Viewing 40 posts - 12,841 through 12,880 (of 15,383 total)
  • Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.
  • tomlevell
    Full Member

    I was rubbish.
    4 laps of greater London in the Kalas Cup series.

    Held the big front group almost to the finish of the first full lap but hanging on generally so got tailed off when the inevitible split happened.
    Small group with an out of category B rider doing intervals dropping back past us then dragging at least 2 groups back to us. Reported to ZP and he appears to have history.
    By the last lap the 4 smaller groups behind the front group came back together for a big sprint finish. As per usual on this route I started too late and was way back.

    First finisher under 80kg was in my group! Average weight of the front group looks to be about 90kg.
    26th 4 minutes back on the winners in C.
    https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=332530

    mooman
    Free Member

    I did Innsbruck stage 2 of the Zwift series yesterday.
    The start was not the usual full on 3-4km sprint. One person went off front on his own and was pushing over 5w/kg for almost the entire race, but he was left to play on his own … obvious weight doper.
    The group stayed together till the first little climb; and that made a split of 8 of us at front.
    On the second climb of final lap we managed to drop one rider on the climb; and the chasing group were about 30 seconds behind. As we got to the bottom of the climb and about 4km from the end the rider we had dropped was about 10 seconds behind. But the group I was in frustratingly started to ease up for the sprint finish; which was allowing the gapped rider to close back onto us.
    I tried to keep pace up by going on front to keep the gap – but only occasionally would one of the other riders contribute; with 400m to go the gapped rider was 2 seconds behind so I decided to go early hoping the others would overtake me quickly so I could jump on them as they passed and stop the gapped rider getting on … they sat on me till 200m to go!! and by which time I was cooked to get on back of them.
    But did manage to stop gapped rider getting on lol

    oopnorth
    Free Member

    I need to up my distances, I’m happy up to 30km right now. Any suggestions for good routes of 40-50km in Zwift world that I won’t get bored on?

    What are your favourites?

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    Haze
    Full Member

    Sooo… any particular recommendations for a short tester of a race on Saturday morning?

    I’m coming off of Gastro and a mild Flu (the proper Flu) yet at the same time I’m in a rest week with Training resuming on Monday. Weather’s rubbish so I thought I might test/warm up my legs before I get back to it.

    Take a look at BestBikeSplit, I haven’t tried this is anger yet…but…you can upload a previous race file (TCX) and download it as ZWO to ride as a custom workout in Zwift (using ERG)

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    Anyone else looking at the Kirchmair sprint double races at 1805 and 1835?

    3 laps of La Guardia in both directions, ~11Km reverse first and then 10Km forward.

    No idea how my legs will cope, did the 1645 Bell Lap race, but ~12 miles of pain won’t take long… Right? 😆

    tomlevell
    Full Member

    #oopnorth I’d pick routes from the list on the worlds. I prefer Watopia and if you go up any of the mountains it tends to be reasonably quiet. Try tickong off route badges to keep your interest.

    Revisited Crit City this afternoon. Reasonable warmup and another brutal start. This time it didn’t let up at halfway so I barely saw the front of the group. Got dropped multiple times but not enough to get rid of me and a few others. Finally lost the group with 5 corners to go and sat up as there was no way I was coming back. Finished 10th which meant there were 7 sandbaggers pulling the group hard. Beaten by 2 90kg powerhouses and the rest got DQed including the 40kg rider pulling over 5 w/kg!
    Winners were 40 seconds faster than last weeks race.
    https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=335191

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    I’m going to do the 16.30 crit city race. Anyone else in? I’m in D

    weeksy
    Full Member

    My legs are tired today sorry after a long racing week. I still keep threatening to start easing off the racing, but as you may have gathered, that’s not going well lol.

    eskay
    Full Member

    @oop north – look for some of the long group rides and just drop out when you are done, much better than riding alone.

    I have been doing the 100k Audax rides that start at 9.15 on Sunday mornings (whilst the weather has been poor).

    Alex
    Full Member

    @oop north – look for some of the long group rides and just drop out when you are done, much better than riding alone

    I’ve done that. There’s an Austrian group (DIRT) who do a 100km on a Sunday. I’ll join and ride until bored. Never got to the end yet, but better than riding on your own.

