Thanks for the Ride On Weeksy – at the time you pressed that I was 1:30m away from the end of a 3rd 20 mins sweet spot interval so my brain was struggling – well timed encouragement!

He does seem to give them at useful moments. Seem to get on every time I’m riding 😀 (thanks weeksy).

LOL as usual, i wasn’t even there, just browsing events 🙂

Ha ha, I did look at the riders around me wondering where you were….

I’m thinking 2 days of rest… I’ve been doing a fair bit of climbing lately (virtually) and my knees/legs are complaining at me. So i’ve already got Sat planned as no riding due to a long ride on Sunday planned… but thinking i may as well take today off too.

Good and bad race today

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=176392

20 only in the C race and we split early with 7 of us in lead bunch. 2 laps in we were 6, but 2 of them kept breaking away at 4.5+ and I was left to bring them back 3 times, I never got much in the way of help on that. Eventually they kicked and shipped us out. So we were a 4. But looking at their power they were not staying in the results anyway lol.

Our 4 was varied, a Korean who weighed about the same as my legs, a big yank and another guy. As such, different bits of the course suited me and the big fella, bits suited the Korean. Sadly it’s a short 7-8% kick to line which suited the lighter guys more than me.

All good fun though!

I’m thinking 2 days of rest

i may as well take today off too

Good and bad race today

You crack me up…

I crack myself up too. I can barely get off the sofa now.

I lost track of time messing about in the garage so started this race with 2 seconds left on the countdown timer. Needless to say, no warm up and starting pretty much dead last meant I was never going to get e great position. Managed to jump across a couple of small groups and made it up to 19/30 C riders. Zwift Power has me 10/17 in C. Can’t comaplin too much about that!

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=176398

Just rode stage 1 of tour and ended up in a group with Thomas de Gendt. I was trying my 4th replacement kickr core so i wanted to push it. It was a very fast ride but managed to finish 20th out of 710 with de gendt leading our bunch over the line. I thought he would be at the tour of flanders so yet to verify if it was him but he did seem to have the symbol to signify it was but could be wrong.

60km of trails/woods yesterday so wasn’t exaclty expecting miracles, but went for a short one to try and get some ranking points.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=177349

Stayed with the A/B group along with 2 Cs for the majority of the race, it was only when we got to the wiggly right/left/right on Greater London Flat where it kicks up to 2% that the group split and i was spat out… I tried, i really did… Stomped on the pedals for a 20s sprint to catch, but blow me, it was gone. DAMN ! I just can’t hold the faster Bs at all sadly.

I had a guy who’d been dropped with me who was a B and a C who was 8s ahead now having been spat out 30s after us… So tried to close the gap on him…. Which we managed on the way out of the underpass… It all then got a bit pro-tour and cagey between us… They were sticking in 3.5w/kg until then, but then they both eased… Then up again, then easing… I was trying to settle the HR and waiting for the line.

500m to go one of them upped the pace a bit and i went with him… 300m to go they both hit 11-12w/kg… I laughed and cruised to the line… I can’t get near 11w/kg on a realxing day, let alone at the end of a hard race.

Convincing win though after a 4.6w/kg ZP C was taken out…. Hopefully get a few points anyway.

Tour of watopia stage 2 today, bloody horrible volcano loops and lapped at least twice. Managed 1090 out of 1200 so “not last” target achieved. New pb on average power but feeling it now.

The chat turned into racing excuses verging on airplane quality, “looks like i picked the wrong day to quit epo”

As I’m meant to be on a recovery week before the Scott MTB marathon on Sunday and i did a charity 50 miler last Sunday I just entered a short race. Felt the leg fatigue from the off and had a good warm up which ended up with me “testing” my sprint and got the 1200watt badge.
The race was flat out from the start and tried to cling on to the front pack but they were out of my league, the second pack then just kept fragmenting and I missed a couple of the attacks as I wasn’t 100 concentrating. Ended up with me and another guy on a TT bike coming up to the home straight. I was overtaking him on the sprint when he started doing mad u turns! Not sure if he was trying to stick me or some mad tactic. Never seen it before but it didn’t work and he ended up a few seconds back in the end. Managed 3rd in cat c.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=177741
Bought the zwift aero bike now on the shop so I’ll see if that makes me more competitive, think it’s more the emperor’s New clothes though.

