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peterob

Veteran
Location
Chester
@peterob I have accepted you into the Handicap league. We will need some idea of your Handicap, but it is a new league next week, so I'm not sure yet what courses.

This is a good one if you want to try one out in the mean time...

http://www.bkool.com/profile/detail/90248?durationType=DISTANCE&lapCount=1

Hi Geoff

Did the above course yesterday. Completed in 39:16. Not sure how that translates into a handicap but I added a number of ghost riders (presumably would have been a fair few of you guys) and ended up aroundabouts two thirds back.

I was a bit of a wreck afterwards mind :wacko:
 

theboxers

TheBoxers on Cycle Sim sw
Oh heck. I now remember, or should I say my sit bones now remember (no that's SIT bones), why I had problems when I started BKool :blush:. A hour and a half of various sessions has not quite crippled me, but I am having trouble sitting comfortably. He-ho onward and upward as they say :unsure:.

Edit

I have dropped out of the leagues for the time being. I need to concentrate on getting back what little fitness I had before joining races again :mrpig::B)
 

rob01792

Über Member
Location
swansea
You get your e-mail address from your Service Provider, not BKool.

That said your BKool account is linked to your e-mail address so I'm not sure it is that simple, but I might be wrong.
Without looking go to the email address field and click on the pencil and edit the info and then click save.

I think you have to e-mail BKool with a request to change this. The e-mail address you provide is the link for your subscription.

tried to click on the little pencil no joy looks like ill send bkool an email hopefully they'll get back before the end of may as my current email address is ending
original freeserve which ive had for over 15 years
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
Well that was an interesting play around on Zwift. Today was the London loop apparently so as soon as I launched the simulator I found myself at the side of the road in some central London street with loads of other cyclists around. I then set off pedalling and my guy just stayed where he was. Then ever so slowly (like a Kickr at the start of a race) he started moving forward and slowly built up momentum even though I was pedalling like the start of a changing race. Built up some speed and seemed to be passing everyone with about 250w, built up to 350 or so and kept going for 10 or 15 minutes by which time I got a bit bored. No one seemed to be racing so I stopped. Went to settings and got some gear like a helmet and socks and a slightly different coloured frame. I wanted the deep carbon fibre rims but I was locked out of that choice. Anyway, went back into the London loop and changing my gear out hadn't made it any more interesting so I then wondered what to do and thinking at this rate I wouldn't even get round to doing my 50km free allowance. Then I noticed a board that listed some races about to start so I joined the first one which started in 10 mins. I waited for that to start and was on the start line and wondered whether I could be pedalling when it started or would I have to be not pedalling so to be safe I chose the latter. Everyone sped off leaving me on the line in last place and I slowly built up speed (like a kickr) and started picking them off. Soon got past the midfield and then passed a group which was apparently the leading group and my name went to the top of the listing. Looking down I was making about 500w and then a banner came up telling me I had made over 500w for 10 seconds so I think I got some points or something. I decided not to bother sitting with the lead group and trying to draft them and thought I'd just try to build up a lead over them. I tried 600w then 700w (these are easier than bkool watts BTW) I thought I must be building up a lead but it is very hard to tell where you are in relation to others (unlike in bkool where it's easy to see), but one of the leaders had decided to catch me up and draft me so whenever I took a slight break and dropped my watts by a bit, this guy would come up behind me and be drafting me. We then got to the end of a lap which was labeled as a warmup lap and there was one race lap left to complete the race. So with this guy on my tail I upped the watts further to 700 then 800 and was surprised how long I could hold this power. This dropped the guy behind me. Meanwhile there are still riders everywhere that I'm passing pretty quick as everyone is lumped in together. Then my name fell down the leaderboard to 3rd place and the guy who was drafting me and another had passed me and I couldn't even see where they were. I booted it up a bit more and saw 1000w and got in front again and I could see the race was near the end so I just nailed it to the line and a bar came up saying I got 1st place. ^_^