    Having said that I’m revisiting all the standard routes on my new Direto. It’s SO much nicer than the Flux it replaced (and has yet to stop working which again places it apart from TACX offerings).

    Muir and the Mountain this morning. Beat my best time up the KOM by nearly a minute but had nothing left for the radio tower! Plus the Direto works up to 15% gradient, the Flux was only 10%…

    Anyone know how to ‘calibrate’ my Garmin Fenix with the Elite cadence sensor? Leaving it on auto has you riding at 130kmh 🙂

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    @Alex Have you tried using 173 or 17.3 under the circumference setting on the Garmin?

    The wheels have well and truly fallen off my TT Tune-Up plan on this 6th week, I didn’t touch the turbo on either Tues or Sat (two rest days in a week is very unusual for me) and I was very late in jumping on the turbo on Fri to squeeze in three small races between ~1640 and ~1900.

    Think it’s been a combo of several bad night’s sleep and putting me way outside my comfort zone asking me to do repeated intervals in the ballpark of 2mins @441W, when my best 2mins before this week was ~410W as a one-off effort in Oct 2018… I am definitely not your man for sprint power! 😆

    Trying to decide if I want to do https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/tt-tuneup/week-6-power-intervals-2/ (which will kill me), https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/tt-tuneup/week-5-endurance-3/ or look at the race events or even freeride before dinner today.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    Quite like that Crit circuit. Although a lap counter would be nice…

    Alex
    Full Member

    @n0b0dy0ftheg0at – thanks I’ll give that a try.

    neils
    Free Member

    Just completed the last ride on Tour d’zwift – not sure if I will bother with the kit I earned – ended up doing 4 stages in last 4 days. Did the Bologna TT yesterday – 2 times up that assent is brutal. The Harrogate stage today was more to my liking – no massive steep hills – and a bit shorter

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    Did the crit city 4.30 race. Went pretty well really. Couldn’t keep with the very front group but was in a good group of 20 in the second group on the road. Surprisingly I was one of the strongest on the short uphill section as I kept popping to the front of the group. Kept with the group until the last lap when I got caught out and about ten went away on the short downhill gravel section.

    I did a 15 min warm up before hand and went to hard. Ended up with a IF of 1 and 2 x 1000w sprints in the warm up but I was playing around with gears and seeing what to use in the race. Without that I might have done better.

    ZP has me as 3rd only 3 seconds behind the Winner

    https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=336376

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Top job. Any podiums are hard fought.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    I did the C race. Slower than you did the D…

    Realised how much easier it is to keep track of who’s who when everyone isn’t wearing identical kit ala TDZ races.

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    jam bo the short crit circuit equalises the races a bit I think. On a longer hillier rout you would easily be ahead. I know what you mean about a lap counter although that might be a bit dispiriting if you look and still have 5 laps left!

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    I was trying to do the sums in my head while trying not to get dropped. Worked my way up with another couple of people from ~50th at the end of the first lap to 37th by the end. Went to late on the sprint and missed out on a few more places.

    bjj.andy.w
    Free Member

    Always like doing long rides outside so thought I’d do the Slovenian Zwift League race this morning that was raced on the four horsemen route. A 55 mile race taking in the climbs of : original hilly KOM, volcano KOM, epic KOM then the Alpe du Zwift. I’ve ridden the course solo a month ago in a decent time (just over 3hrs) so was intrigued on how faster it’d be in a race situation.
    It went really well, stayed with the front group most of the way with a bit of a breakaway going up the Epic KOM but thankfully managed to bring it back. I fully expected it to all kick off at the bottom of the Alpe so made a point of riding it just over SS and not get carried away. To my surprise I was in the top 3 at the top so pulled my tripe out to get a gap before the decent. It worked a treat and because of my heft (all 82kg of it) by the time I got to the bottom I had a healthy 1 minute gap. The rest of the course is my forte, rolling terrain with no big hills so just rode it TT stylee. With about 3 miles to go the chasing pack gave up so I knew I had it in the bag, finishing over 2mins in front of the guy who came second 😁
    https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=336318

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Now that’s a race !!!!

    oopnorth
    Free Member

    @oop north – look for some of the long group rides and just drop out when you are done, much better than riding alone.

