time to dip my toes back in after Christmas, last rode 19/12/18, kids seem to have been off school forever and Christmas has been very busy this year, time to get back in the habit,

well not today, went to inflatanation with the kids, was going to book 2 hour hours, was lucky to see out the hour, I’m sure they had more fun than me though, ruined 🙂

Just found out that on 19th Dec i had a KOM on zwift, it has now just been beaten twice today so i am now in a lowly 3rd place. I dont remember doing it so it must have been really fast. It was a a 1.7 mile segment on the Astoria south loop.

Someone made the section today because they prob noticed the group pulled them along faster than usual.

Mooman – i dont doubt for a second that my effort was part of a large group as there is no way i am quick as an individual.

So Tour de zwift issues…… anyone else having them?

Attempt #1:
Started off the start gate half the pack went left on the main course, I went right, all settled in then after 10KM another “Wrong turn” about three of us going in the wrong direction, obviously no way back from that, aborted…..

Attempt #2:
Went right again but then off the course, through bushes and just stopped, I was pedalling, legs moving but I was doing nothing.

My set up has been bomb proof for 2 years of zwifting, no internet connection issues.

Frustrating…..grr……

Anyway, what direction should stage 2 go when joining the main route??

Going to try again at 21.00, hopefully should be a little quieter then (Accepting its a worldwide platform)…..

blader1611

Member
Mooman – i dont doubt for a second that my effort was part of a large group as there is no way i am quick as an individual.

I wasnt getting at how you got the initial time; just offering an explanation for how you didnt notice it when you first got it.
After all – apart from climbing the longer sections like the volcano or the Alpe – every other section in zwift will be heavily influenced by whatever group your in.

I did the 18.40 Criterium Training Race (BRT) this evening … got dropped from the front group 2nd lap into the 4 lap race … but increased the ftp to 295, so not all bad.
A cheese and onion baguet 20 mins before a race isnt a good idea if anyone ever considers it …

harry too

Member

So Tour de zwift issues…… anyone else having them?

On both stages my Bluetooth connection has dropped out at the start. Today I warmed up for ten minutes in Central Park with no problems and as soon as I joined the event it dropped out and I had to resort to Ant+ virtual power.

I’ve seen a few funny things as well like riders moving but their avatar not pedalling. I’ve also seen several riders with their name banner on the main screen but not appearing in the “Riders Nearby” panel on the right. Zwift are starting to become victims of their own success I think. They need to divert some of the cash they are obviously raking in for more processing power.

I won’t be entering another of these Zwift tours again. Just too many riders attracted to them. It’s not as much fun or fulfilling as racing either.

Having not raced before, I’m enjoying the zwift tour so far. 1 down so far and legs are heavy. Strategically doing stage 2 late tonight for more recovery time. Feels like a nice beginner event

OK so what can I do to get the most bang for my buck so to speak.

I bike commute into work normally at least 4 days a week (depending on school pickups) which is 6.5 miles in and 6.5 miles out.

I plan to have Monday and Wednesday evenings free for Zwift sessions, and then Sunday mornings to go out for a proper ride so to speak.

I am thinking of doing a race on Wednesday evenings which leaves me with 1 Zwift session per week. Any tips on what workout I should be looking at to improve general fitness. Can prob do up to 90 minutes during the session and I know there are a number of generic workouts to undertake.

Any tips on what workout I should be looking at to improve general fitness.

It depends on what you mean by ‘general fitness’ really. You kind of have two option, I’d have thought, one would be to work out what your weaknesses are – sprint power, ftp, anaerobic or whatever – and choose a workout to specifically address that.

The other, vaguely opposite approach, would be to find a workout that tries to address a little bit of everything. I don’t know what that would be on Zwift, if it were Sufferfest, it’d be something like Blender…

… but if you’re doing a hardish ride on Sunday, you might not be fully recovered to do a hard session on Monday evening, but that depends on what the Sunday ride looks like.

