I’m in.

Does anyone have any advice on what languages/stack would be best to learn for a good all-round kind of knowledge? I’m a test analyst/QA engineer at the moment and I’m pretty interested into getting into either automation or regular dev work.

Python is a great start – but don’t learn it slowly, learn it quick. Do you watch tv in the evening ?, watch it whilst programming – find a definite task, and make that happen. There are lots of learning resources online, coderdojo for example. Dev work needs motivation, there is no substitute for competence, and that only comes from time invested. Learn perl/bash etc for automation, then automation tools. The people who impress are the ones who spend time doing, be that guy !

This is a long thread, quite existential ! – who knew so many devs on here.

Have been a dev since 85, never out of work except by choice, went freelance in 90 and never looked back. Freelance is not without its downsides, but the upsides are saying what you think and not having to worry about your career. You might get bounced for that, but I never have. No management path, no managing people etc for me. I like writing code and its worked for me.

Like all jobs you do have to sit back and decide when to move on – if it’s not making you happy, make a change. There is no way of knowing before hand whether that will be for the better or the worse, but you have to make it. You also have to look hard at your character – am I abrasive, am i employable, am I taking on work I can’t complete, am I fitting in with a team, have I been pigeonholed etc, which can be hard.

Have never regretted a day of being a dev, it’s a different day every day. If there is a new skill you think you might like – learn it in your own time and find a way to make it work on your current job. Don’t take time out to do this, do it while getting paid.

Specialise for the big bucks, but be a jack of all trades for consistent employment. I learnt perl soon after it came out – have used it in almost every role over the years, where others who know just one thing/environment struggle to do simple tasks.

A few jobs I have stayed on for the money longer than I should have, not many.

If you want money, target the skills and industry that get you there – banking and services etc, if you want job satisfaction, find what you like and try to do that.

Programming is treated like a science, but it’s really an art form, self improvement, learning from others, achieving small goals is the key to enjoying it. What new language have you picked up in the last 6 months ?, if none then you are standing still.

Finally, stay away from Windows, that shit will kill you.

One alternative that seems more fair is a self imposed start delay, based on a figure from Robbos spreadsheet, rather than a later imposed time penalty.

This is how the TTT works, and it’s pretty easy to follow. It does require everybody to be a little bit clued up by looking at the spreadsheet though, and starting on their time delay. Slower riders go first, faster later.

It does require everyone to sit on the start line until their timed delay, either small groups or individual delays, but we are all trustworthy guys/gals right ?, it should mean that we all come together at or near the end, with the faster guys chasing and the slower up front.

I’ve done this in another meetup with two teams, rather than individual riders, but it was more fun being chased than being dropped, and no one can complain about missing the call to go. Just another 2c !.

I won’t be in tomorrow because of ZRL but I am missing STW races, and want to chip in on the start issue.

For me, its not a question of missing the GO, or having race experience. I’ve done hundred of races.

For me its fairness, I am trying very hard to stay level with robbo, not be in front, and frequently GO appears to be announced when robbo is still accelerating, or mostly just when there are a large bunch in front, rather than level with or ideally behind.

Thats probably because it’s almost impossible to get a blob at slow speeds/w per kg, the variance in speed is too much, and everyone is desperate to be at the front to mitigate the delay.

Aside from saying ‘no go until 5k/30 kmh ‘ or something, to allow speed to build up and everyone to be alongside if they can, I don’t see a better system, so it is what it is.

The launch from the side of the road does not work well for me, it’s a crap shoot, because everyone does not go at the same time. Record your starts – I only know apple tv and often see people pulling out and riding across the front of me before I get to move, or me doing the same to them. Seeing everyone disappear before you have even moved does not make a nice experience, even if doing the same distance as a result.

One day Zwift will get their finger out and make it work for meetups.

Looking at the results again this morning, MoreSTW did better than I thought, 54:26

3mins down on STW (51:34) ! (unless I’m reading it wrong) and 109th out of 200 in class – middle of the road boys!. Somehow we managed to lose 45 secs on the last lap to the team that finished ahead of us – but hey.

There has been lots of discussion about losing time on corners, seems to happen to a lot of riders.

I’ve yet to find a definitive zwift developer answer, this is probably the closest I’ve seen:

Avatar taking longer racing line from Zwift

We were good on the flats, but all over the place on a couple of climbs, especially the one that had a team passing as we caught stragglers.

Mostly I think we fail to group up just before the crest of the hill, meaning we don’t go over the crest and down the otherside as a unit. Going downhill as a unit is free speed.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, we lost Martin to another team for quite a while, and we were cruising on the flats pretty quick, didn’t have much left to give on the final climb.

Apologies if I’m chipping in too much, get carried away !.

Looks like 59:56 for 4th wheel versus 54:04 for the A’s who look they crossed the line 7 abreast ?

It’s a big counting day at STW – 15 riders registered !.

One more rider for two full teams ?

Count/Don’t count the vote !

Martin is also in and registered, promises scouts honour to register at stw later.

