Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

Great ride B's and @Joffey in D

We had a fun time (I think) in C. Most riders still together from the pen and great to see @steverob and @Ketty in the mix. Was going a bit slow when a guy went off the front at about 5 w/kg so I went for a little ride off the front too. A 3rd guy came for a bit of fun. I was hoping a couple more might join us so we could make a real attempt to break away but alas the blob stayed together and just reeled us in. Meh .... firstly it's exercise, secondly a race

Sat back in the group until the KoM. Riders very agitated. When the attack happened I went for it too; got pipped on the line but picked up some nice points. 4 of us were now a little up the road but my legs were shot and I couldn't help to pull us away (I guess the other guys were the same). What was left of the lead group caught up with us a minute or so later. Tim was here but I guess Steve stayed with the 2nd group over the KoM.

All going OK coming to the final sprint when I had 2 screen freezes as we in the final little climb. Kicked out the back and off the wheels. Had to work really hard to get back on so not much left in the tank for the final sprint so I lost a few places

Cracking ride despite the heat. C is a very competitive little group.

 

[Alongo]

Spent a couple of hours dithering wether to go out IRL or do the Team IRL Zwift race . Decided on the Zwift race , glad is was quite short as it was so hot , same for every one though . Pack stayed together till the KOM , where a dozen broke off the front . Stayed with second group of about fifteen who slowly pulled back up to the front group , I was starting to overheat from here and when the pack started going down the snakey bit with about two km to go I just couldn’t hold on . Rode in with another rider who was a few seconds behind . Glad it was only one lap .
Well done Al, Michael , Bridgy and everyone else racing tonight .

 

[<Tommy>]

Well first race on the stages, don’t really k ow what to make to be honest. Felt soo much harder work, in the previous rides I was concerned my Kickr may have been over reading my power but looking at the numbers tonight I don’t think it was. Just felt harder. Not quite a responsive as the Kickr. Kept yo yo ing in the pack couldn’t hold a place. Won’t read too much into it yet as it was ridiculously hot so maybe that was it. As for the bike feels solid and the fact I can get the positioning better it feels right. Nice but will take some getting used to in the pack I think.

Anyway we’ll done everyone in that heat

Are you on a Facebook group for it Brendan? Like you say with the heat and everything it must of been tough anyway tonight. Maybe see what the general thinking is in a group.

 

[Alongo]

Great ride B's and @Joffey in D

We had a fun time (I think) in C. Most riders still together from the pen and great to see @steverob and @Ketty in the mix. Was going a bit slow when a guy went off the front at about 5 w/kg so I went for a little ride off the front too. A 3rd guy came for a bit of fun. I was hoping a couple more might join us so we could make a real attempt to break away but alas the blob stayed together and just reeled us in. Meh .... firstly it's exercise, secondly a race

Sat back in the group until the KoM. Riders very agitated. When the attack happened I went for it too; got pipped on the line but picked up some nice points. 4 of us were now a little up the road but my legs were shot and I couldn't help to pull us away (I guess the other guys were the same). What was left of the lead group caught up with us a minute or so later. Tim was here but I guess Steve stayed with the 2nd group over the KoM.

All going OK coming to the final sprint when I had 2 screen freezes as we in the final little climb. Kicked out the back and off the wheels. Had to work really hard to get back on so not much left in the tank for the final sprint so I lost a few places

Cracking ride despite the heat. C is a very competitive little group.

I had a screen freeze two minutes before the race started 😱

 

[Brendan Parker]

Are you on a Facebook group for it Brendan? Like you say with the heat and everything it must of been tough anyway tonight. Maybe see what the general thinking is in a group.

Yes mate. Haven’t heard anyone else of the same but will throw it out there and see what’s said. I get the impression most of them are using other platforms. I did have the trainer difficulty on 100% to try out the “dreamdrive” gearing. Will just need to play around with it some more before making too many judgements. Overall happy with it so far.

 

[Ketty]

Great ride B's and @Joffey in D

We had a fun time (I think) in C. Most riders still together from the pen and great to see @steverob and @Ketty in the mix. Was going a bit slow when a guy went off the front at about 5 w/kg so I went for a little ride off the front too. A 3rd guy came for a bit of fun. I was hoping a couple more might join us so we could make a real attempt to break away but alas the blob stayed together and just reeled us in. Meh .... firstly it's exercise, secondly a race

Sat back in the group until the KoM. Riders very agitated. When the attack happened I went for it too; got pipped on the line but picked up some nice points. 4 of us were now a little up the road but my legs were shot and I couldn't help to pull us away (I guess the other guys were the same). What was left of the lead group caught up with us a minute or so later. Tim was here but I guess Steve stayed with the 2nd group over the KoM.

All going OK coming to the final sprint when I had 2 screen freezes as we in the final little climb. Kicked out the back and off the wheels. Had to work really hard to get back on so not much left in the tank for the final sprint so I lost a few places

Cracking ride despite the heat. C is a very competitive little group.

