Zwift Chat

[Ketty]

Well done everyone especially @Whorty, great 2nd place.

Sadly my plan came to fruition which led to a very boring race. My main rival in tonight's race, Frank, had a bit of bad luck by the looks of it. I have gapped him in the first mile or so as he couldn't keep up with the sandbagger group that I had joined then he suffered some kind of sensor issue which made the gap jump from 8 seconds to 30 seconds. After that the group I was with spend off until the sprint. By that point I had 3 minutes on Frank.

I managed to extend my lead over the Volcano KOM to 4 mins and by the end of the race it was 7 mins. Took all 50 points on offer.

Looking at Cat C I would have finished bottoms tonight so I was probably in the right Cat for the course. It was a shame there was only 4 legit Cat D riders tonight. Ben Mong was down to race but then this afternoon he took himself out of it which was a shame as he pushed me the last time we rode together.

Right - time for a shower and some gammon, egg n chips 🏆

The King 🤴 wins again - Chapeau mate 👍🏻🥇🏆

 

[berty bassett]

Another vote for the park tools patches. In my experience they last for about 6-13 months before they peel off (less if you have a wheel on turbo as the heat generated makes them fail sooner).

I sometimes miss the days of grateing a chalk block to stop the glue from repair patches sticking to the inside of the tyre. But that little yellow crayon was great for marking where the picture was, almost as much fun as trying to remove a stubborn cotter pin or regrease loose BB bearings without loosing some....

here grand dad - i found some old video footage of you - bet you liked it more when tyres were solid

 

[Whorty]

Well done @Whorty great 2nd place.

That is one tough course, the Cat. B start is too fast for me & I was spat out the back straight away, found a small group for the flat section but lost them on the first bump, managed to catch a Scottish rider and we rode together for a while until I dropped him on the Volcano, then just rode home at approx 2.5w/kg.

Thanks That is a long and lonely course to ride solo so well done for sticking at it

 

[Whorty]

The King 🤴 wins again - Chapeau mate 👍🏻🥇🏆

Does everyone else see me as 2nd on ZP? Shows as 3rd to me Just pleased to finish that in the end, painful that was

 

[BurningLegs]

Thanks for the input, guys. @Alongo - will now be picking one of those up at Halfords tomorrow

 

[mjd1988]

Does everyone else see me as 2nd on ZP? Shows as 3rd to me Just pleased to finish that in the end, painful that was

3rd in the race and 3rd overall (although you've done a race less than first and second

 

[Brusgaard]

The idea Of IRL prizes was to encourage more members to join the Zwiftpower team in the hope that Zwift will recognise us as one of the bigger community teams and so we get more opportunity for official race events. Before the series 1 league we organised individual time trials and interprovincial time trials (Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and the other one) but this was all done piggy backing other events and the admin is too much. The prize was a success as the team grew very quickly and over took the Norwegian Vikings team about 4 weeks ago to become 7th largest team per Zwiftpower numbers. I agree it would now be the time to open up prizes to all entrants. DBR have partnered with Tacx I think? Are their prizes open to anybody? Guess Tacx have a worldwide presence and / or give vouchers as prizes.

the other thing is that i don’t think racing on Zwift is Properly policed to have prizes for race winners - too easy for weight dopers and not to mention miS-calibrated trainers. I understand that the Fusion Team tried to implement transparency rules for all riders but without success.

Yes, the DBR team also did all sort of advertising/recruting on their FB group to get people to join them, so they could become the second biggest team on Zwift at the time. But they quiet down after having secured some sponsors and free Giant racebikes for the main “leaders” of DBR.
This season they teamed up with Wahoo, and at least one of them now use a complete Wahoo setup (KICKR+Climb+Headwind) instead of his previous NEO. I suspect it was sponsored too, as I don’t think I would switch if having to pay myself.

They do have prizes in some of their races from their sponsors, usually some Zwift merchandise or socks etc. These are of course only for DK residents, probably due to the same postage expenses as you mention, but doesn’t require you to join their team.

It is only fair that UK/Ireland sponsors have they prizes given to UK/Ireland residents. After all, they are their potential customers, not some random Dane or Brazilian. But if wanting more people to join the races, only offering prizes to those on the team might not be the way to do It. But like you say, the goal was to get people on team, and for that it might work. DBR (DANISH Bike Riders) allowed a bunch of non-Danish riders to join, at then it becomes kind of funny and more a quest for number of riders than actually Danish riders.

I used to do quite a lot of the Bkool races arranged by BKOOL, as they did send prizes to customers regardless of residence. I got multiple towels, sunglasses, 1-3 months sbscriptions and other stuff from their partners delivered from Spain. This was actually quite nice, and kept me/people coming back to do the weekly races.
Most other prizes in international races/challenges are vouchers to spend on their online shops. But I have yet to see/win some, where there is not some kind of string attached, i.e. you win a €50 voucher, but have to buy for at least €150 to be eligible to use it.

Prizes like free (time limited) subscriptions to online services like Zwift, Strava etc. would be nice, as these can be used worldwide, and wouldn’t actually “cost” them money, well except maybe their usual subscription fee, if people are already paying. Gift cards for Amazon, iTunes etc. can also be used worldwide, but there is no incentive for your sponsors to offer those.

