STW Zwift Race Series 3 – Winter

Well that went as good as it could of done. Combine my drop in power with everyone else’s FTP increases meant there was no way I could stick with the top group. So I decided to gun it for the sprint and the lap, and surprisingly got them both!
No idea what happened out the pen though. Gave it 450W or more, and found myself pretty much last. Just saw a meandering line of riders in front of me. Had to give it 500W just to get back on track. Terrible start, again!
Was game over after the fast lap, just had to hope there was a group willing enough to drag me round….found it in the form of Crazyharry & Wellock…thanks guys, and sorry for mostly wheelsucking to the finish, but I was done. Zero power to even bother with a sprint for line.
Also. Cheers @DrP for the after party, definitely needed that!

@funkybaj, @snotrag and @jimdubleyou I was also with you guys and a few others (including M Howlett before his lap 7 breakaway)

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at haha my ‘break’ came about by me sitting at the back of the group and seeing you get a little gap at the front so thought I’d have a dig (with the aid of the draft no doubt) to catch up, and then I just kept on for a little bit to see if it would break up a bit. After that I was close to cracking too, thinking I’ll recover a little bit in a minute and lend a hand/have a turn on the front, but it never came.

Soooooo…anyone fancy doing the Aussie double header one at 7:05am and 7:30am tomorrow morning?? 😜😜

A classic case of oxygen deficiency to the brain post-exercise. Nurse!

That was the hardest race yet, didn’t enjoy it at all. Legs weren’t good from the start.

To top of the misery I got a 7w ftp increase too. (up to 307w)

@funkybaj I’m on an aging Tacx Flux that does it too, hence all my weird yo-yoing back and forth up and down the group when the terrain goes up and down. A direct drive trainer would be nice if they didn’t require a remortgage!

@robbo1234biking `race 4′ and ‘race 4 sprint’ column titles are mixed up I think!

Is the race 4 tab still showing just handicaps for everyone or just me?

Oooooo @zilog6128 you are not selling it to me. I’ve signed up so if I manage to get up in time I’ll have a go…although I might have to rethink the second one if the legs fail.

@dangeourbrain Brian I may see you there! Gulp!

Cheers Robbo , that was tuff well done the fast guys there was some red numbers in the watt column when they lapped me !!

also think I had an ftp increase to 235 can you adjust my figures please.

Cheers

That was hard. I don’t like crits anyway and very little warm up did not help. Plan was always the sprint and lap points. The first full lap was clearly the one to attack. I made sure I was a good few seconds back from the leaders at the start of lap 2 then reattached to the group (free time). Then went for it down the hill. Annoyingly looks like @paino had the same idea and came it half a second quicker. The sprint I went after on lap 4 with a feather. I popped that too late and again found paino had a unbeatable time at the top.

After that I was intending to rest till the end. A stupid tactical error left me gapped with 2 laps to go. I thought Phil was behind me at the top of the hill and decided to take the free ride back to the slight break. Only to discover too late it was someone else in a bumblebee top and I was stuffed. I cruised mostly after that. Hopefully do better next week. I like seaside sprint and have done a good number of races on it.

@jimdubleyou yeah same here, was about to ask if it was just me.

@snotrag cheers have modified!

Lots more FTP increases across the board.

@haloric does Jack have a STW username or is he OK being Haloric Jr on the results?

My race went wrong pretty quick. Didnt feel great in the warm up (lacking energy). I usually have a big bowl of oatbran between 5 and 5.30 on race days but didnt today and felt lacking after the warm up. I had a gel waiting on the line but the start didnt go well and it it took a couple of laps before I started to feel better. Enjoyed riding with @zilog6128 and @mtbrog was a good little race and managed to get them both in the last lap. The power numbers weren’t as terrible as I thought they would be actually.

Onwards to next week now! Will definitely fuel better for that one.