I am in, either team but obvs will struggle in the faster team, have told Martin to join the forum if he wants in.

I hate those starts – the speed is so slow that I’m either slowing to get behind robbo or feathering to try and stay close. I really would prefer a minimum speed and distance or w/kg before the go, like 20km/h and 3k or 2.5w/kg something, to give a proper chance to blob up.

Anyway, I missed the go, but that was entirely irrelevant since I cramped up about 5k in trying to get back on. Had hoped to do the ZRL and this series, but body says no.

Will keep trying though !.

I am out, advised Martin to join forum and update here if he wants in, otherwise assume he is also out.

I like the chaos.

I think we managed pretty well by creeping up on a team and then booting it a little as we passed. I think it helps a lot if the passing team slows just behind to ensure they are in a blob, rather than a line out, much less chance of getting separated, or getting dropped as the boot drops.

Alas, 110th out of 149, don’t think we had much more in the tank !. Way to go Alpha team at 27 !.

Nice ride I think – no-one off the back at any point – constant unnecessary badgering has its benefits !.

That McElroy rider was either deliberately being a pain or was totally clueless, its probably a 10 year old.

The first time up the snapper with the combined drama of that rider, our lone pathfinder and the alpha team bearing down went pretty well considering, 2nd lap we were even faster i think !.

Never seen so many bumble kits. Wonder if we will get DQ’ed ?.

> I have ONLY changed it on ZP and have changed to (MoreSTW) – that’s right, yeah ?

Yes.

What I usually do is find the event on zwiftpower (https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1139532) and then at the top right is a ‘Settings’ link where you can change your team and your name and tag *for this event only*, which is very useful if you are flipping between tags and teams.

The team bit isn’t actually used for results, but its useful on the event page if you type ‘stw’ in the text box it will restrict results to teams and tags that just have that.

Then you can sort by various columns which is also useful.

reminder: in teams of 5 it’s the first 4 to cross the line.

> ** This means STW are going to pass MoreSTW (it was going to happen eventually) so plan to avoid chaos if you can**

We will explicitly ease as you go by, but we will be counting the kms until it does !.

i’m in, Martin should be signed in shortly, we are easy for one team or two.

In my case, I heard escaping air before I put sealant in, as you did.

The tyre had snapped on to the rim, I used gas detection foam (but a bowl of water would probably do it) – and determined that the escaping air was coming from the spoke holes, which can only happen if the rim tape is not working.

The tape that was on there was factory fitted (Boardman MMHT 8.9)

Gorilla tape worked for me and others, there is a possibility that it is too flexible and will stretch into the holes over time and become more leaky. Fitting rim tape is actually a pita. It doesn’t want to stick, especially if its old or cold, and you can put a tube in and ride it around for a few days to get a beautiful smooth fit, but who has time for that.

My mate brought a kit online with valves and that came with gorilla tape.

Suggest you take a look at your tape or the front one, or do a bit of googling – what were the wheels, what is the bike they were on etc, and check it.

I hope you triple checked that the rim has tubeless tape in it.

My boardman came with tubeless ready rims and tubeless ready tyres, but the tape on the rim, despite looking the business, was not the business.

I went to Halfords to get tubeless rim tape, which they don’t sell separately, and ending up buying the only remaining mtb kit for £35 to get the tape (and in theory some sealant and valves which I didn’t need), only to find when I got home that halfords had already used that kit and put the used up tape and tyre labels back in the kit and put it back on the shelf. How amusing I thought.

Ended up using gorilla tape, its been fine.

The Tuesday ZRL ride should finish at 7:15 – I’m in !.

I shall act as Broom Wagon. Wednesday will become the day of the dead.

I have several Boardman bikes, CX alu, CX carbon, HT * 2, Road Carbon, 2 Hybrid Pros and two Road others owned by my sons. A few broken spokes aside, they have never let me down.

There is only one problem with them, and that is mostly the Road bikes. The problem is seeing some bikes up the road and thinking ‘I have to catch and pass’, because you know it’s going to annoy some snobs.

To be fair, I’ve never really seen any of this snobbery on any of my bikes, but I understand it exists in some circles, so its quite motivating

> Speaking of Tony Martin…my claim to fame is I once kept up with him on the final descent of the penultimate stage of the tour into morzine in 2016.

The MoreSTW team also now have a link to the 1984 Olympics !
https://www.the-sports.org/martin-briggs-athletics-spf651520.html

He also held the UK junior 400m record for 21 years – which ain’t no slouch. Alas, none of us are juniors any more.

I’m personally aware that the B riders and even the stronger C’s are doing me a big favour by riding in the team, as I am sure they could get a better result elsewhere.

I was missing Brian’s berating this week and had to go and roll on the lawn whilst beating myself with a fallen branch to feel I’d got the whole experience.

I prefer keeping the group together as much as possible, and finishing close together, although I do like to push from about 2k to go just to ensure I’ve emptied the tank, and to get fast finishing practice, regardless of whether we cross the final line exactly together, since we are not prioritising a time.

