Zwift Chat

[CXRAndy]

Have you upgraded your bike much Andy and if so noticed any difference in racing? I know you won't know who hasn't upgraded but wonder if it helps mentally

I've got the aero upgrade, just a few km short of the next upgrade- not sure what it is, maybe weight savings?

I'm not doing enough riding, too busy around property and family

 

[mjd1988]

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I've got the aero upgrade, just a few km short of the next upgrade- not sure what it is, maybe weight savings?

I'm not doing enough riding, too busy around property and family

Sounds like your priorities are in the right place Andy to be fair. I think you are right unless you've already had an aero one then it's drivetrain efficiency or something. The cumulative effect is quite large though

 

[Peter Salt]

I've got the aero upgrade, just a few km short of the next upgrade- not sure what it is, maybe weight savings?

I'm not doing enough riding, too busy around property and family

Sounds like your priorities are in the right place Andy to be fair. I think you are right unless you've already had an aero one then it's drivetrain efficiency or something. The cumulative effect is quite large though

The ones I did were: aero, weight, drivetrain, aero, weight. In that order.

Working on getting some endurance back but something bit my leg two days ago and it's causing discomfort; some sort of allergic reaction, I think.

 

[Aleman]

Well, hello again gentlemen. As was said by someone much more memorable than me "rumors' of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!". I apologise for disappearing off the face of the earth since my last event in Feb 2024, but my heart has not been into cycling at all. As a few of you may know I had been battling with depression for some time. Was it that? Was it fallout from the covid time? Hell, I don't know! I've been off the happy pills for sometime, and for some insane reason on Sunday, I was inspired to jump on the infernal machine in the shed, and do a bit. I was actually quite surprised as how well I did, so much so I jumped onto a D race yesterday, coming 6th ... but I was racing up a cat

Hopefully, everyone is still around, apart from those doing their usual flounce for whatever reason. I'm certainly going to try and be around, especially if you are putting together a D team for the WTRL winter series. I'm also posting this on the BKool Chat, as I know there are people that hang out there not here and vice versa.

 

[steverob]

Hey @Aleman, good to hear from you and hope you're doing better. As someone who also has struggled with mental health in the not too distant past, I know it's not an easy path but all we can do is hope for the best.

WTRL/ZRL has kind of died a death round here unfortunately. All of our regular riders are now split across lots of different categories and so there's not really enough to form decently sized teams - if we had more than one person say they were unavailable, it would mean there weren't enough to ride without getting DQ'd. Might sound out people nearer the time and see what numbers are like for this year and have my fingers crossed.

 

[CXRAndy]

I'm a solid D cat level now. I dont ride enough to build the level of fitness. I try to ride once a week on Zwift

 

[IrishAl]

Set off to do 78 miles, tile collecting.

Hey Norry, I never knew what you meant about tile collecting until the last week or so …. It’s opened up a new word of targets for me. I was always into trying to ride every road and fill in my heat map but the tile hunting thing has got me targeting some new roads in places I probably wouldn’t have thought of cycling to.

For anyone else that wasn’t in the know this is like a strava / veloviewer add-on that collects ride data and overlays mile-squared square/tiles over the map with the idea of cycling in each square, and added challenge of creating as big a square as possible (I’m on 16x16). Getting to some might mean a swim or a paddle or a hike!

 

[CXRAndy]

Good news my techie friends. Those running tacx neo 2 or newer, can now have virtual shifting (need play controllers or gear button)

Setup is
Update Taxc Neo to firmware 2.6 or newer.
After update disconnect your phone from tacx neo - switch off phones Bluetooth function

Start Zwift on PC/ apple or tablet. Connect Tacx Neo via Bluetooth connection- virtual shifting only works with Bluetooth.

Go through little check list on play controllers, bingo! 😁

You can also have faster response rate on the turbo by selecting race mode for Zwift( via tacx training app). This ups the refresh rate from 4hz to 10 hertz.

