Cyclechat Goats League 2019

[Mugshot]

I’m all set up for my first ride tonight after getting bogged down in family and work drama yesterday.

My bigringvr name is Thomas Burton, as is my strava name. I’ve tried to change it to my user name here but I can’t seem to do it.

Couple of newbie questions. How do I add other people to my rides to use as markers? Also do you guys change trainer difficulty? And if so what do you set it at? I’ve got a 28t cassette on the turbo at the moment but I’d like to spin rather than grind.

Just click on the names in the list of previous riders, it'll highlight them and they'll be there when you start the ride. I think you can choose 5 others? As for the difficulty I have mine set at 100% but I think you can change it during the ride with the up/down arrows on the keyboard.

I always have the coach, set to something more realistic than the FTP, and I'll sometimes choose riders that are around about the same time as the estimated ride time for the coach.

 

[<Tommy>]

Just click on the names in the list of previous riders, it'll highlight them and they'll be there when you start the ride. I think you can choose 5 others? As for the difficulty I have mine set at 100% but I think you can change it during the ride with the up/down arrows on the keyboard.

I always have the coach, set to something more realistic than the FTP, and I'll sometimes choose riders that are around about the same time as the estimated ride time for the coach.

Cheers mugshot. What does the coach do?

 

[Mugshot]

Cheers mugshot. What does the coach do?

They just ride at a constant wattage, based on your stats. For example I have mine set at 200w, from my stats the coach will always ride at 2.8W/kg they're faster than me on the flats and the lower slopes but I'll do 'em on the steep stuff. I'd like to try to get to 3.0W/kg average I'm generally 2.8 -2.9 depending on the terrain so the coach at 200w will usually give me a decent race. Although stuff like the Zoncolan will mean I'll leave them in the dust, good enough I say! There will be an estimated ride time shown depending on what you set the coach to, so you can choose other riders based around that time if you fancy it.
BTW, you need to choose to use the coach before you can alter their wattage (there's a little check box), dunno why but that's the way it is.

 

[<Tommy>]

They just ride at a constant wattage, based on your stats. For example I have mine set at 200w, from my stats the coach will always ride at 2.8W/kg they're faster than me on the flats and the lower slopes but I'll do 'em on the steep stuff. I'd like to try to get to 3.0W/kg average I'm generally 2.8 -2.9 depending on the terrain so the coach at 200w will usually give me a decent race. Although stuff like the Zoncolan will mean I'll leave them in the dust, good enough I say! There will be an estimated ride time shown depending on what you set the coach to, so you can choose other riders based around that time if you fancy it.
BTW, you need to choose to use the coach before you can alter their wattage (there's a little check box), dunno why but that's the way it is.

Ah cool thanks mate

 

[ibooij]

BTW, you need to choose to use the coach before you can alter their wattage (there's a little check box), dunno why but that's the way it is.

That was the original implementation. You can now also press 'C' to have the coach start at your FTP, even if you haven't selected it before starting the ride. Then you can use the '+' (or '=') button in to increase and '-' to decrease pacer power

 

[Aleman]

My bigringvr name is Thomas Burton, as is my strava name. I’ve tried to change it to my user name here but I can’t seem to do it.

I emailed the support team and asked them to change my nickname to Aleman Cyclechat ... Now when I'm in the sim it shows AC, but is aleman cyclechat on the BRVR leader board

Do you guys change trainer difficulty? And if so what do you set it at? I’ve got a 28t cassette on the turbo at the moment but I’d like to spin rather than grind.

Anything less than 100% is cheating ... Now I'll be honest and say that I haven't changed mine from the default, not that I haven't thought about it, while it makes the ups easier for spinning ... it makes the downs more difficult, and I need all the help I can get on the downs [/QUOTE]

 

[<Tommy>]

I emailed the support team and asked them to change my nickname to Aleman Cyclechat ... Now when I'm in the sim it shows AC, but is aleman cyclechat on the BRVR leader board


Anything less than 100% is cheating ... Now I'll be honest and say that I haven't changed mine from the default, not that I haven't thought about it, while it makes the ups easier for spinning ... it makes the downs more difficult, and I need all the help I can get on the downs

[/QUOTE]

I put mine down to around 80% I think. I’ll check next time. Is it bad form to drop it down below 100%. If so I’ll keep it at100. I figure it doesn’t make you go any faster but just lets you spin faster?

 

[Mugshot]

I put mine down to around 80% I think. I’ll check next time. Is it bad form to drop it down below 100%. If so I’ll keep it at100. I figure it doesn’t make you go any faster but just lets you spin faster?

Do whatever you like mate. Theres so many variables when it comes to turbos and setups that its yourself you’re competing against in the end. No point in killing yourself and putting yourself off getting on the thing at all.

 

[<Tommy>]

Do whatever you like mate. Theres so many variables when it comes to turbos and setups that its yourself you’re competing against in the end. No point in killing yourself and putting yourself off getting on the thing at all.

Yeah I don’t think it gives you any advantage other than being able to use a larger ‘virtual cassette’ than the one you have in your bike. I still felt like I’d been beaten up as I fell off the bike

 

[ibooij]

Indeed, the difficulty setting can be seen as virtual gearing. It's certainly not "cheating". Then it would also be cheating to use a trainer that maxes out in resistance much earlier.
Everybody should just do what suits them best. I think I'll try the Zoncolan one of these days. I've done it in real life in the summer of 2015 and it was not really a pleasure. Average cadence of 50 and I couldn't get my power up because of that slow cadence. Also, it was 36 degrees in the valley, which didn't really help. (enough excuses..?) https://www.strava.com/activities/344026282/overview
The Passo Giau from Alleghe that we rode a few days later was a breeze!

Luckily my trainer can only simulate up to about 16%

 

[Breedon]

@Aleman is my name on the spreadsheet as I might have a go at it today.
Name on BigRingVR is Dean Hallam

 

[Aleman]

@Aleman is my name on the spreadsheet as I might have a go at it today.
Name on BigRingVR is Dean Hallam

It is Now!!

 

[Whorty]

It is Now!!

I may rejoin BRVR and start to have a go at some real climbs again. I'll let you know once I've set up the subs.

 

[Crook Town AFC]

I may rejoin BRVR and start to have a go at some real climbs again. I'll let you know once I've set up the subs.

Be quick, you don't want to miss the Monte Zoncolan.

 

[Whorty]

Be quick, you don't want to miss the Monte Zoncolan.

I was thinking of joining no Monday .... I'm happy to take slowest rider plus 5% (will still be faster than anything I can do )