Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

League time; 47 hours...I'll check later after I eat

Stank the place out there, not sure what was wrong with me, heart rate was all over the place so think I need to eat or just wrecked myself at the start.
Had to get up after 15 mins to plug my laptop in which didn't help. @Whorty kindly towed me a few km after that but I was dead weight. Onwards and upwards!

@IrishAl well done for catching the group at the start

Not sure what happened tonight - maybe I am as crap as I think, or something strange going on. My time tonight was 11 minutes slower than I did in Feb, and an average of 33 watts less I've lost quite a bit of weight since then so maybe this has resulted in a loss of power too?

There were times when I was pushing 2.7/2.8 w/kg on the flat and people were flying past me at 1.4 w/kg. I was only moving at 25 kph when normally at those watts I'd be 30-32 kph. Happened a few times, when transitioning between gradients to flat.

I lost the group as we hit the KoM. I was at the back pushing 3.3 w/kg. As you all passed a rider doing (I think) about 2.5 w/kg he decided to try to latch on. He increased his watts to 3.0 w/kg, you all flew past, but as I reached him I sticky drafted to his wheel. Lost me 2 kph and then just couldn't get back on - burnt a lot of energy there.

With about 4.5 km to go wifey had an emergency so had to hop off the bike to help her for a few minutes; I'd like to say this didn't help, but I was so far back by then that the rest was welcome May have to try that again to see if I can improve my time.

The only positive to all this? ......... I'm off to County Cycles this weekend to (hopefully) buy myself a swanky new Bianchi 🍾

 

[bridgy]

I have a feeling my power was higher than Tuesday even though I think my time was slower. I thought I’d be dropped first tonight because I felt bad at the start. But I got something from somewhere in the second half.

could someone put up a link to the segment please.

https://www.strava.com/segments/16404154?filter=overall

 

[bobinski]

Not sure what happened tonight - maybe I am as crap as I think, or something strange going on. My time tonight was 11 minutes slower than I did in Feb, and an average of 33 watts less I've lost quite a bit of weight since then so maybe this has resulted in a loss of power too?

There were times when I was pushing 2.7/2.8 w/kg on the flat and people were flying past me at 1.4 w/kg. I was only moving at 25 kph when normally at those watts I'd be 30-32 kph. Happened a few times, when transitioning between gradients to flat.

I lost the group as we hit the KoM. I was at the back pushing 3.3 w/kg. As you all passed a rider doing (I think) about 2.5 w/kg he decided to try to latch on. He increased his watts to 3.0 w/kg, you all flew past, but as I reached him I sticky drafted to his wheel. Lost me 2 kph and then just couldn't get back on - burnt a lot of energy there.

With about 4.5 km to go wifey had an emergency so had to hop off the bike to help her for a few minutes; I'd like to say this didn't help, but I was so far back by then that the rest was welcome May have to try that again to see if I can improve my time.

The only positive to all this? ......... I'm off to County Cycles this weekend to (hopefully) buy myself a swanky new Bianchi 🍾

Hope she is ok mate

 

[Whorty]

Hope she is ok mate

Yeah - all good now thanks 👍 Can't go into too many details, but she needs almost 24/7 care now so I have to help with basic things.

I am wondering if the extra I'm having to do for wife is maybe impacting my cycling. I have to lift her to transfer between wheelchair, bed, reclining chair etc, which, over the course of a day gets pretty exhausting. This is one reason I can't ride as much, as some days I struggle to even do simple things for myself. I guess it could be a factor? Puts me back in the groupetto, where I belong

 

[Whorty]

https://www.strava.com/segments/16404154?filter=overall

1:00:10 please @bridgy

 

[Whorty]

This is interesting. I was trying to find out where I lost time tonight as it felt like I was going slower for similar watts. Looking at the downhill segment, from the windmill down to the bottom of the jungle. Tonight, for an ave of 195 watts it took me 9:04 compared to my best of 5:51 at 212 watts. I am lighter, which will account for some time .... but 50% slower?!? Something doesn't feel right.

Edit: is it likely to implement the new BMX / steering that they have slowed down descents to allow the BMX steering to be able to react quicker?

Edit 2 : Seems others are seeing the same issues since the upgrade as reported on Facebook Zwift racers. Looks like a bug has popped up .... should we move back to Bkool

 

[<Tommy>]

This is interesting. I was trying to find out where I lost time tonight as it felt like I was going slower for similar watts. Looking at the downhill segment, from the windmill down to the bottom of the jungle. Tonight, for an ave of 195 watts it took me 9:04 compared to my best of 5:51 at 212 watts. I am lighter, which will account for some time .... but 50% slower?!? Something doesn't feel right.

Edit: is it likely to implement the new BMX / steering that they have slowed down descents to allow the BMX steering to be able to react quicker?