I've just done it to my setup- see gear indicator in top left

 

[mjd1988]

Well, hello again gentlemen. As was said by someone much more memorable than me "rumors' of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!". I apologise for disappearing off the face of the earth since my last event in Feb 2024, but my heart has not been into cycling at all. As a few of you may know I had been battling with depression for some time. Was it that? Was it fallout from the covid time? Hell, I don't know! I've been off the happy pills for sometime, and for some insane reason on Sunday, I was inspired to jump on the infernal machine in the shed, and do a bit. I was actually quite surprised as how well I did, so much so I jumped onto a D race yesterday, coming 6th ... but I was racing up a cat

Hopefully, everyone is still around, apart from those doing their usual flounce for whatever reason. I'm certainly going to try and be around, especially if you are putting together a D team for the WTRL winter series. I'm also posting this on the BKool Chat, as I know there are people that hang out there not here and vice versa.

Welcome back, glad to hear you are in a better place and getting back in the saddle can only help. As Steve says it's empty enough at the minute, hopefully by time September rolls around there may be numbers for a wtrl team

 

[Norry1]

Hey Norry, I never knew what you meant about tile collecting until the last week or so …. It’s opened up a new word of targets for me. I was always into trying to ride every road and fill in my heat map but the tile hunting thing has got me targeting some new roads in places I probably wouldn’t have thought of cycling to.

For anyone else that wasn’t in the know this is like a strava / veloviewer add-on that collects ride data and overlays mile-squared square/tiles over the map with the idea of cycling in each square, and added challenge of creating as big a square as possible (I’m on 16x16). Getting to some might mean a swim or a paddle or a hike!
View attachment 776800

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...uares-inside-the-world-of-tile-bagging-453912

This is an interesting article about Tile Hunting. I find it gives me an added motivation to ride especially when I have long Z2 to do.

 

[mjd1988]

The https://zwifterbikes.web.app website is fantastic, now you can input what level you have on each bike to work out the best for any route. Impressive dedication to minute details

 

[Legs]

Awesome, I entered that last week, too - see you there!

By getting qualifying rides out of the way early, I can have a clearer run through September without having to race every weekend. 1-minute power thrashes suit me quite well, too!

@Norry1 , I found this vid of the course. This fella isn’t putting out much power but I don’t think he’s much more than 8st!


View: https://youtu.be/K7yd47PQ1Bk?si=YnarqXLw2ltoBw1C

 

[steverob]

This doesn't have anything to do with Zwift per se, but I know more people on this part of the forum than anywhere else, so it makes sense to mention it here first, plus I will also be doing some of my training on Zwift for sure, so...

Assuming everything goes to plan, in exactly one year from today, I will be starting my attempt at cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats.

Additional details: doing it as part of an organised tour (with Pedal Britain) because I can't be arsed hauling my own luggage, plus the company and camaraderie of 15 or so other riders will be very welcome; schedule is 14 days, just a tad over 1,000 miles total; I have seen a provisional route, but won't know the exact turn by turn details until nearer the time; not raising money for charity, just doing it cause I've wanted to cross it off my bucket list for a while now.

So you'll probably see irregular updates from me on this subject on here as I let you know how well or badly my training is going. Wish me luck!

 

[13 rider]

Good luck Steve ,I saw your Strava this morning and it had me wondering , so rough 70 miles a day with all day to do it seems a reasonable target without being too daunting . Apparently after the Cornish and Devon hills it's all downhill to Scotland

 

[steverob]

Good luck Steve ,I saw your Strava this morning and it had me wondering , so rough 70 miles a day with all day to do it seems a reasonable target without being too daunting . Apparently after the Cornish and Devon hills it's all downhill to Scotland

Average will be 74 miles a day, with a high of 87 (Day 3) and a low of 54 (Day 12), although that day does do the big climb that you'll remember from Etape Loch Ness, so it's only fair that's a shorter day.