The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

[SDK^]

The riders height also makes a difference - The taller you are, the slower you’ll go.
Zwift Insider found for every 15cm of height added a rider is 30 seconds slower around a lap of the Richmound course. [A 5ft rider is ~1 minute quicker than a rider 6ft tall (all things else being equal)

 

[Roady]

I’ve learnt to avoid comparing myself to other Zwift riders. There is too much variance between trainer setups and personal settings. I use it to purely monitor my own personal improvements/losses.

Yup. But then the same could be said of comparing power meters on the road... Any power measurement, even correctly calibrated, is still only (as close as possible to being) 100% accurate measured against itself. Providing the environment is exactly the same. But when things like temperature variation and air density enter into it you can't call any power measurement 100% accurate!

I did a stage the other day - I got 55th or something - but then when I nosed around Zwift Power I spotted a guy ahead of me dropped his weight by 5 kilos that same day. I could have gone through a load more riders but it gets a bit depressing because you find weight dopers with alarming regularity.

Race Admins should pick up on that, but much of the time it's a never ending task for them - they can't expect to pick up everything as the only tool they have is ZP and the data collected by it from Zwift and Strava.

The riders height also makes a difference - The taller you are, the slower you’ll go.
Zwift Insider found for every 15cm of height added a rider is 30 seconds slower around a lap of the Richmound course. [A 5ft rider is ~1 minute quicker than a rider 6ft tall (all things else being equal)

OMG NOOOOOO. Height doping.

 

[SDK^]

Yup. But then the same could be said of comparing power meters on the road... Any power measurement, even correctly calibrated, is still only (as close as possible to being) 100% accurate measured against itself. Providing the environment is exactly the same. But when things like temperature variation and air density enter into it you can't call any power measurement 100% accurate!

For sure
Outdoors time and speed can be a more robust measure

 

[platypus]

Why not? Cycling is srs business!

To be fair I've had to convince 'her indoors' with every one of my turbo upgrades. Dumb trainer to smart. Then onwheel to DD. Each of those involved at least 1-2 years of an increase in turbo riding to justify I 'needed' it, coupled with convincing her a 'deal' on the trainer I wanted at least a couple of times weeks/months apart before the actual purchase. Last year and having the little one meant turbo'ing rather than riding outside was far more convenient, which I think helped persuade her about the TV! An upgrade over the crappy 19" had been on the cards for a while, I just hadn't bought a new one (like the Iiyamas I mentioned). Also grandparents giving us a bunch of extra money (we didn't expect) so I negotiated some of it towards a Black Friday deal on a 4K TV to upgrade our main unit (to free up the old-old one, we have 2 lounges so need 2 TV's). The TV I've ended up with is 10 years old anyway!

Well part of the problem is we don't watch TV, so the idea to her of me buying a tv just for the garage and worse, just for cycling is a non starter!

 

[#Chri5#]

Well part of the problem is we don't watch TV, so the idea to her of me buying a tv just for the garage and worse, just for cycling is a non starter!

We don't watch that much TV - some nights it never goes on or we listen to the radio through it. Even then though, the TV in the garage is bigger than the TV in the lounge

 

[Roady]

For sure
Outdoors time and speed can be a more robust measure

But then the wind becomes a factor too, so time and speed become worthless as conditions are even less likely to be the same...

To be fair a properly calibrated PWM or Smart trainer is only half of the battle. If you imagine on Zwift Race admins had a way to confirm the riders smart trainer had completed a 'self-test' or been calibrated (basically a zero) within a timeframe of X then they could begin to quantify riders results even better. That's an isolated example of what could be implemented - Zwift already 'flag' riders with invalid setups (fliers) and those with detected wheel slippage. That never used to happen. So hopefully as time goes on we should see more integration into platforms to increase accuracy and make things more believable. Zwift are a huge part of that because of the coverage and subscriptions they have, but until now their developments around accuracy and user feedback/requests have been terribly slow.

Well part of the problem is we don't watch TV, so the idea to her of me buying a tv just for the garage and worse, just for cycling is a non starter!

Ahhh, then you don't need the TV in the house right?

We sit in front of our TV but it's only after the little one is in bed (he's hardly ever exposed to TV), all the other jobs are done and we're just chilling out/relaxing before bed. So no more than 3 hours a night (max) for me, less for the other half as she goes to bed and I get an hour or so to watch whatever I like (usually cycling/GCN/etc!).

