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bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Definitely felt a few percentages off the pace there, not sure if deconditioning, general fatigue or calibration related. I suspect the first two but the question marks about the latter do make me want to get a new reliable turbo, even if I'm reliably worse:laugh:. Hopefully late summer I'll upgrade, all being well.

You have had a bit of a stressful week since the gravel bike choice in New York and a rushed start today so probably best not to worry too much and see how next week goes.
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
Well done tonight everyone. Bit of a toughie eh! I had a bit of a disaster, Apple TV bungled button related start as you do... I ended up exiting the app at the bottom of the first climb and when I came back I was position 50 something. And 3 groups off the front. But generally I think I’m pleased with the way I’m climbed, and I managed to jump across two groups after the bad start to finish 29th so I can’t really grumble.

To be fair Pete had a complete disaster start! More very bad luck related. Martin stepped up admirably at short notice and put in a great effort. And as always Bridgy has all my respect for his riding. Managed to claw back a gap of at least 15 seconds solo about 3/4 into the race which was really impressive to watch. And then just unlucky really that it delivered him to the group right at the foot of Libby hill :huh:.

Didn’t see King Joffey or Special K in the race, but they both survived a brutal course, with Ketty scalping one of @Del C ‘s boys at the end for some well earned bonus points! And both continue to have a great rookie season with the team 👍👍

I wish more of the courses they set were like that to be honest. Just personal preference but maybe they’re slightly more nuanced. Dunno... any hoot well done again all 👍
 

Legs

usually riding on Zwift...
Location
Staffordshire
Seems likely that the ‘custom finish’ for the final Surrey Hilly stage will only be for Cs and Ds, and that As and Bs will be doing all five climbs, surely? That’s something to look forward to, eh, @<Tommy> ?!
 

Joffey

Big Dosser
Location
Yorkshire
Well done tonight everyone. Bit of a toughie eh! I had a bit of a disaster, Apple TV bungled button related start as you do... I ended up exiting the app at the bottom of the first climb and when I came back I was position 50 something. And 3 groups off the front. But generally I think I’m pleased with the way I’m climbed, and I managed to jump across two groups after the bad start to finish 29th so I can’t really grumble.

To be fair Pete had a complete disaster start! More very bad luck related. Martin stepped up admirably at short notice and put in a great effort. And as always Bridgy has all my respect for his riding. Managed to claw back a gap of at least 15 seconds solo about 3/4 into the race which was really impressive to watch. And then just unlucky really that it delivered him to the group right at the foot of Libby hill :huh:.

Didn’t see King Joffey or Special K in the race, but they both survived a brutal course, with Ketty scalping one of @Del C ‘s boys at the end for some well earned bonus points! And both continue to have a great rookie season with the team 👍👍

I wish more of the courses they set were like that to be honest. Just personal preference but maybe they’re slightly more nuanced. Dunno... any hoot well done again all 👍

Largely uneventful for the fat lad at the back tonight. Stayed with the main bunch to the first accent of Libby Hill and then got spat out of the back. Found a group of 4 riders and we kept together and slowly reeled in the guys up the road that were mainly solo and in pairs. On the last lap with caught Norris and Ketty (not our Norris!) but the group didn't stay together long as people fought for final places in the race.

Personally I hurt my knee again on lap 3 and really hurt it on the final 23rd Street climb resulting me to soft pedal to the finish and ending my race in 59th. It was a shame as I felt stronger than some in our group but sadly the old knee didn't agree.


Does anyone wear any knee braces when they ride? I am hurting the same left knee ligament every time I race up any sort of climb and I could so with some kind of support before I damage it properly. It's fine on road rides, it's just Zwift that's aggravating it.
 

Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
Well, I hadn't expected to be Zwift racing yesterday but my IRL Bash Chaingang was cancelled due to the weather and as Nick had to drop out I was able to slot in.

The only Zwift stuff I've done for the last couple of months has been the British Cycling/British Masters Race series (4 races over 8 weeks). They were hard, all over an hour, but the starts were less frenetic than the ZRL is.

Knowing there were 15 climbs was a bit daunting, but you tend to end up in a group that has similar capabilities to you.

I felt I was getting (relatively) stronger as the race went on - I am more of an endurance than sprint person - and finished 38th in a time of 1:12:37 which I was reasonably pleased with.

I was with Tommy for a while and wondered why he was there - and was impressed how he caught the group(s) ahead. I also saw Pete's figures drop to zero so guessed he'd had another BT fail - nightmare.

If anyone is interested, video is here....


View: https://youtu.be/tI_ImFVezGI
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Largely uneventful for the fat lad at the back tonight. Stayed with the main bunch to the first accent of Libby Hill and then got spat out of the back. Found a group of 4 riders and we kept together and slowly reeled in the guys up the road that were mainly solo and in pairs. On the last lap with caught Norris and Ketty (not our Norris!) but the group didn't stay together long as people fought for final places in the race.