C is a tough group. Stuck with the leaders until KOM where I decided to go for it and managed to get 6th I think over the top which seemed great but only got 5 points

Caught back up with @Whorty and co and then rode together until the final sprint where I managed to finish 2 seconds behind the winner. Pleased with 9th overall but I need to work on stamina to sprint - any tips?

Also do people sprint seated or standing up, for some reason I sprint seated on Zwift (not outside)?!

 

[IrishAl]

glad is was quite short as it was so hot , same for every one though

It dropped from 20oC to 16C as I drove home from work, so perhaps not the same for everyone. My living room did feel stuffy though at the start so I should have had the doors and windows open.


The KOM did open things up a fair bit - I saw Bridgy forcing the pace for a good bit. I went over around 5/6th place although I don’t think those off the front had much fight to try and force a breakaway.

Bridgy attacked with about 4K to go but was never given much room as riders quickly saw the danger. Then the pace certainly went up a few notches on that snakey finish section. I think these sprint finishes are all about staying close to the top 10 or so for as long as possible without going into the wind yourself. Easier said than done I know.


great going all. @Spartak and @Brusgaard - how did you get on - I think we were all still in the front group after the KOM

 

[Whorty]

I had a screen freeze two minutes before the race started 😱

I had a couple too during the warm up around Paris ... I guess just volume of riders tonight. Bad timing when I got it in the race, but could happen to anyone so just bad luck for me.

 

[Ketty]

@Joffey his usual king of D self tonight.

@steverob a superb start to Cat C racing well done mate

 

[<Tommy>]

Yes mate. Haven’t heard anyone else of the same but will throw it out there and see what’s said. I get the impression most of them are using other platforms. I did have the trainer difficulty on 100% to try out the “dreamdrive” gearing. Will just need to play around with it some more before making too many judgements. Overall happy with it so far.

yeah it could possibly be that it’s faster not slower reacting than the kicker. And maybe you’re over compensation without realising. I did that when I used my P2m power meter for power on the neo. I just say that because the stages bike uses a crank (arm?) based power meter rather than the kickr estimated power. So you’d expect it to read quicker if anything. Like you say though I think the most likely thing is that you’ll soon get used to it and then fall in love with it!

 

[Whorty]

C is a tough group. Stuck with the leaders until KOM where I decided to go for it and managed to get 6th I think over the top which seemed great but only got 5 points

Caught back up with @Whorty and co and then rode together until the final sprint where I managed to finish 2 seconds behind the winner. Pleased with 9th overall but I need to work on stamina to sprint - any tips?

Also do people sprint seated or standing up, for some reason I sprint seated on Zwift (not outside)?!

I tend to sprint seated on Zwift too - I find standing I lose momentum for some reason.

As for stamina all I can suggest is interval sessions - the over-effort followed by recovery again and again gets the body used to similar situations in races. A session I like to do is something like this ...

10 mins warmup
2 mins at FTP (250 watts)
2 mins at 200 (about 80-85% of FTP)
Do this 10 times on the trot (so 40 mins)
When intervals done I have the session set for 30 mins at 200 watts (so 80-85% of FTP)

I created this workout myself in Zwift. I find workouts like this really useful as I'm confident I can sit in a C blob at 200 ish watts, so if I can get used to 2 mins of effort followed by 200 watts of cruising, I can hang on in most C races. May not be for you but works well for me

 

[Spartak]

I like your coaching advice @Whorty ...

“work feckin hard“

It worked thanks @Whorty .... Managed to stay with the lead group until the bottom of the KOM, even managed to take the lead on a couple of occasions...

As soon as the road went up I lost the group but had a great little race with P. Murray of IRL until the end when he dropped me with 1 km to go.

Thoroughly enjoyed being up in the lead group from the off, made a change from the usual sight of them disappearing into the distance.

 

[Whorty]

@Joffey his usual king of D self tonight.

@steverob a superb start to Cat C racing well done mate

Yes I noticed Steve's finish - not a bad first race in C

 

[Whorty]

It worked thanks @Whorty .... Managed to stay with the lead group until the bottom of the KOM, even managed to take the lead on a couple of occasions...

As soon as the road went up I lost the group but had a great little race with P. Murray of IRL until the end when he dropped me with 1 km to go.

Thoroughly enjoyed being up in the lead group from the off, made a change from the usual sight of them disappearing into the distance.

Superb Ian Well done mate

 

[Ketty]

I tend to sprint seated on Zwift too - I find standing I lose momentum for some reason.

As for stamina all I can suggest is interval sessions - the over-effort followed by recovery again and again gets the body used to similar situations in races. A session I like to do is something like this ...

10 mins warmup
2 mins at FTP (250 watts)
2 mins at 200 (about 80-85% of FTP)
Do this 10 times on the trot (so 40 mins)
When intervals done I have the session set for 30 mins at 200 watts (so 80-85% of FTP)

I created this workout myself in Zwift. I find workouts like this really useful as I'm confident I can sit in a C blob at 200 ish watts, so if I can get used to 2 mins of effort followed by 200 watts of cruising, I can hang on in most C races. May not be for you but works well for me

As usual your help and advice is much appreciated. Will give it a try and see how I get on thanks