Zwift meetups and social rides ?

So looks like it is me and @slowpuncheur going for the uber with various other supporting throughout the morning. 2w/kg gets you up the Alpe in 90 mins which means me averaging 180w – hopefully I can manage that!

@stumpy01 and @oopnorth thanks for joining again this morning. Easier day tomorrow. Next weeks planned workouts (if you join again) will be a little harder! I wont be doing any workouts on Thursday and Friday due to TTT and rest for uber on Saturday but I have a good cadence triangles workout if you want to give it a go.

Yeah thanks Robbo and Stumpy for this morning, it wasn’t as bad as it looked when we started.
Send me the cadence triangles Robbo as I might use them at some point

See you for the recovery tomorrow am

I can do 7am if that works better for you guys in the morning (less of a rush) – I am using a days holiday so less rush! Not sure what your work schedules are though so happy to keep it at 6.45

6-45 is better for me.

Yeah, it was another good session this morning, apart from 3 Zwift restarts before getting the meet-up icon!

As painful as it is, earlier is better for me. I really need to be at my desk working not too long after 8am, or I end up working later into the afternoon.

I’m a bit annoyed actually that I haven’t been getting up & riding all the way through lockdown! Yeah, it’s a struggle to get out of bed, but once out & moving it is a great way to start the day!

Yeh I find it sets you up for the day. its a bit like the army general who said to make your bed when you wake up as then you have achieved something. Get the workout done early and then if other stuff gets in the way later in the day you haven’t missed out.

Will stick with 6.45 then.

I will try and remind you to load up the workout before the meet up starts!

Hardest bit of the workout is getting out of bed…that’s the first battle! Sometimes you win sometimes you don’t…especially during the dark winter period.
Light summer mornings are easy.

@stumpy01 it sometimes works (and avoids the zwift restart) if you un-join and then immediately rejoin the event in the companion app. 9 times out of 10 (for me at least…) that prompts the absent “join event” button to pop up on the ride screen.

savoyad

@stumpy01 it sometimes works (and avoids the zwift restart) if you un-join and then immediately rejoin the event in the companion app. 9 times out of 10 (for me at least…) that prompts the absent “join event” button to pop up on the ride screen.

Great! I’ll give that a whirl if it happens again. Weirdly I haven’t had an issue with this before (no meet-up button), but it’s happened 2 days in a row now for these early morning workouts!
Maybe Zwift dislikes early starts as much as me!

@stumpy01 Just so you know, in normal meetups (arranged by general public) the join button doesn’t usually appear until 5 minutes before it’s due to start. In proper organized Zwift events and meetups its a lot earlier.

Just keep it in mind, I’ve fallen for it a few times, if it’s not there within the 5 minute period then yes you need to rejoin somehow.

@robbo1234biking. I’m happy to stick to sensible w/kg up the climbs. It’s the long flatter sections that’ll sap the energy (and the Jungle…Volcano, Hilly KOM …) so not going mad up the first climb is key I think. Those flatter sections would definitely be easier if there was a few of us (hint hint;))

Ref: Join Event. I have found that its only ever an issue if you use your companion app. I use the laptop and it seems OK (I appreciate not everyone has the option but that’s were the bug is I think).

oopnorth

@stumpy01 Just so you know, in normal meetups (arranged by general public) the join button doesn’t usually appear until 5 minutes before it’s due to start. In proper organized Zwift events and meetups its a lot earlier.

For the RobboRaceSeries, I was getting the join button relatively early; definitely 10mins or so before the start time because I used to aim to join around 6-7 mins before in case it all went wrong & I needed to restart Zwift.

Tomorrow I will see what happens & perhaps leave it a bit later before re-starting.

I’ll also try savoyad’s tip above if required. The join button appearing did seem to coincide this morning with me opening the companion app to send Robbo a message that is wasn’t going well, so perhaps the companion app did ‘push’ it through.

slowpuncheur

Ref: Join Event. I have found that its only ever an issue if you use your companion app. I use the laptop and it seems OK (I appreciate not everyone has the option but that’s were the bug is I think).