Personally I hurt my knee again on lap 3 and really hurt it on the final 23rd Street climb resulting me to soft pedal to the finish and ending my race in 59th. It was a shame as I felt stronger than some in our group but sadly the old knee didn't agree.


Does anyone wear any knee braces when they ride? I am hurting the same left knee ligament every time I race up any sort of climb and I could so with some kind of support before I damage it properly. It's fine on road rides, it's just Zwift that's aggravating it.

Your knee you say? 😁

You use the same bike on the turbo? Do you ride in a higher gear up a hill in zwift than real life? Seated or standing at least occasionally? We ride differently and almost certainly more intensely on the turbo. That can expose bike fit issues.

I tried using a soft brace to cure a tracking issue before my knee op. It was no more successful than using kinesiology tape and more cumbersome and in the way. Lots of yt videos on how to apply tape depending on your ligament/knee issue.
 

peterob

Veteran
Location
Chester
Largely uneventful for the fat lad at the back tonight. Stayed with the main bunch to the first accent of Libby Hill and then got spat out of the back. Found a group of 4 riders and we kept together and slowly reeled in the guys up the road that were mainly solo and in pairs. On the last lap with caught Norris and Ketty (not our Norris!) but the group didn't stay together long as people fought for final places in the race.

Personally I hurt my knee again on lap 3 and really hurt it on the final 23rd Street climb resulting me to soft pedal to the finish and ending my race in 59th. It was a shame as I felt stronger than some in our group but sadly the old knee didn't agree.


Does anyone wear any knee braces when they ride? I am hurting the same left knee ligament every time I race up any sort of climb and I could so with some kind of support before I damage it properly. It's fine on road rides, it's just Zwift that's aggravating it.
Good effort last night @Joffey.

Regarding your knee issues, I can't offer any advice on knee braces but would suggest getting a professional bike fit if you've never had one. My own knee pain has largely been eradicated after some tweeks, including cleat positioning and shoe wedge inserts.

Do you use the same shoes on the trainer than you do outside? Also a rocker plate on the trainer may help. I've used one for the last couple of years (actually a very well built one that @CXRAndy put together) and I think that the more natural motion that it provides, particularly out of the saddle, makes a real positive difference to comfort and knee positioning/strain.
 

Joffey

Big Dosser
Location
Yorkshire
@bobinski @peterob

I use a different bike on the trainer but it's pretty well matched to my 'outdoors' bike. I stand and sit on hills, I think it's the pulling motion on the pedals that is doing me in, not the pushing. It's like my knees can't take my immense power :biggrin:

In other questions - sometimes the same shoes, sometimes different as outdoors, erm, a bike fit could help, I just think that I have dodgy knees thanks to years of playing 2nd row in my more youthful days.

I can click my knee out walking up the stairs and it can cause me pain until it decides to click itself back in a few hours later. That seems not to affect the riding but I think slack ligaments might cause this (?) and it's the ligaments in my left knee that I have had trouble with for a few months now.

I might take a break from Zwift Racing at the end of the ZRL - this might give my knee a good rest and sort the problem. I suppose we have done 3 ZRL in a row along with other series and I've been at the top end of the C ones and going full gas every week. Not good for old joints maybe. Start back up for season 4 in the autumn.

A rocker plate might be popped on the Christmas list!
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
@bobinski @peterob

I use a different bike on the trainer but it's pretty well matched to my 'outdoors' bike. I stand and sit on hills, I think it's the pulling motion on the pedals that is doing me in, not the pushing. It's like my knees can't take my immense power :biggrin:

In other questions - sometimes the same shoes, sometimes different as outdoors, erm, a bike fit could help, I just think that I have dodgy knees thanks to years of playing 2nd row in my more youthful days.

I can click my knee out walking up the stairs and it can cause me pain until it decides to click itself back in a few hours later. That seems not to affect the riding but I think slack ligaments might cause this (?) and it's the ligaments in my left knee that I have had trouble with for a few months now.

I might take a break from Zwift Racing at the end of the ZRL - this might give my knee a good rest and sort the problem. I suppose we have done 3 ZRL in a row along with other series and I've been at the top end of the C ones and going full gas every week. Not good for old joints maybe. Start back up for season 4 in the autumn.

A rocker plate might be popped on the Christmas list!

I tore my ACL years ago and it has since withered and provides no knee support at all. The knee clicks out too but only when the leg is stretched out. For example when I stretch my legs in the bath. So, I sit down more to ride uphill more than I used to and only really get out the saddle when I need to stretch the legs or to sprint. Get a bike fit perhaps as Pete suggests. I have not found it easy to replicate bike fit on the Neo bike. Finally using an identical saddle has helped. In the meantime you could do what was recommended to me by my surgeon and that’s lots of knee stability exercises that develop the muscle to support the knee.
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
Well done tonight everyone. Bit of a toughie eh! I had a bit of a disaster, Apple TV bungled button related start as you do... I ended up exiting the app at the bottom of the first climb and when I came back I was position 50 something. And 3 groups off the front. But generally I think I’m pleased with the way I’m climbed, and I managed to jump across two groups after the bad start to finish 29th so I can’t really grumble.

