Zwift Chat

[Aleman]

Helo Cc'ers, been a while.
The reason is that I was involved in a near fatal accident. I"m afraid I will not be able to ride a normal bike ever again, as I'm currently paralysed from the waist down.

However, I'm looking into getting a hand driven bike to fit in a home trainer, so you may be seeing me on Zwift some time in the future

WHISKY TANGO FOXTROT!

Lars that is truly awful news. Like everyone else I'm stunned, and inspired by your positive mental attitude. Chapeau!

Every time I hear of incidents like this I realise just how lucky I have been. I had a motorcycle accident 30 odd years ago, and fractured my pelvis in two places and also L3, 4 and 5. I didn't "walk" away from it, but was up and about on crutches 2 days later, and discharged from hospital after 7 days. I had to give up running which I loved as my back couldn't take the impact ... Cycling was fine though.

I really hope things go well for you, and enjoy the hand cycle ... I've tried a couple they are "different"

 

[Ketty]

Well it was another good race from @Joffey in the D Category - not only did he win, he also took 7 of the 8 primes, only missing out on the 1st sprint (and that was probably my fault for telling him to go early). He broke away solo just after the start of the second lap, so from that point on I just sat on the wheel of R.Nielsen in 2nd (who is his nearest rival in the league) and managed to stop him taking 2nd in two of the primes, plus beat him in the finish line sprint - yes, that only denied him 3 extra points overall, but anything I can do to help extend Joffey's lead a tiny bit is part of the plan!

Joffey did give me a little bit of a fright though when his trainer went on the blink just before the final climb on the second lap - from being 16 seconds up on us at the top of the 23rd Street KOM, that came down to just 2 seconds by the time we'd reached the Governor Street corner. Thankfully he got it going again just before Nielsen had a chance to catch his draft and then was able to pull away on the final straight.

Video has been uploaded, although it's probably not all that interesting because obviously it's from my viewpoint and I was just wheelsucking for most of it and only trying to sprint at the primes (with limited success). All of Joffey's sprint/KOM wins happen with him just being a dot in the distance or so far ahead he doesn't appear "on camera" at all!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gkAUEbnLY

Great effort chaps!!

 

[mjd1988]

Well that was 'fun' - managed to hang on to the lead B group for 10 mins before getting dropped at the 2nd sprint Pretty much rode te next 11/2 laps on my own (picked up a Spanish rider with about 7km to go, but that was all).

@mjd1988 fared much better, and very nearly put himself in B cat For me though, despite how hard I worked (or at east how hard I thought I was working) I was still way off B numbers Excellent workout though and with more of these races I'm hoping I'll start to see some improvements (at last)

Really glad I tried out the b race in the end. Makes me think I've been getting complacent in c a bit. That said my power for the race overall wasn't particularly impressive but very pleased with new FTP (first increase in ages).

I was a bit surprised by the start actually- it wasn't as bad as I thought. I may have been the course profile as it's pretty flat until the last third but it the group was nice to sit in for at least a little while- a bit different to X group as there is usually a sandbagger attacking, whereas here people were moving to the front then slowing down. The sprints and the climbs though had people obviously throwing out crazy power.

I decided to treat the whole thing at that point as a 20 min FTP test as I reckoned id blow up after lap one so went all out. Increased ftp to 282 (increase of 8). The climbs put me in my place as the front half of the race just rode off into the distance. I was ready to soft pedal after lap one but I got the most amazing tow from someone putting out about 0.5-1 w/kg more than me on the flat, he dragged me to a group of 7 and again it was all quite slow until the final climb which allowed me enough recovery to go for it - my average heart rate was actually really low as I didn't have to put in a dig for a long time. Felt v lucky to find a group which easily gained me several minutes worth.

So it was a course that suited my accidental game plan and I got lucky with drafting, but I'll do the last race of the current series and hopefully I'll be in b soon enough.

