I’m a little confused with mine, i fitted a 42T on the front yesterday, but i only seem to have gained 1 click. I’m now sitting in 9th gear for decent rpm/power instead of 10th… I thought i’d have got another click at the very least by going up 4T on the front.

Today is going to be low and slow for me. Planning 90 mins at 180-200w average. No race.

What turbo are you using weeksy?

I find even with 100% on the simulation setting I am spending most of the time across 2-3 gears on the back (13, 14 and 15) with a 48 on the front. I wont change from that though as the bike is used for commute etc so it makes most sense to keep it adaptable.

Kickr Snap.  Weirdly, when using the new 42T i can get the power down in the higher ranges easier, so hitting a sprint off the line etc i hit 500W+ easier…. but my ‘racing speed’ still seems not far away in power and cadence…

I can’t go any bigger really as i’m on a ‘middle’ due to being on a 29er with Raceface Ride single ring 104BCD. I even had to move the chainring when fitting to the other side (outside) of the cranks due to clearance going from the 38T to 42T. I don’t really care about chainline as it’s 99% a turbo bike…

Well I went to do the 1 lap race at 5:10 last night. For the first time ever the tablet didn’t link to the turbo straight away. By the time I had them linked the race had started. So did the volcano time trial instead again for the first time lost connection. Luckily the route and gradient inputs continue so it was just a ride. Would have been last anyway as struggling to keep over 2w/kg.

Glad to make it to the end and at least it’s a start to getting some sort of fitness back.

Did the 1830 cvr monday crit race – advertised as 26km but was 40km, 4 laps of flat reverse

end up in no mans land after 1.5 laps (seems to happen all the time at the moment) couldnt stick with the big front group, got dropped on a short rise and couldnt get back on but had put plenty of time into those behind so ended up soloing to the end

field seemed bigger than the results suggested

annoyingly had a coulple of drops in the ant+ data, switched the bike im using on the turbo and using neo power instead of the Quarq

Oh…. there’s teh 15:05 today….  3 laps Volcano flat….

I’m going to have a play…. and NOT go off with the lead bunch of A/Bs.

@Weeksy you went up  about 10% on the front ring and gained one gear at the back? Sounds about bob on to me.

I just had a nice gentle cruise round wattopia yesterday with a WBR 2w/kg ride with a sprint effort on each lap.  Not got a great deal in my legs at the moment for some reason but still hit some power PRs in the sprints so can’t be that bad. I’m still wanting to get 15 second power up to 1.2k, I might find the 23 watts in fresh legs some time.

Back on to Zwift for the first time this side of summer last night. Was going to do the KISS at 8pm only to find the kids had drained the iPad! Charged it and jumped on the WBR road to ruins a bit later instead.

Enjoyed it and was probably a bit fitter than expected. Managed 2.7w/kg which isn’t too bad for me on a hilly route. Got in a nice group of 4. Brilliant sprint between us at the end. Overtook one lad and thought I had held off the others only for another one to catch me on the line and pip me by half a wheel! Forgot what it was like to collapse over the bars shaking and sweating.

That was tough!

Bit of STW representation in the ISS Europe race, the Wahooligan race starting 5 mins beforehand cocked up and had TT bikes again so everyone jumped on the KISS race, the field was huge, 160 odd on Zwiftpower!

I jumped on with literally 8 seconds to spare, got thrown into the start pen and the pips were sounding. The start was brutal and it wasn’t long before i was reaching for my water bottle… that moment of realisation that it’s in the porch, not good.

I figured i’d hang on until the cramp sets in or I didn’t get a PU to get me up the ‘hill’ on volcano flat, somehow I managed to hang on right up till the end. I’d clocked 3 team draft riders riding pretty tightly at the front and one was Leandro so knew that it wasn’t going to go down to a sprint in the classic sense and I wasn’t far wrong. We got to the bottom of the descent and it all went a bit bonkers, I was pushing over 500 watts average for the final KM and had absolutely nothing left at the end, no powerup either, having had one for every other lap, couldn’t even muster a KW for the last dig lol, toast.

6.4 seconds back on the winners, glad i finished though, nice ZP points and I was down to <75KG when I weighed myself after heh. back up to over 76 now i’m rehydrating 😀

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=91289

Same race as above but didn’t go so well for me. I saw scaled at the start and was going to try and hang onto him for as long as I could. Didn’t last long. I got ant+ dropouts before the tunnel and by the time I was in the volcano I was last A by 40s. Whem everything was stable again I tried to TT back in but clearly was not going to work. The B pack was fast gaining so I eased up to let them catch me. I fell in with the large group and stayed there till the end. Lap times were 15s faster than I did I’m the TT last week so no way I could have got back onto the A bunch. We picked a load of As up on the way so I didn’t finish dead last. I tried a few attacks in the ramps for a spot of fun. Clearly had the power there but legs were very tired when it came to sprinting. Still averaged 4.1w/kg!

