Zwift Chat

[steverob]

1 hour 1 minute 54 seconds for Stage 4 (@peterob). A little disappointing - had hoped to be nearer the one hour mark, but having said that, I did average 211W including coasting the descent, which is my highest watts so far this tour, so maybe it was just my expectations were too high.

Ironically it was the FIRST climb that dented my time the most. Considering my PR up there was on a TT bike at 14:06, I thought I'd easily smash through the 14 min barrier given the extra draft - I ended up getting 15:31! Caught up some of the lost time on the flat bits as I stayed in a decent group coming off the downhill and then stayed within myself on the first half of the final climb, before trying to go all out for the last 4 minutes or so - actually got a faster time of 15:02 for the full thing!

 

[BurningLegs]

@peterob 48:47 on TdZ stage four. 59th so top 10% which is nice.

I think that’s slower than @Whorty - edit, actually almost 3mins quicker all through the race I was aiming for 45 mins because I thought that was your time.Trying to limit my losses clearly pushed me on!

Did well on the first flat and first climb but lost touch with my small group where the descent flattens. Think I lost about 30 secs to that group by waiting for the next. Didn’t want to do any flat on my own! Will look for a member of my first group on ZP when it’s available. His name was buckeye or similar. Oh, what might have been?! Edit - according to ZP one of my partners on the descent finished almost 40 seconds quicker. Gutted I wasn’t paying attention when the descent turned to flat and they powered away while I was in aero tuck!

 

[Edwardoka]

Against my better judgement I did the 2pm TdZ stage despite feeling grotty.
Stage time: 1:08:22. Going by the Zwift insider verified segment for the climb: 16:47 on the first attempt, 17:51 on the second.

Pacing is clearly an issue for me.
The last time I was in Italy my bike and everything on it got nicked, this time on the climb I was wishing someone would steal it.

 

[CXRAndy]

My Zwift account says 1m. I dont actually remember specifically going for sub 5min interval. Ill try this week all being well

 

[<Tommy>]

Where can you check that Andy?

 

[Whorty]

@peterob 48:47 on TdZ stage four. 59th so top 10% which is nice.

I think that’s slower than @Whorty - edit, actually almost 3mins quicker all through the race I was aiming for 45 mins because I thought that was your time.Trying to limit my losses clearly pushed me on!

Did well on the first flat and first climb but lost touch with my small group where the descent flattens. Think I lost about 30 secs to that group by waiting for the next. Didn’t want to do any flat on my own! Will look for a member of my first group on ZP when it’s available. His name was buckeye or similar. Oh, what might have been?! Edit - according to ZP one of my partners on the descent finished almost 40 seconds quicker. Gutted I wasn’t paying attention when the descent turned to flat and they powered away while I was in aero tuck!

Edit : 95% of 20 mins is Cat B numbers You're on fire mate

Your ave power was 232 watts vs 228 for me. That 5 kg that you have on me certainly makes a massive difference when the road heads up. I'll never pull that 3 mins back

 

[CXRAndy]

Where can you check that Andy?

When you look at the finished ride page it has best stats and today s results. It also has a tally of mileage on Zwift.

You can also see it on power curve on strava(not sure you need premium)

 

[BurningLegs]

All the recent talk of training plans and zone two rides has had me thinking.

My riding is completely unstructured. I normally do one race per week then one or two sweet spot workouts (sweet spot because I’d heard it was good if you don’t have much time).

I don’t think I could stomach the base training model - I think I’d find the Z2 stuff boring and wouldn’t be able to commit enough time anyway.

So I’ve done a little bit of reading tonight and taken a (small) plunge!

I read about base training here on TrainingPeaks and it resonated with me:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-myth-of-winter-base-training-for-cyclists/

Now I’ve purchased this book from the same author:
The Time-Crunched Cyclist -
Amazon product ASIN 1937715507View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1937715507/


Not sure if I will commit to a plan from this book but if I do then it’ll be an eight week plan of maximum 90 min sessions for 6 hours per week.

There are some drawbacks to the approach - the biggest one that it’s only really suitable for events upto three hours. I will definitely go over that on the Isle of Wight ride I’m targeting but I’ve done that route before by training with 20 minute bat-out-of-hell commutes so I think this would be an improvement!

The other drawback is that it’s only recommended to follow the plan three times per year with at least a month in between. Again, no biggie for me. I can do a plan 8 weeks upto my target event in May, have a light month in May then possibly hit the plan again for eight weeks sometime in June/July/August, when my second baby will be born so there will be a period of enforced rest from the bike!
The plan will have to enable a race once per week but doubt that’ll be a problem with it being a HIIT plan.

Feeling quite excited about it all now. Sorry for the long post!

 

[Milzy]

All the recent talk of training plans and zone two rides has had me thinking.

My riding is completely unstructured. I normally do one race per week then one or two sweet spot workouts (sweet spot because I’d heard it was good if you don’t have much time).

I don’t think I could stomach the base training model - I think I’d find the Z2 stuff boring and wouldn’t be able to commit enough time anyway.

So I’ve done a little bit of reading tonight and taken a (small) plunge!

I read about base training here on TrainingPeaks and it resonated with me:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-myth-of-winter-base-training-for-cyclists/

Now I’ve purchased this book from the same author:
The Time-Crunched Cyclist -
Amazon product ASIN 1937715507View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1937715507/


Not sure if I will commit to a plan from this book but if I do then it’ll be an eight week plan of maximum 90 min sessions for 6 hours per week.

