Zwift Chat

[Peter Salt]

I once rode from Cambridge up to Hull to visit my in-laws. My wife had taken the car up on a Friday evening and I rode up on the Saturday morning. I started just after 4am and had a stonking tailwind so it only took me about 6 hours. It was pretty hairy going over the bridge!

Yes, it can be very hairy, even in a car. Weekend forecast shows 5mph, hope this will stick.

Ridewithgps and kamoot are both good for plotting routes and they both also have a database of other peoples routes if the routes been made accessible to all

Try Komoot. It will suggest routes for you based on location or you can plot your own and tell it what type of road surface/activity you're doing. Works well. (I'm sure there's a few others too)

@Peter Salt I use Komoot and like it. Perfect for plotting a route, upload to the Bolt and I'm off. I paid the lifetime subscription for all countries etc and it wasn't that much really.

Garmin Connect and Strava route planners show popularity of certain roads. Komoot is very good at flagging up problem areas.

Generally I try to stay off A-roads where possible and stick to paved country roads. But if you're doing 30+ miles it's hard to stay off them completely. Some clubs post their common routes on their web site (ours does). So you could see if any of the clubs around your area do that.

The other useful tool for checking out specific sections is Google Streetview. I learned that one after doing a ride in the Polish countryside that ended up having a 1.5 mile section of sandy track. It was like riding on the beach. Thankfully I was on MTB but I still had to walk half of it.

I second Komoot. It does a great job keeping you off the busy roads.

Looks like Komoot is really popular - just checking it now. Thanks for your help, Everyone. I did get the head unit so will try to plan a route, upload to device and then ride it with GF.

There's a really nice bike shop in North Ferriby, incidentally right next to a pub, so will probably set out from there.

 

[mjd1988]

Another vote for komoot, although I've enjoyed riding with a club more than I thought I would!

Kind of related question, Strava live segments- do they only show up on a head unit if you have a premium subscription to Strava?

 

[Spartak]

Another vote for Komoot, I paid for lifetime subscription a few years ago.

Its great for plotting routes, also shows you type of road surface ie paved, unpaved, track etc.

 

[alex_cycles]

Another vote for komoot, although I've enjoyed riding with a club more than I thought I would!

I joined a club 2 years ago after 18 months of solo riding. I love solo riding, but I also enjoyed group riding MUCH more than I expected. It does depend what sort of crowd you get in with. Our C ride is a LOT of fun usually ends at the pub. The A-ride is all business, but quite hard work. B-ride isn't so popular any more due to lack of leaders. The D-ride split during lockdown/bubbles and hasn't recovered. Several A-riders regularly ride in the C because of the fun-factor. It's like anything involving people really. If you can avoid the nobheads, you'll have a nice time.

Kind of related question, Strava live segments- do they only show up on a head unit if you have a premium subscription to Strava?

Yes - it's a premium feature - in fact it's what I decided to subscribe for. I don't use it that much but at the time I was targeting one or two specific segments and it's good to know exact start/stop points and see how you're doing (on longer ones). I have been known to switch it off though.

 

[bobinski]

Got my KoM Took 8s off yesterday's time and 4s off the KoM.
Already got 3-4 clubmates (vultures) circling though. Doubt I'll keep it for long. (Strava is a great big public weeing contest. )

View attachment 636584

Where is that? Some of us London Boys, or perhaps Lee, might try and nick that off you

 

[alex_cycles]

Where is that? Some of us London Boys, or perhaps Lee, might try and nick that off you

It's near Bicester, Oxfordshire. https://www.strava.com/segments/31224558

 

[steverob]

It's near Bicester, Oxfordshire. https://www.strava.com/segments/31224558

Looking that segment up, I was quite surprised that I hadn't registered a time on it - would have sworn blind I'd been up that road a few times. Then I realised that with the major railway works in the area (probably E/W rather than HS2 in this case), they've re-aligned the road over a slightly different path and all my previous rides would have matched the old segment not this new one.

 

[BurningLegs]

Time to get back out there @steverob !

 

[alex_cycles]

Looking that segment up, I was quite surprised that I hadn't registered a time on it - would have sworn blind I'd been up that road a few times. Then I realised that with the major railway works in the area (probably E/W rather than HS2 in this case), they've re-aligned the road over a slightly different path and all my previous rides would have matched the old segment not this new one.

