Zwift Chat

[<Tommy>]

Could you do that for me too? I’d be very grateful Anything more than choosing an event on the app is too advanced for me... I did manage to turn around once which I was quite proud of! Still haven’t managed to wave though...

 

[JuhaL]

From companion app, Tommy's time 40:53 and bridgy's time 41:43.

 

[Milzy]

40:47 for me. The only way to to try and close a 90 second gap was to try and keep at the head of the stage. Eventually spat out of the back and into Paul's & Tommy's group. It's been a long tour, feels like it's been on since Christmas. Now it's time to look at some outdoor riding and interval training. Congratulations to Tommy and it was a great pleasure to ride this early in the year tour with you guys.

 

[CXRAndy]

Could you do that for me too? I’d be very grateful Anything more than choosing an event on the app is too advanced for me... I did manage to turn around once which I was quite proud of! Still haven’t managed to wave though...

 

[Brendan Parker]

might interest a few. Skip to around 3 mins as has some ride data info we can get.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsPYHS5yGvs&feature=share

 

[Whorty]

Woo hoo, time improvement from last night .... 44:43 please @peterob

Slightly higher ave watts. worked hard tonight to stay with the small group I was in ... they finally dropped me on the last KoM. Managed to eventually work with 3 others towards the end but those last 5 km were a struggle. Didn't see any other CCers on the road, but I see I was as always put in my place

 

[bridgy]

That was a good but hard race! Was pleased to be mixing it with Adam and Tommy so late in the stage even though I did eventually get dropped on one of the many climbs towards the end.

The last couple of stages have felt much better for me than the first few which were a real struggle - I think coming off the back of a couple of viruses over Xmas (not that I'm making excuses!)

Well done Tommy - you've been on fire - as has the new even more slimline Adam!

I know there's a few more catch up rides to come but I assume Tommy's pretty much uncatchable at this point?

 

[bridgy]

By the way, just listened to the Zwift podcast interview with Eric Min - lots of interesting stuff, but one thing that stood out to me was he said one of his priorities was improving the meetup function for racing with friends, including being able to put intermediate sprints and KOM points on the routes - sounds encouraging

 

[Milzy]

That was a good but hard race! Was pleased to be mixing it with Adam and Tommy so late in the stage even though I did eventually get dropped on one of the many climbs towards the end.

The last couple of stages have felt much better for me than the first few which were a real struggle - I think coming off the back of a couple of viruses over Xmas (not that I'm making excuses!)

Well done Tommy - you've been on fire - as has the new even more slimline Adam!

I know there's a few more catch up rides to come but I assume Tommy's pretty much uncatchable at this point?

People at work are saying I look like an AIDS victim or crack head, just ask Alongo who's seen about 3 stone come off me over nearly a decade. They want to insult me but us cyclists must take it has huge compliments. I kept training up over Christmas holidays so I managed to gain power as well as lean out. We're getting closer and competitive, it's all good fun and it will do our fitness the world of good.

 

[Del C]

First ride of the week for me, after getting over the bug I caught earlier this week.

Decided to do the short stage of TdZ Stage 7 just to see if I was properly recovered, with a view to doing the long stage either tomorrow or Saturday.

Maybe I should have dived straight into the long stage? I rode stronger than I've ridden for a few weeks. Came 33rd out of 209 with a time of 22.44. Average power of 249W at 3.3W/kg.

Who knows, but I may have just blown on the 2nd lap if I'd tried the longer race, but pleased with that after feeling pretty crap this week.

I think sometimes it helps when you relax and ride with no pressure. I got into a good pedalling rhythm today, kept it smooth and probably pushed a slightly bigger gear than usual.

I can never quite decide which technique works better and maybe its down to the individual. Sometimes I think spinning higher, say over 90rpm is more effective. That's how I ride in IRL. But sometimes. like today, I've ridden nearer 75-80 rpm and come away feeling my power output was higher and my performance better. Maybe the lower cadence gives me a bit more control and helps me to keep my pedal action smoother, and that means I'm pushing power more consistently through the pedals.

I'm not completely sure what the answer is. What techniques do you guys use. Spin or lower cadence/grinding? Do you adapt your style if its a climbing course versus flat or rolling?

 

[tallliman]

Spin to win!

