Zwift Chat

[Edwardoka]

A lot of what makes Zwift an entertaining way to use an indoor trainer comes from the suspension of disbelief, you almost feel that you're really climbing a hill or reeling in a pack of riders ahead of you, the illusion works even with a dumb trainer.

Conversely, the sky roads are nonsensical and "gamey" and so people don't have the suspension of disbelief, therefore, not fun.

 

[Brendan Parker]

well Yep that course is still crap at 6am in the morning. 59.50 for me @peterob

 

[bobinski]

It’s a great course for training and racing. Barely any rest, fair bit of climbing, it kind of evens up the odds between heavier power riders and lighter climbers. It’s certainly tough and that glass floor isn’t for everyone but I reckon some of you are going soft .You should head over to the Sufferfest and realign your need to suffer👍

 

[Whorty]

Ah but having the strength to not get gapped at those key moments is what it's all about. It's not flattering you, it's well deserved because you're doing those high power intervals when you need to and getting into the faster group

Completely agree with this. It's what, for me, makes these big rides really interesting. Making a decision to put say 30 seconds of hard work to catch a group to then get a 'free' ride, or having the confidence to sit up for a minute to rest, waiting for a chasing group, is all part of the race strategy. This makes these races so different to our normal league races where we are mostly one-up racing.

 

[Whorty]

Crikey, seems like there is a consensus on this course being a poor one. Was looking forward to giving it a go on Thursday but not sure anymore!

The climbs will suit you, but there are lots of rolling roads too so you will need to concentrate to stay in a fast moving group. You will easily beat my time Absolutely 100% easily beat my time Good luck

 

[Whorty]

It’s a great course for training and racing. Barely any rest, fair bit of climbing, it kind of evens up the odds between heavier power riders and lighter climbers. It’s certainly tough and that glass floor isn’t for everyone but I reckon some of you are going soft .You should head over to the Sufferfest and realign your need to suffer👍

I think for me it's the visual cue that I'm cycling on glass, and it 'feels' slow. It's all in the mind, but I can 'feel' the slippiness of the wheel on the surface Really strange, but I look forward to getting back onto the tarmac

 

[Whorty]

Don't know how Del's ride went, and what groups he got in, but I find this graph comparing our times from stage 5 quite interesting (the is the Everything Bagel segment in Strava). We finished within 2 seconds of each other, so I was expecting to see our times tracking quite well through the race but actually our rides were completely opposite. @Del C had a fast first half, and I seemed to have a very fast section, at about 17.5km, where I pulled back the time deficit. Maybe Del lost a group at that point, or I found a fast group (not sure).

You can see I lost time on the final KoM descent to Del ..... there were 3 of us only on the drop. I lost concentration and didn't see a group catching us ... they flew past us just after the descent. One of the 3 of us reacted and managed to stick with them - me and the 3rd rider got stuck! I took the chase on and the other guy sat on, but when I gave him the chance to help me I could see he was suffering. There was another group 14 seconds behind, so I sat up and waited for them (they would have caught me anyway, so no point me wasting energy trying to keep them away). You can see at about 29km where that group caught me, I latched on and my time against Del improved. The group was about 10 strong and moving at a good pace, so me being there helped my time.

I checked on the rider who came down the KoM with me and made the first group - he finished 28 seconds ahead of me ... that little loss of concentration lost me 28 seconds.

 

[peterob]

Blimey Pete - great ride! 375 watts average for the first climb is . Didn't slow you down for the flat section either where you got a 3rd overall - very impressive

Yeah - I'm not sure how I got a 3rd for that section as I was in a group of 4 and we got caught by a further group of 6. I guess a lot of Zwifters aren't syncing to Strava.

 

[peterob]

Well done all who have completed Stage 5 - some great times yesterday . And pretty even so far with times within 10 mins of each other.

Table updated:

 

[CXRAndy]

well Yep that course is still crap at 6am in the morning. 59.50 for me @peterob

That's my time to aim for. Starting to feel better today, woolly spinning head has settled down. Will have a go tomorrow sometime

 

[Brendan Parker]

That's my time to aim for. Starting to feel better today, woolly spinning head has settled down. Will have a go tomorrow sometime

As you know you need a good group mate I got stranded after the last KOM lonely ride home. Picked up a couple of people but think they were done

 

[CXRAndy]

Just signed up for Tour de Yorkshire -Yes the real one

Its 3rd May. long route 80ish miles lots of climbing

Not cheap @ £58 and penny's.

Basically no refunds after 14 days of order or within 3 months of the event, you can transfer to a friend, but no deferrals

Booking closes tonight!

 

[peterob]

Just signed up for Tour de Yorkshire -Yes the real one

Its 3rd May. long route 80ish miles lots of climbing

Not cheap @ £58 and penny's.

Basically no refunds after 14 days of order or within 3 months of the event, you can transfer to a friend, but no deferrals

Booking closes tonight!

I was interested in doing that this year but it looks like I'll be in Italy then. I'll hopefully get a few days cycling in though

 

[CXRAndy]

As you know you need a good group mate I got stranded after the last KOM lonely ride home. Picked up a couple of people but think they were done

I feel a little happier with climbs only 5 ish mins long. I can go over threshold for that long- well usually

I hope to keep hold of a group.

Last event I tried to bridge a 10 second gap to a pack of 10, I was in a pack of 3 on the flat. I got to within 1 measly second and then pop. Burnt my matches for the rest of the ride.

I shouldn't have been alone, but I let this group go on the descent whilst I tried to recover from the Bolognese climb. I was feeling quite sick and needed to stop pedalling all way down the descent

 

[Whorty]

As you know you need a good group mate I got stranded after the last KOM lonely ride home. Picked up a couple of people but think they were done

This was me yesterday when I lost the group that came past me on the descent, until I noticed the group 20 seconds behind. Without that chasing group I would have had a lonely ride too, with the poor French chap trying to hang on to me as he couldn't offer much help.