Edit; @Whorty I think if you had held on through the sprint it would have made a massive difference. Those sharp bursts were very intense but there was definitely recovery time after each. I always found in the crits that I felt better actually going for the sprint and then having a few seconds for the group to catch up rather than try and pace it, as I ended up sprinting then anyway and not always making it back on

 

[BurningLegs]

Congratulations on the new FTP @mjd1988 and welcome to B

 

[Brusgaard]

I was a bit surprised by the start actually- it wasn't as bad as I thought. I may have been the course profile as it's pretty flat until the last third but it the group was nice to sit in for at least a little while- a bit different to X group as there is usually a sandbagger attacking, whereas here people were moving to the front then slowing down.

I did warn you (or rather Brendan) that this would not be like a true B-cat start due to the lower number of (stronger) riders. Heck, I was even able to stay in the group (and occasionally supertuck to the front) until the climbs. That would not be possible if the faster B-riders were attending. Avg. watts for the winners were about 0.3 wkg lower than yesterday on the "same" route. Yesterday multiple B-riders avg. 4.0wkg, and today 3.7wkg was the highest.

This route (and yesterday's) is decided on the 3 climbs, so if your 1-2 minutes efforts are high, you have a good chance of making it with the front group. Seems you got in a nice little group and rode away! I didn't...

 

[Brusgaard]

Congratulations on the new FTP @mjd1988 and welcome to B

He is still 0.01wkg from being a B-rider.

 

[Joffey]

Helo Cc'ers, been a while.
The reason is that I was involved in a near fatal accident. I"m afraid I will not be able to ride a normal bike ever again, as I'm currently paralysed from the waist down.

However, I'm looking into getting a hand driven bike to fit in a home trainer, so you may be seeing me on Zwift some time in the future

How many pages do I need to go back to keep me up to date

Sorry to hear this. I don't think our paths crossed on here before but I'm delighted that you are back in the game and considering hand cycling. All the best LBHIFI.

 

[Joffey]

Finished the D race this evening, my longest Zwift race to date, crikey that was tough - but I'll be back next week

Well done to the CC riders who finished 1st & 3rd...

I think @steverob tried to message you in the pens but you have direct messaging disabled. You have to watch the starts in these races, once you have missed them it's really hard to chase on. Myself and Steve were chatting tactics throughout - if you wanna be involved next week let us know.

Glad you enjoyed it though! The Wednesday night DBR is a good race.

 

[Joffey]

Well it was another good race from @Joffey in the D Category - not only did he win, he also took 7 of the 8 primes, only missing out on the 1st sprint (and that was probably my fault for telling him to go early). He broke away solo just after the start of the second lap, so from that point on I just sat on the wheel of R.Nielsen in 2nd (who is his nearest rival in the league) and managed to stop him taking 2nd in two of the primes, plus beat him in the finish line sprint - yes, that only denied him 3 extra points overall, but anything I can do to help extend Joffey's lead a tiny bit is part of the plan!

Joffey did give me a little bit of a fright though when his trainer went on the blink just before the final climb on the second lap - from being 16 seconds up on us at the top of the 23rd Street KOM, that came down to just 2 seconds by the time we'd reached the Governor Street corner. Thankfully he got it going again just before Nielsen had a chance to catch his draft and then was able to pull away on the final straight.

Video has been uploaded, although it's probably not all that interesting because obviously it's from my viewpoint and I was just wheelsucking for most of it and only trying to sprint at the primes (with limited success). All of Joffey's sprint/KOM wins happen with him just being a dot in the distance or so far ahead he doesn't appear "on camera" at all!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gkAUEbnLY

Great write up Steve! I have watched the vid too - it was mental when my trainer lost signal before the final climb - I have no idea how I kept in front of you and Remi

Thanks for your help tonight - by limiting Remi's primes you have really helped me out. That was one of the most enjoyable races I've done on Zwift, quite tactical but the tactics worked to perfection.