Got to try and recover now till Sunday and somehow test my new bike as it hasn’t seen daylight yet.
All the zwifting seems to help though as the 50 mile charity ride seemed fairly easy and kept a high tempo.

I did a gentle cruise this morning, but my competitive side is trying to escape this afternoon.

Zwift has ‘race rankings’ and i’m struggling to move up… You only really move up by beating people above you, but with timezones etc, getting them people out racing when you’re on is often tricky.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=178450

This one has 2 guys who are both above me, but i’m slightly worried that
1. My legs are dead
2. They may stuff me LOL.

Even though it’s on the Richmond flat layout, with it only being short the pace is likely to be completely bonkers, especially when you consider some of the As racing who are proper quick.

So, not sure.

1200w 😲

I’m away for a few weeks in Australia. Working on my running and hopefully going to check out some real trails.

Had two power drop-outs on my last two races. Only enough to lose 30 seconds each time and entirely my fault (fiddled with wireless network and then tried Zwift’s experimental Bluetooth mode…) but enough to scupper my chances. On the bright side when you start from the back it’s quite satisfying clawing back places.

Real trails nixie? What are those? Is this a zwift expansion pack !?

There are rumours of a real expansion with a desert flat section. Might suit a few of us on here as we seem to like flat races

I’m not sure. Not seen any for a while. Not convinced I can remember how to steer and pedal 😆

Did road to sky the other day, still can’t hold on to the handlebars and my position on the bike is somewhat less than optimal, my arse was killing me at an hour and couldn’t really do much to move around without aggravating my shoulder. Made it up sub hour which was nice, so got the achievement.

Cheated though – i’ve not updated my weight since the crash and i’ve put on a KG a week since then :s

Nice one Scaled, under an hour is great even when fully fit.

I have set pr’s for my 20m,1m and 15s power this week even though i wasnt meant to be riding. 20m power max is now 3.8w/kg, 1m is 6.1w/kg and 15s is 11.6w/kg. I also hit a new max watt of 1042w.

Volcano flat today, 2 laps.

Lol 10/12 at the top of C were DQ or not registered. Average in top 14 riders in C was 3.8w/kg

Bit of a farce really. I was in the main C bunch until 2 to go. I got dropped when my lad came asking me daft questions, but I’d have finished last of the group anyway for sure.

Ridiculousky, I still got silver
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=178702

After doing Tour of Zwift on Friday night I noticed I’d been demoted back to C so I thought I’d fill my boots on Saturday night.
3 laps Innsbruck. Out of interest I stuck the road bike on with road shoes rather than the normal MTB and SPDs. I prefer the position and it felt smoother, maybe easier.
Final power seemed to come out pretty much where I’d expect it. In my head I was doing better.

Held the front group to the hill which blew it all apart and a good group formed by the fininsh straight. Couple of Cs 20 seconds ahead so I went hard and split the group over the hill and we almost got to them but not enough power after the donwhill and the group came back together although a few missing off the back. Final lap and the small group ahead split on the climb and a bit more measured efffort over the hill split the group again but there must have been some heavyweights with big power pulling it back. Caught one of the Cs on the climb. Not really sure where to sprint from here so went when someone else did. 600m is too far! Got pipped by the only credible C on the line (but he had no HR) after about 2 others got past. Happy with that and a reasonable amount under CAT limits at 3.07WKG. I’d rather be a B with the extra watts mind ;0)

Oh and race link https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=179012

Further use of the road bike tonight has made me note that the out of the saddle position sprinting or just upping the tempo is a much nicer position than on the MTB.

Interesting Tom… As you may have seen, i debated a road bike for training instead recently but decided on a new Shoei for the KTM instead LOL.

Congrats on the win…. I’ll see you soon 😉

I’m definitely Zwifting differently now that I can’t race 😀

3 Sisters last night at a nice steady pace, 24 mins up the Epic KOM and a shade <8 mins up the volcano. The long climbs are actually quite enjoyable in a strange way

Old me wouldn’t have bothered getting out to the garage unless there was an event on

What have i missed Scaled ?

