I still have a lot to learn about racing.

Probably didn’t go out hard enough at the start and got into a group towards the back of the field. Stayed with them until the hills when I managed to drop them all and I caught and passed another group on the hill as well. Then TT’d the first 5 or 6k of the second lap when I was caught by the group. Stayed with them until the hills when I dropped them all again but one guy. I was half a wheel behind him at the finish.

I did manage a 45sec pb improvement on the second lap and a kom and one other pb (broad st?) as well. Overall I was about 40 seconds faster than last time.

I feel like I am getting better but still a lot of work to do.

Happy birthday Weeksy!

I am lining up the SZR autumn race at 6. Looks like a decent turnout. I did this same race a month ago (my first ever race) so will be interesting to compare performances.

Not sure if this will help blader, but I have a tacx flux with a nine speed cassette. I generally use the 4th to 8th gear, mostly 6,7 and 8 unless it is really hilly when I go lower. This is on the lower front sprocket. I generally only use the bigger one going down a decent hill.

I am not as good as you though.

Thanks I’ll look at both of those. Doesn’t seem to stop me passing people but it does look a bit strange when you’re the only one not standing.

Zone 3 syndrome Anyone guilty?

I certainly was yesterday. As there was no race or event that suited I just smashed myself around the hilly route (as you do). A KOM and hilly route PRs followed although in my defence I realised during it I had a shot at getting the jerseys for both which I did. I blame Zwift.

I started out doing this for fun and basic fitness but the competitive part of me is starting to come out.

By the way I have noticed my avatar hardly ever gets off his seat on the climbs but most others seem to. Is mine just lazy?

Bloody hell well done Nath! What I especially like is being a similar weight to you, I am only 140 watts behind in ability 🙂

Blimey you don’t look at the thread for a few hours and it’s moved on 2 pages!

Yeah Weeksy, the ride summary says that the rubber banding only stops if you stop pedaling completely. Not sure what the benefit of the group is other than the knowledge that some poor bastard in Japan in going through the same VO2Max hell as you

Having done a zwift workout today that is exactly what it is. You simply get to share the pain while doing your own workout. Everyone stays together regardless of level. I would recommend calibrating your trainer first.

As a 68kg guy who has only been cycling 6 weeks I can tell you the flat makes it really hard to keep up with the heavier more powerful guys, but the hills are really fun 🙂

I am tossing up between the zwift workout at 5.45 or the prs 3 lap hilly race at 6. Leaning towards the former as I need to do something to start getting my watts up consistently. I am also intrigued with the idea of everyone staying together regardless of watts out.

I did 30k of the 41k SZR joyride, had to stop to get ready for work. It was supposed to be an easy start with a slow build up in speed over the course of the ride.

It started out ok but the leader disappeared, presumably due to computer or internet issues and that was taken as an excuse by the group to speed up a lot. I and several others got dropped. Eventually another group formed and we caught a bigger group. After a rough start I wasn’t feeling too bad when I had to stop.

I am feeling the effects now, probably two reasonably hard mtb rides on the weekend haven’t helped. Not sure about racing this week. At the moment I don’t feel like I have the legs for it.

From the conference I was at yesterday.

Presenter: Turn to the person next to you and tell them something which helps your mental well being.

Woman next to me: I run

Me: I got on my wind trainer, hooked it up to my computer and raced 300 people from around the world and nearly puked.

I wish I had got a photo of the look on her face.

Jk, Tim Cartwright who won uses the races to replace the Threshold type training efforts he’d be doing anyway by all accounts.

https://worldcup.cycligentrankings.com/blog/racer-spotlight-tim-cartwright-2/

Thanks Crosshair that makes sense. I can’t help but wonder what guys like him would do if they actually raced!

Funnily enough when I lined up yesterday I thought about doing something similar which lasted for about 10 seconds after the gun went off 🙂

I only started riding for fun and the endorphins but now I am wondering if I need to do something a bit more structured.

Damn you zwift 😀

Storming result Nath! Well done on puking. That beats my dry retching from yesterday. 😆

Interestingly the guy who got second in your race won the SZR race yesterday.

Beats me how people can race so much.

I am about to sit through an 8 hour conference. My legs are a bit rubbery still…

Ok now I am 100th in B grade out of 102. I’d say the auto upgrades are under way. My power readings have changed slightly as well.

You and me both mate.

My best average before today was 190w.

The wife thinks I’m insane.

I was in the SZR race as well. Actually rode the first 3k or so with you weaksy but fell off that group. When your ftp is 3.1 and you are doing 3.4 it will never end well.

Got in with another group and passed you with about 17k to go. Blew the group up the hilly Kom and was only 0.6 of a second outside my pb. One guy caught me just before the finish and I nearly threw up at the end.

Somehow I ended up in B grade and was 110th. I Averaged 2.99w/kg and 200w. Stoked as my ftp is 215w. Brutal race.

Well done to the stw guys.

