endurance will be the key tonight). Sprint points available on the Mall and you will get 3 opportunities to improve on this.

Nixie, best be careful with tonight’s race.

I can pretend that’s going to happen but the reality is I’ll just get caught in the race mist at some point. Going to need to be a case of race smart.

I’m currently torn between the 1:35pm Crit City and tonights long one.. Long arguably would make more sense… but i can see a chunk of it being a solo TT if i do, i can see me getting dumped on the underpass.

Other crazy option is to do the Crit and then tonights as wingman for my mate Figg.

@Weeksy, tonight’s race is as near as you will get to your kind of race, being nearly flat it’s the best option you have for your strengths this series. Just jump on and see how you go, I’m sure you will be faster than me on the flat as I never do any type of crit racing and struggle to keep the endurance going on a long flat race.

Only difficulty on this one will be the length of the race at speed…fast start, grab a group and hold on!!

Yeah i’ll have a go…

Long and flat isn’t my forte. Shorter and flatter usually. But i’m hoping i can hang in with a group for a while anyhow. My form isn’t perfect, my fitness is worse and my fatigue is high… There’s all the excuses out in one go.

I’m feeling a little more optimistic after my PT session. Did more than last week and completed the reps I failed then so hopefully I just feel rough rather than being too rough.

Been meaning to ask (for a friend, obviously….) – how does the ‘draft boost’ power-up work? It’s the one that looks like a van.

Does it give you a draft effect when you are not actually in a draft, or does it increase the power of a draft, but you have to be drafting for it to do anything.
I’m never sure – it doesn’t seem to make much difference when I use it.

Not that it’ll matter – I generally seem to get +10XP, rather than a power-up most of the time.

YOu have to be in a draft for it to be effective.

It increases the benefit of the draft, and only works when you drafting. So it’s not necessarily dramatic – makes it slightly easier for you to stay in the group you are in or on the wheel you are on – but it should provide some relief by giving you a moment to ride at a slightly lower power than you’d otherwise need. Basically it turns you into @zilog6128 but only for 30 seconds.

Any hints / tips / etiquette pointers for a rolling start? I did my first race with the STW glitterati last week which was a standing start. From reading bits of the thread, I guess I join the group a few minutes ahead of the start time Then when everyone is present we start rolling behind Robbo and when he is satisfied everybody is blobbed up close behind him, the instruction is given go, go, go. Is that about right?

Any hints / tips / etiquette pointers for a rolling start?

standard procedure is: balls it up, get dropped, come on here crying about how unfair life is 🤣

YOu have to be in a draft for it to be effective.

I never knew this… I thought it just ‘gave you a draft’.. interesting!

I can see a few FTPs being increased tonight!

DrP

@zilog6128 proper lol! 😉

@Burger basically yes that is it, it’s not perfect and some will be left for dead, others will be off in front too early, hence the weekly “discussions”…

I was also convinced that the van power up gave you a draft as well, even when solo.

@Burger that is pretty much it. I try and go very slowly but than can be quicker than I like due to the draft effect of 40 plus people. Just try and get close to the yellow banner thing over my head and when I say go pedal like mad. I try to get everyone into a radius around me before I say go go go. Sometimes someone will be off the back – I try to let them re-join but I would say when I have about 95% into the blob I will say go.

I need to find some energy/inspiration for tonight. I also need to put a bit of time into people as I bumped my FTP after last week!

Cheers gents. I’ll start polishing my excuses right away.

Van draft I think gives a boost in the draft to the level you get in a double draft race (though what it gives in a DD race I have no idea). Only the aero gives you a boost out of anyone’s draft. The draft boost is useful in a sprint to stay on a wheel while conserving enough energy to boost past. You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front :|.

ooh..here’s a thought Robbo… Can you make a fence/elastic band for the session.. have it on at the start so we all get rolling and stay close, then you can loose the fence/band on the ‘go go go’..

Of course, I’ve no actual idea if this is how the fence works, or is possible to do…!!!

DrP

I think the fence is only for “official” zwift events…no?

The rubber band is only cancelled if you quit the meetup, which will also be a problem, I’m not sure you have the ability to just switch it on and off.

Here is is from Zwift insider…

Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing by 50% for 30 seconds. In a double draft event, this powerup will give you 3x the standard draft effect.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.)

Well every day is a school day and I’ve been using it wrong all this time…

Nice!

You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front

That’s me!! 😉

DrP

EDIT – well, not any more from today, obvs…!

If you have someone drafting you using it then it is often nice to give them a ‘hand’ by dropping behind them :D.

I have been using it wrong as well. I would go to the front and then use it thinking I was helping everyone out or try and use it for a break! Thanks for the lesson!

Once moving plenty of the flatter races last series felt like elastic band was on already.

Oddly it’s always seemed the group split much more readily when we were supposed to be forming up then when you were actually trying to break it up.

Stream for tonight should be here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzp7uDuMYi8

I see @paino has done a short warmup for tonight with the Mega Pretzel…

Seems neither more nor less sensible than doing it at any other time robbo.

Umm, yeah. Best use of an all day ‘Teams’ meeting ever. Couldn’t tell you a word of what was being said. The main thing was I didn’t have to put the camera on.
Think I may have ruined any chance I had of a decent finish tonight, so if anyone wants wants a distinctively average wheel to ride on, feel free.

Edit-I think I may be last. Is there a wooden spoon option?

You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front

I assumed that was because the rest of the group saw the powerup being used, so immediately eased off to force the drafter out in front. I now see they were not quite so mean as I thought.

I’m currently debating what way to play things with Zwift itself tonight.

It seems as though when running on Android my 10th gear (the only one i’ll use on this course) is a bit more spinny than 10th on Ant+. That can at times have benefits or downsides… However, Ant+ gives me a HRM as well which i can’t have on Android… Which sometimes is a good thing, sometimes a bad one !

I have my heart rate on, but never look at it or worry about it, I’ll know if I’ve gone too fast for too long by my breathing 😉

The breathing thing is a weird one, sometimes i can settle in at 170+bpm and feel OK, sometimes i can struggle a bit at 165…. I’ll be trying to focus on getting 168 if i go with the HRM. But that little 3% drag after the underpass often kills me. That’s where i really need to focus my attention on with you, Robbo etc. I’ll be able to sit on the flat mostly, but them little bits, i need to dig deep if i’m to stay in the melting pot.

Well, I thought the draft boost question was a stupid one, but evidently not, given how many other people were using it incorrectly….erm, just like my friend…

Don’t look at my heart rate at all as it doesn’t seem to relate to my pain level. However, if I forget to take my Garmin instinct off and race, it has a fit and thinks I have an abnormal heartrate

The truck thing I’d been using wrong too, mostly seem to get an empty circle though. Always want a feather.

That prob explains why you thought I was bluffing last week weeksy. I dropped behind you when you had a draft as I thought it would help then when it finished I went in front and used mine – so basically I wasted both of our drafts when I thought that was the best tactic! Shame you can’t get burritos in meet ups.