You can also tweak your commute so it becomes more training orientated by, say, throwing in some sharp sprints or whatever, depending on what you’re trying to improve.

I don’t know if that’s very helpful, but ‘general fitness’ is a pretty broad sweep. You might be better doing some running or resistance work / weight training for example, but it all depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what you’re strengths and weaknesses are, I think.

More aiming to lose weight actually. My fitness is pretty good and I find I struggle on hills because I am trying to shift weight up them. I struggle less on Zwift because you aren’t physically carrying the weight up a hill (I realise that Zwift adjust the in game speed relative to your weight).

So calorie burning is prob what I am really looking for (but without sitting at Z2 for an hour at a time)

One thing i’d say with the commutes, is start wearing your HRM – If you’ve got the premium strava thing then it gives you a really nice fitness and freshness thing – try and keep it in the zones and you’ll see your “general fitness” increase. It should stop you from completely burning yourself out.

I was feeling great 2 months ago, smashing times on the commute, getting up early and doing 30 miles instead of 6. One long mountain bike ride at race pace and i went pop. It’s taken me ~8 weeks to get back to where I was previously cos I wasn’t resting enough and my commutes weren’t in the data cos of no HRM.

We’ve been enjoying the tour, yes 3500 people is a struggle and I saw others having problems but it worked for me. My avatar’s feet sometimes stop turning even when I’m going hard but that is a problem with my sensor (perhaps location on side of shoe doesn’t help, but that’s where it sits).

@scaled I would say I was the same. Had a cough before Christmas which hasn’t fully shifted but I do find I feel a bit sluggish at times on the commute. Will start wearing the HRM and see what that shows.

It’s better if you have heart and/or power data, but https://cricklesorg.wordpress.com/ (free) can estimate your efforts without gadgets for fitness/fatigue/form, as can Elevate (formerly known as Stravistix, free plugin for Google Chrome) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/elevate-for-strava/dhiaggccakkgdfcadnklkbljcgicpckn?hl=en

So calorie burning is prob what I am really looking for (but without sitting at Z2 for an hour at a time)

As I understand it, you’ll burn more calories outright – and with an ensuing faster metabolism after the session – with intense stuff than plodding along in zone 2, although the low intensity stuff will use more fat at the time, so you’re still arguably better off doing some intense intervals, particularly if you only have 90 minutes.

On the recovery front, I use a phone app called ithlete which gives you a holistic estimate of your recovery like a sort of glorified resting heart rate, but more sophisticated.

As I understand it, you’ll burn more calories outright – and with an ensuing faster metabolism after the session – with intense stuff than plodding along in zone 2, although the low intensity stuff will use more fat at the time, so you’re still arguably better off doing some intense intervals, particularly if you only have 90 minutes.

On the recovery front, I use a phone app called ithlete which gives you a holistic estimate of your recovery like a sort of glorified resting heart rate, but more sophisticated.

But with the high intensity, fatigue can be highger meaning you need more rest, then over the course of a week etc you’d actually burn less as you’ve rested more overall.

My Garmin yesterday said my recovery from race is 72 hours.. LOL…. it doesn’t know i’ll be Zwifting today 🙂

Mine will be a Z2 effort today as not racing at the moment but trying longer slower rides… it will ‘only’be 90 mins, but that’s 30-40 more than Zwift races along with being the start of 5-2 today and a fasting day.

Did TdZ the other day – Wasn’t up for a race really (which of course, it’s not!) I wasn’t even on the turbo at the start as I’d jumped off the bike to turn the heater off, I get cold feet on the turbo, alright?

I had to go pretty hard to get up to ~50th or something by the bottom of the first climb (from 500+ at the start) but with a long line of riders was pretty much always in the draft, dug in again to get up the climb and got to the front of the chasing pack, the quick guys had gone well off the front as soon as it pointed uphill. That climb in NY is STEEP.

