Zwift Chat

[<Tommy>]

It works very well overall. Apart from the draft benefit, which isnt sufficient. Real life you can literally freewheel behind riders moving fast, Zwift requires a chunk of power

Yeah the drafting is something I’m still trying to work out to be honest. I did a ride last night and I’m sure I’m not using it as well as I could still. Another example of the difficulty in replicating real world cycling.

Though the Bkool system just seemed more intuitive.

 

[Norry1]

So, what is the plan for tonight? I know it is a TT but will be enhanced if we all start at the same time and it also then becomes like a normal race as well. What is the signal to start going to be, or does the Meet Up function do that?

 

[Whorty]

So, what is the plan for tonight? I know it is a TT but will be enhanced if we all start at the same time and it also then becomes like a normal race as well. What is the signal to start going to be, or does the Meet Up function do that?

My preference would be we all join the meet up. Roll to the start line together then the race starts from the Start/Finish banner. Otherwise there could be a risk that we all start at different places. Doing the Start/Finish banner also makes sure we're all there before the race kicks off.

Be useful to use Discord too ... if only to goad someone behind you, or tell someone you're behind that you're feeling strong still and you hope they're not flagging

 

[<Tommy>]

Is it possible to do it later in the evening if I miss the meet up time? I don’t think I’ll be able to get in before 8 ish

 

[bridgy]

So, what is the plan for tonight? I know it is a TT but will be enhanced if we all start at the same time and it also then becomes like a normal race as well. What is the signal to start going to be, or does the Meet Up function do that?

My preference would be we all join the meet up. Roll to the start line together then the race starts from the Start/Finish banner. Otherwise there could be a risk that we all start at different places. Doing the Start/Finish banner also makes sure we're all there before the race kicks off.

Be useful to use Discord too ... if only to goad someone behind you, or tell someone you're behind that you're feeling strong still and you hope they're not flagging

Is it possible to do it later in the evening if I miss the meet up time? I don’t think I’ll be able to get in before 8 ish

@Norry1 & @Whorty - I've never done a meet up before so I'm a bit in the dark - as I think all of us are - as to how it exactly will work at the start. I know you get transported to the start of the meet up ride just like with a race, and a screenshot I've seen shows the lead rider sat on a virtual turbo trainer just like at the start of a race, so hopefully it will start just like a race, with us all sat on virtual trainers with a countdown to the start of the ride. We should be located about 100 metres from the start/finish banner, so Carl's suggestion of us all just riding at a steady pace to the banner, and then all going for it is a good one I think. I'll try and have my keyboard handy and type some instruction messages to the group. This is a first attempt so if things go wrong or get a bit complicated, just ride like the clappers for about 30km until you get back to the start/finish barrier and you should be fine!

@TurboTommy yeah you can just do it solo at any time. Before clicking "Just Ride" on the start screen (after the pairing screen), select Watopia, and then choose the "Figure 8" course to ride - you might want to do a warm up ride first and the re-start in the Watopia "Figure 8" course to set your time.

Course details here - https://www.strava.com/segments/12118421

Oh and note for everyone - REMEMBER TO CHANGE YOUR BIKE TO A TT BIKE whether doing solo or the group ride. (N.B. you have to be stationary by the side of the road to change bikes).

 

[LBHIFI]

Its just like in real life. The likes of Qiuntana, Yates, Nibali etc are able to stay in a fast moving pack.
Exposed or one on one the lightweight riders arent able to stay with a 'rouleur' TT or classics specialist on a flat course. Its comes down to how much climbing there is to swing the advantage back to the lighter rider.

Yes, I'm not questioning their ability to stay in the pack. I'm questioning that they can do it with the same watt/kg on the flat sections.
Infact, I question the amount of weight that has been put on the watt/kg number in the whole Zwift scheeme, as weight plays an insignificant part on a flat section.

 

[peterob]

@Norry1 & @Whorty
Course details here - https://www.strava.com/segments/12118421

Oh and note for everyone - REMEMBER TO CHANGE YOUR BIKE TO A TT BIKE whether doing solo or the group ride. (N.B. you have to be stationary by the side of the road to change bikes).

Note: The segment is a hidden segment in Strava when you go looking for it to get your lap time.

I did the same course last night when doing my ftp builder training plan. To give you an idea of how long it may take, I averaged 214W and completed the lap in 52:28 (so anybody under 6'2" should be able to beat 50 mins at the same power ).

