@richardkennerley are you on WiFi on both devices? If the SSID is different companion won’t play with Zwift, I’ve had it before when one is picking up 2.4 and one 5ghz, it certainly won’t work if the SSID is split.

That was hard work. Lucky to pick to right group to chase in race 2, I’d have been off the back and swept up of there was a 3rd lap though.

Good race all.

even saw him do his little sick onto the sink ar half time…

He’ll be on the “specialist” sites in no time!

That was pretty hard going for me, almost had my own vomit moment after the first race.

Glad the end was downhill on the second race, my weight was an advantage 😜

Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve made a STW race but those were great fun.

Oddly I found the first race harder. It was tough work hanging on with the group around 20th with Pewsey, Ogg and co.

Managed to find another good group on the second race, picking off a few up the climb. Then a sprint to the line which Pewsey just nicked and six of us with the same time!

See you next week.

Well that went a lot better than I thought it would! Had a good little battle on the sprints in the first race with @giggsmaster and k.mc ( @marra ?). Thought I might have overdone it as I was spent by the end after mistiming the sprint to the finish massively but I found a second wind once I hit the KOM for the first time. Even had enough energy to go at the KOM a second time hard and knock 4 seconds off the first attempt! Very pleased with that.

I will say that I owe a bit of a Thank You to @DrP as I found out on the FTP test on Saturday morning that while I don’t have much outright power I can hold what I have for longer than I realised, that info really helped me dig deep tonight. Hence why I have a slight FTP increase to 200w.

First race was definitely harder for me. Thought we were all going to stick together til the first sprint. After the third sprint I was on the verge of giving up, 5 more seconds and I would have, but everyone seemed to settle slightly!

Second race was good. Had a Pantani moment towards the end of the last climb, battered myself on the sprint down the other side but couldn’t fend everyone off.

@dangerourbrain I don’t know what’s going on. I tried reinstalling it on my phone, tried putting it in my tablet as well. No joy. Everything is running on the same WiFi network. The tablet doesn’t do mobile data and the garage is a black hole anyway, WiFi only!!

@richardkennerley I have the same problem with Zwift Companion app. It didn’t connect on the 1st race but then managed to on the 2nd, it can be hit and miss for me.

@reluctantjumper you certainly have improved since the last series. You put up some good numbers on some of the sprints in the 1st race.

I can safely say flat races are definitely not my thing, though hilly races don’t seem to be either. I just lost touch of the 2nd group on the 1st time over the climb and then that was it, no way back for me.

Nice little tussle with @blobonastick (I think) on the 2nd time round.

Hence why I have a slight FTP increase to 200w

Super stuff…
Honestly… half of this stuff is how good your legs are at listening to you say go….and the other half is how good YOU are at ignoring your legs say STOP 😃😃😆😆

You can definitely train BOTH!

DrP

(Just watching the stream again…I like to watch OTHERS tactics.. break points etc..)

That was great! No idea how I managed to stick with the group I did in the first race…it was great fun though! I had more in my legs than I realised for the race to the line & was a bit annoyed I didn’t go sooner.
I was waiting waiting waiting & then saw slowpuncheurs numbers spike & thought ‘bollocks I’ve left it too late’….

2nd race. Legs didn’t have it & toe cramp was a bit of a distraction 😂
I got in a good group of 3 but can’t for the life of me remember who it was. We caught Atkinson who I think eased for us to catch (??) And then we caught OGG a bit later.
On the second lap, I think we started getting lapped (WTF?!) and I tried to draft some of the people who’d come past.

It was all a bit of a blur to be honest!!

Thanks for a good evenings racing. Always struggle with sprints. well done Savoyad on final sprint completely missed it

I don’t know why it still surprises me, but these races start so fast!

Race 1 my goal was to avoid falling too far behind in the points. @paino was smashing up the sprints (like he does) and @drp and @donnersrider were pushing the pace between sprints. So it was all a little frantic. It’s hard enough anyway to understand what’s going on in neokyo. Once the sprints were done (it seemed like more than 4!) @drp bid for long distance glory almost worked out (more so than he thinks…), and the effort of bringing him back left him well placed to sprint. Like @weeksy said, that was a deserved victory…

Race 2 my goal was to target the KOM points on the first lap and then try to race for the finish on lap 2. But it was pretty obvious from lap 1 that I couldn’t get a big enough gap over the top to be able to hold on by myself until the finish on lap 2. So I pushed a bit harder on the climb lap 2, hoping to split the lead group and blunt the chase into the finish. That worked – I got away with @donnersrider and 2 v 3/4 on the descent was good odds so we managed to stay away.