Exactly. It was shut for a year and reopened about 10 days ago, which is why I thought I'd get in there now before all the really fast kids are allowed out to play (Having said that, the guy I nicked it off has nicked other segments off me before - so I can wee further than him - today )

 

[Rich A]

I think Rich is going to be a real asset in any race to be fair. With Ketty coming back strong from his injury and Irish Alan back in the squad it’s like having 3 brand new signings. Next season the competition for places in going to be tough! The only saving grace is that there’s generally a couple who can’t make it.

Cheers Tommy. I still have lot to learn on race craft, but can always churn a gear when needed.

 

[steverob]

Reminds me of someone who used to be very active on Strava in the Aylesbury area - he basically topped the leaderboard on pretty much all of the short, sprint segments, especially those that were slightly off the beaten track and maybe only had 10-20 or so other riders who'd set times on them. I had no idea how he kept finding them, so I did a little experiment once.

There's a quarter mile 3% climb on one of the estate roads near me (it's actually fairly flat for the most part, but with a short 10% ramp near the top) that I used to do as an uphill sprint test every now and then, but it's not a road that most people ever would bother riding. So one day I set up a segment on it and sure enough I had the KOM with about 5 attempts to my name and maybe only three other people had also done it once in the past and so had set times on it. I then titled it "Hilton Avenue Climb - how long before {this guy's name} snags the KOM?" and left it like that. Within a week, he'd somehow discovered the segment, taken the bait and beaten my time!

Considering that this road had been there for 20+ years (certainly as long as I'd lived in this area) and he'd never ridden it, but within 5-6 days of there being a segment there, he'd found it and taken top spot (and then probably would never ride it again unless someone broke his record). In the six years since then, about 20 other riders have tackled it and I'm now down in 6th place, but his one attempt is still top!

Note that he didn't follow me on Strava, so he couldn't have found the segment that way, but he might have been able to guess that it was me who created it (given I was #1 when it was created and was the only one with multiple attempts on it), but I have no idea what he thought of the name...

 

[alex_cycles]

Note that he didn't follow me on Strava, so he couldn't have found the segment that way, but he might have been able to guess that it was me who created it (given I was #1 when it was created and was the only one with multiple attempts on it), but I have no idea what he thought of the name...

I wonder how rude your title could have been before Strava intervened?

 

[Joffey]

One of the things i like about ICU is the ability to see improvement and then the effect of fatigue etc. The red dot represents a new measured ftp of 261 as the benefits of a lot of riding kick in and i race of Sa Calobra. But then accumulating fatigue and the effort that day and i am broke! The same thing happens on 20/03 , a day with 35km of climbing.

View attachment 636576

I find this screen really useful. Very similar to what my coach showed me on Training Peaks. Best think about it is keep your purple above your blue and your bottom in the green and you'll get better!

 

[Joffey]

A small digression from the power stats... I need some help as a newbie. Once again.

As the weather gets nicer, I'm looking to ride more outside but don't really have the confidence (yet) to just get out and go where the road takes me. Is there a place on the Internet where people submit routes, others can rate them, maybe there's info on how much of it is what surface and what proportion is traffic-free? Or something along these lines? Alternatively, can someone suggest a beginner route around the Humber Bridge? Always wanted to cycle across that!

Hi mate - I lived in York for a few years and know a lot of routes round there and most of the roads - send me a DM with where you live (I won't stalk you... promise) and I can hopefully help.

I don't even mind driving through and going out for a few rides if that will help 👍

I found the local York clubs a bit odd but I am very odd too so it might have been me... But I've either ridden or driven every road in York and the surrounding areas so hopefully I can assist in some way.

 

[<Tommy>]

Cheers Tommy. I still have lot to learn on race craft, but can always churn a gear when needed.

I’m sure you’ll pick it up Rich. Really it’s a case of hanging on as long as possible at first mate. And then if you get spat out the back trying to re group. Slowly getting familiar with the courses makes it easier to know when you have to put a bit more effort in or equally when you can ease off a little. It’s all a bit trial and error really. Have you tried any of the short crit races yet? They’re pretty intense. It’s really easy to get spat out of the back of groups so I think they’re good practice for learning how to react quickly to changes of pace. They’re also a really great workout.