So conclusions:
1. Zwift seems much more complicated than bkool.
2.There seems to be only one place to ride each day (todays was London).
3. Most people just seem to be out there riding, and there are thousands of them.
4. Zwift gives you a lot of gold stars.
5. The graphics are better.
6. You won't get to know the other riders (I don't think).
7. Zwift riders are not as hard as bkool riders. :tongue:
8. I would not give up bkool for Zwift.
9. I may end up with a monthly Zwift subscription but not sure yet.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Well that was an interesting play around on Zwift. Today was the London loop apparently so as soon as I launched the simulator I found myself at the side of the road in some central London street with loads of other cyclists around. I then set off pedalling and my guy just stayed where he was. Then ever so slowly (like a Kickr at the start of a race) he started moving forward and slowly built up momentum even though I was pedalling like the start of a changing race. Built up some speed and seemed to be passing everyone with about 250w, built up to 350 or so and kept going for 10 or 15 minutes by which time I got a bit bored. No one seemed to be racing so I stopped. Went to settings and got some gear like a helmet and socks and a slightly different coloured frame. I wanted the deep carbon fibre rims but I was locked out of that choice. Anyway, went back into the London loop and changing my gear out hadn't made it any more interesting so I then wondered what to do and thinking at this rate I wouldn't even get round to doing my 50km free allowance. Then I noticed a board that listed some races about to start so I joined the first one which started in 10 mins. I waited for that to start and was on the start line and wondered whether I could be pedalling when it started or would I have to be not pedalling so to be safe I chose the latter. Everyone sped off leaving me on the line in last place and I slowly built up speed (like a kickr) and started picking them off. Soon got past the midfield and then passed a group which was apparently the leading group and my name went to the top of the listing. Looking down I was making about 500w and then a banner came up telling me I had made over 500w for 10 seconds so I think I got some points or something. I decided not to bother sitting with the lead group and trying to draft them and thought I'd just try to build up a lead over them. I tried 600w then 700w (these are easier than bkool watts BTW) I thought I must be building up a lead but it is very hard to tell where you are in relation to others (unlike in bkool where it's easy to see), but one of the leaders had decided to catch me up and draft me so whenever I took a slight break and dropped my watts by a bit, this guy would come up behind me and be drafting me. We then got to the end of a lap which was labeled as a warmup lap and there was one race lap left to complete the race. So with this guy on my tail I upped the watts further to 700 then 800 and was surprised how long I could hold this power. This dropped the guy behind me. Meanwhile there are still riders everywhere that I'm passing pretty quick as everyone is lumped in together. Then my name fell down the leaderboard to 3rd place and the guy who was drafting me and another had passed me and I couldn't even see where they were. I booted it up a bit more and saw 1000w and got in front again and I could see the race was near the end so I just nailed it to the line and a bar came up saying I got 1st place. ^_^

So conclusions:
1. Zwift seems much more complicated than bkool.
2.There seems to be only one place to ride each day (todays was London).
3. Most people just seem to be out there riding, and there are thousands of them.
4. Zwift gives you a lot of gold stars.
5. The graphics are better.
6. You won't get to know the other riders (I don't think).
7. Zwift riders are not as hard as bkool riders. :tongue:
8. I would not give up bkool for Zwift.
9. I may end up with a monthly Zwift subscription but not sure yet.

I must be the trainer Bill. I find it completely the reverse, my kickr performs perfectly, the power numbers I have been making in trainer-road are comparable to Zwift. I averaged 273W over 20 miles which is slightly lower than my FTP, but I wasn't going flat out. The speed numbers marry up to real road numbers, drafting has a slight easing in power. The most noticeable improvement is the way speed is carried into hills. Now I know Zwift doesn't have massive gradient swings but it feels so much like road riding where speed gradually drops as gravity begins to take affect. I must admit I'm a still getting my head around the position placing on the right. Yesterday I was dropped from the pack partly because I didn't notice, today I made a conscious effort to stay upfront. The races are plentiful with at least one every hour over the entire 24 hour period. I think I'm staying with Zwift because it gives matching numbers for road/ trainer-road. so training is easier to follow. There are categories for each age/capability so you can always pitch your self against someone of similar capability. I think I will look at Criterium races next week and see how I get on. If you're near Bob, have a try on his Neo---If he'll let you!?:biggrin:
 