To be fair Pete had a complete disaster start! More very bad luck related. Martin stepped up admirably at short notice and put in a great effort. And as always Bridgy has all my respect for his riding. Managed to claw back a gap of at least 15 seconds solo about 3/4 into the race which was really impressive to watch. And then just unlucky really that it delivered him to the group right at the foot of Libby hill :huh:.

Didn’t see King Joffey or Special K in the race, but they both survived a brutal course, with Ketty scalping one of @Del C ‘s boys at the end for some well earned bonus points! And both continue to have a great rookie season with the team 👍👍

I wish more of the courses they set were like that to be honest. Just personal preference but maybe they’re slightly more nuanced. Dunno... any hoot well done again all 👍
Brutal course, and very painful (even our 3 laps) but agree, I do like races like that where the race is blown apart - makes for a really interesting race.

CCC battled hard last night and won some decent points across the board :okay:
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Well, I hadn't expected to be Zwift racing yesterday but my IRL Bash Chaingang was cancelled due to the weather and as Nick had to drop out I was able to slot in.

The only Zwift stuff I've done for the last couple of months has been the British Cycling/British Masters Race series (4 races over 8 weeks). They were hard, all over an hour, but the starts were less frenetic than the ZRL is.

Knowing there were 15 climbs was a bit daunting, but you tend to end up in a group that has similar capabilities to you.

I felt I was getting (relatively) stronger as the race went on - I am more of an endurance than sprint person - and finished 38th in a time of 1:12:37 which I was reasonably pleased with.

I was with Tommy for a while and wondered why he was there - and was impressed how he caught the group(s) ahead. I also saw Pete's figures drop to zero so guessed he'd had another BT fail - nightmare.

If anyone is interested, video is here....


View: https://youtu.be/tI_ImFVezGI

You whizzed past me at some point Martin - when I was suffering quite badly! After Tommy and Pete had their technical problems I was the highest placed CC23 rider after the first lap, but got dropped from my group on the second ascents I think and that's when the group Tommy was in caught me. During those climbs I got dropped again and as we hit the flats I looked at the screen and Tommy's group was 15 seconds ahead, and yours was 38 seconds behind. Now in hindsight I should probably have rested and waited for your group but instead I thought "what the hell" and put the effort in to bridge to Tommy's group. This turned out to be a bad decision as I caught them but just got dropped again on the hills - and then your group caught and went past me as well anyway!

Oh well - nothing ventured, nothing gained eh?!

I did not feel good last night after the first half hour or so. I think last week's TTT hid how much form I've lost over the past couple of weeks, but last night there was no hiding!

Hopefully I'll start to feel a bit stronger by next week - I hope the guy on Facebook who said "pain is just weakness leaving your body" was right, as I will have left a lot of weakness behind last night
 

Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
I did not feel good last night after the first half hour or so. I think last week's TTT hid how much form I've lost over the past couple of weeks, but last night there was no hiding!

What do you think is behind the loss of form Paul?
 

steverob

Guru
Location
Buckinghamshire
Haven't posted anything about CCC's escapades last night yet, but that was mainly because we were waiting for the official scores to come in and apparently there were problems on the WTRL side with C and D category's results. We think that might have been down to the error they made when setting up the event, as our cats originally also had 5 laps listed on Zwift Companion! They corrected it to 3 on Sunday evening, but maybe it didn't all go through correctly.

Currently we're listed as finishing 9th overall (will see if that changes) but we had some really great individual performances. @Whorty was King of the Primes, taking 12th on the finish line, but also getting points for 2nd, 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th places at various KOMs and a 4th fastest climb as well. @Aleman and @DCLane put in a great shift to finish in 35th and 41st respectively, especially considering David got screwed over at the start by just being on the wrong side of the first split in the pack and finding no-one in his group willing to work with him to latch back on.

@JLaw started really strongly but got cramp towards the end and came in 64th - he was overhauled by @LeetleGreyCells on the final climb who claimed 62nd! But the unluckiest rider award went to @Johnsop99, who looked set for a high 20's finish until his laptop suddenly decided to reboot at the end of lap 2! He got back online and it looked like he'd been thrown out of the race and would just have to ride round Richmond on a free ride, but (not sure how) somehow the race did pick his avatar up eventually and dropped him into 77th out of 79 I think - he then rode the last lap at full power and managed to overtake enough other riders to get himself up to 70th, which got us some valuable points we thought we'd lost completely.
 
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