There are some drawbacks to the approach - the biggest one that it’s only really suitable for events upto three hours. I will definitely go over that on the Isle of Wight ride I’m targeting but I’ve done that route before by training with 20 minute bat-out-of-hell commutes so I think this would be an improvement!

The other drawback is that it’s only recommended to follow the plan three times per year with at least a month in between. Again, no biggie for me. I can do a plan 8 weeks upto my target event in May, have a light month in May then possibly hit the plan again for eight weeks sometime in June/July/August, when my second baby will be born so there will be a period of enforced rest from the bike!
The plan will have to enable a race once per week but doubt that’ll be a problem with it being a HIIT plan.

Feeling quite excited about it all now. Sorry for the long post!

It's a bang for buck method for sure. I want to be doing threshold intervals of different lengths & sets as well as some Vo2 max ones. Trouble is there always seems to be a Zwift tour or leugue race on so I don't end up doing much. Then there's other distractions like different apps to try out. Burning out is worse than doing low amounts. Consistency is important, 5 20 mile rides a week is far more effective than one century a week. Without consistency you're just wasting your time. Ride on.

 

[IrishAl]

All the recent talk of training plans and zone two rides has had me thinking.

My riding is completely unstructured. I normally do one race per week then one or two sweet spot workouts (sweet spot because I’d heard it was good if you don’t have much time).

I don’t think I could stomach the base training model - I think I’d find the Z2 stuff boring and wouldn’t be able to commit enough time anyway.

So I’ve done a little bit of reading tonight and taken a (small) plunge!

I read about base training here on TrainingPeaks and it resonated with me:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-myth-of-winter-base-training-for-cyclists/

Now I’ve purchased this book from the same author:
The Time-Crunched Cyclist -
Amazon product ASIN 1937715507View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1937715507/


Not sure if I will commit to a plan from this book but if I do then it’ll be an eight week plan of maximum 90 min sessions for 6 hours per week.

There are some drawbacks to the approach - the biggest one that it’s only really suitable for events upto three hours. I will definitely go over that on the Isle of Wight ride I’m targeting but I’ve done that route before by training with 20 minute bat-out-of-hell commutes so I think this would be an improvement!

The other drawback is that it’s only recommended to follow the plan three times per year with at least a month in between. Again, no biggie for me. I can do a plan 8 weeks upto my target event in May, have a light month in May then possibly hit the plan again for eight weeks sometime in June/July/August, when my second baby will be born so there will be a period of enforced rest from the bike!
The plan will have to enable a race once per week but doubt that’ll be a problem with it being a HIIT plan.

Feeling quite excited about it all now. Sorry for the long post!

I used this plan HERE for a couple of seasons. It is certainly not a zone 2 fest.

 

[Del C]

I made my contribution to base training this afternoon.

63.4 miles at 2.5w/Kg advertised pace, although often a bit above that. Feeling a little tired after that!

I notice @Brendan Parker did 56 miles on an Audax ride today and I think @bobinski did just over 60 miles an Audax ride yesterday.

That was my longest ride on Zwift. Thought I might cramp towards the end but got past it.

I've not been outside much since my September trip to the Alps and I think I need to start putting in some longer rides to build a bit more endurance before I head off to Spain in May

 

[IrishAl]

When you look at the finished ride page it has best stats and today s results. It also has a tally of mileage on Zwift.

You can also see it on power curve on strava(not sure you need premium)

I think that’s a Strava premium feature but you can get your power curve on Zwiftpower - go to your profile page and there’s a tab titled “Power” funnily enough and the data is there. Going by mine I’ll revise down my estimate from 5 minutes to 1-1/2mins

 

[bobinski]

I made my contribution to base training this afternoon.

63.4 miles at 2.5w/Kg advertised pace, although often a bit above that. Feeling a little tired after that!

I notice @Brendan Parker did 56 miles on an Audax ride today and I think @bobinski did just over 60 miles an Audax ride yesterday.

That was my longest ride on Zwift. Thought I might cramp towards the end but got past it.

I've not been outside much since my September trip to the Alps and I think I need to start putting in some longer rides to build a bit more endurance before I head off to Spain in May

not Z2 as some cheeky bugger suggested either 😁
Would be much nicer to do it outside but I don’t mind 2-3 hour sessions. Bottle of water, with a tab and a bar kept me going while I kept one eye on where I was in the pack and the other on a film, a classic, Internal Affairs. Much nicer than watching out for Saturday morning car drivers in suburban London.
Anyway, there are faster ZHR group Audax rides and I will try the c/b in a few weeks. The stated speed is often disrupted and faster because of riders joining and hitting the gas for an hour or so before leaving.

 

[CXRAndy]

How dare you, Z2 non believers

 

[Brendan Parker]

I made my contribution to base training this afternoon.

63.4 miles at 2.5w/Kg advertised pace, although often a bit above that. Feeling a little tired after that!

I notice @Brendan Parker did 56 miles on an Audax ride today and I think @bobinski did just over 60 miles an Audax ride yesterday.

That was my longest ride on Zwift. Thought I might cramp towards the end but got past it.

I've not been outside much since my September trip to the Alps and I think I need to start putting in some longer rides to build a bit more endurance before I head off to Spain in May

I felt i had to do a long one yesterday as my RW ride got aborted on Saturday after a complete puncture fest. zwift hours seem to be triple RW hours in the saddle