Another good hamstring stretch and one you can do in front of the telly, is to put your leg up on the arm of your sofa and pull that leg’s hip back all the while keeping your back straight.

Personally I mountain bike on the weekends.

Zwift has let me ride during the week without worrying about the weather, if it’s dark, freezing etc. It also takes less time to do as you don’t have to wipe your bike down afterwards etc. I find it is also easier to fit into a busy work week and as I use exercise to simply make me feel good, it works for me.

Well after a really good three laps yesterday around the watopia hilly route, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to do the three sisters today.

Now I have only done the mountain route once which was brutal, I’d only been on zwift a week and I am not a cyclist, but I figured 5 weeks in how bad can it be?

Bad.

I should have known I was in for a long ride when I went over the hilly Kom only a few seconds outside my pb. Laboured my way up the mountain with hardly anyone else around apart from one bloke who flew past me. Probably because so few people wish to flog themselves I managed the 5th fastest time to the epic Kom.

The radio tower just painful but the downhill was great respite. I got to the volcano Kom and one calf muscle seized. Managed to get over it and the other one seized. Got to the finish and of course thought “well I’ve done 48k so why not just round it up to 50k”.

Managed that and both calves seized as I got off the bike. It was the longest I’d ever been on the trainer at 1hour 47min. I have no idea how people manage 100k plus.

Interestingly zwift upped my ftp which I assume was all the hill climbing putting me over my average for long periods of time. I am getting perilously close to B grade level but don’t want to go up as I will get smashed.

wow some great results there, well done all!

I was chuffed to manage a PB up Boxhill riding solo (to be fair it was only the 5th time I had done it so still plenty of room for improvement), then I read what Blader did in his race – twice… my word. 😯

Good to know re cadence. I have three chain rings on the front and have only ever used the middle one (that might have been a mistake up watopia mountain…).

Golfchick, nice work re the academy. Have you found it worthwhile?

I’ve been trying to do high cadence sprints a couple of times a week to get a bit of power back and try to break my diesel engine ways of pushing 70RPM everywhere.

Just on this, is there a cadence one should be aiming for? 90-110rpm seems to be where I end up by default. I’ve got more gears on my bike than I know what to do with. I only used 2 or 3 in my last race.

BTW great result muggo!

Did the Euro Decaf with 24 in the field.

Short version: I have a lot to learn.

Longer version: Liked the format of a warm up lap then an all out race to the finish (about 15k). It was advertised as a 2.2 w/kg warm up. The leader was doing 2.2 in erg mode and it took me 2.4-2.5 to keep up. I was starting to puff quite a lot by the time the race started.

I managed to stay with the lead group until about 5k to go. I then fell off the back and could not get back on (I am officially blaming my daughter for coming in and asking me a question when I could hardly talk and then doing it again, I swear for her own entertainment).

I ended up in a one on one race until the end, when I made the rookie mistake of using an aero power up with 2k to go. He passed me with 1k to go…

Still happy with 7th in C grade and only 30 sec off a trophy.

I was pretty shattered at the end, but it was fun.

Thanks crosshair.

That explains why someone passed me in a race last week and his w/kg was less than mine. It seemed rather unfair at the time!

Would average watts work as well? So for example if a ride was billed as 200w then at least each person could work out what that would mean for them.

I agree about people disappearing off the front on group rides.

I have only been on zwift a few weeks and I have to say I still find it hard to judge where I fit in terms of pace. I have been spat out the back of some group rides and others I have been ok. My attitude is now just give it a go and if I can’t keep up so be it. Some peoples (say) 2.5w/kg is clearly different to others.

I signed up for the euro decaf today which sounds interesting – If I can keep up

Hey Weeksy

I was sorry to read about you hitting the wall.

FWIW as a (once reasonably handy) broken ex runner I know how that feels.

What I learned is that you need a decent aerobic base to be able to race with any regularity as anaerobic efforts are otherwise not sustainable.

Regular aerobic efforts also help with weight loss as you can go longer more regularly without breaking yourself.

Perhaps you could look at doing some group rides maybe with a short after party or those that have a short race to the finish at the end to give you the race rush. Another thing you could do is enter a race but do say a 70% of FTP effort with a bit of a sprint at the end or maybe decide to draft for some D grade guys. There are plenty of ways to mix it up.

Anyway hopefully you come up with a plan that works for you.

Cheers

Scaredypants a 50″ TV is the way to go (although it is only a matter of time before the wife banishes me from the lounge to the garage). 🙂

Hi thread lurker here.

Just thought I’d say thanks as this thread encouraged me to have a go at a race for the first time (despite the fact you all make it sound bloody painful) :-).

I did the SZR Autumn Race, C category. Luckily I managed to get into a group and spent most of the race trying to stay in it. I seemed to vary from hanging on at the back to being at the front. The hills were fun as it looks like I am better on them than on the flat!

The legs were a bit rubbery at the end and I didn’t have time for a warm down as I had to get ready for work. Best of all I wasn’t last!

Far better than riding on your own and sure made the time go quickly.

Cheers