An update :
It’s been 5 weeks, and on average I’ve been playing in Zwift once a week, and getting outdoors once or twice a week too.
Not lost any of the kgs, but a 20min FTP test last night showed a 15 W gain. Still some ways to go, but I suspect the best (& hardest) thing I can do is cut out the beers.
Will be looking to do some lower level racing once a week to help keep a schedule more than anything – an suggestions for a 6-6:30 start race series for beginners ?

weeksy

What have i missed Scaled ?

Smashed my shoulder up racing at Hit the North. When i look at all the crazy shit i’ve ridden/raced in the alps and all that, it’s bloody ridiculous injuring myself in an XC race 20 mins from home.

Got another 2 weeks in the sling then another trip to the fracture clinic, not a bad break, just that it’s where the rotator cuff ligament attaches to my upper arm, if i do too much i run the risk of ripping that out entirely which is then a looooong lay off, so i’m taking it easy 😀

Weeksy – you prob already covered this in this massive thread but what set up you using? I’m looking to start zwift shortly using my hardtail as training for an endurance event later this year. Just wondered what gearing you are using and whether you’re on a smart trainer? Apologies for newbie questions but any assistance would be much appreciated.

Me,

I’m on a KickrSnap. Running a 29er HT (Locked out front) with a 32mm Tacx turbo 700c tyre at 100psi. Gearing varies from a 36/36 to my current 42/36 (front ring/cassette) i’ve been running a 38T for ages but needed an extra gear just in case.
Flats (Wellgo v8) and 5’10s.

Comfortable win on what’s arguably my best course and distance.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=179530

Stayed with group who almost dropped me 2,km out, but had to use my Aero early and left them to it in the sprint as I was miles ahead of next C and didn’t think I’d beat them

👍 Thanks Weeksy, much appreciated. Funnily enough it’s the Snap I was looking at.

At the end of tonight’s session I was sat on my bike (not pedaling) when my avatar started moving and power started creeping up. Hit over 2000W!! Have unlocked a couple of achievements and set a new FTP of 408W (previous 267!!!). I have had to edit the FIT file to cut out the two minutes of superman performance.

Lol weird isn’t it, at times I get surges during warm up with unrealistic power and resistance. After 2-3 min it seems to settle down.

Hit over 2000W!! Have unlocked a couple of achievements and set a new FTP of 408W (previous 267!!!)

I call that “feeling strong today” 😀

I think Snaps probably are great but I’d be looking at a direct mount trainer if I was buying again (it’s what I have now and I wouldn’t go “back”).  You can often find a direto for about £500 – how much is a snap ?

Snap is £500 too.

I’d probably try a Tacx Neo next if/when the Snap gives up. Possibly a Kickr Core. Dunno yet, we’ll have to wait and see. At the moment the Snap is under warranty so as long as it keeps working i won’t swap it.

Moved up to 79th in C rankings overall, up from 83rd, it’s properly slim pickings trying to get points/rankings. Yesterdays race i deliberately joined as it had 2 racers who were reasonably highly ranked…. Sadly neither of them turned up. So i ended up with 1.83 points lol… which seems not a lot, but mostly even when I win i get 0 these days… so better than nothing.

Just picked up an Elite Direto OTS 2 from Halfords for £495.00 (with 10% discount), so happy days. Feedback soon……….hopefully!

Congrats Nik, see you on there soon 🙂

I did the Dirt Rolling thunder social ride for an hour but some of the guys at the end suggested doing the TTR race so i thought why not. It was a full gas 1 lap of watopia flat with some big hitters in the list. It was pretty hard but somehow i just had some legs today and incredibly i finished 4th overall (beat most of the A field) and won B cat. Race had no attacks but all ramps were 600w to stay in touch, finished with avg 312w, 4.0w/kg and winner beat me by 0.9sec, pretty pleased with that. The person who suggested the race didnt show up so he is getting some stick tomorrow in the grind race!

That was a damn impressive performance!