Zwift, my journey, my weight and my fitness.

I see now I can’t ride currently due to broken turbo, at least the Zwift Android app lets you choose from three different worlds without using third party software… Finally! \o/

That was Wednesday’s update.

40000+ riders at peak times kinda necessitated it.

Had some connectivity issues on this morning’s haute route round three.

I wasn’t alone, seems the servers were having issues. Was only 3300 of us on the ride compared to yesterday’s 6800 for adz

Not sure what was up. I abandoned at German village as it was unmanageable.

Maybe try again at 19:00 or 21:00 depending on how the little one is

Trail Rat – I’m doing stage 3 at 1000. It’s been good.

Couldn’t see any STW riders yesterday 5pm – but got a few STW ride ons. So weird, but thanks boys.

Same here was all fine on 10am stage 3 for me but yestersdays stage 2 was duff for me on two tries just crashed and when restarted launched me on the bike getting air before landing on road but not really able to rejoin event.

Dunno if there’s a way to rejoin event but does seem to be a need for It if not.

I’ve been very lucky with the Haut Routes, all 3 have worked fine for me. The HR day 1 ride at 5pm had 7854 riders – I was amazed that worked OK.

Tail Rat – sorry to hear you had problems today and hopefully it works OK for you second time around.

Did my first race since being promoted to a cat A today. Wasn’t supposed to be doing it, decided to enter the 3R Sand & Sequoias 12.5mile race just 10 minutes before the start. Didn’t have the ideal preparation for it either, was outside at first light this morning doing a solo 50 mile training ride then 20 miles on Zwift so the old legs were quite tired before I even started ! Told them to shut up though 😂 The start was as usual crazy but settled down and worked with a decent group, had nothing left for the final sprint unfortunately but all things considered happy with my result of 15th according to ZP (at an av. of 4.2w/kg 345w for 28min)

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=448369

Tried again at 7. Failed again.

Must be a connection issue at my end but had 4-6megabits

Been fine for weeks but packed in today for somereason.

Gave up came in Had some wine.

Pissed off as stage 1-2 went really well. 1:27 for three sisters and 1:22 for fire and ice.

Great job bjj

Cheers Weeksy ! Might have to re-evaluate my racing this year and do more races on Zwift. Due to all that’s been going on in the real world I can’t see any TT’s being held this season so might start my threshold training (that I’d put on ice) to help my racing on Zwift.

Did my first C cat race today after being bumped up from D, the Yorkshire Z Classic.
Went all out and came mid pack, 68th on zwift, 28th on ZP…happy with that! I was expecting to be left for dead at the back.
5 minutes down on the leaders so God knows where I’ll find that speed.

5 minutes down on the leaders so God knows where I’ll find that speed.

Oop North, I think you’d be surprised, if you’re getting mid-pack already you’ll not take much more to get nearer the pointy end. Especially if you’re looking at the ZP rankings not the App.

I had another decent result on the Alpe yesterday and my training programme is getting towards the end so hoping to fit in more races.

What’s the best hilly race routes if your w/kg is pretty good but your not so great on the hang in the pack and sprint for the line?

I was chuffed to get a 3rd on ZP, I was 8th on the app for a rerun of stage 3 of the Tour of Watopia last week. My other 4 races have definitely been mid pack 🙂

Killer race today ! FTP increase to 291w

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=456019

Try and give me some notice next time you’re doing a Crit City race and I’ll try and jump in too. Help get you promoted to B ;0)

I’m at 3.19 now. One more race like that and i’m a B.

Interestingly, i did the race on a road bike as i’ve borrowed one for this weekend to ride with my lad. Power seemed VERY easy to come by. If i’d had a slightly slower group i’d have had a much better power output overall as i died a bit near the end.

Good effort Weeksy, think it was the position or the gearing of the Road bike that helped?

2020-04-06_02-59-51 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

think it was the position or the gearing of the Road bike that helped?

That sir is the £600 question isn’t it LOL.

Cadence was 76rpm average, which is lower than my usual 82-85. But how much of that is a factor, i don’t know. It just seemed when i asked it for a 350w push it was easier to both make the power and hold it than usual. Gearing or bike… i’d like to know. Do i need to know that much that i want to spend £600 on planet X or something, i don’t actually know the answer to that.

Killer race today ! FTP increase to 291w

nice one 😎 what’s the increase since you first started Zwifting?

I did my first race this morning, D cat 3R flat route, gawd it was hard work.

I had a fair bit to drink last night though and I had about 6 hours sleep.

I wasn’t sure how it worked so I was surprised by the pace of the start, I was expecting to be with all of the other cats so I tried to keep up as long as possible, I had to throttle back when I thought I was going to be sick.

I carried on as hard as could for the rest of the race, settled into a couple of groups that split up. I struggled on to the end, and nipped past someone in the sprint that was in my group.

I was 27th on zwift and 2nd on ZwiftPower, quite pleased with that. I definitely need to start a training plan now though, I’m well over weight at 90kg and my ftp is 234w. Got some serious work to do, it’s really good motivation though, I always ride on my own so it’s hard to compare my performance, this and RGT will help no end.

what’s the increase since you first started Zwifting?

Oh i have absolutely no idea mate sorry.

From what i can tell i bought the Snap in 2017 Jan

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=5174

So about 260w i was putting out then… So only a 40w increase

not bad though, considering you’ve done no specific FTP training!