I’d had enough by the time we were halfway down the descent and figured i’d just drop back to the next group on the road and spin my legs out, dropped to the back of the pack and Jesus… We were 6 mins up on the next rider, sod that. There were about 20 in the group I was in so just tried to sit in as best I could, still going at a fair old lick though, are these #DoubleDraft? We caught the lead group and it calmed down a bit until the forward KOM where the 10 fast lads got away again, nice final sprint though, 12th overall but 3rd in the ‘best of the rest’ group I was in. Lack of powerups meant i got hammered by 2 lads with aeros.

Not bad for my first decent effort on Zwift for a while and was nice to ride all of NY, i’ve not spent a lot of time there.

You know nobody else was trying as it’s not a race don’t you 😉

🙂

But with the high intensity, fatigue can be highger meaning you need more rest, then over the course of a week etc you’d actually burn less as you’ve rested more overall.

It doesn’t sound like the rest of the week is super demanding, but who knows. Sitting in zone 2 for 90 minutes is kind of dull, though I guess that there may be research that shows you burn more fat on duller rides 😉

Lets say for example a person does 4 hours a week at higher intensity, doing say 1 hour 4 days and hitting a max of 180bpm for the sprint and a 165bpm average…

Does he burn more calories than a guy doing 8 hours per week but only hitting 150bpm average….

That’s the question.

If we then ask ourselves if the ‘fat burning zone’ actually exists and whether him working in that zone is better for weight loss…. Hmmmm

Sounds like I would be better of just doing a race on Mondays and Wednesday then! Rest of the week isn’t that hard really. Sunday rides can be whatever I want but are there for enjoyment.

A race is generally a fairly constant just below threshold effort and will only get you so far doing those.
I’d suggest using the Monday and pick an interval session out of Zwifts list and see how it goes.
Start with overunders or 30 second intervals at VO2 Max 120% FTP
Might be worth doing a proper FTP test before these though.
I’ve not looked through Zwifts catalogue of stuff though recently to see what fits.
Then there’s a couple of popular ones Jon’s short Mix and Matt Hayman Paris Roubaix.

Take it easy on the way to work and back every day and maybe make Friday harder if you’re up to it.
Back it off every fourth week (or when you need to if sooner). Remove the intensity and skip the race.

A race is generally a fairly constant just below threshold effort and will only get you so far doing those.

Second this. I was doing just races and have completely plateaued. Now trying to add some structure to go further.

Cheers Tom – I will have a look at those workouts and give some a go. Have done a proper FTP test already but could do it again see what results I get.

Managed stage 2 with a near FTP ride; oddly as Ive not ridden in a long time prior to stage 1. Definitely pushed a bit with the excitement of the event and riding with others.

So, despite being a member since the beta days, I did my first pack ride tonight (NY Metro ride).

Hated the first half of it, it was so busy. Didn’t really understand the etiquette, spent the first bit trying to stay with the W/kg but not many others seemed as diligent (which given the tedium, I didn’t blame them).

Then the 2nd half settled in with a group that seemed to want to keep a fairly steady effort.

Is that the point of the pack ride, just work your way through and about half way you find a group who seem to fit your pace naturally? Seems obvious enough, I know.

iamtheresurrection – the Metropolitan was my first pack ride too and my experience was similar. I just used it as a leg spinner – trying to keep close to the ride leader with the odd burst (usually after my concentration had drifted).

I’ve read a fair bit of this thread – one toddler and a newborn has severely limited my opportunities for exercise, and using a turbo in the spare room once the kids have gone to bed seems like it would be a good way of halting the (seemingly unstoppable) advance of the dad-bod.

Can I ask a couple of noob questions re: zwift/turbo setup?

Am looking at the Wahoo Kickr, and will be using it with my 2×10 MTB (Prince Albert). My Cycling fitness is non-existent right now (see above) so I imagine that I will mostly be using the structured training programs to begin with, rather than racing.

