STW Zwift Racing League – Spring 2022

I seem to have stalled a bit recently. Power numbers pretty consistent but I’m not pushing as much as I can. My problem is I’ve not quite got the grunt to stay with the lead group when the road goes up for any length of time and I find myself in the 2nd group on the road and often I’ll be pushing on myself rather than hanging on to a faster bunch. I thought I’d gapped @J-R and @sturdylad a couple of times on the jungle climb but @J-R surged back a couple of times. I kept watching him as his avatar was sprinting quite a bit. Thought he was going for a break so interesting to hear you were hanging on. I really should have gone for it on the climb out the jungle but was relying on my sprint. In the end, I completely misread where the banner was and ended up trailing the other 2. Mediocre.

I kept watching him as his avatar was sprinting quite a bit.

I had set my Zwift FTP way down to get a new estimate from this race – I guess a side effect was my avatar spent a lot of time “sprinting” in comparison to that temporary low FTP.

In the end, I completely misread where the banner was

You and me both, @slowpuncheur – after your strong Jungle climb I was sure you had the power to win on the sprint, so was surprised to see you drop back a bit as @sturdylad wound up his speed, before I realised sturdy had spotted the finish banner and time the sprint perfectly.

Ah. That explains things. It was a little off-putting seeing your Cav impressions every minute or so :)…apart from when we both needed one!

Well the next race is gonna be a laugh a minute. I’ve got some new material….. 😉

Crap jokes

It’s a TT. There’ll be no laughing;)

slowpuncheur

It’s a TT. There’ll be no laughing;)

Moot point about it being a TT. There’s no laughing when I tell a joke, regardless…. 🙂

I enjoy the random jokes/messages – although as I’m usually connected via my phone I can’t respond easily, and certainly not while riding hard.

@vanilla83 I was hoping to pull away enough to get 15 secs or so for a bike change, but you really wouldn’t drop. I couldn’t work out if you were really working hard (your w/kg didn’t look too silly) or if I was just tiring by then. It’s good to hear you were having to put in an effort at least.

@nixie – that little dig out of the undersea tunnel really strung things out. I will have to watch out for that in future, as it’s amazing how dropping a couple of seconds suddenly leads to the elastic snapping and being left in no-man’s land.

Yeah they can hurt the field more than they should for such a short section! If your the instigator you can do it with little cost to yourself as well as your effectively in control.

No way @nixie and @robbo1234biking, if I had known I was in stealth mode on my fast wheels (apart from the tell of closing a 40 seconds gap at lower power I guess…) I could maybe (?) have pushed on for a few more seconds when I went ahead. Zwift is weird. My aim was to get a gap you weren’t minded to chase @nixie rather than actually hold you off up the hill, and the illusion I was smashing it on a tron did probably changed what that required. But still not enough.

@slowpuncheur noone seems to have much sympathy for “I haven’t won one of these races since February”. Join the club.

Well I felt a bit grim last night so turned up and just turned the pedals – at least now I’m guaranteed a top 10 finish in the GC 😀

I wondered why you were off the pace, Ogg.
I assumed you’d made a sneaky bike choice that hadn’t worked.

noone seems to have much sympathy for “I haven’t won one of these races since February”. Join the club.

Fair point. At least it’s flat next week. Lol

Here are the handicaps for tomorrow night. The distance is 17.6km so should finish just before the rock arch on the way back. Keep an eye on the distance. Draft is turned of so although you will see other riders they won’t effect you.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SYEJq-_k2w-I3LUIgg6hoi5LAb7angXxiRasZfjvPE4/edit

I gave last week a miss as I’d just got back from 3 days of biking and walking in the Lakes. Heavy legs and a couple of niggles meant I say on the sofa at 6:30 and CBA to get up again! “Looking forward” to being back tomorrow.

Is there lead in proper then with it being a tt or is it timed from flag up?

dangeourbrain – you have a start time in the companion app (in the event itself).
Everyone goes off at 10sec intervals and it’s basically go from the start.

I can’t make it as I’ve been invited to see Posh play at home and thought it would be nice to have a social evening out!

All About Zwift’s New Time Trial Mode

If people havent done a TT before info is above. The start line is shortly after the launch escalator thing so no need to kill yourself out of the pen!

@robbo1234biking is it a custom distance then?

Well yes and no. I asked Zwift to finish it at the archway as you go through the first time on the way back which makes it 17.6km but they didnt seem confident it would finish exactly on the arch. Most other TTs on this route finish at 17.6km but it just seems inconsistent in typical Zwift fashion (this was to allow people who havent got a chance to do it tonight to complete the same event).

