Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

You only lose a lot of time cos I'm so slow

When I first joined this group, I was like you .... always the slowest. However, I always committed to completing every stage if only because I knew this meant if anyone missed a stage they had to have my time plus 10% In those days we raced on the Bkool platform, and we had a 'goats' league. The only pleasure I had climbing Mont Ventoux for 2 1/2 hours was that anyone who didn't finish would 'suffer' in the league take any motivator @Joffey

 

[Whorty]

I've signed up stage 4 @ 17:00 today (it's a big turnout so hoping to get some decent drafting ). Day 8 of unemployed badge and legs are feeling it now so not sure how this is going to turn out. Last May when they opened this course and I did some races up there I set a PB up the climb of 9 minutes, at an average of just under 300 watts That was on the NEO too - Feck knows how I did that. I'll be happy with an average on the climb of 250 watts at the moment.

I'll have a decent pop today, and if necessary have an easy ride tomorrow and have another go Sunday if it seems my closest competitors are showing me their heals

 

[IrishAl]

Day 8 of unemployed badge and legs are feeling it now so not sure how this is going to turn out. .

Sounds like you could do with a rest. I know you will want to keep up the streak. Have you taken a day of “active” recovery - just do your 10km but at an easy zone 1 pace on a nice flat route - - should be done in under 30minutes.

 

[Del C]

I've signed up stage 4 @ 17:00 today (it's a big turnout so hoping to get some decent drafting ). Day 8 of unemployed badge and legs are feeling it now so not sure how this is going to turn out. Last May when they opened this course and I did some races up there I set a PB up the climb of 9 minutes, at an average of just under 300 watts That was on the NEO too - Feck knows how I did that. I'll be happy with an average on the climb of 250 watts at the moment.

I'll have a decent pop today, and if necessary have an easy ride tomorrow and have another go Sunday if it seems my closest competitors are showing me their heals

I've just entered 17.00 as well.

Just you, me and .................. and 863 other people!

 

[IrishAl]

So just done that Ride With G thing and it tells me that my FTP has gone from 198 to 207.

You chaps seem to know a lot about training and stuff - that's a difference of 2 weeks - should I expect to see that figure keep rising as I ride more and when would it plateau? How much should it be increasing? I presume when it does I would need to start some specific training to increase it?

Anyhow, pretty chuffed to have increased it in 2 weeks. Gives me a bit more motivation going into S4 of the TdZ.

There is the FTP builder workout plan in Zwift workouts. It could be worth following bearing in mind that the first few weeks can seem too easy. I haven’t completed any workout plan but I think you can skip a week or two.

 

[IrishAl]

OK. League table below with all results following the completion of Stage 3.

Onto Stage 4 - I may even join you for this one .
View attachment 501815

Thanks Peterob. Some great times on stage 3. I gave it full beans and even threw in a nailed on bike swap and still didn’t do the business. Just shows the level of great competition in the league.

 

[bridgy]

Thanks Peterob. Some great times on stage 3. I gave it full beans and even threw in a nailed on bike swap and still didn’t do the business. Just shows the level of great competition in the league.

There's an added variable of the drafting group you end up in with these TDZ rides which can also ake a big difference - you may have been a bit unlucky in that respect on stage 3 for some reason?

 

[peterob]

There is the FTP builder workout plan in Zwift workouts. It could be worth following bearing in mind that the first few weeks can seem too easy. I haven’t completed any workout plan but I think you can skip a week or two.

A word of caution with the Zwift FTP builder plan. I know when I looked at it a while back that it didn't seem well conceived (the workouts were all over the place and didn't seem to highlight any particular zone/target). I'm no expert but they seemed to be building 'junk miles'.

They may have changed since the of course.

 

[<Tommy>]

There's an added variable of the drafting group you end up in with these TDZ rides which can also ake a big difference - you may have been a bit unlucky in that respect on stage 3 for some reason?

Yeah it can definitely be very flattering or alternatively a bit harsh on the finishing times. It’ll be nice if we could all do the events at the same time although I know that’s not realistic. I am looking forward to getting back to Tuesday night racing though.

