Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

Below is the result of the Danish/DBR race on the same course as tonight. I got dropped with a few KM to go by the lead group ... most of whom are now in B so no shame in that (Petersen, Micheal, Brendan, Kerr and Ferres is a B rider who holds back to stay in C). Looks like I need to aim for 52 minutes of pain again tonight 😢

 

[steverob]

Below is the result of the Danish/DBR race on the same course as tonight. I got dropped with a few KM to go by the lead group ... most of whom are now in B so no shame in that (Petersen, Micheal, Brendan, Kerr and Ferres is a B rider who holds back to stay in C). Looks like I need to aim for 52 minutes of pain again tonight 😢

But that DBR race was three laps, whereas tonight's is only two. So prepare for 34 minutes of pain instead!

 

[bobinski]

I agree with pretty much all of that Legs. Even the bit I’ve highlighted to a degree. It does depend what you want out of it though doesn’t it. So it’s a bit subjective. Because training for that limited amount of time is fine if your main focus is zwift type racing. But endurance is also about sustaining power over a long period of time so you can manage long days, multiple days back to back riding. Specifically mountain climbing requires both as good vo2 max and as good w/kg as possible. So by definition improved stamina and improved power to weight aren’t mutually exclusive. And can be gained from training for endurance. You see professional athletes build a training plan that combines lots of different elements to suit their requirements.

But if your sole aim is focussing on high intensity and recovery rides then less is often more.

In my limited experience this is spot on. Zwift is breeding a lot of 40min to 1 hour power monsters.
When I planned my year of European rides I discussed with a coach what I needed to do. I told him I wanted to race at least once a week on zwift and he said he’d fit it in but the intensity would adversely impact on endurance, I would need longer to recover and that also affect the regularity and intensity of a endurance training plan. We reached a compromise but he was right. I am glad he made me do the longer Tougher rides. Endurance training isn’t z2 Recovery rides it’s a lot harder- it needs to be to get you up and over mountains over several days. A bit of hit work also doesn’t go amiss.
its not racing though.
Still, we all like a good race. That’s the problem.

 

[Whorty]

But that DBR race was three laps, whereas tonight's is only two. So prepare for 34 minutes of pain instead!

ha ha, hadn't spotted that. Easy peasy tonight then I'll be barely warmed up by the sprint for the line Either that, or I'm going to need a lot more power to hang on

 

[mjd1988]

In my limited experience this is spot on. Zwift is breeding a lot of 40min to 1 hour power monsters.
When I planned my year of European rides I discussed with a coach what I needed to do. I told him I wanted to race at least once a week on zwift and he said he’d fit it in but the intensity would adversely impact on endurance, I would need longer to recover and that also affect the regularity and intensity of a endurance training plan. We reached a compromise but he was right. I am glad he made me do the longer Tougher rides. Endurance training isn’t z2 Recovery rides it’s a lot harder- it needs to be to get you up and over mountains over several days. A bit of hit work also doesn’t go amiss.
its not racing though.
Still, we all like a good race. That’s the problem.

Very true, I really struggle on the longer climbs but just love the shorter races too much, and haven't climbed the alpe since I got my Tron!

Also explains why when pros race on zwift it doesn't necessarily play out as you would expect. Some of that is lack of knowledge of power ups, tactics, weight cheats, trainer differences etc but some of it is that some zwifters are incredibly specialised at 45 minute races with 300m of climbing and then a sprint, doesn't mean they could win the tour de france

 

[mjd1988]

Lot of chat about weight here. Just important to keep sight that weight doesn't become too much of an obsession and a goal in itself. No harm in optimising performance as long as you are enjoying yourself mind, and lots of you guys have done incredibly well with weight loss to healthy weights.

Quite a lot of eating disorders in professional sport and I imagine cycling with all the focus on watts/kg and power metrics is a breeding ground for that.

Ultimately I love food, and if I didn't exercise by cycling or working out I'd be much bigger. If I lost some weight I'd be faster (and could definitely stand to maybe lose 5kg without losing too much power,) but anything past that and I'd probably be miserable.

 

[bobinski]

This guy has just finished riding up Ventoux on a hand bike 😁

 

[<Tommy>]

In my limited experience this is spot on. Zwift is breeding a lot of 40min to 1 hour power monsters.
When I planned my year of European rides I discussed with a coach what I needed to do. I told him I wanted to race at least once a week on zwift and he said he’d fit it in but the intensity would adversely impact on endurance, I would need longer to recover and that also affect the regularity and intensity of a endurance training plan. We reached a compromise but he was right. I am glad he made me do the longer Tougher rides. Endurance training isn’t z2 Recovery rides it’s a lot harder- it needs to be to get you up and over mountains over several days. A bit of hit work also doesn’t go amiss.
its not racing though.
Still, we all like a good race. That’s the problem.