If you do the full course (Tempis Fugit) then it is 19.Xkm and goes back around the loop, back over the sprint and through the arch.

OK, thanks for the clarification. The last loop and back to the arch has always felt rather mean to me 😀 so glad that is not in play.

Yeh last time we ran this route (around 18 months ago I think) a lot of people based their effort on the first go through the arch and then died as they had to come back around the loop. Not sure that extra bit adds much value as you have already gone over that bit of road.

Also dont forget you will have individual start times!

I’m allowed to start riding a bit more this week, so I’ll have a crack at the TT, but to encourage myself to not go too mad, I’ll be on an MTB…

The last loop and back to the arch has always felt rather mean to me 😀 so glad that is not in play

I can’t help but agree, it doesn’t help it really does feel like it *should* finish at the arch so you get your head down for the final push only to find out it’s not.

Gutted I can’t do the last race tonight, perversely I like a good TT! The old Kickr is on it’s way back to Wahoo and the new one has been despatched yet.

Enjoy it all, will be back for the autumn series in a few months.

Gutted I can’t do the last race tonight,…

… Enjoy it all, will be back for the autumn series in a few months.

One more to go next week (though I won’t be able to make that one)

Ooh, might have a chance of making the last one then!

Dont forget I need some suggestions for Riders Rider!

Ive had one in so far but need to open the voting tonight!

Can I nominate two?

If so @stumpy01 for being constantly cheery and encouraging others and @DrP for starting the Zwift training plan which has made a huge difference to my fitness already for these races

If so @stumpy01 for being constantly cheery and encouraging other riders

You realise his jokes are there to rob you of the will to live early in the race don’t you?

Haha! It backfires as I just want to get as far away as quickly as possible 😉

Hmm..thanks for the nomination, but as I haven’t raced this series I’m not sure I qualify 😄😄🤣🤣

Maybe those who’ve really committed, dug deep, and improved from the training should get the prize? Not silly old me!

DrP

dangeourbrain

You realise his jokes are there to rob you of the will to live early in the race don’t you?

Factually incorrect.
It’s actually a cunning distraction technique.
Only problem with it is a few times I have fallen off the back of the group while concentrating on typing, so I actually only seem to distract myself!

I’m not sure 2 HIIT classes were the best preparation for tonight’s race but here we are!!

Are there any special instructions for the start tonight (as per the TTT IE, no pedalling after the 7.30 start time) or do you just warm up as normal and go when your start time rolls round?

As a serial wheelsucker I hate these events 😂. So need every advantage… It’s flat so I guess the best bike choice is whatever the fastest TT frame/wheel combo is you can buy from the drop shop for your level? Unlike regular bikes where it’s marginal gains, looks like there are genuine seconds to be shaved off with faster bikes (which is a bit unfair!) Sadly I’m still a couple of levels off the Super9 wheels 😭

@sturdylad go as soon as your individual timer counts down to zero. You will see others going of around you but its individual and drafts dont count etc!

Looking back through this thread, my name gets mentioned in the race reports normally for short high effort sprints that seem to impress the people I overtake/catch, but are eventually tactically useless as I’m not fit enough to follow up and capitalise on it.
Continuous high effort probably not my forte, although being flat means I’d benefit from high power rather than handicapped by my average power to weight.

All academic as the resumption of my girlfriends womens league means I’ve been kicked off the trainer for the next two months of Tuesdays.

Its been great, thanks Robbo for organising and thanks all for participating with me.
Much better than a random race, as there are people I know either IRL or virtually, and even those of you I dont, there’s the pre and post race interaction on this thread which adds some decent colour to the event.

Hopefully I’ll be able to join you in Autumn. I got zwift the week before Xmas. I’ve done 14346m climbing since then. Will I have a Tron before the next series?

Hmm..thanks for the nomination, but as I haven’t raced this series I’m not sure I qualify 😄😄🤣🤣

Maybe those who’ve really committed, dug deep, and improved from the training should get the prize? Not silly old me!

DrP

Hadn’t realised that you hadn’t raced at all!

@robbo1234biking
Thanks, I think that’s what I understood from the Zwift Insider stuff above.
Are TT bikes allowed? (apologies if it’s been mentioned above)

Yep TT bikes are allowed!

Hadn’t realised that you hadn’t raced at all!

Yeah… I ride IRL on Tuesdays, and the trails are running sweet so am getting outside!

DrP