There have been a few races with real prize money. I think the Pro Am series was one of them, but invitational only AFAIK.

 

[Whorty]

3rd in the race and 3rd overall (although you've done a race less than first and second

A strong group of riders these Cs Shame I missed the first round by racing in the B cat, and sat up in the second race to keep Tim company as I have have snuck a few more points in. What interesting is no one rider is dominant - some are winning sprints, some KoMs and some finish first. Makes for an interesting league.

 

[mjd1988]

A strong group of riders these Cs Shame I missed the first round by racing in the B cat, and sat up in the second race to keep Tim company as I have have snuck a few more points in. What interesting is no one rider is dominant - some are winning sprints, some KoMs and some finish first. Makes for an interesting league.

I think it is best 6/9 or something ? So still shouldn't matter as much.

Really annoyed with the sandbaggers today. Clearly not as much of an issue as they are in c and d numbers wise but we had 4 and that's enough to ruin a race as they can just either force a silly pace or stop genuine breaks from happening.

I just kept repeating their names in the chat to try and shame them but didn't work

Not sure how people feel about the points system - it's a bit demoralising for most of the field when you know you are never going to catch the front 10 and therefore doesn't matter where you come, but then again I'm sure I'd be loving it if I was winning!

P.s. good luck @BurningLegs with the power meter!

 

[IrishAl]

I think it is best 6/9 or something ? So still shouldn't matter as much.

Really annoyed with the sandbaggers today. Clearly not as much of an issue as they are in c and d numbers wise but we had 4 and that's enough to ruin a race as they can just either force a silly pace or stop genuine breaks from happening.

I just kept repeating their names in the chat to try and shame them but didn't work

Not sure how people feel about the points system - it's a bit demoralising for most of the field when you know you are never going to catch the front 10 and therefore doesn't matter where you come, but then again I'm sure I'd be loving it if I was winning!

P.s. good luck @BurningLegs with the power meter!

A different scoring system used by team TFC. https://teamtfc.com/mad-monday/
also Of note is that sandbaggers and their teams are given -10 points so this will discourage some.
im thinking of doing their race next Monday as they seem to attract a bigger field of rider - over 50 racing in B tonight. The IRL race is a Time trial Which in theory i should be good at. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

 

[mjd1988]

I think I'll do the ITT next week. Should be a good chance to see where my FTP is

 

[Joffey]

A different scoring system used by team TFC. https://teamtfc.com/mad-monday/
also Of note is that sandbaggers and their teams are given -10 points so this will discourage some.
im thinking of doing their race next Monday as they seem to attract a bigger field of rider - over 50 racing in B tonight. The IRL race is a Time trial Which in theory i should be good at. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

15 racing in D - I might try them too.

 

[Del C]

Thought I’d ask and see if anyone who hasn’t ridden a WTRL Team Time Trial fancies guesting in our WTRL team at 18.00 this Thursday. We’re a bit short on numbers this week due to people riding........... outdoors! What’s all that about?

Really suits A or B level riders, although a strong C may be ok. It’s 2 laps of the Richmond UCI reverse so it starts with a series of lumps, although you do get to ride down Libby Hill!

Let me know if anyone fancies a ride.

 

[Spartak]

Thought I’d ask and see if anyone who hasn’t ridden a WTRL Team Time Trial fancies guesting in our WTRL team at 18.00 this Thursday. We’re a bit short on numbers this week due to people riding........... outdoors! What’s all that about?

Really suits A or B level riders, although a strong C may be ok. It’s 2 laps of the Richmond UCI reverse so it starts with a series of lumps, although you do get to ride down Libby Hill!

Let me know if anyone fancies a ride.

I'd like to but sadly I've got to work... 🤪

 

[Whorty]

I think it is best 6/9 or something ? So still shouldn't matter as much.

Really annoyed with the sandbaggers today. Clearly not as much of an issue as they are in c and d numbers wise but we had 4 and that's enough to ruin a race as they can just either force a silly pace or stop genuine breaks from happening.

I just kept repeating their names in the chat to try and shame them but didn't work

Not sure how people feel about the points system - it's a bit demoralising for most of the field when you know you are never going to catch the front 10 and therefore doesn't matter where you come, but then again I'm sure I'd be loving it if I was winning!

P.s. good luck @BurningLegs with the power meter!

Yeah, I'm with you on the points system ... much preferred the DBR where top 30 (or was it 60?) scored and therefore it was worth pushing to the end as every position counted. Also means the primes on the IRL league play a much bigger role - go for a sprint and win, then role in last, and you will place better than most of the top 10 who complete the race 10 minutes ahead

Sandbaggers yesterday changed our race completely - the guy who won was clearly a string C, but he got away due to being able to sit on B wheels.

Also, when I made the break over the KoM, there was a B in the chasers who helped pull me back - now, the other 3 may well have caught me anyway, but it certainly didn't help me.

Like you, we called then out in the pen and quite a few times in the ride but they either don't read the comments or don't care. Not much more we can do though so I guess until Zwift decide it's important to them we suck it up