    Good idea that, to be honest it never crossed my mind as I always like to finish what I started 🙂
    As most of my riding is early morning before work I have limited time and try to work around 60 minutes to maximum 80 minutes ride times. I have been looking at some of the Watopia routes like Out and Back but I may have to do them on a weekend as I’m not sure if I can do 40km in that time, especially with any big hills involved.
    Races and group rides definitely keep me more engaged and push me more, so thanks for your suggestion @eskay

    bjj.andy.w
    Free Member

    weeksy

    Now that’s a race !!!

    It’s a good one that’s for sure ! Well, that’s if you’re into the long races, a lot people prefer the short crits. Not everyone can spare (or can bear) 3hrs on the turbo.

    mooman
    Free Member

    Team Italy Gladiators Race tonight. 30km of Watopia figure 8.

    Relatively gentle start and fairly big group until the first little climb 7km in which split the front group in half. I managed to stay with the front group of A riders until the last climb 8km from the end when they dropped me. I had to solo from there to the end with the chasing B cat riders about 1 min 30 behind. Managed to keep the gap and got my first B cat win for quite some time.

    The slower start and easy climbs definitely made all the difference.

    jamesoz
    Full Member

    I’ve swapped to an old steel Dawes Edge rigid mtb with road wheels, it’s so much more comfortable on the trainer than my road bike.
    I’ve got an actual outdoors mtb race on Sunday, after that’s done I think I’ll try some longer stuff. 1.5 hours was all I could deal with on the roadie.

    oopnorth
    Free Member

    First time up the Alpe tonight, joined a group ride. Went better than I thought it would, hard but felt good. 67 minutes from bottom to top, gives me a target to beat for next time.
    FTP increase too to 274.

    bjj.andy.w
    Free Member

    That’s a good marker to start with and congrats on your FTP increase! I signed up for the Tron challenge at the end of November so it feels I’ve lived on the Alpe! All my interval workouts have been on it. Up to 90 odd percent now so not much more to do thank God.

    djflexure
    Full Member

    Did my first crit city race – 18km – recently upped to B so just pootled around to see how it felt. The group rode the whole course together (I think) which surprised me. No charges off the front to spice it up. Did not want to sprint too soon, ended up missing it altogether and finished 12th on Zwiftpower, av 343 which is 4.1 wpkg for me, 1.8 sec behind winner. Will try and finish a bit harder next time.

    Otherwise enjoying doing some of the longer events/ group rides. Signed up for some 100km, furthest I’ve managed is 70km before terminal bordom set in.

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    Not been able to get on Zwift for a week or so and been missing it.

    Doing the 3R classique at 14.05 today. 38km which is longer than I usually race. Or ride. So should be a nice one to get back into racing/zwifting again.

    Sounds like some of you guys are smashing it at the moment!👍

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    Well, that was unpleasant.😁

    6 laps of the London Classique.

    Had 2 small energy drinks in the hour before the race. Bad idea. Had to get off the bike wish 3 minutes to spare and nip to the loo for a pee.

    Race starts and in the past week I’ve forgotten that zwifting can hurt. It goes of pretty fast as usual, why does that always surprise me? Settled in with a little group of 5 or so riders and just tried to hold on for dear life. We catch a few riders and are caught by a few. I just about hold on.

    We got lapped at least twice by the lead group. They just fly past am an incredible/disheartening rate of knots. Go solo for a bit (meaning I got dropped…) then get caught by a C and a D. The C on a TT bike and just riding his own race really. I followed the D’s lead and we swapped around a bit holding onto the TT’s wheel. That was a Godsend. They were going just slow enough that I could hold on but just faster than I’d been going on my own.

    By lap 4 of 6 I’m bloody BUSTING for a wee again. Shuffling about on my saddle to try and relieve the feeling but no dice. Almost got off but was damned if I was going to waste all this sweat to come in last. We started to pass stopped riders. Either mechanical issues or what not, or had just blown up. I was pretty envious by now. Heart rate had settled into abbot 173 which I can hold oki’sh but I had to spin my way up the small inclines. I’ve never liked low cadence up hill, particularly when tired.

    Lap 5 of 6 and it was all about holding out. I was having a little battle with 2 other D’s at this point. We caught and passed a few solo riders and I was fairly sure these 2 would be the ones I was going to have to keep with to the line.