Yeah. I use my laptop for Zwift with just the companion app to make sending messages easier.
It does generally work OK – just having a few glitches this week! Normally it’s Wi-Fi connectivity that is my downfall! 🙂

I think we do quite well considering the hardware requirements, the need for a stable and fast broadband/wifi and the idiosyncrasies of Zwift’s UI.

So what locations are suggested for rest breaks? Top of the Radio Tower is prob too early other than to regroup as you get a good rest on the way down.

@Forge197 and @Garry_Lager might be able to offer some pointers on what worked for them? Maybe after the Volcano KOM and then once we get to the foot of the Alpe?

Did a stop top of Radio Climb then I think we did one just over the 40 mile mark as over half way and I did another just before the Alpe Climb but Garry kept going for that one. Then I had a two or three short rests on the Alpe

I don’t know what’s best for breaks etc, not done enough long turbo sessions to really get the experience of what works – the faster you do the ride, then the less time you’re on the turbo. But the more breaks you have then the better you can dissipate mounting discomfort, so people will square that circle different ways.

One thing I was wondering about is whether to push the climbs a bit more – I took them very steady on the Uber (and forge kindly waited for me at the top of them), solid zone 2 until the last zwiftKOM and the Alpe, when you can see the finish line so just go with whatever you can sustain. But there’s an argument for going a bit harder on them as you’ll see the most time gains – that is a basic timetrialling tenet of how you raise average speed, most effort at the slowest points.

I find HR helpful on these sort of rides – 140 is top of zone 2 for me and a clear demarcation between going steady and putting a bit of effort in. Pushing the climbs up to hr 150 would have speeded things up for prob not too much of a cost overall (famous last words…)

Yeh I have been having that same debate internally Garry – the Epic KOM is very early on in the ride as well so in theory lots of time to recover. Think we will just play it by ear and see how it goes and how fresh I feel on the day.

Thanks guys. I really don’t like stopping for longer than 5 mins or so – I’ve done too many sportives when my mates have taken ages going to loo, filling bottles, eating cake, chatting to St John’s, washing their hair… 5 mins is enough to use the loo, stretch and have a bite to eat. My only thought on hills is to take it reasonably easy on the Epic and Volcano

I think you are faster than me on the hills @slowpuncheur so will likely be waiting for me. Shouldn’t be too bad on the volcano but likely on the Epic plus Radio tower!

Following today’s miserable real world ride, freezing cold, strong wind, thorn through tyre, shitty shifting. I might find it easier to resist heading out again on Saturday and join you guys instead.

6.30am or 7 is a bit early as I need to take a tablet 20/30minutes before any food eat digest and set off, normally have one more morning ritual I need to get rid off before being comfortable on a bike. so need to decide if I can eat that early, or to start the ride fasted and just have some cereal bars, banana as we get going. Then a top up and pit stop at the first proper stop.

However please don’t change the time for me, I’ll just jump on if I can make it work.

I think you are faster than me on the hills @slowpuncheur so will likely be waiting for me. Shouldn’t be too bad on the volcano but likely on the Epic plus Radio tower!

Nah @Robbo1234biking. I’m going to sit on/sandbag my way around and drop you on the Alpe;)

@Kirky72 I’m sure Robbo is the same but happy to pit stop whenever suits. Will be good to have the flying flat cap aboard.

I’m half wondering about Saturday but I’m not sure I’m that in tune with Zwift at the minute to sit on the turbo for that length of time.

@robbo1234biking @stumpy01 sorry for the no show this morning, I had a really bad nights sleep seeing 2am, 3am and 4am, so I took the decision to grab an extra hour before work. With it being an easy recovery ride it was the best option.
Hope it went well and I’ll try do it at some point.

No probs @oopnorth was a nice easy recovery session. Felt good actually. Fingers crossed I still feel good on Sat morning!