Great racing. Looking forward to next week now (except the first 400m!).

Thanks for a great intro to racing everyone, 1st and 2nd ever Zwift races done! Managed to find a good group on both races, I need to learn what the power ups all do but it was good fun.

Wasn’t sure what kind of effort people would be going for and had no idea how long I could stay at certain powers. Can push it a little more next time I think, heart rate for the majority of both races stayed around 160-170 (thought that was good until watching Dr P’s stream back)

Excited for the next one.

Thanks for everyone for taking part in the series! Hope you all enjoyed it. Managed to get the results done earlier than I thought.

The results are provisional in case I have made any mistakes. Please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wj8liqQsCZniRGgbnhRASZx73G14bpzfHpWWyuGq1lo/edit#gid=1628366731

Race 2a – Sprinter Playground

Overall Race Winner
1. DrP
2. savoyad
3. donnersrider

Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. bails
2. Paul-S
3. msjhes2

Sprint Points (Tower Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. donnersrider
3. straightliner
4. savoyad
5. Jimdoubleyou

Sprint Points (Alley Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. DrP
3. Savoyad
4. donnersrider
5. yanboss

Sprint Points (Castle Park Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. donnersrider
3. yanboss
4. DrP
5. savoyad

Sprint Points (Railway Sprint)
1. paino
2. donnersrider
3. DrP
4. savoyad
5. munkeymadness

Race 2b – Rooftop Rendevous

Overall Race Winner
1. Savoyad
2. donnersrider
3. J-R

Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. dangeoubrain
2. Paul-S
3. msjhes2

KOM Points
1. Savoyad
2. donnersrider
3. DrP
4. Munkeymadness
5. J-R

Green Jersey Standings
1. paino
2. donnersrider
3. DrP

Series Top 3 (including sprint/fastest lap points) Best 6 race points counts
1. Paul-S
2. Dangeourbrain
3. Msjhes2

Combined Sprint and KOM Points Total
1. paino
2. donnersrider
3. savoyad

I have set up a GoFundMe for people who have enjoyed the series. This time around we are raising money for Diabetes UK. Slowpuncheur has been a regular in this race series from the start. On Fathers Day last year he ended up taking his son to hospital as he wasn’t feeling well. Many hours later they were delivered the news that his son is Type 1 diabetic. His son has adjusted well to the changes in life and continues to do everything he wants to. Diabetes UK helps his son and others like him through investment in Diabetes research and support for other Diabetes sufferers. I know there are also others on the forum who have diabetes or close family members with diabetes.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/e3732-stw-race-series-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. dangeoubrain
2. Paul-S
3. msjhes2

Top stuff @dangeourbrain … bravo!

I’m gonna rest for the next few days.. been spanking myself with FTP test on sat… hard tdz last night, then this tonight…
Need a few rest days according to my garmin!

These races DO leave you buzzing!

DrP

That was an interesting couple of races. In race A I was glad to cling onto the front group most of the way round. When the fast guys got a gap the group I was in kept pretty close behind. But I made a big mistake not spotting we were reaching the end, so @paul-s and @yanboss sprinted ahead before I could respond, claiming 6th and 7th. Very impressed with @Paul-S keeping up with the group despite turning in lower figures for W and W/kg – some very canny riding there.

Not sure what happened in race B but on the second climb I found myself in the front group with the CatAs @munkeymadness @savoyad, @DrP and @donnersrider – well beyond my station in life as a CatB. Sav and Donner got a gap but I was clinging onto the others near the end, when I saw DrP dropping an Aero PU and realised he intended to start his sprint, so I managed to keep just about close enough for a bit of a tow. When the PU stopped DrP seemed to fade but I just had enough in the legs to pip him at the post for an unexpected 3rd place.

I think I’d had an easier race A than many, and so got an unexpectedly good result in race B when normally I would expected to be beaten soundly on a climb by the likes of @paino. Good race everyone, especially @Paul-s and @dangeourbrain at the top of the handicaps.

Hands down that was the worst I’ve ever felt after any Zwift race. I had to take a moment outside (in the rain) coughing up the lining of my left lung. So much so I made a complete arse of race 2, slow off the line, got Uber-dropped, then put all my eggs into one basket by trying to smash the KOM on lap 2. That plan was working great until I realised I was actually half way up the KOM before I realised where I was. Go me. That long run in totally threw me…not that I know where I’m going in Neokyo anyway. Great wins @Savoyad and @DrP, some brutal long range attacks.