To be fair an AppleTV was originally quite appealing, might even still be for me. For the price & features they're pretty unbeatable to go up to 4K, unless you have a killer gaming laptop/surface/PC etc already. For me my TV won't go above 1080p so think I can cover that with the old PC & GPU. Hopefully!

In other news, how's everyone's Innsbruck stage 7 gone? Need to get mine done tonight as it's second day for it...

 

[Jobe]

I did the B ride in a bit under 49 minutes which I was happy about.
I quite like the climbs at Innsbruck so think that helps a bit.
Onwards to the next one, stage 8

 

[Berger]

Got mine done tonight. I did the A so twice round. Easy the first time and push harder the second. Felt better for it afterward, getting some TSS numbers over 100 with these tough courses.

I’m the opposite, find the Innsbruck climb a slog, bit dull to ride. Prefer the wattopia original mountain or the alpe!

 

[resurgam]

I did A today too, although my pacing was the opposite of yours, hard the first one and inevitably slower the second, 3.5 w/kg vs 2.9. I'd not ridden the climb before so think I must have got a bit carried away, plus riding in a larger group the first time which encourages me to make more of an effort. When I do it again, pacing the efforts more evenly will be the aim, somewhere between the two efforts.

It's an interesting climb for me, 25 mins vs an hour for the Alpe, so I feel I can put more effort in rather than just settling into a rhythm. It seems to vary much more in gradient too, with the levelling off through the houses in 2 or 3 places.

Really enjoying the Tour though, much more interesting than just picking a route and riding round at whatever pace I fancy. After a few weeks of Zwift I tend to switch over to workouts just to give me something to focus on.

 

[xdcx]

3rd on stage 7 for me. Done it at 6am yesterday and legs were really not liking me. Walked to the garage through an inch of snow and it was -5... It took a lot of determination to actually go with front group and not just ride the damn thing.

18:04 first time up climb and then 18:40 second time. I despise that climb as it is so draggy and not steep at all so it's my nemesis situation. Doesn't suit me in the slightest.

Watched KISS Super League last night on the live stream and was pretty interesting. Anyone else see it?

Also someone might know but is there an A+ category now or on the way? I seen it on the side of Zwiftpower site it said 5w/kg/300w FTP riders A+ (not for the KISS race last night, this is unrelated. They were all in as A so think A+ might be something new on the way?)

 

[Berger]

When are we going to see you in it!?

 

[Roady]

In other news, how's everyone's Innsbruck stage 7 gone? Need to get mine done tonight as it's second day for it...

Failed miserably to get it done.

Well not a failure, more of a known non-ride. It was 0 degrees outside when I got home last night at 5pm. I turned on a little portable radiator intending to ride, went back out to check at 7pm but by then -2 in my garage. Really don't want to make myself ill riding in those sub zero temps (have done before nearly every time...) so decided not to. My body can withstand an hour+ of threshold at 0 degrees, but below that I've always got colds/coughs afterwards which ruins my riding further (than missing a Zwift session).

So for the 2 'catch up' days after TdZ I'll so far be riding both of them for Stage 1 & 7.

 

[merlin]

I'm resigned to not finishing any more than 3 or 4 tops. Had a cold to shift last week, this week I've developed what seems to be a trapped nerve (pinching by tight quad probably, but seeing physio tomorrow to get it sorted).

On the plus side I could probably have done with a good rest.

 

[SDK^]

Watopia 24/7 plus another rotation world choice coming in the Zwift update available now

 

[Berger]

Stage 8 done. The app said 440m elevation which is wrong. It’s almost 580m, 3 times up box hill for the A event.

 

[resurgam]

That third ascent caught me by surprise, I'd seen the profile on the app and figured two, although I suppose I should have seen 2.5 laps = 3 ascents and finish at the top.

 

[xdcx]

Stage 8 done. The app said 440m elevation which is wrong. It’s almost 580m, 3 times up box hill for the A event.

I thought it was a flat pootle for 45KM and then finish up Box.... when I realised we had to do it 3 times I lost any form of motivation I had.
Love climbing, just fed up looking at a bloomin computer screen now.
I was 13th on Stage 8. Rode second group didn't have the legs on first Box to stick with front this time round.