Edit 2 : Seems others are seeing the same issues since the upgrade as reported on Facebook Zwift racers. Looks like a bug has popped up .... should we move back to Bkool

View attachment 487655

when I read the details of the upgrade yesterday they said they were changing to rolling resistance of different tyres so they’re effected differently by the various terrains. Eg road bike tyres perform better on tarmac than gravel roads. This could be that.

 

[IrishAl]

It felt like it was way slower than tuesdays start. That could just be perception but I didn’t get the impression anyone out their foot on the gas. And from where I was it looked like berty crossed the start line quite ahead of everyone else

phew, big reality check for me tonight! I took it easy at The start and you were all steaming up the road before I knew it. I was pushing 500w + trying to get back on but the gap was growing. A few times I sat up expecting a solo ride for 30km, You must have eased up once in the tunnel as the gao started to come down and that inspired me to chase back on. Then Bridgy, Tommy and a couple of others blew it apart on the KOM.
To add to my woes my power meter died halfway round. I am hoping it was just a dead battery. I rode to the finish on good old bkool power so feel free to give me a time penalty of your choice 😂

 

[bridgy]

This is interesting. I was trying to find out where I lost time tonight as it felt like I was going slower for similar watts. Looking at the downhill segment, from the windmill down to the bottom of the jungle. Tonight, for an ave of 195 watts it took me 9:04 compared to my best of 5:51 at 212 watts. I am lighter, which will account for some time .... but 50% slower?!? Something doesn't feel right.

Edit: is it likely to implement the new BMX / steering that they have slowed down descents to allow the BMX steering to be able to react quicker?

Edit 2 : Seems others are seeing the same issues since the upgrade as reported on Facebook Zwift racers. Looks like a bug has popped up .... should we move back to Bkool

View attachment 487655

Hmmm have a read of this recent zwift forum thread - you might be onto something Carl https://forums.zwift.com/t/october-1-update-rolling-resistance-change-for-gravel-roads/114845 - mentions the Road to Ruins course we did tonight.

Need more details before we know exactly what's going on but sounds like different wheelsets may now be behaving differently on dirt/gravel sections. If this is true it's very poor of zwift to have done this without explaining fully in advance. Could have a big impact on races going forward as you'll have to research the course and whether it has gravel sections and where, and choose wheelsets accordingly - once we get some proper data on how wheelsets are affected of course, as we're in the dark at the moment!

At least it happened on the 1st October update so will have affected everyone in our races equally.

My times for that descent are also way slower than previously which does suggest there was probably a dirt or gravel section in it.

 

[Add]

Thank God I got my run in on Tuesday before they introduced the treacle.

 

[<Tommy>]

Hmmm have a read of this recent zwift forum thread - you might be onto something Carl https://forums.zwift.com/t/october-1-update-rolling-resistance-change-for-gravel-roads/114845 - mentions the Road to Ruins course we did tonight.

Need more details before we know exactly what's going on but sounds like different wheelsets may now be behaving differently on dirt/gravel sections. If this is true it's very poor of zwift to have done this without explaining fully in advance. Could have a big impact on races going forward as you'll have to research the course and whether it has gravel sections and where, and choose wheelsets accordingly - once we get some proper data on how wheelsets are affected of course, as we're in the dark at the moment!

At least it happened on the 1st October update so will have affected everyone in our races equally.

My times for that descent are also way slower than previously which does suggest there was probably a dirt or gravel section in it.

To be fair like I said above they did say they were implementing it as part of the update. I guess people just didn’t pick up on it.

I assume zwift insider will be doing a bit of analysis at some point soon.

 

[mjd1988]

1:01.04 for me

A full 11 and a half minutes down on the last time I did it apparently (guessing a massive group ride).

 

[IrishAl]

https://www.strava.com/segments/16404154?filter=overall

53:45 for me

 

[<Tommy>]

phew, big reality check for me tonight! I took it easy at The start and you were all steaming up the road before I knew it. I was pushing 500w + trying to get back on but the gap was growing. A few times I sat up expecting a solo ride for 30km, You must have eased up once in the tunnel as the gao started to come down and that inspired me to chase back on. Then Bridgy, Tommy and a couple of others blew it apart on the KOM.
To add to my woes my power meter died halfway round. I am hoping it was just a dead battery. I rode to the finish on good old bkool power so feel free to give me a time penalty of your choice 😂

Pain about your power Al hope it is just the battery. I think it’s fair to say we’ll all chip in if you need a new one. You’re too fast as it is even without the help of bkool!

 

[Del C]

Taken another look at my ride versus Tuesday now.

Average power on the segment up from 240W to 244W tonight, but time went out from 48.48 to 53.22.

And I think all the loss is on the Road to Ruins loop. Power up tonight from 234W to 241W but incredibly slower, out from 13.19 to 17.29.

I thought I was working harder. I was! And now I know why I was dead when I finally caught @IrishAl