Breedon

Legendary Member
Breedon, you can join Andy and pace him round the sub2 ride^_^

When the NEO back?
No idea it'll be 3 weeks on Thursday, so im going to email them for a update.
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Well that was an interesting play around on Zwift. Today was the London loop apparently so as soon as I launched the simulator I found myself at the side of the road in some central London street with loads of other cyclists around. I then set off pedalling and my guy just stayed where he was. Then ever so slowly (like a Kickr at the start of a race) he started moving forward and slowly built up momentum even though I was pedalling like the start of a changing race. Built up some speed and seemed to be passing everyone with about 250w, built up to 350 or so and kept going for 10 or 15 minutes by which time I got a bit bored. No one seemed to be racing so I stopped. Went to settings and got some gear like a helmet and socks and a slightly different coloured frame. I wanted the deep carbon fibre rims but I was locked out of that choice. Anyway, went back into the London loop and changing my gear out hadn't made it any more interesting so I then wondered what to do and thinking at this rate I wouldn't even get round to doing my 50km free allowance. Then I noticed a board that listed some races about to start so I joined the first one which started in 10 mins. I waited for that to start and was on the start line and wondered whether I could be pedalling when it started or would I have to be not pedalling so to be safe I chose the latter. Everyone sped off leaving me on the line in last place and I slowly built up speed (like a kickr) and started picking them off. Soon got past the midfield and then passed a group which was apparently the leading group and my name went to the top of the listing. Looking down I was making about 500w and then a banner came up telling me I had made over 500w for 10 seconds so I think I got some points or something. I decided not to bother sitting with the lead group and trying to draft them and thought I'd just try to build up a lead over them. I tried 600w then 700w (these are easier than bkool watts BTW) I thought I must be building up a lead but it is very hard to tell where you are in relation to others (unlike in bkool where it's easy to see), but one of the leaders had decided to catch me up and draft me so whenever I took a slight break and dropped my watts by a bit, this guy would come up behind me and be drafting me. We then got to the end of a lap which was labeled as a warmup lap and there was one race lap left to complete the race. So with this guy on my tail I upped the watts further to 700 then 800 and was surprised how long I could hold this power. This dropped the guy behind me. Meanwhile there are still riders everywhere that I'm passing pretty quick as everyone is lumped in together. Then my name fell down the leaderboard to 3rd place and the guy who was drafting me and another had passed me and I couldn't even see where they were. I booted it up a bit more and saw 1000w and got in front again and I could see the race was near the end so I just nailed it to the line and a bar came up saying I got 1st place. ^_^

So conclusions:
1. Zwift seems much more complicated than bkool.
2.There seems to be only one place to ride each day (todays was London).
3. Most people just seem to be out there riding, and there are thousands of them.
4. Zwift gives you a lot of gold stars.
5. The graphics are better.
6. You won't get to know the other riders (I don't think).
7. Zwift riders are not as hard as bkool riders. :tongue:
8. I would not give up bkool for Zwift.
9. I may end up with a monthly Zwift subscription but not sure yet.

I am afraid it's your trainer Bill, and those awesome legs of course! Your set up is not right. My Zwift stats still show me hitting 1340w with the bkool on one occasion. I hit a more realistic 700w today on my "sprint"with Dowsett.
1. It is.
2. True subject to an easy to install hack. Did you go up box hill?
3. That's a good thing. There will have been people riding, others training-they will have screens in front showing watts etc, and others racing.
4. Only when your trainer isn't set up,right!
5.y
6. There are lots of riding groups, most focussed around Facebook groups, races, leagues etc. Often split a,b,c,d to encourage racing across all abilities- you join or set up a group and design a kit which Zwift approve. A cyclechat group would be awesome
7.HaHa! Many are not but I fear a lot are! Ask Ryan.
8. Nor would I -I would have both if the NEO worked in both.
9. Go for it! Once we get your turbo sorted Andy, Dean and I will kick your Ass!
 
Last edited:

Breedon

Legendary Member
Oh heck. I now remember, or should I say my sit bones now remember (no that's SIT bones), why I had problems when I started BKool :blush:. A hour and a half of various sessions has not quite crippled me, but I am having trouble sitting comfortably. He-ho onward and upward as they say :unsure:.

Edit

I have dropped out of the leagues for the time being. I need to concentrate on getting back what little fitness I had before joining races again :mrpig::B)
Good to have you back TB your sit bones will get used to the seat again the more miles you do keep at it.
 
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