Oh tip for people. If you add your closest rivals as favourites in Zwift in the mini map on companion app you get a min picture of them instead of the usual blob and they are highlighted red on the gradient map in the top right corner of the screen. Helps to keep track of them in the confusion!

jimdubleyou

Is the race 4 tab still showing just handicaps for everyone or just me?

Same here. The results page for race 4 just shows the handicaps – no results.

The results tab seems to be updated with points & whatnot though….

Yep same for me too.

That was hard going. First crit for me and a bit of a learning experience. Lap 1, missed a split, tried to catch the group and just ended up in pain. Then lap 7 missed a burst of speed from the group after the climb (I was just relieved to get to the top). Spent the rest of the lap trying to catch up. Managed to catch up just into lap 8 but I was spent. Sprint finish was pretty tame!

Great (type 2) fun again. Thanks Rob! There was an FTP increase (thanks Zwift), I’ll PM you.

That was bloody hard! Dunno if I was just tired after yesterday’s workout, or went off too hard at the start & then fizzled out, but that was…..awful.

Avg power down compared to last week, but HR seemed very high for me. Not sure I could have ridden much harder.
Bleurgh. Awful! Lots of work still to do.

Sorted now! Sorry

robbo1234biking

Sorted now! Sorry

@robbo1234biking – cheers! It was important for me to confirm I did as shit as I thought I had 🙂

1 second off the points … #$*&!

That went better for me than expected. I struggled to settle into the changing pace for the first few laps, and then started to get into the swing of it.
Attacked on the hill on lap 7 and managed to get a little break with Phil, DrP and someone else. Then went again on the hill on the final lap and managed to stick it until the end.

Not in a rush to race a crit again. FTP increase though, and definitely felt like I was trying!! Felt a little sick by the end

THat was actually pretty hard, but pretty fun… I figured a 20ish min race deserved a good effort, so was determined to redline it the whole time..
The start was much like the others – 450-500 watts for the first few hundred meters…

There was a big old group up front initially, and then the climb split us.. it seemed to do this each time. Being fairly light, and able to kick out 450-500w on the short climb served me well, and I actually used it as a ‘catch up’ section each lap.

There were the usual names up front, and as always I felt right on the edge..resting at 250 watts in the draft, pushing 380 on the rollers…

I had a few useful PUs on the early laps, then picked up an aero helmet on the final lap… I knew to keep this until the very end, so maintained a strong effort to hold onto phil and Kirkby until the last roller, then BOOM… dropped the aero helmet and just gurned it to the finish line!!!
Ben had made an early break right after the climb, so was happy crossing the line in 2nd!
Was fun!

DrP

That was very hard but at least you know exactly when the pain will end. Tried to make sure I got near the front of the group every time we hit the cobbles so I could hit the first part of the climb hard and then just about get caught near the top and hopefully form a mini group to pull clear. I think it worked, once or twice I had to work hard to get back on before the climb after trying to recover after the rollers.

Could have done with more than the one feather and two trucks I got. An aero or feather for the final sprint would have been nice, just to make it harder for DrP, even though that wouldn’t affect the points.

Well done to Ben it looked like you had slowed and myself and Ian was going to fly past as we caught upto you alone towards the end but you latched on and left us for dead after the rollers for the last time.

I knew with the handicaps I would have to over perform final placing wise but expected to finish altogether with the usual suspects in one large group or a chasing group behind Phil, Ben and Nixie. So I really didn’t expect to open the gap I needed over woodster to overturn the handicap so when he finally must of lost a wheel and dropped from our mini lead group I thought it might just open up the required gap but it wasn’t quite enough. Well played woodster.

It’s going to be tight over the last two races and I’ve gone and made it harder for myself by getting a chunk of FTP increase to 317.

Going to be much harder to finish high in the standings but pleased with the improvements and feel a sense of dejavu typing this.

well kind of enjoyed that, but still struggling at 40 watts under FTP, so either not well or need a decent rest.

Quite enjoyed that tonight now the dust has settled, managed to get with a quickish group then cling on for dear life.

