STW Zwift Race Series 3 – Winter

@lewisdeacon I have corrected for D will sort out the GC when I sort the handicaps for next week

@dangeourbrain I have corrected you time – still nil point!

@slowpuncheur I was determined you wouldn’t catch me on that last lap!

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at I was keeping an eye on you but once we got on the downhill my superior mince pie consumption seemed to maintain the gap and I had a powerup spare in case you did catch!

The first 30 sec of the video are the saddest on the internet!

I’m going to have to set it to “love theme from romeo and juliet” I think

– still nil point

Well of course, I can’t exactly earn my only points in week 1 can I. Then what would I do for the next 5 races? 😉

@DrP total points may always be different to the last column as that includes sprint points. I keep the race tab to the final race times and then include the total points in the ranking on the results page. At least I think that is what you mean!

Well, that was tragic. I think that was my worst result from all of the races so far. Enjoyed it though & didn’t even mind the course too much.

BTW @kirky72 and @J-R you had the same time – the companion app says the order across the line was kirky then J-R so I have taken 1 second of Kirkys handicap to sort the points in the correct order but if that is wrong let me know.

Thanks everyone. Great fun (well, it is now I’m looking back on it). First Zwift race so no idea quite what was going on but ended up in a fun wee group battling it out (well hanging on) somewhere around 42nd.

See you next week!

This is what you don’t do 6 hours before the big race..

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1448422

In my defence, I’d decided not to race at all tonight but thought I’d come on to help a mate. He then bailed, but I was on the turbo by then, so decided to stay in.

That was a bit tough for the first race in a little while! I forgot how much it hurts…..

I managed to keep the first group until the first time up the hill and then worked nicely with slowpuncheur, zilog and fordo but didn’t have enough left to chase onto slowpuncheur when he went after robbo.

Great fun – thanks everyone.

That’s a good effort there weeksy and it was good to see you this evening too. I hope all goes well and see you back on in a few weeks hopefully.

I just made the mistake of looking up @seabass stats on ZP. Feeling a little outclassed now!

I don’t know how I feel about that race. Of course it was the usual crazy 450W start followed by a desperate fight to cling onto the group for 3 laps. But given how strong @Kirky72 was again, with (what looked to me like) continual attacks off the front of a strong group, I was relieved to have held on right to the end. And for once not to be beaten by @paino too! But on the other hand to loose on the sprint by a tiny fraction of a second – if only I had found a couple more watts for a few more seconds…..

@robbo1234biking – from my perspective I thought I had got ahead of Kirky, but in the last few seconds he surged ahead, so overall I was surprised not to be a few seconds down on him in the results. Your deduction of a second from his handicap is a very fair way to reflect the results. Thanks for all the effort you put into organising these.

Thanks @nixie I’ve got really into online racing over the lockdowns.
It’s a great way to get a good razz in at the end of the day and amazing training, much recommended!

@DrP total points may always be different to the last column as that includes sprint points. I keep the race tab to the final race times and then include the total points in the ranking on the results page. At least I think that is what you mean!

Yup..I was being a numpty…!

DrP

It certainly is! Hurting quite a lot this morning.

I’ve signed up for next week’s race of truth but pretty sure I won’t make it 😭. Just too close to daughter’s bed time so think I’ll have to skip that week sadly. Will be back the week after in the normal time slot.

@nixie – if you drop out and sign up to it again can you get a later time slot?

Good news is that I was within 15 seconds of the fastest lap time. Next week will be harder to guess as there is no draft and I don’t have much data on the MTB on the tarmac! Everyone will get the same relative difference though so it wont matter to much!

Hurting quite a lot this morning.

I sympathise. I had every intention of getting up a bit early and doing half an hour on the bike this morning. As it was when the alarm went off I rapidly decided it wasn’t necessary and ended up having a bit of a sleep in.

Tough race for me couldn’t hold on to any groups for long and had a bit of a too and fro with Baily for a while but he got away from me too. Still good to be back racing, Cheers Robbo.

@robbo1234biking it didn’t when I tried last night. Going to try again with a gap between dropping out and signing up again. Got 7.04 at the moment.

@dangeourbrain my daughters decided a lay in wasn’t happening. Yesterday’s PT session means it’s a whole body hurt not just legs ☹️.

Will we still see other riders in the TT if we can catch somebody in front or get passed?

If so as we are in mtb rather than TT bikes will we enjoy a bit of draft?

Shame you can’t take that start time Nixie, I’m off at 7.03 being chased down by would be good motivation to get my arse in gear.

Anybody done this before what kind of time are we looking at, if around 20 minutes is it a case of trying to hold your ftp plus 5% for the duration.

I’ve done bologna once on a TT bike. Got 17:26 @ 341W (4.4wpkg). 20 minutes on an MTB sounds reasonable. In the past I’ve aimed for over FTP AVG as you drop off towards the end.