    Come down the long “promenade” section before it doubles back to the finish line… I give it some welly (for me anyway) and broke away from the 2 blokes…. Only to realise that the bloody air balloon loop thing wasn’t the actual end! There was another 1.4km to go! Gahhhh! Mother ******!!

    Go over the “line” being caught by the 2 of them and I suspect they know I am a dumb arse and sprinted for the wrong “finish line.”😳

    Get to 500m of the real finish, sitting on their wheels and get out of the saddle to use the weight of my belly for something positive for a change! Pushing just over 5w/kg (which is good for me at the end of a ride) for a few seconds….overtake the 2 riders and sit down…now pushing about 3.5w/kg with the finish line in my grasp!…. Then just coming upto the line I see the rider behinds metre countdown catching up with me rapidly… He overtakes me with about 4 metres to spare!👿

    I crossed the line and shouted “f***!!” so loud I got told off.

    Just held off the other rider so a small consolation there. I knew 500m was too early for me. I can’t stay out of the saddle that long at the end of a race. Quads just give way. I should have waited till one of them went then go with him or her. Still, it’s all part of the game.
    I don’t usually finish in sprints for the line so was quiet thrilling to be honest.lol

    I bloody missed Zwift. Group ride or free ride next ride though.😉

    Still got to do the 4 Horseman Double too, as a ridiculous “theoretically I could ride the SDW in a day” confidence booster.

    16th of 23 in D on Zwift.

    Well b***er me,I got a bronze in Zpower. First podium ever. Mind you, that was only 3rd out of 6 riders. Ha!

    https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=340292

    The rider that pipped me at the line is only 38 years old. That makes my 51 year old legs feel better.lol

    djflexure
    Full Member

    Well done!!!!

    J-R
    Full Member

    What a great write up. Third of six is still third. I’ve never managed a podium, so don’t knock it.

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    Good to see a few of you are flying the stw race flag, my participation is dwindling of late, my TT Tune-Up plan has become largely vile in the last few weeks.

    Had a rest day yesterday, felt strange as per normal not getting on bike at all, hoped I’d have a strong day today.

    But today has been a write off so far, woke at ~0530 but ended up back in bed from 1000-1400ish and I’m still struggling to get in gear!

    Hoped to do stage 1 of Innsbruck tour, next start 1800, having originally signed up for 0800 but felt wiped.

    Supposed to do another TT Tune-Up workout today.

    Hoped to do the Kirchmair double sprint race events today at 1805/1835, one lap of New York Perimeter and London Classique respectively. Both very short ~10/11Km events.

    Right now I’ve no idea what I’m going to do!

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Are tt bikes faster in the zwift tt events? (I know they are faster just riding around but wasn’t sure about in tt races)

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    I’ve never ridden a tt event (well, officially anyway! Lol) but aren’t the tt bikes auto assigned for the races?

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    @ n0b0dy0ftheg0at

    We’re you going to do all the of those rides/tuneups today? That would murder me.lol

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    Zwift TT races normally/always have drafting turned off, some specify TT frames only, others will let you ride race frames.

    Some TT events auto assign a TT frame.

    But the TT frames are quicker on flatter courses because they are more aero.

    Managed to do the short Innsbruck route using the late join option, then the second Kirchmair sprint race but missed the pen start and then a ~1.5 laps of Watopia Flat.

    Legs felt good for the intervals I did, but even now eating dinner, mentally I’m ready for bed while watching Picard!

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    I’m liking Picard too so you must be tired if your struggling watching that.lol

    I’m going to do either the 3.30pm or 4.30pm Innsbruck stage 2 tomorrow. Missed stage one.

    Probably the A, 2 lap….. as it’s “not a race” and the only way to get better at riding further end climbing faster is to do both of those things, right?

    I don’t always trust my logic though and no bloody energy drinks before the ride this time! 🚽

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    2-laps of the UCI course is no mean feat! https://zwiftinsider.com/innsbruck/

    Good test of pacing and saddle resilience on the turbo, given it will likely take approx 45-60 mins per lap, never done the complete segment to date myself.

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    ****! That long a lap, eh?

    Going to be “fun”.lol

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