Thanks to tonight I am still leading Cat D but now by 33 points! I think I gained 20 points alone tonight.

Already looking forward to next week! If I have a good race on Wednesday I might be very hard to knock off the top spot and get my first league win!

 

[Brusgaard]

Already looking forward to next week! If I have a good race on Wednesday I might be very hard to knock off the top spot and get my first league win!

Good ride @Joffey. I think your old nemesis J.B. missed you in C-cat as he rolled in alone, almost 4 minutes after you.

 

[Joffey]

Good ride @Joffey. I think your old nemesis J.B. missed you in C-cat as he rolled in alone, almost 4 minutes after you.

It's a long and lonely ride in when you get dropped

 

[mjd1988]

I did warn you (or rather Brendan) that this would not be like a true B-cat start due to the lower number of (stronger) riders. Heck, I was even able to stay in the group (and occasionally supertuck to the front) until the climbs. That would not be possible if the faster B-riders were attending. Avg. watts for the winners were about 0.3 wkg lower than yesterday on the "same" route. Yesterday multiple B-riders avg. 4.0wkg, and today 3.7wkg was the highest.

This route (and yesterday's) is decided on the 3 climbs, so if your 1-2 minutes efforts are high, you have a good chance of making it with the front group. Seems you got in a nice little group and rode away! I didn't...

Yeah I think I was lucky it was a course that suited me as well as it being a small group, hopefully I'll get that extra 0.1w/kg (!) and force myself to ride some more races with you guys soon!

 

[Brusgaard]

Yeah I think I was lucky it was a course that suited me as well as it being a small group, hopefully I'll get that extra 0.1w/kg (!) and force myself to ride some more races with you guys soon!

It is only 0.01wkg, as your average is now 3.19 and 3.2 sends you into B-cat. :-)

 

[Brendan Parker]

Really glad I tried out the b race in the end. Makes me think I've been getting complacent in c a bit. That said my power for the race overall wasn't particularly impressive but very pleased with new FTP (first increase in ages).

I was a bit surprised by the start actually- it wasn't as bad as I thought. I may have been the course profile as it's pretty flat until the last third but it the group was nice to sit in for at least a little while- a bit different to X group as there is usually a sandbagger attacking, whereas here people were moving to the front then slowing down. The sprints and the climbs though had people obviously throwing out crazy power.

I decided to treat the whole thing at that point as a 20 min FTP test as I reckoned id blow up after lap one so went all out. Increased ftp to 282 (increase of 8). The climbs put me in my place as the front half of the race just rode off into the distance. I was ready to soft pedal after lap one but I got the most amazing tow from someone putting out about 0.5-1 w/kg more than me on the flat, he dragged me to a group of 7 and again it was all quite slow until the final climb which allowed me enough recovery to go for it - my average heart rate was actually really low as I didn't have to put in a dig for a long time. Felt v lucky to find a group which easily gained me several minutes worth.

So it was a course that suited my accidental game plan and I got lucky with drafting, but I'll do the last race of the current series and hopefully I'll be in b soon enough.

Edit; @Whorty I think if you had held on through the sprint it would have made a massive difference. Those sharp bursts were very intense but there was definitely recovery time after each. I always found in the crits that I felt better actually going for the sprint and then having a few seconds for the group to catch up rather than try and pace it, as I ended up sprinting then anyway and not always making it back on

well done you 2 @mjd1988 @Whorty, sorry didn't make it something came up at home, feel quite bad especially after suggesting it
too easy to get settled in C need to push on all of us i think

 

[Spartak]

I think @steverob tried to message you in the pens but you have direct messaging disabled. You have to watch the starts in these races, once you have missed them it's really hard to chase on. Myself and Steve were chatting tactics throughout - if you wanna be involved next week let us know.

Glad you enjoyed it though! The Wednesday night DBR is a good race.

Yeah the start was an eye opener, got into a little group and we had a good battle for the lower places, just checked and I even got some league points...