Zwift Chat

[berty bassett]

isnt it considered cheating if you chuck the bike in the back of a big truck ?
them there cairngorms have got the lecht !! nice day needed to go up that ! - or some skis

 

[JLaw]

So I got dressed and fired up zwift about 10 minutes before today's race and zwift complains it can't find my trainer. Umm, OK. So I look to make sure its plugged in and see the power cable (between transformer and the kicker thankfully) is frayed. I'm guessing the new kitty decided it was a playtoy yesterday. Sigh. Run to the garage, get some tools & splice the cable back together. Wires exposed, but properly separated, I verify the unit powers up and realize I can still make the race. So I jump on the bike with about 20 seconds to go before the race starts.

Naturally I was not really ready to race and when the fireworks started I quickly found in last place with the D riders not terribly far behind. I slowly started passing riders and picking up a bit of steam. Didn't really hit the little KOM climb hard. We had a small group of 4-6 through the middle part of the race with one rider taking most of the pulls, then myself with minimal pulls from the remainder of the group. The hardest worker eventually went off the front and was never seen again. Managed to reel in a variety of strugging riders and I tried not to get demoralized by the pace of the "A" groups that flew by.

Never really pushed things too hard until the last KOM when I made a concentrated effort to get away from my little group. I got away without much difficulty and was able to keep on the gas hard enough to avoid recapture at the end. I suspect I was riding further back in the field than usual though, so I wouldn't read much into getting away from the other slow-pokes.

In the end I think the overall effort was well metered. 3rd best 60 minute effort. Efforts on shorter intervals don't get into the top-10. Rest day tomorrow, then hitting the canyon hard Saturday. I think the only race effort next week in Zwift will be the Wed 10km TT.

 

[bobinski]

Good luck on your IRL ride Jeff

 

[CXRAndy]

Morning, I've picked PRS @ 6pm tonight for Zwifty race, 23miles flat-ish

 

[Breedon]

Morning, I've picked PRS @ 6pm tonight for Zwifty race, 23miles flat-ish

I might be joining you depends if I finish in time

 

[CXRAndy]

tripped upon this great site, gpx of all the walking and national cycle routes
https://cycling.waymarkedtrails.org/

 

[Randyberlin]

@JLaw

How did your race go?

 

[berty bassett]

Andy
sorry i let you down - was gonna try and keep up and maybe even help
changed my weight slightly , put me new aero wheels on, changed frame
thought it would all help me reduce w/kg and make it easier
what a load of billhooks
you were all flying !!
i kept up for 5 mile but knew i couldnt keep that pace up and even if i did , my w/kg would have been too high
so decided to save myself for an outdoor one tomorrow

 

[CXRAndy]

Lee that's ok I saw your name appear with us, then disappeared. It was brutal tonight, really felt under the cosh from half way, riders trying to make a break for it for midway and the pace increased trying to chase them down. Had nothing for the sprint other than just holding on.

Result said I came 5th, but I think there might be some being bumped upto B cat.

Maybe 4th, first for 50+ age group, so pleased against the younger rider's

With that type of course, I could of got a credible 6th in the B Cat, but I think I would be a very low C or even D cat for climbs

 

[JLaw]

@JLaw

How did your race go?

THanks for asking. Race is next week, today was just supposed to be a hard ride up the canyon (which shares 6 miles with the race course).

Unfortunately, the canyon was closed when I arrived due to a race. There was a brief panic when I wondered if I'd somehow gotten the wrong date in my head for my race -- but after a brief talk with an officer I saw the runners making their way down and got the OK to head up.

Nasty nasty headwind today. Of course that helped in that one of the goals today was to ride at a higher level of effort (as measured by my HR) and to work on a better climbing cadence.

I was about 30 seconds ahead of least week, even with the headwinds after 3 miles. Keeping a comparable pace over the remaining 5.5 miles would result in hitting that 10 year best, so that was good. HR was up in the range were I wanted and I'm confident when I look at the data, cadence was up as well. Unfortunately I lost minutes during the 4th mile. The 4th mile is a real challenge -- its always been the slowest, most painful mile for me. Add the headwind and it was just miserable today. Cadence cratered as did my pace (I'm already in the granny).

I was passed during that 4th mile. Past him back a short while later while he was on the side of the road. He caught me again right at the end of the 4th mile. I kept him pretty close through most of the 5th mile -- the "chase" was enough motivation to get the cadence back up. He was mostly seated, but came up out of the saddle for each tough little stretch. I stayed in the saddle and concentrated on cadence. He finally pulled away as the gradient eased a bit near the end of the 5th mile.

I knew I wasn't likely to challenge that 10 year best anymore, so I bailed at the end of the 5th mile rather than bury myself. Took a gentle coast down, marveling at how many riders were climbing -- like me getting in a final ride through the toughest miles of next week's race course most likely. That bodes well for a good turnout next week.

Going to do just one short race in Zwift this week (Wed time trial). Other rides will be more to spin and stretch out the legs, not race efforts.

 

[Breedon]

Lee that's ok I saw your name appear with us, then disappeared. It was brutal tonight, really felt under the cosh from half way, riders trying to make a break for it for midway and the pace increased trying to chase them down. Had nothing for the sprint other than just holding on.

Result said I came 5th, but I think there might be some being bumped upto B cat.

Maybe 4th, first for 50+ age group, so pleased against the younger rider's

Zwift power says 4th i would of joined you but i was asleep on the sofa

 

[CXRAndy]

Zwift power says 4th i would of joined you but i was asleep on the sofa

Dreaming of a podium

 

[berty bassett]

Andy - been looking more into that EV12 route
Might have a short week this week and if the weather is ok I might try a bit of it
A bit concerned because all the mapping stuff I have ( even footpaths) doesn't show parts of it ! So gonna take a map as well just in case I have to bail

 

[CXRAndy]

Its a little more difficult to plan routes without checking from several sources. I've just amended my final day to Paris, because I didn't like it. Google maps tried to navigate me through dirt tracks besides fields, strava picked a different but busier road route. I eventually got strava to follow the Google route except for the field sections. Added 5 miles,1000ft, but should be a much more pleasant route.

 

[bobinski]

Its a little more difficult to plan routes without checking from several sources. I've just amended my final day to Paris, because I didn't like it. Google maps tried to navigate me through dirt tracks besides fields, strava picked a different but busier road route. I eventually got strava to follow the Google route except for the field sections. Added 5 miles,1000ft, but should be a much more pleasant route.

Andy, I have the route vert guidebook if you want to borrow it.