Mine was an interesting race, although the results may not look like it.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=91360

First job was completed after 2 mins where i let the A/B groups go…. VERY not like me, but in all honesty, something i need to do more, instead of maxing myself out on the HRM. So i settled into another group.. about 8 of us, which as some caught us and we caught some other swelled up to about 25 or so in the group. Couple of As, 3 Bs and a chunk of C riders…

First thing i noticed was how much i was struggling on the 1% after the underwater section, that whole next 1.5km at 1-2% incline was making it HARD for me… .but i was OK, taking advantage of my old saying “Trust the blob”…. the blob being the bunch of course… I got onto the 3rd lap with the main C bunch OK, it was then my lad came home from school and “Dadddddddyyyyyy can you get my bicycle down please so i can go out with the boys for a ride on the Ridgeway”…. To be fair to him, i’d reached the point of no return by then and was ready to throw the towel in.. I’d had 4-5 times at 176HR and that had pushed me hard… So i jumped off and sorted his bike, losing about 1min 30 doing so, then losing a bit more without the draft and the cramp that had now set in on my calves 🙂 Ouch…. But still trundled over the line to complete the event.

It did show me that i need to stop trying to kill myself jumping on the A/B group though. Along with setting my fastest ever lap of the volcano flat, 25/86 of STW Zwifters…. Not loads quicker than my 2nd time, but that was a very quick time being 40s ahead of my next best…. So i’m happy.

Ready for weigh in tomorrow after my 2nd day on 5-2 this week….. Mostly just hoping to keep it sensible on the scales this week, not really expecting miracles… .one would be nice though.

It did show me that i need to stop trying to kill myself jumping on the A/B group though.

Weeksy – the only racing tactic I have is to bury it off the start line and try and stick with the front group for as long as possible. Did the WBR 3 lap of Watopia last night and it was brutal. Very fast and unrelenting. Clearly all the good, outdoor cyclists are back on Zwift for the winter.

Good luck with the weigh in.

Weeksy – the only racing tactic I have is to bury it off the start line and try and stick with the front group for as long as possible.

My problem with that is 2 fold.

Once i get to the first/2nd hill, that tactic ends for me.

After i’m binned, i’ve peaked and it’s all over….

Holding the Cs at least gives me a chance to have a longer ‘race’ with some peers…. Whereas staying with the fast fellas, i’m dead.

double bubble again this morning

11:20 WBR 3 Lap Hilly Reverse – thats was hard, best 20 min power since March, group of about 5 of us until the end, ZP has me 1st in C by over 5 minutes, not sure where the other C’s in my group have gone

straight into 12:20 WBR 4 Laps Volcano Circuit Race – big group towards the end, tried to get away with 4km to go, go reeled in sharpish, ramp into volcano on the last lap strung it out, again about 5 of us at the end, ive got no sprint

The starts are an issue for me as well. I did the SZR autumn series road to ruins race. 80+ Cs in it and over 200 overall.

Worked really hard off the start and still got left behind. I caught a large number of riders up the hill and got into a group of 8 or so. Felt really good coming out of the ruins circuit and the group splintered up the hill out with three of us left. Stayed with them until the little rise in the volcano when they got a break. Tried to get back and thought I was going to at one point, but to no avail. 47th out of 61 listed.

Really pleased with the result as I beat my best time around that course and was 1 watt off my ftp according to zwift power.

I away for a couple of weeks now which is a bit of a bugger as I was just feeling like I was heading in the right direction.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=91593

I really don’t get the speedy starts. It’s so pointless given that there are way better opportunities to drop riders if that’s your game. Would be nicer if there was a gentlepersons agreement to go easish till everyone settles in.

Fast starts are part of racing – thin out the weakest riders straight away … then break the stronger riders down bit by bit😑

ZHR Up & Down race this evening; smallish field of riders … managed to survive with another rider to the top, then worked together so the spread out riders couldn’t catch us on the descent to finish. Surprising what a difference two riders can make on a solo rider trying to get back on.

I’m swaying between an easy gentle lunch-ride today or a powerhouse race type ride.

Legs were feeling the eeek yesterday, so was very gentle… . Today i’m inclined to see more of the same.. but when you think that, a pesky Volcano CCW or something pops up about the time you plan on racing LOL.

Felt shattered last night so ended up chilling on the sofa. The wind on my commute hasn’t helped my legs feel fresh! I may do a race tonight but am taking the lad into town for an eye test and then meeting the mrs for family pizza express tea/ Hopefully that is early on though and will settle for about 8 so I can do something then.

I am having a week off, maybe two. Been flogging myself for two months and am tired in the legs and seem unable to apply myself. Hopefully come back stronger but in the mean time 100K gravel Audax to complete on the weekend. If I sit it out till Saturday that will be my allocated two weeks.

I’m giving myself a little break as well, still tapping out a few km on the commute and the odd z1/2 ride on Zwift but it’s the last round of the PMBA enduro this weekend so i’m trying to keep my legs fresh for that.

