Peter Salt
Bittersweet
- Location
- Yorkshire, UK
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HarryTheDog
Guru
- Location
- Basildon Essex
I enjoyed the thrash but was mystified how a lot of the time I was doing more watts/kg than people I was drafting, I dont think it was the bike and wheels ( Crux and reserve 25GR) Maybe its cos I am lighter and have to put out similar watts on flattish bits. Anyway elastic snapped towards the end and it was only the fact I knew overall times were counted that I struggled on at a fair power. My watts/kg overall for the race was higher than Steve and Carls who were in front of me ( only 0.2) I need a better understanding of where I am going wrong.
mjd1988
Guru
A lone rider will generally end up putting out a bit more than two as they will be drafting a bit even if they are not trying to work together. Weight also does play a role, particularly on the flat raw watts will out so higher w/kg needed if low weight.
Do you use a laptop? Sauce for zwift is pretty good as visualising the impact of draft in real time
It could be as a lighter rider that you're needing to put out a few extra watts on the flatter sections where watts tends to be more important to w/kg. I did notice that you seemed to be pushing harder on the descent too which would make a slight difference. Drafting makes a big difference too - I was on my @rse the descent and flats into the final climb, so I was having to sit at the back a lot as didn't have anything to go at the front, so that would have a slight impact too ... every time I tried to edge forward you came past me, so one tip for racing is, if someone goes to the front, let them
Ask @mjd1988, he's the master drafter and knows how to win races with considerably lower w/kg than others 
Legs
usually riding on Zwift...
- Location
- Staffordshire
Bram convinced me to ride the ZRL Final scratch race (3 laps of Rolling Highlands) last night for the PedalBoys team. I’d done the Alpha/Leg Openers workout in the morning to try to teach my body how to ride a bike again after 2.5 weeks off, and had then spent much of the day with sore knees and an achy back.
Needless to say, I didn’t exactly set the race alight - in fact, I was quite pleasantly surprised to last until half-distance with the lead group before getting tailed off. Dylan (former Splitter) had tried a brave solo move on the first lap but had not got more than a few seconds; then he’d been dropped - we joined up with two others and rode to the finish together. The others clearly wanted for fight over 36th position, so I put down a respectable minute’s power on the Breakaway Brae to claim a fine Pyrrhic victory.
Woke up this morning with a sore throat and runny nose - I blame the woman next to me on Ryanair…
Needless to say, I didn’t exactly set the race alight - in fact, I was quite pleasantly surprised to last until half-distance with the lead group before getting tailed off. Dylan (former Splitter) had tried a brave solo move on the first lap but had not got more than a few seconds; then he’d been dropped - we joined up with two others and rode to the finish together. The others clearly wanted for fight over 36th position, so I put down a respectable minute’s power on the Breakaway Brae to claim a fine Pyrrhic victory.
Woke up this morning with a sore throat and runny nose - I blame the woman next to me on Ryanair…
Your not doing anything wrong , I think I'm roughly around your weight and experience everything you mention .I can guarantee my w/kgs from last night's race are higher than Andy's who won and dropped me on a downhill a lightweights weak spot .
In smaller races the draft effect is less making you put out more effort to keep up ,zwift is about power until the percentage goes to 4%+ and above were watts per kg takes over
Just watch your video Andy ,you could not have timed that attack any better ,The gap went out to 20mts but I pulled it back to 7mts just as we hit the bends where your steering gave you those vital extras meters again would I have got back on without you steering ? Not sure but those extra meters going out again mentally broke me having put in a big dig
I left it a little late, I should have accelerated coming onto the flat section, kept the sprint going for longer to really gap you.
Yes the steering would have helped me cut the draft, so you had to work harder to get back on. I was a little surprised you came back to 7m gap, then suddenly stretched out again. You were working much harder to keep up on the downhill flatter sections, I was able to recover knowing what lay ahead. Its always a little easier to react to an attack if you have a gap, I kept an eye on your W/kg and would try to push when you did.
Great race- Pete really showed us how to climb fast
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
@HarryTheDog Your average w/kg for the race might have been higher than mine, but I'd be interested to see what it was for the main segments, such as the climbs. For me while I averaged 2.7 over the course of the race, there were large chunks where I was at less than 2.3 (downhill and tarmac sections mainly), while at the same time I managed almost 3.1 for the entire second climb, having done 2.85 on the first.
The descents I think is where steering really gives an advantage. Much more so than flats and climbing. I'm still holding off getting steering, but I may have to bite the bullet before the next ZRL season 🤔
You might not need to buy it for ZRL. It was disabled for the events. Check out if they will enable features
Seeing the steering in action really tells you it gives you an advantage, watch Andys race on the downhill and watch him cut the corners , Also I think the smaller the bunch the bigger the advantage. I had a 2 up race around Glasgow crit against someone with steering ,every time I dropped a draft power up he steered me off his wheel and when he dropped an aero he steered me off his wheel . Probably only a marginal gain but every gain counts . I have also noticed in Friday smash most of the others have steering and they seem to line out behind one another and I will be alongside pushing the wind
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
Yes, I did notice that Harry was having fun using his steering to take the shortest line around corners, especially through the more zig-zaggy bits! Or was he only trying to stop me and Carl from sitting in his draft? 
Ah. cool. thanks. Didn't realise that but does make sense in some ways as it can give a big advantage on descents (but not so much on flats or going up hill).
On most races at the moment steering is the minority so there is still the pack advantage, but if everyone had steering then that would change things for sure. It's just a shame the extra buttons on the Atom can't be configured for steering, that would make so much more sense