Now apologies if it’s been explained elsewhere and I’ve missed it, so repack ridge, where is it and what do we need to do? Thanks in advance, fordo197.

@dandasbike https://zwiftinsider.com/find-zwifts-new-mountain-bike-steering-course/

And I ‘think’ you just need the companion app running on your phone, attached to your bars and there’s some steering involved. But I’ve no real clue having not had a look yet, just what I’ve read on here.

A real deja vu race – worked out for me just like the last one.

Naturally my plan was to hang onto @kirky72 and @w00dster which was just about working out for the first few laps. It wasn’t helped by nearly the entire group dropping feather powerups on the climb on I think lap 2, so I had to dig very deep to hold on.

Like last race, they were just a bit too strong for me and eventually I just couldn’t redline any more, so on lap 5 they drifted away from me off the top of the climb. I backed off a little for a lap to latch onto the following group of @paino, @munkeymadness and @crazyharry. Hanging onto them was manageable, so I had a little left for the sprint and got over the line just a whisker behind harry – and much to my surprise got in the points after the handicap.

On the downside I incurred another FTP increase of a mighty 1W – now 281W.

That was possibly my best race since the first series and crossed the line with the feeling that I had done the best I could. It was my first ever Crit but had been given a heads up on likely tactics by @straightliner so after a mad start and first lap I settled into a manageable rythym of about 95% FTP in a small group with Wellock and Snook. We seemed well matched and worked well together and although never looked like catching anyone in the lead group swept up @Paino and @j-r who then latched onto our group to share the workload.

Last lap, finally got the sprint at the end just right. Normally I end up going too soon, too late or have nothing left in the tank to do anything at all. This time was greatful that no one really attacked on the climb and then just went for it about 400m out and grimly hung on to narrowly beat Southside Johnny.

Only afterwards did I realise that I was only a couple of seconds behind a ‘cruising’ @Nixie but I honestly don’t think I had those extra few seconds in me.

Anyway… Chuffed with that. Cheers @robbo1234biking for another great series.

That was possibly my best race since the first series and crossed the line with the feeling that I had done the best I could. It was my first ever Crit but had been given a heads up on likely tactics by @straightliner so after a mad start and first lap I settled into a manageable rythym of about 95% FTP in a small group with Wellock and Snook. We seemed well matched and worked well together and although never looked like catching anyone in the lead group swept up @Paino and @j-r who then latched onto our group to share the workload.

Last lap, finally got the sprint at the end just right. Normally I end up going too soon, too late or have nothing left in the tank to do anything at all. This time was greatful that no one really attacked on the climb and then just went for it about 400m out and grimly hung on to narrowly beat Southside Johnny.

Only afterwards did I realise that I was only a couple of seconds behind a ‘cruising’ @Nixie but I honestly don’t think I had those extra few seconds in me.

Anyway… Chuffed with that. Cheers @robbo1234biking for another great series.

Only afterwards did I realise that I was only a couple of seconds behind a ‘cruising’ @Nixie

Let’s be honest, I was cruising because I was done and had given up. I’m really struggling with the frustration of the fitness and power drop from last year.

Interesting one last night. As with a lot of these races, the initial group you manage to hang on to usually is the one you end with, so if you dont have a blistering start, the chances of catching the next group are slim.

All good fun tho and another great test of ones stamina and power.

Are we doing the same as last season and dropping our lowest score/worst result?

I am just about clinging on the to lead in the GC Cat C!

Hardest indoor race I’ve done, but I say that every week! I had a good rest period with no ride at the weekend due to the snow so was feeling fresh.
My plan was to try and keep with the front group as long as I could while doing as little effort as possible. Got caught out by Nixie, Nixie is a master at sitting near the back of the front group so I stayed behind him and then a gap formed. Managed to bridge across but knew I didn’t have much left. Kirky and Dr P attacked the climb every lap, was OK for a while but I knew it was only a matter of time before the elastic snapped.
On the last lap was lucky enough to lap a group who were moving fast, had a rest behind them for a bit and then put in a final big kick.
My wife came out to the garage to check on me at the end of the race, she could hear the noises I was making and was worried!!
FTP increase for me to 288. Not sure how realistic that is though. Last night I was stood on the pedals almost as much as I was sat down. Was do-able for a short race but no way could that be maintained for an hour.