 

[<Tommy>]

First ride of the week for me, after getting over the bug I caught earlier this week.

Decided to do the short stage of TdZ Stage 7 just to see if I was properly recovered, with a view to doing the long stage either tomorrow or Saturday.

Maybe I should have dived straight into the long stage? I rode stronger than I've ridden for a few weeks. Came 33rd out of 209 with a time of 22.44. Average power of 249W at 3.3W/kg.

Who knows, but I may have just blown on the 2nd lap if I'd tried the longer race, but pleased with that after feeling pretty crap this week.

I think sometimes it helps when you relax and ride with no pressure. I got into a good pedalling rhythm today, kept it smooth and probably pushed a slightly bigger gear than usual.

I can never quite decide which technique works better and maybe its down to the individual. Sometimes I think spinning higher, say over 90rpm is more effective. That's how I ride in IRL. But sometimes. like today, I've ridden nearer 75-80 rpm and come away feeling my power output was higher and my performance better. Maybe the lower cadence gives me a bit more control and helps me to keep my pedal action smoother, and that means I'm pushing power more consistently through the pedals.

I'm not completely sure what the answer is. What techniques do you guys use. Spin or lower cadence/grinding? Do you adapt your style if its a climbing course versus flat or rolling?

I think it is personal opinion to a degree. But... it was actually Andy that made me think about this a couple of years ago. I’d always been more of a grinder. Smoking meant I’d always ask more of my legs than my lungs. And when I was younger O guess it’s easier to bluff too. It’s really taken me a couple of years work since andy woke me up to it to get to the point where it really does feel like it’s given me an extra gear. It’s hard to explain really.

 

[steverob]

More incidentally, why is my Zwift time more than my ride time? I crossed the line in Zwift in 46:22 but my ride is timed at 46:50 in the companion app.

Mine was the same and in the screen shot I did of my result you can see the faster time ,which was faster as it took at least 3 minuets to find the camera button😆😆

I only noticed this on the last two stages, but the Elapsed Time clock at the top of the screen only seems to start after you're well out of the pens, so that could certainly explain a 30 second or so discrepancy between ZP race time and what is shown on screen.

 

[<Tommy>]

I’m quite chuffed about the league. Or should we call it the ‘zwift world championships (of the world)’ . Because it happens once a year? Just a suggestion... 😄

Been at it four years so Cyclechat told me a couple of weeks ago. I’ve always been a competitive sod (although that’s probably a surprise as I tend to hide it quite well...). I know I can be a little challenging at times too... so thanks for not openly condemning me even if you all think it!

But racing and chasing the people in front of me and trying to stay ahead of the people behind has pushed me all the way to this point. Been flattered a bit by other people not being in their best form this league. Although after tonight I can see bridgy is coming back strong. And milzy and his ever decreasing waist size put me under a lot of pressure. So I’m gonna milk this while I can 😄👍. If this is long winded then it’s because I don’t expect it to happen again for a while so I’m going to enjoy it! 😁 Oh and 🏆🥇

(If someone comes and pips my times now this pre mature gloat could be a little embarrassing so please everyone stop racing now!

 

[Del C]

I think it is personal opinion to a degree. But... it was actually Andy that made me think about this a couple of years ago. I’d always been more of a grinder. Smoking meant I’d always ask more of my legs than my lungs. And when I was younger O guess it’s easier to bluff too. It’s really taken me a couple of years work since andy woke me up to it to get to the point where it really does feel like it’s given me an extra gear. It’s hard to explain really.

Interesting.

IRL I made a conscious effort a few years back to up my cadence, aiming to ride at around 90 or slightly above as opposed to around 80. I felt this worked and improved my performance.

It often feels to me that dropping my cadence to around 75/80 on the turbo means I put out more power consistently, but as you say this means I'm relying more on leg muscle power and less on my heart/lungs.

I do wonder if what the turbo is actually exposing more than IRL can do, is that I'm not quite keeping my pedal stroke smooth enough at higher cadence and that I'm losing some power as a result.

When I drop the cadence, maybe its just easier to keep the pedal stroke even and I'm pushing more completely past the 12 o'clock point at the top of the pedal stroke and getting more out of each stroke as a result?

Certainly, running higher cadence should keep my legs fresher. I'm thinking I need to work on building the muscle memory to keep the stroke smoother at the higher cadence.