@giggsmaster *waves* yep that was me. Good teamwork I thought. Until the last 150m 😈 Ha ha!

Best finish ever for me, so well chuffed.

I thought that the race would get split by one of the sprints, so my game plan was to go all in on the sprints, not for the point, but just not to be dropped. It worked and for the first time ever I stayed with the front group for the whole race. Well actually 3 of us got dropped at the last sprint, but we were only a couple of seconds behind the leaders. I timed the sprint well and beat the other 2 to finish 6th :-))))) There was even race drama as I had to call Jennie to tighten the skewer mid race !!!!

The short format suits me, as I usually spend 30 mins in the red and then end up slowing right down, basically going backwards at finish, but with the double header I get a rest before I’m totally done in.

The second race could have been a disaster as I wasn’t clipped in and there was a lot of paniced fumbling but I managed to get my foot finally in and stay with the leaders for the long lead in and on lap 1, at least until the pace sped up at the top of the climb. They slowly pulled away from us ( 2nd group on the road ) and made 30 secs in the end. I didn’t time my sprint as well but finished a 2nd best of 8th

So a 6th and 8th finish, an unexpectedly good start to season 🙂

Well done to the winners and thx @Robbo1234Biking, roll on race 2.

P

I think the key here is that none of us have any idea where she are going in Neyokyo!
It’s fun.. but a messy, distracting map!

DrP

Sorry @blobonastick 😂, perfect lead out by you and a drop of the aero PU helped me out!

I think there’s something wrong, my name is not supposed to be that close to the top, ever.

It won’t last mind, I expect my FTP will be creeping back up a bit when I test this weekend and now the house is almost devoid of tasty Christmas crap hopefully I’ll shift a bit of weight too.

Soon enough I’ll be back to having to keep up with the fast folks to break even, let alone get points! Mad dash suicide starts will resume.

Was a good couple of races, 2nd race the course really suited me though partly down to the length. I was lucky enough to be able to punch above below my weight on the climb and hold a quicker group than the few I’d eyed in the handicap beforehand. Was quite pleased to see ogg dropping off when he did, meant I could relax into things a bit.

First race I should have ignored all the sprints completely and saved my legs for the last km to see if I could hurt the folks around me a bit.

Really enjoyed this evening ta. It’s been way too long.

@giggsmaster – it’s all down to being able to pedal hard for an hour now, something I really struggled to do all of the second half of last year. I’m still waaay off where I should be, for reference I used to be able to do laps if the trails at Cwmcarn even after a day’s work. Went there at the beginning of January and I had to cut out the final section of climbing on the Twrch and was dead by the time I got to the car park! My HR monitor alarm was going off on every climb too as I was just redlining every time I put any effort in. I’m reasonable on Zwift now but still plenty of work to do to translate that on to the trails.

Actually racing other people tonight was a great motivator too, hopefully that continues. We need more slower riders to make the back of the race more interesting 😁

Apologies all I have got the sprint points wrong! Sorted by first across the line rather than fastest time. Will sort it out in the morning!

That was just fun in a kind of not fun at the time kind of way. Haven’t looked at my results yet, just happy that I managed to stick with the first group for a bit longer than usual and finish with (at the back of) the second group in both races 🙂

Now I’ve had a look at my points results, about 10x more than I’ve scored in any of the previous series !!!!!!!!!!!!

Can we just close off this series now ’cause it’s only going south for me over the rest of the races 🙂

I have updated the sprint results from Race 2a (Sprinters Playground)

The updated results are as follows:

Sprint Points (Tower Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. savoyad
3. straightliner
4. donnersrider
5. Jimdoubleyou

Sprint Points (Alley Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. savoyad
3. DrP
4. donnersrider
5. yanboss

Sprint Points (Castle Park Sprint Reverse)
1. paino
2. straightliner
3. yanboss
4. mossimus
5. donnersrider

Sprint Points (Railway Sprint)
1. paino
2. slowpuncheur
3. straightliner
4. savoyad
5. donnersrider

I’m pleased with the result from the first race but stupidly tried to sort out my HRM during the first couple of km of the second race. Didn’t realise you instantly stopped when in the menu. Sent from 5th to 35th and was left 20 seconds behind the nearest person ahead o<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>f me.  Dug deep to catch and pass 5 or 6 other riders but the group I’d been in was long gone.</span>

Ah, it’s good to be back racing! Neokyo really works for those short races. It messes with your head doing right angle turns at 60kmph off the KOM though.