No Probs, oopnorth. It was a nice session today though, so a shame you couldn’t make it. Sounds like sleep was more important though!

I managed to get the ‘join’ button on my second attempt today. I tried all the tips from yesterday on the first start-up of Zwift, but nothing seemed to prompt it to appear. I waited until we passed the 5 min window, to see if I was being too eager, but that didn’t work, so I restarted Zwift & it then showed. Weird that I can’t recall having this issue before, but it has now happened 3x in a row.

Game update available now with 4 new routes!

New Routes in Watopia! We’ve added 4 new routes to Watopia which utilize newly discovered roads, both paved and unpaved, and feature 4 new badges to collect.

Serpentine 8 – A winding jungle path dedicated to an ancient deity. This route is 19.3km/12.0mi with an elevation gain of 205.7m/675ft.
Beach Island Loop – A brisk loop around the Beach Island. Don’t feed the sea lions! This route is 12.7km/7.9mi with an elevation gain of 47.85m/157ft.
Two Bridges Loop – A tight, scenic loop featuring the Italian villa and two bridges. This route is 6.8km/4.2mi with an elevation gain of 79.9m/262ft.
Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop – Explore beaches, volcanoes and a precarious cliffside. This route is 19.0km/11.8mi with an elevation gain of 155.8m/511ft.

Don’t have any more details at the moment though!

Great! I did notice when riding recently that there was a closed off turn on a bit of road with some barriers and flashing lights.
That’s normally a surefire sign that there’s some new bits going in soon.

Is it on for the Uber Pretzel?

Robbo,

can you send me an invite for tomorrow can’t do all but will keep you company to about 8ish.

Neil

Cheers for the invite.

Think I’m in for the first 100km, almost certainly no more than say, 115km 😜

Yep it is on – have sent you both an invite.

Think we will regourp at top of the radio tower, then have a rest at the top of the Volcano for 5 mins. After that see how it goes and who is left but likely another 5 minute break before the alpe ascent.

Might have to try some of these new routes this weekend.

So what’s the plan for tomorrow if we join you later? Is there a discord running?

Yeh discord is running for chat – I wont use voice as will listen to some podcasts and music. @savoyad do you have a fresh link for the discord? I don’t know how long the links are valid for.

@oopnorth

If you do the new routes watch the spawn point. It might not spawn in the right place for the route so you might need to do a u turn and then use manual turns. Classic Zwift!

https://zwiftinsider.com/update-1-0-60239/

Fresh discord link: https://discord.gg/F92vG5Uj

Cheers Robbo, I know this has been asked before but how does discord work has never used it.

Neil

It looks like the new routes have been opened up by adding 4 “shortcuts” to the watopia map and then using them to link things together in new ways. I quite like it. I think they’ve added road:

– from the switchback on the forward KOM straight across to the statues at the steep bit of the reverse KOM
– along the bank between the two bridges (then not used it in the route called two bridges…)
– from the base of the Epic KOM to the base of the reverse epic KOM along the coast (that coast is elevated, so the bridge/island ramp climbs at either end still need doing to get to it)
– across the middle of the jungle loop to open up the possibility of a figure 8

Neil – open up the link Savoyad posted above and then you can join the STW server. You will need to sign up with email and password.

Within the STW server are two main groups: Voice channels and Text channels. We will use the text channels – there is one called Robbos UBER Support (although others are doing it with me!). Click in it and it is basically like a WhatsApp group we can chat in via text in real time

Will need to make a call on the Uber tonight or as late as tomorrow morning. Cried off an outdoor ride yesterday as I woke up with bit of a cold, pootled in Zwift instead. Throat feels like I’ve gargled with razor blades and have a tight chest today so will lay up and see how I feel. I had a very cold and miserable ride on Tuesday where I also forgot my sunglasses so had streaming sinuses as a result, maybe just a knock on effect.

Good luck if I do t see you on the start.

Good luck on the Uber ride tomorrow 👍