Definitely. It’s all trial and error isn’t it. Having booked up girona and hopefully having a bit more spare time on my hands generally. I’ll try and put some more proper miles in over the next couple of months. Maybe once race a week. You can’t bluff those hills any always find you out in the end!

 

[Randyberlin]

I think I read something once (It sounds like something Linford Christie would say). That the last 5% is harder to get than the other 95% combined.

I wonder how much more any of us can gain. How close are we to our max potential. The equation would have to include life getting in the way versus time we can dedicate to something which should be kept in perspective. But then how much are we prepared to invest. Today I’m 75kg. I’m not changing my weight on zwift from 77kg because it fluctuates too far above that for me to consider it my daily weight. But for a Monday morning that’s very low for me. Too low probably. When is enough enough?

I digress...I suppose what I started off by meaning to say if I were you Carl I’d focus on small targets rather than the end destination. Then it just comes down to motivation doesn't it?

Anyways... good Monday to you all! From my favourite cafe in London. You’d walk straight past if you saw what it looked like from the outside. But the food, all cooked by one bloke, in the smallest kitchen in the world, is insane. Today’s special is sea bass and if you want it, you better get your name down before 8:30!

View attachment 537069

Are you doing a job near there? Looks like new construction in the background.

 

[peterob]

@Whorty

Yes, yes it is

Not going too mad at the moment, the op was only June 23rd. I'm only averaging 120-140w on the rides I'm doing on BigRingVR, which all things considered is quite frickin impressive considering the amount of time it's been since I last rode in the real world (365 days, July 6th 2019 and July 5th 2020, those are the dates between my last ride of the old era and the first ride of the new era, post op).

I am concentrating on building endurance at the moment. I did the Oslo Pt1 ride Sunday @126w avg and really enjoyed the 2h34ms of it .

I am starting a FTP builder program now to get some power back but with such a low starting point I may have to bump the FTP numbers up to get a real benefit .

I'll not be racing anywhere. But to get back to a point where I thought I could do a 100 mile ride would be good.

Great to see you back on the bike TB 👍. Super news

 

[bobinski]

I rode with 2 mountain goats in the Alps last year.both in their 60’s. Super fit guys. Former mountain and freestyle (?) climbers. I could ride way from them in any ride up to an hour. Anything over and I struggled to stay with them. They ride 3 times a week normally, never less than 100km and often 130-160km. Huge engines and at a decent pace too. They are hugely competitive. One of them took his age group Kom when I dragged him up the Iseran.

 

[peterob]

In my limited experience this is spot on. Zwift is breeding a lot of 40min to 1 hour power monsters.
When I planned my year of European rides I discussed with a coach what I needed to do. I told him I wanted to race at least once a week on zwift and he said he’d fit it in but the intensity would adversely impact on endurance, I would need longer to recover and that also affect the regularity and intensity of a endurance training plan. We reached a compromise but he was right. I am glad he made me do the longer Tougher rides. Endurance training isn’t z2 Recovery rides it’s a lot harder- it needs to be to get you up and over mountains over several days. A bit of hit work also doesn’t go amiss.
its not racing though.
Still, we all like a good race. That’s the problem.

This mirrors my own thoughts/experience this year. Actually it seems we've been following similar paths @bobinski - subscribing to Sufferfest and following their plans over winter etc. The past few months I've been focusing on endurance - mainly mixing Z2 with tempo/SS rides. I've largely been keeping away from racing, but it is tempting to have a good blast on Zwift, particularly when they've been arranged by the good folks on this forum. The problem with racing is that it does leave me ruined for days after

 

[Joffey]

This guy has just finished riding up Ventoux on a hand bike 😁 View attachment 537120

I didn't know you could get a hand bike on Zwift!

 

[<Tommy>]

Are you doing a job near there? Looks like new construction in the background.

Pretty near there Randy. There’s a lot going on over that side of town. Battersea power station is a bit of history from a bygone era, before they realised central London probably wasn’t the best place for such a thing. That’s now being converted into a mini town of its own after many years of not knowing quite what to do with it. And the American embassy has recently moved there from Mayfair too.

 

[berty bassett]

😁

Haven’t you got paving slab that needs shifting? Don’t let us keep you!

sorry i havent got back to you sooner , i have been dining on foie gras this afternoon trying to keep up us builders appearances
i have indeed got some slabbing to do - 2x2 granite slabs , my arms are so long now i dont have to bend to pick things up - plus side i can shake your hand and still keep social distance