After a Covidy Christmas and 2 weeks of no exercise, I wasn’t sure about last night. Still lacking a bit of zip (maybe 10-15w) but really enjoyed it.

First race I wasn’t really concentrating on the first sprint although I should have known the whippets would form a break there. Bugger. Rolled around in a very honest 2nd group with everyone taking a pull. It was great to see @feed and @stumpy01 mixing it in a faster group and to see some familiar names back on the road. I went for the long Railway Sprint and managed 2nd. @Paino, I’ve no idea how you did 4 sprint efforts so close together and still be quickest on the 4th! Chapeau.

2nd race suited me better. I lacked power to stay with the leaders 1st time over the KOM which cost me 30+ seconds and a chance for a sprint for 3rd. Bugger again. Rode with group 2 on 2nd lap, left sprint too late really but just rolled over ahead of the others. 7 of us within 0.5s.

Finally, thanks @robbo1234biking for doing (and correcting) the results so quickly and more importantly, for your kind words and suggestion for the charity this year. It means a lot. Ta.

Thanks Robbo for organising and sorting out. No idea what was going on last night, felt tired in the warm up and nearly gave up after the first sprint and getting droppped by group after group. Did manage to stick at it and make a few digs for the third and fourth sprint but definitely not firing on all cylinders.

Well done to Dr P, Paino, Savoyad and co on what sounds like a tough race at the sharp end with some great sprint times.

oddly really wasnt looking forward to last night. Got through the first race. Enjoyed the second much more. A decent sprint finish was fun.

My increase in FTP has taken me right out of contention this series…. must dig deeper!

Great racing. Looking forward to next week now (except the first 400m!).

@savoyad I’m trying to envisage what is particularly wrong with the start of next week’s course, or is it just the general frantic 400 you’re not looking forwards to?

Do we go down the nasty escalator bit next week then? I’m assuming climbing out the other end is better…

no @dangeourbrain, there’s nothing particular about the start next week. just this series has frantic starts!

Regarding Neokyo (and similar things could be said about Makuri Islands and much of New York) it IS hard to work out where you are. The Zwift designers seem to have focussed on adding lots of details to the worlds which can be stunning, although when you’re flat out you probably don’t pay that much attention to it.

For me, there are few really recognisable points/features that allow you to mentally know where you are around those circuits, unlike much of Watopia, London, France, Richmond for example. I guess many of us can remember a bridge, a hairpin, a punchy climb etc but for the worlds above there is too much going on all at the same time so it’s harder to break into chunks.

Also, what’s probably more true, is that it’s simply a NEW map. hence not ridden that much. Hence we (I) get confused).
I know my way around Watopia with ease now… same with Richmond and NY.. it’ll happen with Neyokyo!

DrP

I saw on the livestream someone asked about the burrito. Here is some more info.

Misused Zwift Powerups: the Breakaway Burrito

I’ve been playing around with fancy thumbnails and such for the YT stream settings!!

Need to improve the stream quality, and maybe have a few different scene setups!

DrP

Handicaps are live for tomorrow night!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wj8liqQsCZniRGgbnhRASZx73G14bpzfHpWWyuGq1lo/edit#gid=1421604983

I can see this being a tough race, I expect there will be a lot of small groups of two o three over the top of fox and being in the wrong one will mean either blowing up trying to stay with them or not being quick enough to hold your handicap.

This is where having missed the last few series isn’t going to help as I really don’t know who to coat-tail well enough!

Despite being all COVIDed up. I think I’ll hop on teh turbo and cruise around as best as I can. I will NOT be pushing any significant watts..simply unable to..
But will get the livestream up and running and (hopefully) find a gentle pack to cruise around with..

DrP

I imagine you’ll manage just fine, your “gentle pack to cruise and with” is still going to be the pointy ish end.

What did you want to go and get covid for anyway?

I tested +ve for Covid last Thursday, after my daughter & Wife tested +ve a few days before.

I’ve been doing my usual workouts and did TdZ4 yesterday.
It doesn’t seem to have knocked me too much, but am definitely not quite 100%.
Am undecided whether to try and stick with the usual pace, or knock it back a bit and take it a bit easier.
My legs feel pretty empty so I don’t think the course will be friendly to me. Looking forward to it anyway.

Oh and Robbo, it was me who asked about the burrito.
Good link – quite easy to unleash it and actually shoot yourself in the foot!