Zwift Chat

[Whorty]

I think Carl could with careful selection of courses be very handy in B cat. He's got an excellent climbing ability being quite light, so hills would suit him.

I remember I could place mid B on flat courses at my best but was back of the pack on anything hilly. I understand being at the pointy end of a Cat is rather nice getting little trophies. It takes a fair bit of graft to progress and do well in the next category.

Its all to do with enthusiasm

I'd be quite confident holding on a bit on the flatter courses as I can surge and draft, but I think anything hilly and I'll get dropped just like tonight by the genuine B's. But in races I never put out B numbers. I just don't have the power, so I am still only a C

 

[<Tommy>]

You did indeed and you were right - but in the past I have also taken significant time off him on the descent and flat run in to the finish on that course. I suppose it depends on circumstances though - I still think if the gap was within a minute and there was 1 or more other motivated riders working with me, we may have been able to reel him in. But today he was just too quick on the climb, and he also kept up really high power in those final kilometres and increased his gap on me (don't know about the gap to Tommy?)

Despite the fact I can do slightly higher watts, Lee's w/kg is way higher than I can do - I fear he may be too strong even on a flattish TT course but we'll see next week!

Yeah I agree with that really. It’s very marginal isn’t it? We’ve won and lost so many races between us over the years. Sometimes it can come down to one person cresting a climb a few seconds ahead. Or putting a marker down at a pinch point that the others can’t respond to. Lee put on a blinder tonight so really you just take your hat off to that no problem. But then another night it can go another way. I was clawing it back slowly on the flat but I was surprised too how little I gained on the descent.

 

[Peter Salt]

I think that the final TT should be a bit longer than 30-40 minutes. Maybe more like 50-60?

 

[Whorty]

Yeah just to be clear Carl, not trying to call you out on it, you are still C on zwiftpower and heavens knows there are plenty of people near A power in c (and D!). Just if you were to try it I think you'd do better than you might think

No, all good

It's also a case that I am still a C, and I score well for the CCC team which gives us a good position in the league. If I self promoted I'd be making the team weaker whilst none of our competitors do so seems wrong. Also, and very selfishly, the guys have been really good to me and my mental health this year so I've needed to ride with them. I can't explain how they have pulled me from some very dark places this year ... some days I've not been well and those Tuesday rides and having the guys in my ear on discord have saved me. I know it doesn't always show on here as I can be quite flippant, but I've had days when I didn't want to go on and the only thing I've had as a focus is the cycling. Sorry to have a downer guys, but this year has not been good for me.

 

[Whorty]

It's also coming up to a year since Rach died, 27th December, so it was this time last year that she went down hill fast and I last got to talk to her and hear her voice so at the moment I'm struggling a bit. The next few weeks are going to be really hard for me.

 

[Joffey]

It's also coming up to a year since Rach died, 27th December, so it was this time last year that she went down hill fast and I last got to talk to her and hear her voice so at the moment I'm struggling a bit. The next few weeks are going to be really hard for me.

Always here if you need us mate

 

[Whorty]

Always here if you need us mate

Cheers Joff. The support of you guys, most of who I've never ever met, has been amazing. I don't have enough words to thank you chaps

 

[Legs]

I think that the final TT should be a bit longer than 30-40 minutes. Maybe more like 50-60?

Are you out of your mind? I was thinking that 20 minutes would be ideal so that you can actually push yourself HARD with a different kind of effort from weeks 1 and 3. A 20-min effort will (should) earn you another FTP upgrade, too. An hour would be very boring!

 

[berty bassett]

What a beautiful day for a spread sheet

 

[Joffey]

Dropped seat 5mm last night - no cramps but feel like I spent the entire ride doing the splits. Could hardly walk... Any suggestions?

Think I might move the saddle forward.

 

[bobinski]

It was, despite my own travails, a great race. There’s no place to hide on a climb with precious little opportunity to draft. whether you are flying or struggling it’s your own personal battle so well done everyone. Even Tim and Michael who still didn’t manage to beat my best time up the climb😛

 

[bobinski]

Dropped seat 5mm last night - no cramps but feel like I spent the entire ride doing the splits. Could hardly walk... Any suggestions?

Think I might move the saddle forward.

Bringing seat forward will likely effectively make it lower?

 

[Whorty]

Are you out of your mind? I was thinking that 20 minutes would be ideal so that you can actually push yourself HARD with a different kind of effort from weeks 1 and 3. A 20-min effort will (should) earn you another FTP upgrade, too. An hour would be very boring!

That could be interesting.... not done TT for ages but wonder how much power I can hold on a flat course without my lazy drafting?

30-40 mins would be more fun ... for me anyway, watching you and Michael battling each other ahead of me lol

 

[Legs]

That could be interesting.... not done TT for ages but wonder how much power I can hold on a flat course without my lazy drafting?

30-40 mins would be more fun ... for me anyway, watching you and Michael battling each other ahead of me lol

If you’re wondering how much power you can hold, why not go for a 20 minute PB? 15km, pan-flat is deffo the way to go!

If we’re concerned that it’s not worthwhile getting into skimpies for a 20-minute race, we could follow it up with a final mini-stage at 20:30: 2km on the Watopia Hilly Route! 🤣

 

[steverob]

Having a mix of short and long stages would make sense in a points based league, but for a GC competition, if it is to be fair to all types of riders, then the stages need to be similar lengths (at least in terms of time).

If I’ve just suffered up a mountain for nearly an hour, the very least you light guys can do is stick out a TT for 45 minutes!