Zwift Chat

[Joffey]

I held off replying before as I wasn't sure of dates, but all these climbs are around

I held off replying before as I wasn't sure of dates. What dates are you thinking of?

I've done all of these before. They really break into 3 sets of 2 climbs. Yorks and Toys are fairly close, but both are on the south side of the ridge. Similar for Chalkpit and White Lane, but they're around 5-10 miles further east. The Wall and Ashdown Forest are either side of the high part of the forest.

The top 4 are really the toughest. Yorks, Chalkpit and White Lane are absolute pigs, while Toys is a mere bastard! You'd effectively have to ride them as 2 figures of eight with a ride between them if you wanted to do them in one day. It also means that depending where you start you'll probably end up getting some bonus climbs just to get from one to the other.

The Wall is steep but its basically a big ramp that just rises up in a straight line in front of you. The Ashdown Forest is a long climb, made up of 2 climbs with a descent and flat section between them. That's more of a social day out, whereas the first 4 are an ideal ride to lose friends!

Cheers for the reply Del 👍

As the forecast is pretty ropey I was going to leave it another few days before I set anything in stone. I'm hoping over 1 or 2 days to do those climbs but have to fit in a flat 100 mile ride around the coast and have a social with my brother in law over the course of that week.

It sounds like you have a good bit of knowledge of the climbs and areas (I have none lol) - I'll message you towards the end of the week if that's ok and see what's occurring with the weather?

 

[<Tommy>]

When carbon met titanium. Kinda like when Harry met Sally, but this time the sounds of excitement were genuine!

I’ve been waiting for this frame so quite some time. Four months at least maybe. I fell in love with that seat post basically. So I figured that was the best place to start un wrapping from. The welds look beautiful they really do. It could be a while before I start to build it so I just thought I’d share my new arrival. Very chuffed! 👍👍

 

[<Tommy>]

Cheers for the reply Del 👍

As the forecast is pretty ropey I was going to leave it another few days before I set anything in stone. I'm hoping over 1 or 2 days to do those climbs but have to fit in a flat 100 mile ride around the coast and have a social with my brother in law over the course of that week.

It sounds like you have a good bit of knowledge of the climbs and areas (I have none lol) - I'll message you towards the end of the week if that's ok and see what's occurring with the weather?

When are you down here Joff?

 

[bobinski]

When carbon met titanium. Kinda like when Harry met Sally, but this time the sounds of excitement were genuine!

And the sounds from the missus?

 

[<Tommy>]

And the sounds from the missus?

😄

Not as enthusiastic as Meg Ryan it has to be said... But I got away with a and a bit of ‘silly sod’ type laugh so I’ll take that!

 

[Randyberlin]

😄

Not as enthusiastic as Meg Ryan it has to be said... But I got away with a and a bit of ‘silly sod’ type laugh so I’ll take that!

She has no idea. I just noticed on your big ride last week you upgraded to the new Elemnt Roam..

 

[Legs]

If you knew that your entry would be flagged and disallowed, you wouldn't even try to enter below your category (says he, who is trying to avoid entering certain races so that he can legitimately stay a B!)

But sometimes it's really not clear which category you should enter:

My FTP is 293W and weight 72kg, so my FTP divided by weight is 4.07W/kg. Some races say 4.0-5.0 for A, but this one doesn't! My Zwiftpower category is still B, too...

 

[<Tommy>]

She has no idea. I just noticed on your big ride last week you upgraded to the new Elemnt Roam..

To be honest she does have a pretty idea. I think she’d be slightly more concerned if I started taking an interest in classic cars or race horses.

I had the roam for about a year I think Randy. Are you looking for a new computer? I bought it because the screen is bigger and I think they improved the mapping a little too so it’s nicer for longer rides. It means you can have two rows of data and still see the map where the bolt struggles a bit with that. I just switch between that and the bolt depending on the ride. I think maybe there’s other computers that are better now if you read the reviews but it works fine for me.

 

[<Tommy>]

But sometimes it's really not clear which category you should enter:
View attachment 588112
My FTP is 293W and weight 72kg, so my FTP divided by weight is 4.07W/kg. Some races say 4.0-5.0 for A, but this one doesn't! My Zwiftpower category is still B, too...

I think just enter your race category and it keeps it simple? No one is looking at your ftp or w/kg unless you go over the boundary during the race so long as you’re in the right cat. Looking at your zp profile it looks like you dropped a chunk of weight. Particularly at the start of the year. If you continue that trend I guess you go up sooner or later. Or maybe be selective with your race choices for a bit?

 

[Legs]

I think I'll go A for this particular race, just because of the way it doesn't make mention of Zwiftpower categories. It usually gets really thin fields anyway, so I don't suppose it matters much.

The weight has fallen off since I've been turning the pedals with a little bit of motivation. I used to often have two massive cheese-laden baked potatoes for lunch, two or three days a week, and I've made something of a resolution not to do that again!

 

[Randyberlin]

To be honest she does have a pretty idea. I think she’d be slightly more concerned if I started taking an interest in classic cars or race horses.

I had the roam for about a year I think Randy. Are you looking for a new computer? I bought it because the screen is bigger and I think they improved the mapping a little too so it’s nicer for longer rides. It means you can have two rows of data and still see the map where the bolt struggles a bit with that. I just switch between that and the bolt depending on the ride. I think maybe there’s other computers that are better now if you read the reviews but it works fine for me.

I have the regular Elemnt, not the bolt. So my only reason would be for the color. I do have the radar tied in and it is perfect size for that.

 

[<Tommy>]

I have the regular Elemnt, not the bolt. So my only reason would be for the color. I do have the radar tied in and it is perfect size for that.

I wouldn’t bother then Randy. Some people even say the colour version isn’t as clear as the old version. I can’t say I struggle with that personally but I don’t think it’s worth upgrading for that alone. I think it has more mapping options if you need to change course on the fly and stuff like that. So might be worth looking into with regard your foreign adventures. But I think the newer Garmin have a more advanced mapping system from what I understand. Hammerhead looks interesting too. But I just got fed up of Garmin crappy support. Ironic really considering they bought out Tacx right after I bought the neo bike... The thing that’s best about the Wahoo for me is that I find it the most intuitive to set up because the phone app is so straight forward.

 

[Joffey]

When are you down here Joff?

Lovely Colnago mate 😍 and that titanium job looks just as nice!

Arriving in Kent on Sunday afternoon and setting off back the following Sunday. Not got much planned apart from a few rides and maybe an afternoon out at Folkstone harbour for a beer and some gyros.

 

[CXRAndy]

Colour no good for you Tommy

Is the seat post fixed or is the scallop section slider with bolt holt?

Titanium, wide wheels, off road, touring?

 

[Joffey]

I think I'll go A for this particular race, just because of the way it doesn't make mention of Zwiftpower categories. It usually gets really thin fields anyway, so I don't suppose it matters much.

The weight has fallen off since I've been turning the pedals with a little bit of motivation. I used to often have two massive cheese-laden baked potatoes for lunch, two or three days a week, and I've made something of a resolution not to do that again!

I love a cheese laden baked potato for lunch. Might have one today. One... not TWO!