Zwift Chat

[<Tommy>]

Now I can feel when things are getting bad so I can step-up with the core exercises (planks and cat/dog), and go to the chiro for a bit of an adjustment and some needle work.

That was definitely a bit of a eureka moment for me too. Recognising when things aren’t right. My back generally goes a bit stiff before my muscles start to spasm. So now I listen to that. Or after tough days at work I know I need to do some work on it to keep loose. Also I’ve accepted I just can’t take the liberties with it I could in years gone by.

 

[Del C]

What's the plan for this week then, before the Tour De Zwift starts? Are we up for trying our own handicap race? Maybe we could run it on Tuesday and again on Thursday evening to give as many people as possible the chance to ride, but also a chance to iron out any issues second time around?

@IrishAl has the timings list - the first thing to decide will be whether we run it as a team or individual event (personally I don't mind), which actually might depend on who's available to ride. Post here if you're up for it or maybe Al you could do one of your polls to find out who can ride when and we start from there?

I should be able to do Tuesday and Thursday, but I'll be riding at a lower intensity. I promised my wife I won't race until I've had my CT scan completed and the results reviewed.

If we do an individual run on Tuesday, that should help move me to the right team group, as I won't be pushing hard enough to compete in the group @IrishAl has me in right now.

 

[CXRAndy]

That was definitely a bit of a eureka moment for me too. Recognising when things aren’t right. My back generally goes a bit stiff before my muscles start to spasm. So now I listen to that. Or after tough days at work I know I need to do some work on it to keep loose. Also I’ve accepted I just can’t take the liberties with it I could in years gone by.

Come off it Tommy, you're just out of shorts.

Whipper snapper

 

[Freelanderuk]

Either night is good for me

 

[<Tommy>]

Come off it Tommy, you're just out of shorts.

Whipper snapper

😄

It’s all relative mate. When I think about the things I got away with in my twenties and even thirties there’s just no way now.

 

[Joffey]

I'd be up for a handicap race. I can definitely do Tuesday (not sure about Thursday).

I'd suggest we do a solo handicap initially as there's a lot extra to organise (and go wrong) in doing a team event and it'd be best to iron out any issues first.

Zwift newbie here - is this something I can get involved in? Cheers in advance.

 

[bridgy]

Zwift newbie here - is this something I can get involved in? Cheers in advance.

Hi @Joffey - welcome! Obviously Zwift has loads of organised events (races, workouts, non-competitive group rides) which you can join via the companion app, but in addition to those, we like to organise our own races and keep track of results in a monthly league - basically because it's good to race with people who you've got to know rather than just random people on the internet! There's some really close battles between people of similar pace throughout our little league.

We normally race on Tuesday's at 6pm (UK time) and Thursday's at 7pm - you can join one or both. However, this month we're going to do the Tour De Zwift stages (starts on Jan 12th) and use the results from Zwiftpower for our league table. When Tour De Zwift is over we'll probably organise our own league races again which we do via the meetup function.

So if you want to join in with our league you're welcome to, but you'll need to be signed up to Zwiftpower if you're not already (you'll also need to be on Strava for our the races we organise ourselves as this is where we get stage times from).

Any questions, just ask

 

[bridgy]

@Joffey I meant to add, we are hopefully going to try organising a handicap race this week based on our times on a stage from a previous league, the idea being the slowest rider starts first and veryone else starts at a set time gap with the aim being we have a close finish together. You are welcome to join in with this although we'll have to find some way of estimating a start time for you....

Edit: sorry I can see now you know about the handicap race as that's what you replied to - sorry As I say - just need to estimate a start time gap for you

 

[bridgy]

Well, not a great response to the handicap race suggestion. So far just @peterob , @Freelanderuk , @Del C (maybe) @<Tommy> and me up for it - and possibly @Joffey now. Not really enough to make it worth doing, but I'm happy to give it a go anyway if you are - we can at least try to iron out any problems and sort out the best way to run it?

The time splits we were going to use are below, with the start time gaps added for the above people. Pete, your start time looks rather generous considering your recent form don't you think? Not sure I like the idea of giving Tommy a 28 second lead either to be honest! Let me know if you think we should adjust any time gaps at all....

 

[Brendan Parker]

Well, not a great response to the handicap race suggestion. So far just @peterob , @Freelanderuk , @Del C (maybe) @<Tommy> and me up for it - and possibly @Joffey now. Not really enough to make it worth doing, but I'm happy to give it a go anyway if you are - we can at least try to iron out any problems and sort out the best way to run it?

The time splits we were going to use are below, with the start time gaps added for the above people. Pete, your start time looks rather generous considering your recent form don't you think? Not sure I like the idea of giving Tommy a 28 second lead either to be honest! Let me know if you think we should adjust any time gaps at all....

View attachment 499470

I can do thursday if your looking for a "Hare", although as you have said it will take Pete all of about 3 seconds to catch me with his time

 

[IrishAl]

@bridgy sorry just getting back up to speed after a Christmas of excess...outdoor cycling and eating...

here’s a poll if we want to get everyone at the one time...https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFCPXNM
We go with the most popular date and time. I haven’t included tonight assuming it is too short notice to organise.

alternatively we could go with a course that we each ride on TT bikes at a time that suits each person, with a set handicap to level the playing field. Not as much fun but at least kick starts the new year.

 

[bridgy]

@bridgy sorry just getting back up to speed after a Christmas of excess...outdoor cycling and eating...

here’s a poll if we want to get everyone at the one time...https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFCPXNM
We go with the most popular date and time.

alternatively we could go with a course that we each ride on TT bikes at a time that suits each person, with a set handicap to level the playing field. Not as much fun but at least kick starts the new year.

Thanks Al - I've replied to the survey (slight typo - you've put Friday 11th instead of Saturday 11th).

I was trying to set up a handicap for tonight as well if possible - even if we don't have many people we could use it to test how we can make it work. A big group handicap with as many as possible on course at the same time would be best though

 

[<Tommy>]

Well, not a great response to the handicap race suggestion. So far just @peterob , @Freelanderuk , @Del C (maybe) @<Tommy> and me up for it - and possibly @Joffey now. Not really enough to make it worth doing, but I'm happy to give it a go anyway if you are - we can at least try to iron out any problems and sort out the best way to run it?

The time splits we were going to use are below, with the start time gaps added for the above people. Pete, your start time looks rather generous considering your recent form don't you think? Not sure I like the idea of giving Tommy a 28 second lead either to be honest! Let me know if you think we should adjust any time gaps at all....

View attachment 499470

I’m defo racing tonight mate. Think lee and bob are too. If we don’t do a handicap I’ll join whatever is going.

 

[bridgy]

I’m defo racing tonight mate. Think lee and bob are too. If we don’t do a handicap I’ll join whatever is going.

Ah that's great - I'll wait a bit to see who else replies but will add Lee and Bob to the time splits.

6 or 7pm tonight best for people?

 

[bridgy]

@bridgy sorry just getting back up to speed after a Christmas of excess...outdoor cycling and eating...

here’s a poll if we want to get everyone at the one time...https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFCPXNM
We go with the most popular date and time. I haven’t included tonight assuming it is too short notice to organise.

alternatively we could go with a course that we each ride on TT bikes at a time that suits each person, with a set handicap to level the playing field. Not as much fun but at least kick starts the new year.

Just had a thought re: when we can do the handicap race @IrishAl - we have times based on the TT on the Greatest London Flat stage so need to doit when London is the guest world. So that only gives us today, Wednesday and Thursday - when London is the guest world - unless we calculate new time splits from a different Watopia course