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bobinski
Legendary Member
- Location
- Tulse Hill
Good stuff on the ftp test 👍
as you push your self you will benefit from ensuring your fan is set up to cool you as much as possible and that you are hydrated and for anything over 30 mins you have water and then perhaps food say a banana or a gel to hand.
as you push your self you will benefit from ensuring your fan is set up to cool you as much as possible and that you are hydrated and for anything over 30 mins you have water and then perhaps food say a banana or a gel to hand.
berty bassett
Legendary Member
- Location
- I'boro
youre gonna be amazed how quick you improve at the beginning , join races and take note on people who just pip you, put a target on their back and aim for them next time- its a brilliant feeling scalping a rival - youre either gonna get super fit or knacker something 
- anything bar the knee tho please - watch out for the starts - its full on for a bit till everyone settles down- like Bob says , a fan is nearly as important as a bike
- anything bar the knee tho please - watch out for the starts - its full on for a bit till everyone settles down- like Bob says , a fan is nearly as important as a bike
mjd1988
Guru
Zwiftinsider has already been mentioned but it is a great resource
https://zwiftinsider.com/how-to-race/
https://zwiftinsider.com/how-to-race/
Peter Salt
Bittersweet
- Location
- Yorkshire, UK
That's some good tips, cheers. Racing sounds fun, I'm thinking of doing some of that on Saturday. I've set up the Zwift Power account and connected it to my profile. Will do some reading on powerups and drafting 
Anyone else racing this weekend? Maybe I can enter the same event?
The fan worked great, it's positioned so that it sucks fresh air from an opened window. It's getting cold outside so the setup kept me cool even on the lowest fan speed.
I definitely need to be more mindful about hydration and keeping the sugars up.
Anyone else racing this weekend? Maybe I can enter the same event?The fan worked great, it's positioned so that it sucks fresh air from an opened window. It's getting cold outside so the setup kept me cool even on the lowest fan speed.
I definitely need to be more mindful about hydration and keeping the sugars up.
Legs
usually riding on Zwift...
- Location
- Staffordshire
Be aware that people are wont to ride in lower categories than they are supposed to and that, bizarrely, there isn't a mechanism in Zwift for dealing with this except to disqualify them after the race. C and D races are particularly prone to being infiltrated by B (and sometimes A) riders with fragile egos, which completely disrupts the flow of the races, and certainly is a major cause of the aforementioned frantic starts. Don't let this get you down! For example, this guy rode as a D last night...
Some races are for all categories starting together, while others have staggered separate starts for the different categories. I usually prefer the former - I'm a lower-end A rider and it's good to benchmark myself against the strong B riders rather than facing the prospect of coming plum-last in A-only races!
There are time-trial events, too, mostly on the pan-flat Tempus Fugit course and the love-it-or-hate-it hilly Bologna course. If you can get your head in the right place to hurt yourself for 11 miles, Tempus Fugit will give you a good opportunity to improve your FTP, since time-trialling is about putting out a constant, sustainable effort, rather than the constant surge-and-lull of mass-start events.
Look for well-attended events - it's crap when you do a race and find it's only you and one other on the startline!
Some races are for all categories starting together, while others have staggered separate starts for the different categories. I usually prefer the former - I'm a lower-end A rider and it's good to benchmark myself against the strong B riders rather than facing the prospect of coming plum-last in A-only races!
There are time-trial events, too, mostly on the pan-flat Tempus Fugit course and the love-it-or-hate-it hilly Bologna course. If you can get your head in the right place to hurt yourself for 11 miles, Tempus Fugit will give you a good opportunity to improve your FTP, since time-trialling is about putting out a constant, sustainable effort, rather than the constant surge-and-lull of mass-start events.
Look for well-attended events - it's crap when you do a race and find it's only you and one other on the startline!
Fortunately, there are plenty of races per hour to choose a better attended event.
Reminds me of this guy I saw in a race I did recently who clearly got upgraded to B, tried a few B races and obviously thought "sod that, it's more fun winning in Cat C"
Peter Salt
Bittersweet
- Location
- Yorkshire, UK
I think I'm not in a position to worry about people like this. Agree, they must be a pain, but for me it'll be more about finishing the race, maybe battling it out with a few individuals along the way, definitely not winning.
I'm trying to get fitter, eat healthier, loose weight but ideally not muscle... As long as I keep riding everything should fall in the right place, hopefully. Will look for a suitable event on Saturday - ideally well-attended and long and steady rather than quick and hectic.
I'm trying to get fitter, eat healthier, loose weight but ideally not muscle... As long as I keep riding everything should fall in the right place, hopefully. Will look for a suitable event on Saturday - ideally well-attended and long and steady rather than quick and hectic.
No, definitely don't worry about it - the category system in Zwift and the way it's not managed at all is often a bit of a joke really. Definitely just focus on your own efforts. My reaction to that sort of thing is pretty much exactly what I posted - an eye roll! And then just get on with it
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In ZwiftPower request to join the cyclechat team ....That's some good tips, cheers. Racing sounds fun, I'm thinking of doing some of that on Saturday. I've set up the Zwift Power account and connected it to my profile. Will do some reading on powerups and drafting
The fan worked great, it's positioned so that it sucks fresh air from an opened window. It's getting cold outside so the setup kept me cool even on the lowest fan speed.
I definitely need to be more mindful about hydration and keeping the sugars up.
Category limits are based on 95% of your 20 minute power- I'm not sure why your 15 second power figure would get you DQ'd?
It's based on your category that ZwiftPower has given you, not the power in that specific race. So if ZP has you at C, but you race a D race with D numbers and come last, it will still DQ you as you entered the wrong category. That may not have happened for you, but worth knowing.
Peter Salt
Bittersweet
- Location
- Yorkshire, UK
Yeah, I'll probably go a category higher. Would be a bummer to get disqualified in my first race. Especially since the scale is moving towards 72.5kg now
I'm planning to get to the radio tower tomorrow. Will see how that goes in terms of average power.
I'm planning to get to the radio tower tomorrow. Will see how that goes in terms of average power.
No, the red denotes it's your best in that column .... you'll see in the race results that there is a red in each column across different riders ... even weight ... showing the largest value in that column (although fat shaming is a bit harsh!)
If you want to post up your race we might be able to say why you got dq'd
Edit : below is a screen shot of my recent race history. You can see I have a red value in each column, which highlights my highest value for that column ... so you can see my HR is starting to get higher, my sprint most recently is improving, etc .... but in recent races my 20 minute power hasn't peaked hence why I'm still stuck in C !
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