Zwift Chat

[alex_cycles]

That’s one of my peeves too. Quality of race should be a factor.

It's meant to be, but I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that kicking in yet.

I got my arse kicked today by the guys I did well against last week on the flat.

I thought I'd do OK on this punchy course but it was a bit too much for me. Got dropped on the climb on lap 4 and just had nothing left.
Came 9th out of 10 (4th last week on the flat - punching well above my pay-grade there though).

Back down to 568 (around -11, I think).


View: https://www.youtube.com/live/FXM8abH_Jzc?si=rhEu4Wt4jQSXdwgl


Now as we dial in more climbiness it will likely get harder and harder for me to hide behind my puncheur phenotype. Looking at longer w/kg of the other guys, I'm in trouble.

To be honest I thought I was in trouble before last week and was well surprised to get 4th
Still 4th in the League though, but surely not for long
https://zwiftpower.com/league.php?id=2075

I have heard a whisper that there will be a tweak to the seeding formula and that there will be a reset in early October. Lest we forget, this is all still experimental. I think the early results ARE encouraging, but it clearly isn't perfect (nor will it be).

The benchmark I use though is "did it put me in a pen where I had an enjoyable race?" To be honest I didn't enjoy today as much, but that was my own bloody fault for picking a stupid route

 

[Whorty]

It's meant to be, but I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that kicking in yet.

I got my arse kicked today by the guys I did well against last week on the flat.

I thought I'd do OK on this punchy course but it was a bit too much for me. Got dropped on the climb on lap 4 and just had nothing left.
Came 9th out of 10 (4th last week on the flat - punching well above my pay-grade there though).

Back down to 568 (around -11, I think).


View: https://www.youtube.com/live/FXM8abH_Jzc?si=rhEu4Wt4jQSXdwgl


Now as we dial in more climbiness it will likely get harder and harder for me to hide behind my puncheur phenotype. Looking at longer w/kg of the other guys, I'm in trouble.

To be honest I thought I was in trouble before last week and was well surprised to get 4th
Still 4th in the League though, but surely not for long
https://zwiftpower.com/league.php?id=2075

I have heard a whisper that there will be a tweak to the seeding formula and that there will be a reset in early October. Lest we forget, this is all still experimental. I think the early results ARE encouraging, but it clearly isn't perfect (nor will it be).

The benchmark I use though is "did it put me in a pen where I had an enjoyable race?" To be honest I didn't enjoy today as much, but that was my own bloody fault for picking a stupid route

Looking at the riders in my pen tonight, and if there is a climb (I can't recall what this course looks like), I'm going to get dropped as soon as soon as we hit any gradients above 3%.

I'm hoping that there are a couple of others in the same boat as me else i'll be TTing for most of the ride.

On the positive, I've made myself a chicken curry for after the ride so I'm looking forward to that

 

[steverob]

Tough race but think I did okay. Managed to hold on to the lead group on the first climb, but only just - had to sprint the bit after the Castle banner to close a gap before it got too big. Every lap after that I was leading the group down the hill while freewheeling, then hanging on for dear life at the uphill bits. Eventually on the penultimate climb the elastic snapped, a group of 10 riders broke away and I wasn't in it. Caught up with two others who had also been left behind and we battled it out on the final lap; one jumped early and I couldn't catch him, but I beat the other to the line.

12th out of 21 on Zwift, 11th out of 18 on ZP. Racing score up 4 points.

View: https://youtu.be/muwHOWXbSw0

 

[Whorty]

Well that was less than pleasant - didn't know that course. Felt quite pleased with myself that I held on to the lead group up the first little climb - didn't realise that was the run in to start the KoM bit and start the first lap. Got dropped at the base of the KoM by everyone as I'd burnt evefy match those first 2 minutes

As I crested in 29th i could see 3 others dropped riders ahead. They formed a group and were 8 seconds ahead but didn't seem to be pushing hard. I gathered some legs and tried to chase them down, finally catching them as we created the KoM banner after lap 1. Struggled to hold on to them for the little drag to the right had turn towards the sprint but did just.

Lap 2 non event. I was trying to recover. Lap 3 I tried a push on the KoM to see if I could drop the 3 riders. I had a gap of a second at the KoM to one guy, 4 seconds to another and the last guy (a D rider so totally shouldn't be in that pen) was dropped. I couldn't break the elastic and they caught me going into KoM Lap 4 where they both pulled away from me. I had nothing left but pushed as hard as I could.

