Zwift Chat

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peterob

Veteran
Location
Chester
@peterob you forgot me :cry: 55:21 I don't want @Whorty time :laugh: although I'm sure this will spur him on đź‘Ť
Sorry Dean - I'll be sure to add you on the next update :okay:
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
48:45 for me. But not sure how? I know I was at the back but I wasn’t 4 minutes behind you Pete? What’s going on there?
48:55 for me @peterob

Well done all. Enjoyed that one. It was all going nice and friendly up until leaving the underwater tunnel when a small group of HCC riders passed so I took the opportunity to jump on their wheels for a bit. Then @berty bassett lit the touch paper on the first big climb. We worked well together until the climb out of the jungle where I upped the pressure a little to see what would happen. You missed a good one tonight @bridgy ^_^
Oh no, that's not what I wanted to hear :stop:

Cracking time Al!

By the way, as it looks like no one has used the mountain bike on this course yet shall we agree no mountain bike allowed? It sounds like it is significantly quicker through the jungle. But because: a) very few people have it; and b) the time different looks to be huge, I think it would unfairly skew the results at this point if someone set their league time on the mountain bike (or changed to it mid race). No problems with people using lighter bikes for climbing and even changing bikes for the Alpe climb or something like has been done before, but those potential time gaps are much smaller - and far more people have access to lighter bikes etc than have the mountain bike at this stage. Maybe an option in future though.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
53.46 for me

Some odd things going on there. I was slowly pulling away from the chasing group on the climb before the descent to the jungle, and then you all closed me down rapidly on the descent. I went from a 12 second gap to nothing in no time at all. You're all either a bunch of fat bastards or descending as a group must have some real drafting benefit.

Once you caught me, the chasing group split and I ended up with @peterob @Add and @Breedon until that Lucas guy got amongst us. I couldn't seem to get past him and once the gap opened to Pete and Adam I couldn't close it and eventually the elastic went.

Still, ok with the time considering I had to ride it solo from the bottom of the jungle. That gravel hurts!
As well as the reasons you've given (fatness and group draft), it's also the case that the time gaps do go a bit haywire on a climb sometimes - same used to happen on Bkool I remember. I have been well over a minute behind riders going up a climb and then after the descent it's back to 10-20 seconds with nothing to explain it (and when solo too, not benefiting from a group draft). I suspect it's something to do with how they calculate the time gap which gets mucked up when one rider is going significantly slower than the other because one is going uphill and the other on the flat or descent
 

LBHIFI

Veteran
Location
Liseleje
Yes!

It was a bit frustrating. I was working hard and felt like I was climbing well and suddenly all that effort was for nothing. I suppose that means you have to just adjust your approach. I'd probably have been better off dropping back and climbing with the group.
Agree.
While maybe a bit exaggerated on the downhill in Zwift, I guess it's much like real life. You have to be really strong to hold off a chasing pack.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Agree.
While maybe a bit exaggerated on the downhill in Zwift, I guess it's much like real life. You have to be really strong to hold off a chasing pack.
Although in real life, the group only goes as fast as the person on the front, and if no one is pulling hard on front, whilst you'll get an easier ride in the group you won't necessarily go faster; while in Zwift a group seems to get a speed boost irrespective of what the guy on the front is doing and whether or not the group is working together as such. At least that's how it seems to me. I've said it before but I would much rather drafting = less resistance like in real life (and Bkool tbf) rather than just more speed. It would be interesting how this would change racing in Zwift
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Can you send me an invite for tomorrow race please mate.
You're showing as invited and pending a reply on my companion app. I will try deleting you and re-inviting you though...
 

Del C

Veteran
Location
Horley
Although in real life, the group only goes as fast as the person on the front, and if no one is pulling hard on front, whilst you'll get an easier ride in the group you won't necessarily go faster; while in Zwift a group seems to get a speed boost irrespective of what the guy on the front is doing and whether or not the group is working together as such. At least that's how it seems to me. I've said it before but I would much rather drafting = less resistance like in real life (and Bkool tbf) rather than just more speed. It would be interesting how this would change racing in Zwift
I agree with this.

I mean it is what it is, so we have to adapt to ride with how the Sim controls these things, but your post sums up what I was thinking last night.

Heading uphill towards the jungle I managed to grow the gap from 10s to 12s. That was quite a pull, I enjoyed it and was feeling happy with myself. Went over the summit and started the descent to the jungle and then I'm watching the gap plummet, yet I was still riding quite hard.

Suddenly the whole group was on me. The I had to push to stay with them, but once that was over I was comfortable in the group. So, although I'd lost 12s in no time at all, once I was in the group I was quite capable of staying with them............ until the group split again!

Just felt very odd.
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
I think my biggest gripe is that we can’t all start a segment at the same time in an easily workable way. I think races should be decided by who crosses the finish line first rather than who crosses the start line last. Of course the time is what ultimately decides it but for me it takes a little away from the race the way it is.

It’s not a deal breaker for me. But it’s a little lame. I think we should all start getting on the zwift forum and badger them. It seems they make changes by popular demand.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I agree with this.

I mean it is what it is, so we have to adapt to ride with how the Sim controls these things, but your post sums up what I was thinking last night.

Heading uphill towards the jungle I managed to grow the gap from 10s to 12s. That was quite a pull, I enjoyed it and was feeling happy with myself. Went over the summit and started the descent to the jungle and then I'm watching the gap plummet, yet I was still riding quite hard.

Suddenly the whole group was on me. The I had to push to stay with them, but once that was over I was comfortable in the group. So, although I'd lost 12s in no time at all, once I was in the group I was quite capable of staying with them............ until the group split again!

Just felt very odd.
You may know this already but another factor may be that Zwift applies a slight braking force to you on descents (but NOT in proper, organised races). This is to ensure you can soft pedal and be caught by a group behind relatively easily in non-race group rides - which in theory is what we're meant to be doing in a meetup! So I wonder if this has the affect of giving the group even more of a speed advantage on descents than on the flat or uphill?
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I think my biggest gripe is that we can’t all start a segment at the same time in an easily workable way. I think races should be decided by who crosses the finish line first rather than who crosses the start line last. Of course the time is what ultimately decides it but for me it takes a little away from the race the way it is.

It’s not a deal breaker for me. But it’s a little lame. I think we should all start getting on the zwift forum and badger them. It seems they make changes by popular demand.
Yeah, there's lots of small gripes with the current system - why do Zwift hate racing so much??!

Easiest way around the issue you mention is we all stick together until the start banner and only start racing from then. Could start giving that a try again if you like? As you say, it's still not an "easily workable" solution because there's potential for it going wrong, and less clear who would set the pre-banner pac if I'm not there if I'm the "leader" for example.
 
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