I'm getting the same as you Berty - it won't load other ghosts but will load my own previous rides. This wasn't the case when we were discussing this and I checked the other day so looks like an intermittent glitch at Bkool's end
Team BKool CycleChat
- Thread starter Peteaud
- Start date
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Some people experience more problems than others - personally I very rarely have problems when doing solo rides.
It also depends on the hiccups you're talking about as some are specifically related to league/handicap rides and the way they have to be set up due to Bkool's system being surprisingly not user-friendly for much of what we're trying to do in the leagues. I rarely have connection issues or the sim completely crashing on me, although it has happened once or twice.
Other issues are bugs that Bkool constantly seem to have in their sim and their website which can affect you whether a group or solo ride - these are constant and varied, and Bkool seem to have the knack of introducing 2 or 3 new ones for every one they fix! The issue with adding ghosts highlighted by Berty above is a good example....
Perky77
Senior Member
- Location
- Hertfordshire
I'd love to but I am now confirmed for Nove Colli on May 21st - http://www.novecolli.it/en-GB
The conundrum I have is whether or not to do some structured training through trainer road or sufferfest for it. I have never undertaken anything like this before and the longest ride I have ever done is 65 miles, which was this summer.
At the moment I am doing the three Bkool sessions a week in the leagues and trying to get out for a longer ride at the weekend, which will be easier to do once the light improves around February time. I can only get out early morning at the weekends due to having two small children.
I would really appreciate any advice from you guys who seem to have done similar events in the past. Ideally I do not want to reduce the league rides but I want to be able to put myself in the best position to complete and “enjoy” the ride as much as possible.
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bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
Get some pedals and shoes man!, even spd which are super easy to get in and out of, would see a huge improvement. I have spare spd's you can have for postage.
Well Turbo Tommy finished ahead of me for the first time last month. Now in November he is ahead of me in all three of our leagues.
A nice new tyre definitely helps! But with my own fitness progress I definitely have found I have made a number of seemingly sudden leaps forward in fitness rather than a very smooth improvement - I don't know if others have found the same?
It's almost like you're gradually accumulating fitness/stamina/strength improvements, and then your body reaches a tipping point where everything falls into place and theses improvements allow you to push that little bit harder/longer and as a result you jump ahead in speed compared to others.
That's how it seems to have been for me anyway, and it's not all tyres as I'm only on my third tyre since starting on Bkool and the first two were identical!
I'd be interested if anyone else feels it's been like this for them?
bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
Well,to be fair to bkool i have just logged in and challenged Adski's goat ride and then saved to favourites and then loaded up the sim and there it was, with perky there too. Now, do i ride it today or rest a bit until tomorrow morning and really go for it?
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
Well Turbo Tommy finished ahead of me for the first time last month. Now in November he is ahead of me in all three of our leagues.
I am as surprised as anyone Bill. You were miles ahead of me but we've sort of met in the middle the last few weeks. Going back to matters BKOOL, it's the likes of you chasing me down in the handicap races that have always pushed me on. Until we can create something similar on zwift it'll be a real wrench for me to leave.
bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
I find it almost impossible to dissemble any apparent improvements in my performances in bkool from changes in the sim. I say that because previously bkool seemed to favour my, err, sawtooth approach to cycling, that is power on , rest and recover, power on again. So, wittingly or not i fell into a pattern. I then had to adapt following software changes and hold power longer, something i used zwift to train for but it was an adaptation. I did deliberately choose a manual connect because i felt that provided a more accurate reflection of power/speed or at least one closer to zwift-which of course is just another sim! - and more importantly, to real life. Along the way, the sim has improved in that we have lost the worm holes, sudden accelerations etc but gained the odd anomaly though they no longer have the impact they once did. Interestingly, my ftp in bkool is near enough now to what it was in trainer road and now in zwift to suggest there has been a little improvement, but not much and i suspect that reflects actual mileage over last 18 months which, due to injury (have i told you about my knee?
) has been much less than in previous years. Look at TT whose improvement may reflect his commuting mileage followed by a bit of rest...I do think going outside and knocking out 50-60m rides at weekends makes a huge difference to fitness and stamina and i just have not been able to get out and do these rides. Darn, you can tell i am "working from home" or rather just wittering!