I know the Kickr/zwift will work with a 2×10 mtb setup, but will having MTB gearing noticeably impact the “usability” of the platform?

I know that the direct drive trainers automatically adjust the resisitance for you – but my assumption is that having MTB gears will mean me spinning-out relatively easily on the flats/downhills. Or does the smart trainer somehow compensate for this by increasing resistance? Sorry – I’m just not really clear on how they work in practice.

What is ERG mode?

but will having MTB gearing noticeably impact the “usability” of the platform

Kinda, a bit. If you have say a 34T front then you may need more gears, but if running a double, then your big is likely to be a 38T or more… 38T will get you to the low end of B at least. On a 38T i can stick down 320w at 90cadence continually.

ERG mode is where it adjusts the resistance to give power/cadence training i think. So it say “Right, do 200w at 75rpm” and it adjusts things to facilitate. I think in ERG the hills don’t exist as you’re training not riding up/down in a normal context.

p.s a 700C x 32 Tacx tyre fits perfectly on MTB rims and works on either a 27.5 frame or 29er.

The stronger you get the more I think mtb gears will cause an issue. If your a masher then you’ll be running out of gears. If your a spinner then the big (relative to a road cassette) gaps between gears will make it difficult to hold a steady cadence. However to start with no it won’t be an issue. If you find yourself really getting into it then a dedicated turbo bike would be a better idea. One thing to consider is the need to calibrate a wheel on trainer more frequently than a direct drive. This looked like a complete faff if you wanted to maintain reliable power readings which was one of the main reasons I spent to extra to have a direct drive model.

but will having MTB gearing noticeably impact the “usability” of the platform

Kinda, a bit. If you have say a 34T front then you may need more gears, but if running a double, then your big is likely to be a 38T or more… 38T will get you to the low end of B at least. On a 38T i can stick down 320w at 90cadence continually.

Yeah, I think its either a 38 or 40….. sounds like it will see me right for the first “phase” 🙂

Another stupid question (I know nothing about road bikes): how could I upgrade my groupset to give me more roadie-like gearing? I’m assuming I can’t fit roadie chainrings to an MTB crank? Is there some hybrid/treking groupset which would fit an MTB but gives roadie gearing? Sorry – as I said…this is a whole new world.

Edit: Am definitely going for a direct drive trainer, Wahoo Kickr probably

ERG mode is where it adjusts the resistance to give power/cadence training i think. So it say “Right, do 200w at 75rpm” and it adjusts things to facilitate. I think in ERG the hills don’t exist as you’re training not riding up/down in a normal context.

Almost this. It doesn’t adjust the cadence, just the power. So I this example whether you choose to pedal at 50RPM or 120RPM the smart trainer – you have to have a smart trainer – will adjust accordingly so you are always putting out 200w.

Its good for med-long steady training intervals where you want to hold power and take some mental effort away from the process.

And yes, in ERG mode the trainer no longer responds to incline/decline.

nother stupid question (I know nothing about road bikes): how could I upgrade my groupset to give me more roadie-like gearing?

I just bought a 42T N/W ring. Works fine

On another note I reached level 20 last night and got awarded a Trek Madone – go me!

I also got a £10 handlebar mount for my phone so I can use Zwift Companion. It was OK other than the flood of messages. I don’t think its good for workouts TBH when – for me anyway – the distraction is awful, but for group rides/events being able to chat and organise is good fun.

I just bought a 42T N/W ring. Works fine

Simple as that? Oh well I’ll stop worrying about it then 🙂

Tour De Zwift for me tonight.. started virtually at the back (of a field of almost 5000) after a big glitch left some of us twiddling our thumbs / pedals as the pack rode away. My first taste of Keith Hill and I quite enjoyed it!

3R super series race was mega this evening. So many of the massive big guns out that the pace was killer! Nearly puked on lap one!

Nixie – just looked at the results and that must have been brutally fast. A few people i have raced against who wipe the floor with me were over 2 mins down on the winner and barely in the top 50.