If you do decide to race for a team time, check you are using the right rules:

“The objective is to get the fastest 4 (for teams of 5 to 8 racers) or the fastest 3 (for teams of 3 or 4 racers) ”

MoreSTW 89th out of 186, a shade under 48mins at 47:54.

We had a bit of confusion at the start, Martin was way at the back of the pen and could not catch up until we slowed, have to concentrate on going very easy until we are grouped next time.

First two laps we were attacking the hills, but once we concentrated on staying together as a group we were much smoother.

The first lap was 15:54, but I think its a bit shorter due to the pen start. It felt we were going faster on the third lap.

Passing was its usual nightmare, Martin got sucked into a fast passing team on lap 1, and we hit one team on a rise just after being passed by a faster team, and that was not pretty either.

Being in a blob and creeping up close and then extra effort as we pass seems to be better for passing when the speeds are similar. For slower teams cruising past in a line seems to work ok.

Ivan disappeared into the IvanVerse for several minutes and re-appeared, which was impressive, leaving just 4 of us for a while, which adds its own ‘christ-i-have-to-finish’ pressure.

Getting reliable comms working is going to make us even smoother. I was trying to monitor the back so apologies if I was not doing my turn as much as others.

> Zwiftpower and WTRL are both quite slow tonight.

They are still wrangling the results from Tues ZRL. I think we did about 48 mins dead.

i think we are an autonomous collective

i vote for King Woodster, king in the norf !, or wherever he is, on account of having most spare watts.

Watopia Flat – 3 laps.

Your most aero bike I’m guessing.

https://zwiftinsider.com/wtrl-ttt-78/

> does that change the name in Zwift itself I.e. on the “nearby riders” table on the right of the screen?

Nope, nothing you change in ZP affects the Zwift display. Changing your ZP tag in your profile also does not change it in Zwift. Only what you change in your Zwift profile in Zwift affects the Zwift display (afaik).

Something I discovered this week:

If you go an event in ZP – say this evenings venture:
https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1123143

In the top right menu bar is ‘Settings’. This will allow you to change your team designator and your name and tag for *that event only*, so you don’t have to change back for another event (say ZRL..).

From @savoyad ‘s post earlier:

Sign up to category A here: https://zwift.com/events/view/1123143

> I have 13 on the app including me and I think there is halorics mate and giggsmaster who I cant see as signing up?

Martin is signed up, currently has the tag (Revolvers), just waiting for the team name, assuming MoreSTW, and tried to get his Discord working last night, should be ok by start time.

Martin has regained his category designation, so all good there now anyway.

Whats the team setup / tags, ta.

@giggsmaster – high C/low B helps a lot tvm. You are on point.

An adult will be along soon with detailed information, and explain it more clearly, for the moment you need to have a discord account, have joined the event, and changed your ZP tag to match your allocated team (to be announced). Once you are in the start pen, and the race is about to start, do NOT pedal until our start time (otherwise you will roll through the start line before the allocated time).

https://wtrl.racing/ttt/TTT-Rules-and-Info.php

Over exuberant video : https://vimeo.com/240902157

When I looked into it pre-built sheds were pretty flimsy, and substantial ones were expensive.

I’m a software engineer, never built anything before, but I made one on a 3mx4m corner of the garden a few years ago, after watching a few you tube vids.

It’s never leaked or disappointed me in any way, and is frequently being tweaked – give it a go.

Ok great, thanks.

He is doing a couple of races anyway, he does a lot of zwift FTP training, rather than races, so should be pretty fit.

Looking at his stats he is basically the same as me as far as I can see.

Can I reserve one space in whatever team I end up in ?

I’ve bullied a friend (Martin) into it, he just needs to get his category back (he’s a C) as he hasn’t raced since July, so he’s going to do a few short races to see if it comes back on ZP.

https://zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=995878

I’m In, will change tag later – am ZRL’ing tonight.

The data mangling involved in ZRL is mind blowing, and I’m almost a data scientist.

The wrangling of riders into one coral would put an australian cattle dog through its paces, add a few time zones into the mix and it’s got all the hall marks of failure to launch, my team captain is GMT-4.

I’ve thrown my hat into the ring, such as it is. If we don’t make a team I’ll try to find another one via Facebook, maybe with a time that could let me do anything Robbo does too, although even as I type it, that sounds like a stoopid idea.

Mikey does great work. It might seem a bit jobsworth, but just watch all of his videos, most are people typing away in moving traffic. If you ride in London regularly, these people using the phones sat in traffic have no idea what is going on around them, I can spot a dozen on the short ride to work, normally by the huge gap they leave in front of themselves.

His recent videos at Gandalfs Corner are so dangerous, people think its actually ok to drive the wrong side of a bollard and into oncoming cyclists (who they cannot possibly see because they are coming round a t-junction) are amazing.

We need as many people like Mikey as we can to get to get the message across that phones and cars don’t mix.