@kirky72 there will be no draft even if you catch a rider. You can see the other riders though.

I’ll try to make the earlier slot but it’s doubtful.

Fastest time will come from holding back on the flat then giving it everything up the hill. Extra power on the hill gives more speed than on the flat as speeds are lower so less aero drag.

For the TT there is no draft. You will see the other riders and be able to chase them down but you should be able to pass without any sticky draft etc. Should be around 20 mins ish for the TTT so 105% is a good marker. It is flat for 6k then a 2k wall. The last 2k will take longer than the first 6k. There is usually a TT in Bologna during the week you could have a look at.

I’ve just looked at my start time for next week and it says 19:00. Looks like I’m first off! 🤔. I should be finished in 8 minutes if I keep a steady pace of 60km/h 😉😂.

My first STW race with my new smart trainer, lost quite a few watts since the last series changing from a dumb turbo. It was definitely easier going up hill with a smart trainer (by easier I mean not having to guess what harder gear to change into), but I don’t think the course suited me. I also noticed the reduced affect of the draft with the MTB’s. Made a good start but got dropped earlier than I wanted and ended up going backwards a bit. Ended up in a group of about 6 and we stayed together really and it went down to the sprint for the line. Happy I got a few points as I think most of the people I was riding with didn’t. Aching this morning, but good to get back into it, I definitely put more effort in when racing.

I’m off at 7.03 being chased down by would be good motivation to get my arse in gear

I’ve got the 7.02 slot, so I’m expecting to have the motivation of being chased down by @kirky72 , then realising that with no draft I’m not going to keep pace with him for long.

Who’s at 7.01?

cheers for last night gents. I really wasnt up for it before hand, but once we got going it was good. I am learning that the longer climbs are not my bag. Short and sharp seem to suit me better. spent a fair bit of time with or chasing @tpbiker. Certainly made me work for it, then managed to pull away on the final descent. Spent a bit of time in no mans land too, never ideal!

I am on the road at 8 minutes past 7 next week. I have done bologna once before (two lap event), it wasnt pleasant! But knowing its only once up should make the pain more bearable!

Good to see so many riding last night, long may it continue!

how do you get the STW ‘badge’ to appear by your name on zwiftpower?

Where is our start times listed, or how do we find out when we are due to start?

@simster Join the stw team.

@w00dster look.at the event in the companion app. Your start time is list bottom right.

Cheers Nixie, 1907 for me.

I have done bologna once before (two lap event), it wasnt pleasant!

Laps on that course are singularly awful.

I’m on a 19.02 start. Bear in mind that the time showing though is to the previous full minute so I may actually be 19.02.50 – I think they’re 5 second gaps between riders but I’ve a nagging suspicion it’s 10.

~10mins20sec up the Bologna ramp at 3.6W/Kg.

Best strategy is along the lines of just under your best ~8-15min Wattage on the flat and then just over your best ~8-15min Wattage on the hill, more power on the hill provides more time gains.

With an FTP estimate now of ~271W, I’ll be aiming for ~250-270 on the flat, start the hill at ~275-290 and gradually try to hold towards ~320+ for the last few mins in negative split TT style to try and complete in just under 20mins… Whether I get anywhere close is another matter! 😆

Full course https://www.strava.com/segments/20560239
Flat section https://www.strava.com/segments/20581369
Hill section https://www.strava.com/segments/20560392

1902 start for me I think.

@simster if you go here https://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=826056 there should be a green icon in the top right saying to join STW.

@w00dster if you go on the companion app and find the race for next week – click on it and you should be able to see your start time at the bottom. They are at 10 sec intervals so if you have 19:00 you will go between 19:00 and 19:01.

Anybody done this before what kind of time are we looking at, if around 20 minutes is it a case of trying to hold your ftp plus 5% for the duration

As above really. I’ve only ever done TT bikes (since they’re normally forced) but I usually try hold about 300 or so on the flat 330 ish on the climb. My FTP is about 316 supposedly. So about 95% 105% I guess.

What tends to catch me every time are the couple of flat sections on the climb where I tend to drop to low 200s before I remember.

I’d certainly suggest giving fast Friday a go this week if you’ve never ridden it before.

From what I can see my best solo was 17.48 at 4.1wkg 325w avg

19.06 for me. Sounds like I need to do some swotting up on the course…

Wow, I pulled a result out last night! Felt good and was nicely warmed up, dead chuffed. I’ll do a Rosber and bail out now then eh…

TT will be *fun*, never done it before, this is making me nervous!

Will we automatically be put on a TT bike or do we need to buy and select one?

You should be on a MTB 😆

Yeh you should be on a MTB – if you aren’t switch over to one. I think even if graphically you are on a road bike it will have the characteristics of the MTB. I have contacted Zwift but prob wont get a reply until the evening due to time differences.

Got it!