Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

In case you missed my edit, this is the profile - not great for us sprinters lol

 

[alex_cycles]

I'm doing the event probably Friday or Saturday if you fancy pointing out all the nasty bits

It's the same route we did yesterday. Lots of lumps, but none of them really big.

 

[CXRAndy]

It's the same route we did yesterday. Lots of lumps, but none of them really big.

Says the 2 minute puncher

 

[Whorty]

It's the same route we did yesterday. Lots of lumps, but none of them really big.

They're big if you're a heavier rider pushing below cat w/kg Well, the last drag is. Plenty of drafting available until that point for sure, but as soon as that climb starts w/kg will dictate positioning of those left in the mix. From the bottom of the climb to the finish line was 6 minutes for me, that's as long as the small KoMs in Wattopia

 

[CXRAndy]

The drag up to the climb pushed me near max. Then everyone dropped 4-5W/kg on the first part of the climb

 

[Legs]

Very jealous of all the activity. Our house has been hit with flu quite badly. Upshot is I'm below my racing weight in December which is unheard of.

I thought you had a self-imposed no-weigh-December policy, Michael?

Sorry to hear that you’ve been unwell. Give yourself plenty of time to get over it properly, then come out and smash us all again in the New Year.

 

[alex_cycles]

Says the 2 minute puncher

Just looked at my vid. If you count the last drag and climb up the Sgurr South as 1 climb it took us about 5 minutes and gained about 70m.
But there are a couple of flat sections.

The drag up to the climb pushed me near max. Then everyone dropped 4-5W/kg on the first part of the climb

I needed 7 to shake off the other Alex properly - but only for a short while - maybe 15s.


To be fair, the last drag was the bit I was scared of and the reason I was saving energy all the way round. I thought the other Alex might get the better of me there.

 

[mjd1988]

I thought you had a self-imposed no-weigh-December policy, Michael?

Sorry to hear that you’ve been unwell. Give yourself plenty of time to get over it properly, then come out and smash us all again in the New Year.

Oh no you are right! Ah well. Cheers lads, Hopefully timed to he okay by the 25th anyway

 

[ColinJ]

I would say that image two is more closely aligned with my perceived effort in Z2, aerobic effort- comfortably hard work, which what Z2 is meant to feel like

Quite a difference between the two!

That (220 - age) formula seems daft. It would have my maximum at 152 bpm, which I hit today without feeling particularly stressed. I was breathing heavily at 160 bpm but could definitely have managed to sprint 5 -10 bpm above that.

It makes sense to me to factor in the RHR too.

I think I will look at the ranges suggested by various experts, but then come up with my own ranges based on my perceived exertion.

 

[alex_cycles]

Quite a difference between the two!

That (220 - age) formula seems daft. It would have my maximum at 152 bpm, which I hit today without feeling particularly stressed. I was breathing heavily at 160 bpm but could definitely have managed to sprint 5 -10 bpm above that.

220-age is utter bollocks. I'm 55 with a 197 maximum that I hit a couple of times a year.
At 165 BPM I'm just beginning to get going.
My lactate threshold heart rate is about 179.

However for people who are unfit and just getting going it can be a ready-reckoner to start with. (until they are fit enough to exert themselves properly )

Before I had a power meter I used to pace time trials using heart-rate. It worked pretty well, but power data is better.

It makes sense to me to factor in the RHR too.

There's lots of different methods to try.

 

[ColinJ]

Before I had a power meter I used to pace time trials using heart-rate. It worked pretty well, but power data is better.

Which reminds me...

I had a used power meter crankset put on one of my road bikes today. The last one I tried was bought on ebay and it didn't work. (Advertised as faulty but I thought I might be able to sort it out. Now it isn't on the bike I might have another look at it once I have caught up with my other jobs.)

This replacement crankset was donated by my cousin when he upgraded, so it should work. I'll go and see if I can get it to link to my Elemnt Bolt...

 

[CXRAndy]

I'm possibly a no attend next week for Cyclopathon, it will have to be the morning event, if at all.

That and Alex keeps throwing in big hills

 

[alex_cycles]

I'm possibly a no attend next week for Cyclopathon, it will have to be the morning event, if at all.

That and Alex keeps throwing in big hills

It is mountain week next week. I toned it down a lot this month, just doing the first two of the Sorry Hells

 

[Whorty]

It is mountain week next week. I toned it down a lot this month, just doing the first two of the Sorry Hells

I think we both know my decision on joining that race

Let me know when it's sprinter's week again and I'll jump on

 

[bobinski]

[Sorry for wittering on so much like this - I am trying to distract myself from how long I have to wait for my Victory to get here!]

My HRM monitor arrived this afternoon. It is a Christmas present but I got special dispensation to ignore that and open the parcel today! Obviously, I gave it a quick test...

It turns out that my bradycardia isn't as pronounced as it was when I was young and fit, when my RHR could fall to the low 30s, but even now it is 48 bpm when relaxing on my sofa. I reckon that might drop another few beats if I stretched out, cleared my mind, and breathed deeply and slowly. I am going to wear the HRM when riding up a few steep local hills to see how fast my heart beats then. I used to get it to the high 190s but I guess that would be more like 160-70 bpm now.

My preparations-for-Zwift spending spree continues...

The rocker feet 3D-printer guy offered me a 7% discount so I pre-ordered a set to be printed for me in early January. I'll need to buy 8 tennis balls as well.

I think that I will wait until I have done some Zwift rides to see if I need a better fan. The one I have was okay for my previous moderate turbo efforts but will probably not cope with any serious Zwift sessions.

I watched the TV fettling video again. I still feel a bit nervous about manhandling the big LCD display panel. The backlight strips replacement is pretty straightforward once the unit has been disassembled to get at them, but doing that without trashing the panel is the issue!

I will only comment on Z2hr because I too have bradycardia and my medically measured rhr can go as low as 34.
Warm up for 20 min at v low power and put a fan on low towards the end .
Now ride and talk to yourself starting at say 100w, increasing by 5w every 30s until you find a point where talking becomes compromised by the need to breathe. Look at hr and drop it by 5 and use that as your z2 hr starting point. Then do an hours ride 5-10w below the power you started to struggle to talk and breathe. You should be able to hold the power without any cardiac drift upwards beyond the Z2 hr starting point. If you do lower it again.