Yeh I have been doing quite a big increase recently so it is prob that. I got a new bike on the 3rd August. Since then I have ridden 770 miles on that bike. In the previous 7 months of the year I had ridden 780 miles so half my mileage this ear has been in the last 2 months. Its so hard to rest though as you feel you are going to go backwards!

uh-oh, I’ve joined my first race of the “year” this morning.  Went for B over C just to see what I can manage but mostly hoping for a run out

Now I’m in trouble – the bighitters are in !! 🙂

Ooooooh … .and hmmmmm 🙂

Wonder how long i could hang onto you fellas for 🙂

edit : nah, that’s crazy talk….. easy day….

Seems I’ve lost a little bit over my summer “off” but not too bad but I need to relearn that just because the bunch slips ahead slowly, I can’t reel it in gradually – duuuh

Doubt I could have held on to blader and his chums ’til the end though

(seem to be a lot of unregistered finishers – I rode a lap and a half with a “C” who wouldn’t let me take a turn and churned out 3.8ish for miles, then dropped me and rode off.  Then I was caught by a bunch of 10 or so who I rode in with.  Only one of those has shown up.  Is that a thing now ?)

GDPR re-registration stuff, very few have done it

ah, right

(can’t believe you didn’t turn up weeksy !)

Riding now 🙂 lower watts

well that was horrible, The Chop B – went for B as it was 3-4w/kg – got shelled out the back before the 6 laps even started pace was far too hight for me :o) so just span round, didn’t even put out 3w/kg  ah well 🙂

Scaredypants – not sure where we dropped you but i guess it was horseguards hill. That was quite a good race mainly because nobody was attacking. The usual fast spots on the hill but i was able to deal with that fairly easily. THEN i made a big mistake, i was holding on to an aero as i knew it was going to be a sprint finish. I was typing out a message when somehow i got the user customisation screen up so i panicked thinking i had gone in to the menu which means you stop riding. I frantically started pressing the screen but i stupidly hit the area with my power up, i was still in the race and had just used my pu 2 miles before the line,bollox! I ended up 8th overall about 1.5s behind overall winner and Silver in B group,just imagine if i had that aero!

i then did a race immediately afterwards which i had thought was a social ride,doh! 31 miles later and i finished 6th and shattered.

Yeah, over the top of the rise, guy in front of me lost the tow and so I pulled round him but only raised my effort a tiny bit; by the time I realised you were still pulling away I was out of luck and it very quickly turned into 30 seconds

I wouldn’t have lasted –  I needed an aero to get back on after the longish climb up from the river in the warmup and shirt was off before the start proper

(saw a comment from you as I was riding in – wondered what “I’m a bellend” meant !)

Did the 8pm kiss race but the laptop started doing windows 10 updates before hand and is still going now 2 hours later. Had to use the iPad for the race but the HRM is ant+ so I couldn’t use that for the race. Didn’t feel great for the race (but I was in Pizza express 2 hours before the race) so just tried but couldn’t keep up with the main d group. Ended up jockeying with another rider all the way up the hill and caught and overtook him on the way down. Stayed clear from him with between 10 and 20 seconds all the way to the line. Looks like my result won’t count though as I didn’t have a HRM.

Oh well at least I did something tonight and averaged 2 w/kg so even though I didn’t feel as great I was still on par with my normal power output.

It all helps robbo – I was dropped by the one rider I was left with today, then caught and beaten to the line by the next bunch of 9 or 10.  Gave me a workout and that’s good enough for me.

For some perspective, I had two beers sat on the sofa 😀

Weird end to the WBR London flat race there. Was in a group of 6 most of the way round, about 0.5 miles to go I was just getting into position for the sprint when the others all disappeared and my distance to the finish went up to about 0.8 miles? It was as if I was sent on a different route to the finish. Ended up doing that last bit on my own which was disappointing after a good race up until then.

For some perspective, I had two beers sat on the sofa

Ah, tapering !

(That’s a weird one blitz)

Does Zwiftpower work out categories automatically based on FTP? I tried to race in B in the two lap hilly this afternoon but found myself shunted into A, where I came up second from last and near dead.

Or is it Zwift that figures this out?

Could be I just clicked the wrong thing but I don’t think so.

ZP is calculating your category based on power output during the event. It’s also calculating your correct cat from the last 90 days results.

Just to add they seems to use the 95% of 20 min figure but there are also power over time category limits that can cause an upgrade. The details are on the ZP site somewhere.

Just done my “second” race

Bit irritating as I lost the bunch (remind me, who’s GM on here?) over the top of that first hill up from the river again.  Was closer but still couldn’t hold the right wheels.

Ended up with 1 other rider and was hoping we could bridge back over but he was a bigger wheelsucker than me and we achieved **** all together !

In the end I decided I’d wait for the group 20 sec behind and we all duly grouped up.  The rider I’d been with made a break for it with about 5k to go and I thought he was going to get away.  With 3ish to go I played my only card – feather coming up out of an underpass – and pulled 30m on the group.  Had no choice but to push on (ouch!) and I caught the breakaway dude again but he just sat on my wheel (again) so I waited for the bunch (again).

As expected, got the shit kicked out of me in the sprint. again