The guy who finished just ahead of me did sit up and keep waiting for me, a few mtrs ahead, then would pull away - I guess trying to urge me on? Couldn't get to his wheel on the final KoM and he finished a few seconds ahead of me.

Me and the guy who came last were lapped by the leaders. In a 18km race or 3.6km laps, they lapped us. Despite this my ZRS still has me in their pen for next week - I think I'll decline, don't fancy TTing up any hills on my own.

 

[Whorty]

Tough race but think I did okay. Managed to hold on to the lead group on the first climb, but only just - had to sprint the bit after the Castle banner to close a gap before it got too big. Every lap after that I was leading the group down the hill while freewheeling, then hanging on at the uphill bits. Eventually on the penultimate climb the elastic snapped, a group of 10 riders broke away and I wasn't in it. Caught up with two others who had also been left behind and we battled it out on the final lap; one jumped early and I couldn't catch him, but I beat the other to the line.

12th out of 21 on Zwift, 11th out of 18 on ZP. Racing score up 4 points.

View: https://youtu.be/muwHOWXbSw0

Just saw your time, 2.5 minutes faster than me

Seriously, if anyone thinks the ZRS ranking is accurate and I'm in the right pen they need their heads looking at In Steve's E race, all things being equal, I'd have come 16th out of 18

 

[alex_cycles]

@CXRAndy is leading in his League. It'll take someone climby to knock him off his perch...

 

[alex_cycles]

Just saw your time, 2.5 minutes faster than me

Seriously, if anyone thinks the ZRS ranking is accurate and I'm in the right pen they need their heads looking at In Steve's E race, all things being equal, I'd have come 16th out of 18

Carl there's no question that some people are not correctly ranked (yet). Your race was won in a time that I couldn't match.
It's not your imagination and you're not making it up or going mad.

 

[steverob]

Just saw your time, 2.5 minutes faster than me

Yeah, but I was in a group for almost four of the five laps, which massively increased my speed. The best placed rider in E who didn't make the lead group in those initial stages (and so, like you had to solo large parts of the race) finished with a time of 37:13.

 

[Whorty]

Yeah, but I was in a group for almost four of the five laps, which massively increased my speed. The best placed rider in E who didn't make the lead group in those initial stages (and so, like you had to solo large parts of the race) finished with a time of 37:13.

True, and I may have been able to hang on to your group for a lap or two, but I was at my limit so I'm not sure my time would have been much faster tbh. My fitness is waaaay down at the moment, realistically just above D/low C which I'm comfortable with as my focus is elsewhere, just be nice to be in rides where I get to interact with other riders more.

 

[Whorty]

Carl there's no question that some people are not correctly ranked (yet). Your race was won in a time that I couldn't match.
It's not your imagination and you're not making it up or going mad.

I may well be going mad, generally, mental health nurse can attest to that But re the ZRS, it's pretty messed up at the moment and for some, certainly me, a much worse racing experience than the old cat system.

I'm hoping they sort it soon.

 

[CXRAndy]

@CXRAndy is leading in his League. It'll take someone climby to knock him off his perch...
View attachment 744862

Massive weight loss in 7 days

What's the route Alex next week?

I think the guy in 2nd place has been promoted out of my division. Or do you stay in because that was our division in the first round?

 

[bridgy]

Just saw your time, 2.5 minutes faster than me

Seriously, if anyone thinks the ZRS ranking is accurate and I'm in the right pen they need their heads looking at In Steve's E race, all things being equal, I'd have come 16th out of 18

Good job no one's said they think it's accurate for everyone yet then

For you, I think you might just have to wait until that performance you did back in July drops off your baseline 90 day power data

 

[bridgy]

@Ketty are you interested in/available for ZRL racing on Tuesday nights at 19.30 ? You'd be very welcome in the team if you are...

 

[CXRAndy]

Found the events, last one will be my toughest for sure

 

[Whorty]

Well that's interesting and a pleasant surprise. Post race yesterday ZP showed my new ZRS as 356 (and I wasn't imagining that) but now it shows me as 344.7.

At least now I can be in a pen and hopefully not get lapped