 

[Whorty]

Sounds like you could do with a rest. I know you will want to keep up the streak. Have you taken a day of “active” recovery - just do your 10km but at an easy zone 1 pace on a nice flat route - - should be done in under 30minutes.

I set up a workout in zone 1 and 2 that I use (i rode this yesterday). This was 90 mins of riding but not very intense. I'm hoping this is enough 'active recovery' but I guess I'll find out soon enough

 

[Whorty]

I've just entered 17.00 as well.

Just you, me and .................. and 863 other people!

This is what I'm thinking tonight ......

9-10 mins from pens to base of KoM. Take it fairly easy because the draft will be so large there won't be any massive benefit by blasting it.
9-10 mins on first climb. Push really hard even if it pushes me into the red.
1 minute descent. Spin legs to get rid of lactic acid
20-22 mins from base of KoM, to start and back to start of KoM. I feel working too hard here could be the deciding factor.
Second climb up KoM, 10-11 mins. Try to keep power high but don't give it my all until about 300 mtrs to go.

In all, about 52 - 54 mins of racing Easy

See you on the start line .... maybe Have a good ride @Del C

 

[<Tommy>]

Hopefully I complete this race too. Not feeling it but I think this is my window of opportunity this weekend. Hopefully it’s not a bailathon... Good luck Del and Carl!

 

[steverob]

This is what I'm thinking tonight ......

9-10 mins from pens to base of KoM. Take it fairly easy because the draft will be so large there won't be any massive benefit by blasting it.
9-10 mins on first climb. Push really hard even if it pushes me into the red.
1 minute descent. Spin legs to get rid of lactate acid
20-22 mins from base of KoM, to start and back to start of KoM. I feel working too hard here could be the deciding factor.
Second climb up KoM, 10-11 mins. Try to keep power high but don't give it my all until about 300 mtrs to go.

In all, about 52 - 54 mins of racing Easy

See you on the start line .... maybe Have a good ride @Del C

You'll be WAY faster than that. My best times (three previous attempts at the climb, plus one descent) are as follows, and remember I'm a 95kg Cat D and was doing this either on a TT bike or on a road bike in no draft mode, while today's ride is double draft I believe:

10 minutes for the flat section (done at about 2.3 wkg) - so you'll probably get about 8 mins, taking it easy maybe nearer 9.
13 minutes for the climb (done at about 2.6 wkg) - just over 10 minutes is probably right for you here as my excess weight is what's slowing me down.
1 1/2 minutes for the steep part of the descent; admittedly I did put down some pretty big watts on the top half, as I was aiming to get the 100km/h badge, but I freewheeled the rest - let's say you're about the same time here.
10 1/2 minutes for the flat back to the start (at 2.1 wkg); I've only done this stretch once and took it quite easy on that occasion - would be surprised if you go much over 9 minutes.
And then the flat and climb again, but let's add on 10% to your time from the first go, as your legs might be feeling the burn by then - so that's around 20-21 minutes
Grand Total: 49-50 minutes and that's a conservative estimate - could get much faster if you're lucky with the draft or if the second ascent goes better than expected.

 

[Marino.g]

A word of caution with the Zwift FTP builder plan. I know when I looked at it a while back that it didn't seem well conceived (the workouts were all over the place and didn't seem to highlight any particular zone/target). I'm no expert but they seemed to be building 'junk miles'.

They may have changed since the of course.

Dylan Johnson has stated this on his you tube channel which I have linked to in the past and here it if you haven’t seen it.

View: https://youtu.be/xmVZshpLaqs

 

[Marino.g]

I’ve a little story to tell....
A work colleague has been doing tri athlete training and has been struggling on the bike for a while. He decided to have a bike fit and his power improved over night and on Zwift he was averaging 170 W on a flat section and it has now gone up to 220W.
The fitter changed the length of his cranks and replaced the bottom bracket bearings and the rest was basically set up.
Worth considering for those that haven’t had a bike fit to gain a few extra watts of power.

With reference to my earlier post.
Question:
Have you had a bike fit and if so was it worth doing and did you experience any significant changes.