 

[Berger]

I enjoy the box hill climb which i can’t really explain but it was alright for me, 290/300/300w was all I had, but those numbers are alright for what I’ve been doing.

Got to embrace the trainer over winter!

 

[Roady]

I'm resigned to not finishing any more than 3 or 4 tops. Had a cold to shift last week, this week I've developed what seems to be a trapped nerve (pinching by tight quad probably, but seeing physio tomorrow to get it sorted).

On the plus side I could probably have done with a good rest.

Rubbish, get well soon! Lots of stretching, even if you're not riding!

Watopia 24/7 plus another rotation world choice coming in the Zwift update available now

Quite like it to be honest, when TdZ was on yesterday there where 1700 riding on London and 2800 riding on Watopia, so quite a good split really. Not sure how much that London number dropped when the Tour rides where over...

That third ascent caught me by surprise, I'd seen the profile on the app and figured two, although I suppose I should have seen 2.5 laps = 3 ascents and finish at the top.

It's been a 'Box Hill Finish' for a while - 'London Loop with Box Hill Finish'. Kinda like the 'Leith Hill Afterparty' ride, knowing the 'name' more than the route of the ride may help... Especially as just know there's a climb coming near the end to hold something back. Not my kinda party haha!

I thought it was a flat pootle for 45KM and then finish up Box.... when I realised we had to do it 3 times I lost any form of motivation I had.
Love climbing, just fed up looking at a bloomin computer screen now.
I was 13th on Stage 8. Rode second group didn't have the legs on first Box to stick with front this time round.

Still a great result!

Have to say I find Box/Leith/Keith boring as sin and get where you're coming from. They just become a slog as the scenery is boring and so repetitive. The only things which make them stand out are the way they're broken up slightly, rather than the climbs themselves.

Thanks for the chat on sunday, kept me focussed as the rubbish start I had meant I really hadn't got any/many good groups to ride with.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2106037151
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=123085

Came in 236th. Nothing to write home about, ascents of Box being 10.06 (225W), 10.59 (192W) & 9.26 (244W). Really happy with that as I know I rode the first measured, second recovery and 3rd all out, passing loads of riders (sprint at the finish taking 3 on the line).

As a competitive B I was doing 8 minute ascents with my best efforts on the Flux (direct drive) being only just below 9 mins (8.44), when I was far far fitter and 5kg lighter...

I enjoy the box hill climb which i can’t really explain but it was alright for me, 290/300/300w was all I had, but those numbers are alright for what I’ve been doing.

Got to embrace the trainer over winter!

Good numbers! Consistent!

 

[Roady]

Anyone come across any Tour of Zwift info on the 'catch-up' days?

Regurgitating info here while I pull it apart...
The Tour page says about them being '

• We will be offering 2 “make-up” days. This will be 2 days where we will have Stages 1-9 available for you to complete to make up for any stages that you missed.
• These make-up days will be after stage 9'

Almost implies all the stages will be available those days, on a schedule similar to the current one (every 2 hours, every hour at peak times). Or do we think they'll be on a rolling schedule - only certain stages available at certain times on certain days. So 9 stages in 48h = each stage only appearing 3-5 times?!

Looking on the schedule, Stage 9 is 29th & 30th. Usual schedule.

Then the 31st, has 'Stage 9' available 12am, 2am, 4am. GMT.
Then Feb 2nd, has 'Stage 9' available 5:40am, 7.40am, 9.40am, 11.40am, 1.40pm, 3.40pm, 5.40pm, 7.40pm, 9.40pm, 11.40pm. GMT.
Then Feb 3rd, has 'Stage 9' available 1.40am, 3.40am, 6.40am, 8.40am, 10.40am, 12.40pm, 2.40pm, 4.20pm, 6.40pm, 8.40pm, 10.40pm. GMT.

Makes sense, just they got the names wrong. Then looking at the schedule it continues onto the 4th. 12.40am, 2.40am, 4.40am. GMT.

So 28 chances to 'catch up'. A rolling schedule would only give 3 chances to ride each stage, so it has to be a 'all stages available to ride' type affair. With the times of the 31st and 3rd being totally unrealistic I'll be hitting the 2nd 9.40am or 7.40pm, with the 8.40am or 6.40pm on the sunday. So far got 2 stages to catch up... Might be more with these sub zero temps the next 2 evenings which may mean me doubling up one of those days! Eeek!