Zwift Chat

[steverob]

Reasonably happy with my race, too - set the pace up each of the little slopes but it didn't seem like anyone else was really interested in forcing a split though so didn't go too hard, and unfortunately ended up in a big group sprint at the end (my worst kind of finish).

Similar story in D tonight; I tried to launch attacks at the three major slopes (Northumberland, St. James’, Box Hill) and did get a gap each time, but either no-one came with me, or one rider did but wasn’t really all that interested in staying away, so the group eventually caught up about a minute later.

Those attacks did take it out of my legs a little, so I was kind of glad the pace in the group wasn’t particularly hard - gave me a chance to get my breath back before the mass sprint.

Knowing that my main rivals all can put out higher watts than me but struggle to hold them, I decided to beat them by going earlier and longer and deploying a feather PU. Worked for the most part - the only legitimate D to beat me (lots of Cs and non-registered riders as usual) it was his first race in the series, so it wasn’t going to affect the standings. Also it wasn’t close - he beat me by 1.5 seconds so I couldn’t have done anything about that.

Everyone I needed to beat though, I did, so I’m now top of the league (for now).

 

[bobinski]

Wish I had ridden in C 😁

Legs good but lungs couldn’t cope with the start. Ended up alone for a few km and then joined a small group and we upped pace a little, catching a few riders then @Brusgaard’s group on the hill. Escalator trick nailed 👍 our group began to break and I forced the issue on Northumberland but found myself racing a team of 3. Lots of toing and froing as they took turns to pull away but I just snuck in and drafted finally taking the sprint.
Enjoyed it but a long way to go to ride with the front from the gun.

 

[BurningLegs]

Good to see you on the start line at least @bobinski

 

[Whorty]

Wish I had ridden in C 😁

Legs good but lungs couldn’t cope with the start. Ended up alone for a few km and then joined a small group and we upped pace a little, catching a few riders then @Brusgaard’s group on the hill. Escalator trick nailed 👍 our group began to break and I forced the issue on Northumberland but found myself racing a team of 3. Lots of toing and froing as they took turns to pull away but I just snuck in and drafted finally taking the sprint.
Enjoyed it but a long way to go to ride with the front from the gun.

We could have done with you in C @Joffey and I did our best to shake it up on the lumps, we dropped a few, but couldn't get rid of everyone. The rest of the group (about 14) were happy just sitting in behind the B sandbaggers and wait for the sprint.

But at least we only had 16 in our sprint ... looks like there were at least 35 in B cat

 

[mjd1988]

Yeah was a big old bunch sprint in B! I liked the draft, but hope it doesn't stop breakaways forming? On the plus side I didn't have any issues with sticky draft, definetly felt more fluid whilst not being wildly different.

On the plus side the smaller group behind kept pace so maybe small groups will get away and there won't be as ridiculous a peloton effect as you seem to get sometimes. Early days but I agree new update, whilst not as flashy as some, is interesting

Edit; mind you the lack of primes on a flat course will have played a part

 

[Whorty]

Yeah was a big old bunch sprint in B! I liked the draft, but hope it doesn't stop breakaways forming? On the plus side I didn't have any issues with sticky draft, definetly felt more fluid whilst not being wildly different.

On the plus side the smaller group behind kept pace so maybe small groups will get away and there won't be as ridiculous a peloton effect as you seem to get sometimes. Early days but I agree new update, whilst not as flashy as some, is interesting

I thought that too ... I was looking out for it and couldn't work out if it was just our pack moving so evenly, or sticky is just better managed now. Hope the latter

 

[Brendan Parker]

Watched a stream of your race on FB , although only really focused on the B cat. Done well lads 👍🏼

 

[mjd1988]

Watched a stream of your race on FB , although only really focused on the B cat. Done well lads 👍🏼

Funny enough just found this. Didn't realise someone was commenting live or I would have tried a breakaway for the sponsors


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fNK2X83nis4

 

[Brendan Parker]

Funny enough just found this. Didn't realise someone was commenting live or I would have tried a breakaway for the sponsors


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fNK2X83nis4

Yer that’s the one I watched 👍🏼 didn’t you hear me shouting at the tv

 

[<Tommy>]

I think tonight was my first race with the new "pack dynamics" and I thought it was an improvement - looked and felt more realistic to me. Not massively different, just a bit better.

What do you think the difference is?

 

[Joffey]

What do you think the difference is?

I thought it was horrible in a large group (we had a group of 40 at the start and it was hard to maintain your place) but as the pack thinned down it was a marked improvement. We even got 2 little groups side by side like 2 sprint trains at one point! I think it's a new knack to draft in it but it's easy enough to pick up. When I got the hang of it I was cruising with the bunch at 135bpm

 

[Whorty]

I thought it was horrible in a large group (we had a group of 40 at the start and it was hard to maintain your place) but as the pack thinned down it was a marked improvement. We even got 2 little groups side by side like 2 sprint trains at one point! I think it's a new knack to draft in it but it's easy enough to pick up. When I got the hang of it I was cruising with the bunch at 135bpm

Whilst @Joffey was at 135 heart rate, mine was 168 It was slightly harder work for me with my tiny little watts

 

[bridgy]

Well that was a frenetic pace wasn't it !

Personally I found the new drafting dynamics tricky. For me it felt like there was a really long lag which I used to get with the bkool trainer. So if I increased watts to stay in the group I would find myself moving off the front even if I saw it coming and was soft pedalling for what felt like ages. And then equally it would take for ever for anything to happen once I put the power down hard again as I started drifting backwards through the pack- I almost went out the back completely a few times. So basically I was yo-yo-ing up and down the group the whole time it felt like!

Anyway, good fun, but hard work. Well done @mjd1988 for taking CC honours, and @BurningLegs for holding me off from pipping you on the line!

 

[bobinski]

I thought it was horrible in a large group (we had a group of 40 at the start and it was hard to maintain your place) but as the pack thinned down it was a marked improvement. We even got 2 little groups side by side like 2 sprint trains at one point! I think it's a new knack to draft in it but it's easy enough to pick up. When I got the hang of it I was cruising with the bunch at 135bpm

This.
It seemed easier to draft in a group of 4-6 riders. No yo yoing. If a rider, even me, put a dig in then they pulled away quite quickly rather than appearing to be held back and suddenly moving forward.
I was struggling for the first 3km so don’t recall anything about the draft dynamics in a larger moving group🙄😁

 

[mjd1988]

View: https://youtu.be/OzZ12w7NxQM


Haven't watched this one but it is our race as well. Everyone is a YouTuber