Yes we will take the best 5 scores for the final table and results (as it gives everyone a chance to have a bad race, drop out etc).

Let’s be honest, I was cruising because I was done and had given up. I’m really struggling with the frustration of the fitness and power drop from last year.

@nixie Know the feeling. Although I never reached your dizzy heights, I also had a dramatic drop in power and performance through November and December and it was hugely frustrating as the legs just wouldn’t respond to the will. Coming back to me now though and FTP gradually creeping back up.

Glad to hear your on the bounce back @crazyharry. I think I’m near the bottom now. Sustainable power over time has recovered somewhat since the end of the last series where I could only manage B power over a race. FTP still dropping according to intervals.cc. I just trying at the moment to not over do it in a rush to get back on form.

Interesting stuff, Nixie what do you feel may have led to the loss in the first place, overtraining, change of training?

@Robbo bad news on the one race strike out as looking at it totally selfishly it might demote me again as it did in the second series, as at the moment my worst is a lot better than the worst from my closest competitors who have also done all races so far. So after the adjustment I would be toppled from the top.🤣

However I totally appreciate the reasoning and I’ve just been lucky that I’ve not had to miss one due to bad health, work or family commitments that others may have had. One day I may need to do so and it might mean I have the back up of losing the worst effort in the very last race if decide to go absolutely kamikaze to try and gap Woodster or JR and it back fires by blowing up on the climb.

@woodster glad you also got a ftp boost like I did otherwise that hc would become just too hard to do anything about. It’s taking an almighty and ftp beating effort every week to contend with you.

Felt a bit under the weather yesterday, first time that’s happened in the last series and this. Managed to average a little under FTP which wasn’t bad considering but I did lose the wheel of other riders at points which dropped me back. I’m glad it was only a 25min effort so I didn’t lose too much time in the cat C GC. Fingers crossed for next week.

@kirky72 combination of things. There had been some drop off after the first lockdown as I spent more time outdoors than trying hard on the turbo. Then got ill which made it difficult to do much other than gentle spins. This resulted in less exercise and the expected fitness drop. Finally Christmas didn’t help. I also started using a PT in November so at times have fatigue from that. The current session is hard on the legs and is at 3pm Tuesdays. Means I’m racing with fatigue already. In fact at the moment the DOMS from the PT is probably the biggest factor in ability to produce and sustain TT three higher power.

@crazyharry there wasn’t much sharing of the workload last night. If it wasn’t for you and Wellock I would have been lapped.

@nixie I realise you’re a good chunk faster than me but I put my drop in sustained power down to the type of Zwifting I’m doing. I’m my own worst enemy though. For me it’s a complete lack of structure, and never really consider ‘training’. I just don’t enjoy plans, find them boring and inevitably move on to an event of some sort. Even doing a TDZ event for example I find myself trying to beat/race people. Looking at my ZP most ‘rides’ are 45ish mins and about 300W average. I think it’s not doing me any favours at all. Don’t think it was a coincidence that my best form came after a decent period of riding my real bike! Have to also mention that the STW competition has also improved massively and massive credit to those guys. Overall picture is ok though, I’m 5kg down from this time last year, in part down to Zwift.

The STW competition level has definitely improved loads which is great to see.

@paino I think I have a similar problem with most zwifting involving a race, even if I then do extra afterwards. Your right the repeated high output is not good. Need some more even sustained efforts I think. Problem is the racing is so much more addictive. TTT helps I think as although the effort is still high there are not such massive spikes. It’s more like an interval session.