The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

So last night i jumper on the Z Hub and entered my first ever online race.

Placement in Category D (Don't laugh) with the sole intention of "not coming last".

The race was: STAGE 3: RACE SCOTLAND - THE MUCKLE YIN (D) on The Muckle Yin in Scotland - if that means anything to anyone.

Managed to come 65th out of 169 people total in my category, learnt a lot in reagards to pacing things etc.

Have to say I quite enjoyed it, I think with a bit of work/practice id like to try push up in to Cat C so I can join my brother who has been riding a bit more than me recently.
 
I did the 25 laps of the volcano yesterday. Stupidly, I did it on a bit of a whim and wasn't something I originally set out to do. Literally only had 2 slices of toast and thought "oh I'll just sit with a pace robot for an hour for an easy Z2 ride". Before I knew it I was at lap 12 and realised how boring it was and thought I'd see if I could get to the 25. Didn't take any breaks, only had 4 bottles of squash and completed it in 3 hours 20 minutes for 106km

I feel absolutely horrendous today. My legs are fine But my shoulders hurt. I can't stop drinking water but I have zero appetite.

Lesson learned. Eat properly. Take breaks. Don't do something like that on a whim.
 
Are dd turbos harder to cycle on? Or is it just me being weak? I swear I really have to concentrate to maintain a decent cadence and my power output feels like it’s more work.

Impressed with the Zwift hub though, nice bit of kit.
 
platypus said:
Are dd turbos harder to cycle on? Or is it just me being weak? I swear I really have to concentrate to maintain a decent cadence and my power output feels like it’s more work.

Impressed with the Zwift hub though, nice bit of kit.
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The lack of sensation of speed and less cooling make it harder to cycle indoors. If you cycle indoors regularly and then go outside, you get the opposite sensation and it feels amazing.
 
platypus said:
Are dd turbos harder to cycle on? Or is it just me being weak? I swear I really have to concentrate to maintain a decent cadence and my power output feels like it’s more work.

Impressed with the Zwift hub though, nice bit of kit.
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Approx 2-3weeks of frequent but short hiit workouts or races, a good fan and plenty of water while turboing should help sort that.
 
platypus said:
Are dd turbos harder to cycle on?
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I guess the question is, compared to what? My mind went to 'compared to wheel on', but these guys have gone to 'compared to outdoor'. (The specification of DD makes me think it's not an indoor thing, but type of indoor thing)
 
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AndyCr15 said:
I guess the question is, compared to what? My mind went to 'compared to wheel on', but these guys have gone to 'compared to outdoor'. (The specification of DD makes me think it's not an indoor thing, but type of indoor thing)
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Yeah compared to a wheel on turbo (tacx vortex).
 
Did another cat D race last night:

STAGE 1: RACE LONDON—Greater London Flat - Cat D (dont laugh!!)​


This was my second ever Zwift race, I was totally unprepared, No warm up time due to kids going to bed late and me throwing on my new cleats before the race.
I sweated from places i didnt realise you could by the end of it! It was good fun, but man i nearly died.
 
If you've signed up for Zwift but haven't subscribed recently, check your recent e-mails from them about Tour Of Watopia that started yesterday for a free 30 day extended trial code.
 
Musty Pie said:
Did another cat D race last night:

STAGE 1: RACE LONDON—Greater London Flat - Cat D (dont laugh!!)​


This was my second ever Zwift race, I was totally unprepared, No warm up time due to kids going to bed late and me throwing on my new cleats before the race.
I sweated from places i didnt realise you could by the end of it! It was good fun, but man i nearly died.
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Zwift races are very good for keeping your ego in check!
 
#Chri5# said:
Zwift races are very good for keeping your ego in check!
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Hehe, too true! I do the odd race when I feel in the mood, but for the first time had a go at the ZRacing Race Scotland series last month. It was a pretty humbling experience seeing just how strong some of the serious racers are.
 
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platypus said:
Are dd turbos harder to cycle on? Or is it just me being weak? I swear I really have to concentrate to maintain a decent cadence and my power output feels like it’s more work.

Impressed with the Zwift hub though, nice bit of kit.
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Ok so revisiting this…

What I mean is, after turboing for years on a wheel on tacx Vortex, I have a reasonable feeling for what my steady state is. I can cruise at 85-90 rpm doing 250W for an hour and I know what it feels like, to the point where I don’t need to look at my screen to know what my rpm is and what my rough power is, allowing for changes in effort with things like elevation.

Cruising in zwift now for example my power output is much lower, as is my rpm. Is that just how dd turbos are? Are my power numbers just lower? Certainly doesn’t feel like I’m making less effort :p. It doesn’t actually matter if it’s consistent as the training effect will be the same, but as I don’t have a pwm I can’t independently verify things, and the scientist in me wants to explain the discrepancy.
 
platypus said:
Ok so revisiting this…

What I mean is, after turboing for years on a wheel on tacx Vortex, I have a reasonable feeling for what my steady state is. I can cruise at 85-90 rpm doing 250W for an hour and I know what it feels like, to the point where I don’t need to look at my screen to know what my rpm is and what my rough power is, allowing for changes in effort with things like elevation.

