Zwift Chat

[berty bassett]

Wot he said ☝️🙄
Convinced you only get better by racing against people that push you to your limit , maybe you won’t win a virtual medal but you will get fitter
It can be very easy to stagnant if not pushed

 

[Joffey]

Thanks for the input chaps. I'll have a ponder.

 

[Whorty]

Thanks for the input chaps. I'll have a ponder.

What you could try is some races with mass starts ... the 3R races tend to be like that. Doesn't make much difference really then which pen you sit in. I did one the other day (Friday I think), started in C pen but managed to hang on to the lead A and B riders for 19 minutes. Unfortunately 3 other C's did the same and we fought it out to the end and I came 3rd

But, with this format you're still 'D' for results, but get to push with C's and B's for as long as you can. This will give you a good feel for where you are. This is one reason I look for the 3R races as it lets me ride 'B' but from a 'C' group.

Interesting thing for me was, even sticking with the As and Bs for nigh on 20 mins on the London course I still didn't get anywhere near B numbers! I guess I'm learning from @mjd1988 how and where to put the power on and how to draft

 

[steverob]

I like the look of the Wednesday night TTs and it fit's in around my outdoors riding so I think I'll try that and give it the beans.

If you do go for the TT on Wednesday, feel free to take a look at my video from when I did it, as it'll give you a good idea of what power I managed to hold for the vast majority of it and also gives you a look at where they've put the finish line - it's not obvious from the map and all of a sudden appears out of nowhere, so can catch you unawares if you're thinking of doing a high power finish for the last half K.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi5LNYdMO44

 

[steverob]

Talking of videos, seeing my one from last night has reminded me of something that came up during the ride that I didn't work out until after it was over.

During the early stages of the ride when I was really having to put out a big effort to stay with the pack, I was surprised to see that the graph at the bottom of the screen was showing up mainly in yellow with occasional flecks of green, whereas I'd have expected to see orange and yellow mixed as I was pushing quite hard. Similarly on the climb at the end the graph was mainly green and blue, which to me suggests a tempo effort, which may be why I was so surprised that I set a PR at the end.

Then it dawned on me - as Zwift has put my FTP up by about 20 points just in the last two months, it has at the same time adjusted my Power Zones to match. So all of my reference points regarding colours are now off - what used to be orange is now yellow for the same amount of wattage, yellow is green, etc. Going to take some getting used to!

 

[mjd1988]

Good luck in the ITT today all

 

[mjd1988]

That was a fun race. Myself and another fella spent the whole race (when we could catch a breath) calling out sandbaggers (25% of our group).

Found out later the one we were arguing with has been dq'd for 76 races in a row (after he miraculously lost 26kg between two races).

Made for a heck of a workout mind you

 

[Whorty]

That was a fun race. Myself and another fella spent the whole race (when we could catch a breath) calling out sandbaggers (25% of our group).

Found out later the one we were arguing with has been dq'd for 76 races in a row (after he miraculously lost 26kg between two races).

Made for a heck of a workout mind you

26kg ........ that's one hell of a dump 💩

 

[JuhaL]

26kg ........ that's one hell of a dump 💩

He must be wondering afterward that dump and think: i don't remember eating that one

 

[<Tommy>]

Anyone using a polar arm bad style hrm?

 

[steverob]

Not my best ever TT, but I think as good as I could have managed with yesterday's efforts still in the legs. Overall was 24 seconds slower than my last attempt at this course (the IRL iTT 4 weeks ago), although with a fast-ish start, I was still up by about 2 seconds at the first turnaround point, but slowly lost time from there - probably was happening before that point to be honest, but it became more noticeable from thereon.

 

[steverob]

Anyone using a polar arm bad style hrm?

Using an arm band style one, but not a Polar. (That may not be what you wanted, but thought I'd mention it just in case).

 

[mjd1988]

Some v impressive times on the ITT

Of those I've seen @bridgy and @IrishAl strongly up in the GC stakes.

Ride of the day @Brendan Parker though, that must be near a new FTP?

And well done Steve in c, was there anyone else doing it?

Glad I didn't do it, the times are all really fast! Hope to make some of the later races though

 

[bridgy]

I didn't realise it was the same course as that recent Team Irl TT. So out of curiosity I compared my results - identical average watts (307) and 1 second slower this time. I'm nothing if not consistent!

 

[bobinski]

Anyone using a polar arm bad style hrm?

I use a cheap amazon version and it’s spot on.