 

[bridgy]

Yes, I'm not questioning their ability to stay in the pack. I'm questioning that they can do it with the same watt/kg on the flat sections.
Infact, I question the amount of weight that has been put on the watt/kg number in the whole Zwift scheeme, as weight plays an insignificant part on a flat section.

I may be misunderstanding the point you're making, but Zwift don't actually use w/kg within their algorithm as such, it's just that that's the figure they choose to show on screen. As you point out, for all sorts of reasons it's not a perfect measure to compare the speed riders of different weight will do on different terrain, but it's better than just seeing another rider's watts. Personally, I'd quite like to see the speed of a rider and just try to match that sometimes!

I often find riders who finish races way ahead of me have done lower w/kg (some do lower some do higher) - I think it's often to do with how efficiently they ride in the draft. Also, when looking at results in Zwiftpower you can't forget the fact that there will be variability based on how different trainers work and report watts - the data isn't being taken from a perfectly level playing field.

 

[Whorty]

@Norry1 & @Whorty - I've never done a meet up before so I'm a bit in the dark - as I think all of us are - as to how it exactly will work at the start. I know you get transported to the start of the meet up ride just like with a race, and a screenshot I've seen shows the lead rider sat on a virtual turbo trainer just like at the start of a race, so hopefully it will start just like a race, with us all sat on virtual trainers with a countdown to the start of the ride. We should be located about 100 metres from the start/finish banner, so Carl's suggestion of us all just riding at a steady pace to the banner, and then all going for it is a good one I think. I'll try and have my keyboard handy and type some instruction messages to the group. This is a first attempt so if things go wrong or get a bit complicated, just ride like the clappers for about 30km until you get back to the start/finish barrier and you should be fine!

@TurboTommy yeah you can just do it solo at any time. Before clicking "Just Ride" on the start screen (after the pairing screen), select Watopia, and then choose the "Figure 8" course to ride - you might want to do a warm up ride first and the re-start in the Watopia "Figure 8" course to set your time.

Course details here - https://www.strava.com/segments/12118421

Oh and note for everyone - REMEMBER TO CHANGE YOUR BIKE TO A TT BIKE whether doing solo or the group ride. (N.B. you have to be stationary by the side of the road to change bikes).

Didn't realise we sat on a turbo until the off. Looking forward to seeing how this works

 

[CXRAndy]

I cant believe we've filled 1000 pages of chit- chat .

 

[bridgy]

Its just like in real life. The likes of Qiuntana, Yates, Nibali etc are able to stay in a fast moving pack.
Exposed or one on one the lightweight riders arent able to stay with a 'rouleur' TT or classics specialist on a flat course. Its comes down to how much climbing there is to swing the advantage back to the lighter rider.

I agree with what you're saying to some extent - although all three of the riders you mention have had some very good TT results of flat courses in Grand Tours, beating much bigger, more powerful riders. And another exception is Castroviejo who is 5 foot 7 and 62kgs but a world class TT rider. So as is usually the case, it's complicated in real life - and simulators like Zwift can only ever be a good approximation of reality, and we're bound by whatever numbers they put in their algorithms

 

[JuhaL]

I cant believe we've filled 1000 pages of chit- chat .

That is nearly 500 pages/year. Good to be here .

 

[bridgy]

Didn't realise we sat on a turbo until the off. Looking forward to seeing how this works

Yeah I think so - from Zwift info on Meet-ups: "We will start you right with your friends so you can chat with them and warm up together. Once the ride gets going, stick with the leader and keep chatting along the way"

Not sure how much chatting along the way we'll be doing tonight though!

Apparently, as the person who set up the ride, I'll have a big yellow banner above my head so no sneaking away for me! Also, although we won't be alone on the course like in a private race, those of us in the meet up will be highlighted green in the rider list on the right of the screen so it'll be easy to keep tabs on each other if we're reasonably close by

 

[JuhaL]

Nice event in Zwift. Who we gonna see in a neutral service car in Tour de France next summer and who's gonna have special Mavic wheel set etc.

 

[peterob]

Nice event in Zwift. Who we gonna see in a neutral service car in Tour de France next summer and who's gonna have special Mavic wheel set etc.

Perhaps we could do that for our league ride next week? Rides are at 17:30 and 20:00 (but only on Tuesday). There'll be a big field presumably.