Cruising in zwift now for example my power output is much lower, as is my rpm. Is that just how dd turbos are? Are my power numbers just lower? Certainly doesn’t feel like I’m making less effort :p. It doesn’t actually matter if it’s consistent as the training effect will be the same, but as I don’t have a pwm I can’t independently verify things, and the scientist in me wants to explain the discrepancy.
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I’ve only ever been on a direct drive but few thoughts:

1.) Form and fatigue is a thing, I’ve started warmups where I’ve felt like death but it sounds like you’d recognise this

2.) There’s a bit of an inertia thing depending on gearing. I used to spin in large front and found it ‘easier’ but not from a power perspective, more maintaining it but it wasn’t at all similar to outside. I now spin in small at the front. May also be worth looking at the trainer difficulty as this can effect feel too if outside ERG.

3.) And finally calibration (ie. It’s broken), you’ll only get to correlate if you have another device as you’ve mentioned but this is probably the only true way of measuring.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second point.
 
platypus said:
Ok so revisiting this…

What I mean is, after turboing for years on a wheel on tacx Vortex, I have a reasonable feeling for what my steady state is. I can cruise at 85-90 rpm doing 250W for an hour and I know what it feels like, to the point where I don’t need to look at my screen to know what my rpm is and what my rough power is, allowing for changes in effort with things like elevation.

Cruising in zwift now for example my power output is much lower, as is my rpm. Is that just how dd turbos are? Are my power numbers just lower? Certainly doesn’t feel like I’m making less effort :p. It doesn’t actually matter if it’s consistent as the training effect will be the same, but as I don’t have a pwm I can’t independently verify things, and the scientist in me wants to explain the discrepancy.
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Most Wheel on trainers are not overly accurate in my understanding. At least in my experience.

There are lots of variables that can effect the results dramatically as im sure you are aware. For example: Tyre pressures, tyre heath etc. being one of them.

I also just moved from a wheel on Tacx Flow Smart trainer , to a DD (Zwift hub) and also had a similar experience, at least with cadence and power results. I now use my dedicated cadence sensor (not the built in on on the turbo trainer - these can be had very cheaply) to keep the same results across the board (on the bike in the real world, or indoors on the trainer).

As for power data, as you said, if you don't have a dedicated power meter on your bike (pedal or crank one for example) then you can only really judge the results by the equipment that provides a constant dataset; regardless of how accurate it is. In this situation, your turbo trainer. Then take the numbers/results with a "pinch of salt" approach.
 
I guess so I just, wan to know :p. I've done FTP tests with a power meter (borrowed) and am reasonably confident my FTP is right, I think I'll borrow a pwm to just try and compare numbers.

I still feel like vomiting after a race, so I think its working :p.
 
Musty Pie said:
Did another cat D race last night:

STAGE 1: RACE LONDON—Greater London Flat - Cat D (dont laugh!!)​


This was my second ever Zwift race, I was totally unprepared, No warm up time due to kids going to bed late and me throwing on my new cleats before the race.
I sweated from places i didnt realise you could by the end of it! It was good fun, but man i nearly died.
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If you can, I highly recommend the Zwift Insider run Tiny Races on Saturdays, four sub 15mins super sprint races in an hour, run at 0900; 1500 and 2100 GMT... Great for z4+ smashes with a short receovery before going again, with often huge fields using Category Enforcement!
zwiftinsider.com

Tiny Race Series – March 11 Routes and Last Week’s Results

This week’s routes and last week’s results.
zwiftinsider.com zwiftinsider.com

I also did the Team SZ iTT series last Sunday at 1600 GMT, five short time trials back to back over ~70mins, just seen it's running again this weekend (EDIT: Just seen this week is back to women only, so presumeably anyone March 19th). I've only recently been promoted to C and missed out on 4th by ~1sec overall last weekend.

ZwiftPower - Login

Zwift race results and statistics.
zwiftpower.com zwiftpower.com
 
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platypus said:
I guess so I just, wan to know :p. I've done FTP tests with a power meter (borrowed) and am reasonably confident my FTP is right, I think I'll borrow a pwm to just try and compare numbers.

I still feel like vomiting after a race, so I think its working :p.
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haha you and me both!
 
Had a go at a virtual Sa Colabra for the first time last night on Rouvy, ~50mins slog at ~2.5W/Kg! :eek:

https://my.rouvy.com/virtual-routes/detail/84771

Apparently the steep ramps at the start may be worse than the real thing?
Hopefully the Rouvy AR climb covers more than the "official" KOM that Tom Pidcock took off Ed Laverack in the last few months in just 20-odd minutes! :eek: :cry:
 
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