Don’t forget too, i’d been Zwifting for 3-4 months on a dumb turbo before i bought the Snap.

Great result that Weeksy, some good power there! No wonder I couldn’t keep up with you all haha

Great result that Weeksy, some good power there! No wonder I couldn’t keep up with you all haha

on a properly flat course i’m an excellent Zwifter… I make decent power that’s for sure… But i’m way lardy for anything with hills

Nice result weeksy.

I did crit city this avo and got second on zp – out of two 🙂

It was 9th out of 14 total in B so must be quieter at that time? Rode most of it with just one other guy which was an interesting battle as he was nearly half my weight, about 53kg looking at the figures afterwards. Some skinny blokes on this here zwift. Pipped him on the line but would have preferred a busier race to try and hang in the group.

@weeksy if you can hold 3.3wkg up the Alpe in a race you’ll be in mix for a win as you are top of category. Different on shorter climbs though. Volcano you’d need to find another 20 seconds IIRC from your last race.

@weeksy if you can hold 3.3wkg up the Alpe in a race you’ll be in mix for a win as you are top of categor

Not a chance mate… my 20 mins power on the flat and my 1 hour power on the hills are VERY different…. like really really.

I’d be happy holding 2.8 up the Alp and i think that’s optimistic.

Calling all Direto owners using the 142mm bolt thru adapter (sorry, can’t find the STW Direto thread)…

Thought I’d take the 11-32 cassette off the Direto while it is out of use and transfer it to my second wheel, except my lockring tool won’t clear the adapter.

Others experienced same issue?

The adapter apparently needs a 17mm spanner to fit/remove, which I must have used to fit it ~28 months ago, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what I used because nothing is 17mm in my PX Shimano tool kit!

It’s not the end of the world, the original Fulcrum wheel has an 11-32 on it plus tube and old GP4000S II, just fancied running the Hunt Aero Light Disc for the first time in a while and have two sets of wheel/tyre combos ready to easily install with the current worn in drivetrain bits (new x11 chain/ 11-34 cassette/ r7000 rear mech in spares box ready to fit sometime soon).

Although I’m using QR not 142 the adaptors on mine have always just screwed out by hand.

On my drivo I tightened the adapter finger tight. I then tried to mount the cassette and discovered I needed to remove it. It took a lot more than just finger strength to remove it, quite possible you’re in the same boat.

Cheers, will go hunting in the pandora’s box hall cupboard, to see if there’s a 17mm hidden away.

So I rode my third Zwift race this morning, first as Cat C after getting bumped up in Zwiftpower after my last race. Quite a step up for me so I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere near a good result.

The race was the Yorkshire Classic. The main group quickly dropped me and I then got passed by a few more riders. I suppose the good thing is I didn’t come last but still was a humbling experience 🙂

I will race all the Zwift classics so hopefully by the end I will be more comfortable in Cat C. It’s a lot different from riding hilly sportives in real life!

Moving up a Cat is a horrific thing LOL. Try and enjoy, but you’ll get there slowly.

How do you actually join the races? I’d signed up for the Yorkshire classic this morning, logged on in time (cut it fine though admitedly) but couldn’t seem to see a join ride option or anything.

Might have to try again for tomorrow’s but 6.30am for a solo ride feels a little excessive!

really like the sound of the upcoming anti-sandbagging feature. The exact formula for assessing who’s sandbagging will be secret to stop people gaming the system. If you’re determined to be in the wrong category you’ll get a green “cone of shame”, visible to all (genius, that!), plus your power output will be throttled back! Watch out @Weeksy 😂

How do you actually join the races?

Sometimes, even though I enter a race via Zwift Companion app, I launch Zwift and it does not give me an option to join the start line of the race. I have to go back to the Companion app, de-select the race and then enter it again while Zwift is still running.

Opened up my broken Direto the other night, the flywheel belt had sheared, need to contact Elite for a replacemnt. For all the use it had this past month, I should have cancelled Zwift at the start of March, rather than a few days before the April renewal!

I launch Zwift and it does not give me an option to join the start line of the race

I take it when it does, it’s a join button like the group ride?

, the flywheel belt had sheared

Too much power or brittle from lack of use (thems the only options obviously)

yeah sand bagging is a big issue. – It doesnt bother me that much tbh as its a computer game as far as i’m concerned when i want to know how i am relative to other people i take to the IRL races – You cant know if you really broke someone till you see the whites of their eyes 😀

My FTP is 3.2W/KG on zwift power – firmly a lower end B

id have come second in the 1 hour A race last night (of 4 competitors) – which is shocking in its self.

we had a C winner who had a 3.8w/kg race ave – whod have been 9th in B

We had several Bs with 4.8-6w/kg averages who clearly should have been in the As. – and the winner of the race using a **** power curve not a power meter. – thatll be why such a huge power difference between him and EVERYONE else. Power curves should be fair enough for general use but should not be allowed into races far too easy to fudge – but also nice and easy to spot at least.

as it was once zwift power **** them all off and flagged one for a first offence (which in his defence might have just been a really good day for him as he was only slightly high compared to his normal – he is a regular ) i went from 24th in cat to 12th.

Lucky for us our league manager takes no shit and will punt you if it even looks suspicious.

we had a C winner who had a 3.8w/kg race ave

I assume that gets bumped in practice as the upper cap is 3.1?