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
Same for me Paul
But it has coincided with me riding less miles and having more recovery time so in my case I think that's a big part of the explanation. I was watching your start in the replay last night and the way you go off is incredible to me. 6/700 watts at times, and then still manage to recover to push out 400+ later on in the race.
Daddy Pig
Veteran
I think that I have found that a mixture of rides of different length and some 'silly' uphill's has helped me improve power, leg speed and stamina. I have found sudden leaps forward in power overall, especially uphill (410 watts on recent ride). For me, my stamina was always a concern, but having done a number of longer runs this has really helped me improve longevity, and additionally I have worked on my cadence to push 90 to 100 average on 6% uphill's.I find it almost impossible to dissemble any apparent improvements in my performances in bkool from changes in the sim. I say that because previously bkool seemed to favour my, err, sawtooth approach to cycling, that is power on , rest and recover, power on again. So, wittingly or not i fell into a pattern. I then had to adapt following software changes and hold power longer, something i used zwift to train for but it was an adaptation. I did deliberately choose a manual connect because i felt that provided a more accurate reflection of power/speed or at least one closer to zwift-which of course is just another sim! - and more importantly, to real life. Along the way, the sim has improved in that we have lost the worm holes, sudden accelerations etc but gained the odd anomaly though they no longer have the impact they once did. Interestingly, my ftp in bkool is near enough now to what it was in trainer road and now in zwift to suggest there has been a little improvement, but not much and i suspect that reflects actual mileage over last 18 months which, due to injury (have i told you about my knee?
<Tommy>
Illegitimi non carborundum
- Location
- Camden, London
I find it almost impossible to dissemble any apparent improvements in my performances in bkool from changes in the sim. I say that because previously bkool seemed to favour my, err, sawtooth approach to cycling, that is power on , rest and recover, power on again. So, wittingly or not i fell into a pattern. I then had to adapt following software changes and hold power longer, something i used zwift to train for but it was an adaptation. I did deliberately choose a manual connect because i felt that provided a more accurate reflection of power/speed or at least one closer to zwift-which of course is just another sim! - and more importantly, to real life. Along the way, the sim has improved in that we have lost the worm holes, sudden accelerations etc but gained the odd anomaly though they no longer have the impact they once did. Interestingly, my ftp in bkool is near enough now to what it was in trainer road and now in zwift to suggest there has been a little improvement, but not much and i suspect that reflects actual mileage over last 18 months which, due to injury (have i told you about my knee?
Maybe the London chapter of the cyclechat club should be thinking about the odd real life ride? Could be good fun.
You're right that changes to the Sim do make a difference too. That change in the firmware that got rid of the big slingshots up hills definitley benefited me compared to Bill for example. Partly because he was the master of making the most of them, and partly because other changes suited my riding style more than his.I find it almost impossible to dissemble any apparent improvements in my performances in bkool from changes in the sim. I say that because previously bkool seemed to favour my, err, sawtooth approach to cycling, that is power on , rest and recover, power on again. So, wittingly or not i fell into a pattern. I then had to adapt following software changes and hold power longer, something i used zwift to train for but it was an adaptation. I did deliberately choose a manual connect because i felt that provided a more accurate reflection of power/speed or at least one closer to zwift-which of course is just another sim! - and more importantly, to real life. Along the way, the sim has improved in that we have lost the worm holes, sudden accelerations etc but gained the odd anomaly though they no longer have the impact they once did. Interestingly, my ftp in bkool is near enough now to what it was in trainer road and now in zwift to suggest there has been a little improvement, but not much and i suspect that reflects actual mileage over last 18 months which, due to injury (have i told you about my knee?
bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
TT, there are handicap races, organised over FB, which I still struggle with, but they are open to all and are pretty messy. Geoff has us organised to a T
Thanks Geoff
MasterDabber
Über Member
- Location
- Surrey and the Lot in France
That's a fair point about many of the problems highlighted in this thread are about league/handicap rides. I initially want to use my new Bkool Pro (when I get my hands on it) to do firstly an ftp test then work up to doing some decent length climbs. I reckon I'll end up just signing up for the Bkool subscription on a monthly basis until I see how well I like it. If it works out fine then I'll take out a yearly subscription. If it ends up a pain I guess I'll try Zwift but it seems a lot more limited in available rides/routes etc. TrainerRoad also appeals.
If I stick with Bkool then I'm tempted to dip my toes in the league/handicap rides sometime in the future.
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