Zwift Chat

[alex_cycles]

Yes he is

Just two back to back "Tiny Race" types to go next week then. Hopefully he'll have a puncture 👿

I just did a recon ride, or tried to, for tomorrow's Tiny 3 - Spirit Forest, but Zwift took me on completely the wrong route, despite it saying "Spirit Forest" at the top. So that was useful then Never mind ERG mode, let's have the routes working properly

 

[Norry1]

I just did a recon ride, or tried to, for tomorrow's Tiny 3 - Spirit Forest, but Zwift took me on completely the wrong route, despite it saying "Spirit Forest" at the top. So that was useful then Never mind ERG mode, let's have the routes working properly

Have you got the bike choices sorted for the Tiny Races?

 

[alex_cycles]

Have you got the bike choices sorted for the Tiny Races?

Agonising over race 4.
1 - Tron
2 - Tron
3 - Grail + ENVE
4 - Tron or Aethos + Roval Alpinist - trying to decide if it's worth the risk. It's 2km of flat and very fast, followed by 2km of sharp climby goodness. The Aethos would save 2.5s over the Tron up the climb, but would you get dropped (or overdo it) on the way to the climb? Hard choice.

(Can't even do any testing since ERG mode is out )

 

[steverob]

I think sitting in the pack on a not quite perfect bike for 2km is do-able.

Had a race a few months back that was quite short (longer than Tiny Races but still under 20 mins) where large chunks of it were on dirt, but the first 1.5km out of the pens was tarmac. Took a gravel bike and thought I'd probably get dropped by the pack but then would make up that lost time as soon as the first dirt part started and then be able to overtake. Turned out that I was able to hang on to the pack surprisingly easily - if it had gone on for another 4-5km then sure, that's when the extra effort of keeping up would have told, but for a short distance it wasn't too bad. And then of course already being at the front, I was absolutely able to smoke all those riders on Trons once we left the smooth road!

 

[alex_cycles]

I think sitting in the pack on a not quite perfect bike for 2km is do-able.

I have two doubts though, which are giving me pause here...

1 - I've done this exact race twice before on a Tron and got 3rd and 4th - the idea of the Aethos is to get that marginal gain for a silver or gold.
2 - 2-3 weeks ago I had a disastrous bike choice error on Serpentine 8 where I went MTB instead of gravel and it cost me 40 places.

But there's no doubt that the 5-6 minute climb is the decisive factor in this Everything Bagel Tiny race. It really is a fast start though...

View: https://youtu.be/cPXO1SOk64I

 

[Norry1]

Agonising over race 4.
1 - Tron
2 - Tron
3 - Grail + ENVE
4 - Tron or Aethos + Roval Alpinist - trying to decide if it's worth the risk. It's 2km of flat and very fast, followed by 2km of sharp climby goodness. The Aethos would save 2.5s over the Tron up the climb, but would you get dropped (or overdo it) on the way to the climb? Hard choice.

(Can't even do any testing since ERG mode is out )

Is that all? Not sure I'll bother.

 

[alex_cycles]

Is that all? Not sure I'll bother.

I'm leaning that way myself. Everyone will be knackered as it's the 4th race.
It'll be all about who's got something left on the climb. Nobody will be smashing down maximum effort.

If anyone wants the charts, I've put them on my blog.

 

[Legs]

There was a non-ZwiftPower fella in my race today who went way with ZPower guy at the bottom of the climb and then pulled out a lead of 35s on me at one point. Then he got dropped and I reeled him in, oh-so-slowly at first, but down to 7-8s inside the last k. I was less than a second behind him on the line, but I was on the Tron. Any regrets? Not really: it’s swings and roundabouts, and the gains are so slight as to make no difference. Maybe not being on the Tron would have cost me a bit more energy earlier in the race?

 

[Norry1]

There was a non-ZwiftPower fella in my race today who went way with ZPower guy at the bottom of the climb and then pulled out a lead of 35s on me at one point. Then he got dropped and I reeled him in, oh-so-slowly at first, but down to 7-8s inside the last k. I was less than a second behind him on the line, but I was on the Tron. Any regrets? Not really: it’s swings and roundabouts, and the gains are so slight as to make no difference. Maybe not being on the Tron would have cost me a bit more energy earlier in the race?

Which climb?

 

[mjd1988]

I'm leaning that way myself. Everyone will be knackered as it's the 4th race.
It'll be all about who's got something left on the climb. Nobody will be smashing down maximum effort.

If anyone wants the charts, I've put them on my blog.

I didn't realise you had a blog, quite enjoy the collection we have here

 

[alex_cycles]

I didn't realise you had a blog, quite enjoy the collection we have here

Started it last summer. I'll usually update my forum signature with the latest post. It's all Zwift at the moment, but will be some hill climbing vids when I get back outside - possibly

 

[Legs]

Which climb?

Epic Reverse, Martin. It’s quite a nice climb because you need to concentrate hard to make the most of the little descents. Without the descents it’d make a great climb for a 20 minute FTP effort!

 

[CXRAndy]

I think sitting in the pack on a not quite perfect bike for 2km is do-able.

Had a race a few months back that was quite short (longer than Tiny Races but still under 20 mins) where large chunks of it were on dirt, but the first 1.5km out of the pens was tarmac. Took a gravel bike and thought I'd probably get dropped by the pack but then would make up that lost time as soon as the first dirt part started and then be able to overtake. Turned out that I was able to hang on to the pack surprisingly easily - if it had gone on for another 4-5km then sure, that's when the extra effort of keeping up would have told, but for a short distance it wasn't too bad. And then of course already being at the front, I was absolutely able to smoke all those riders on Trons once we left the smooth road!

I had with a couple weeks back on the Tiny event with Alex

. Used gravel bike, first 2-3 mins were road, l had to work harder to stay with leaders, soon as we hit the dusty stuff, I floated to the front and it was super easy to stay in the pack

 

[CXRAndy]

Don't think I'm available to ride this weekend, been finish dressing my lads new home with blinds etc, finished the EV electrics. All the children are back too this weekend so are out n about .

I was going to do a Z2 if I had the chance

Wash my mouth out

 

[mjd1988]

Any interest in a tour de splitters after ZRL finishes?