The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

[Sgt_Pepper]

I never really went near my trainer or bike for that matter since around Oct. Decided to get it set back up the other week and I got the dreaded Flux rub again. So im trainerless now until Wiggle get back in touch. Im gonna ask can I have some sort of refund and upgrade to a Neo.

 

[Griffyn]

Finished the tour today, thought it was a good event and looking forward to the next one. Shame they removed the leaderboards for most of the stages but was back on again today for stage 9...good motivation to keep pushing to the end.

 

[xdcx]

Eric Min was on my Stage 9 this morning - https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=123110
4th on that for me but think I was actually 6th. Lad in 1st there is el-dodgy as was the Scottish lad who came 2nd.

@Griffyn - Aye I was glad to see the actual result screen back... I think Zwift pandered to the ponces moaning that "it's not a race" so removed the placing info on the right and the result screen at the end. I was glad to see it back!

I have to do catch up on stage 3 & 4 as I had norovirus so will get them done this weekend.

 

[Berger]

I’m missing stages 2,3 & 5. Not sure I’ll be able to do all of them.

 

[#Chri5#]

Was cold in the pain cave last night for some Sufferfest action. I think somebody had swapped my saddle for a house brick with razor blades as I couldn't get comfy, though old 3/4 tights probably didn't help either.

New Sufferfest app looks good:

https://thesufferfest.com/blogs/the...-available-new-look-new-features-new-workouts

Have downloaded it but not installed yet.

 

[Hank_Marvin]

I'd not been on Zwift since the Tour De Zwift last year, just commuting and some summer rides. That really put me off a bit as I had to cram the two worst stages over the two catchup days, about 10 hours apart, on a bank holiday weekend when everyone else was outside on their bikes in the sun, all to get that jersey

Obviously i kept on paying for Zwift until the start of the month... when I cancelled it. Cancelling it and the start of this years Tour was enough to get me back on the bike for my remaining sub and resubbing and i've found time for Zwift again.

Will be finishing the tour tonight at 6pm. I've really enjoyed, first time on Richmond and Austria. Looking forward to some races after the tour finishes and will probably do one of the FTP training programs.

https://www.zwiftpower.com/profile.php?z=427154

 

[merlin]

I'm quite alarmed at how quickly the fitness dissolves. I've had a week off with a cold, followed by a week off with an infection - my lungs and legs are fckd. Last night I popped up the local cycling club for a turbo session and I was struggling to hold 85% of ftp.

Going to need to put in a fair few Zwift shifts over the next two to three weeks to get back what I've lost.

Someone said to me a while back that a good 50% of your current fitness comes from what you've done over the last 3 weeks - I didn't believe that at the time - but I'm starting to believe it now!

 

[FishFluff]

Or alternatively it might just be that you’re not back at 100% well yet!

I’ve been plugging away at TrainerRoad’s sweet spot base program (with a brief hiatus to ride Gran Canaria!) but am also doing the odd outside ride or Zwift session so I don’t go insane. Feeling pretty strong at the moment so will be interesting to see what’s happened to my FTP when I retest in a couple of weeks.

 

[Berger]

Short duration fitness, long deep muscle fitness won’t just evaporate.

Ed Hopper smashing it in the KISS super league, just pounded 450w for 15 minutes out to win solo.

 

[merlin]

Short duration fitness, long deep muscle fitness won’t just evaporate.

That's good to hear Berger. Indeed we were doing intervals when my legs and lungs just crumbled. I just eased off into something a bit less intensive and that felt ok.

Not sure what sort of stuff I need to, to get the sprint legs back. Sprints I guess?!

 

[xdcx]

Ed Hopper smashing it in the KISS super league, just pounded 450w for 15 minutes out to win solo.

No double draft looks a MILLION times better! Things can actually happen unlike the 1st round where Connor Dunne was doing mega watts and getting nowhere as the lads soft pedalled behind and sat on his wheel....

When Ed went off the front I thought, "oh dear, not going to happen".
*35 second gap*
"Oh sweet jesus he's some sort of cyborg"

 

[Roady]

I never really went near my trainer or bike for that matter since around Oct. Decided to get it set back up the other week and I got the dreaded Flux rub again. So im trainerless now until Wiggle get back in touch. Im gonna ask can I have some sort of refund and upgrade to a Neo.

Rubbish, fingers crossed they swap it out with a Flux S - at the very least!

Finished the tour today, thought it was a good event and looking forward to the next one. Shame they removed the leaderboards for most of the stages but was back on again today for stage 9...good motivation to keep pushing to the end.

Think I was only missing the leaderboard for 2 of mine? Then again only ridden 7 of the stages...

Eric Min was on my Stage 9 this morning - https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=123110
4th on that for me but think I was actually 6th. Lad in 1st there is el-dodgy as was the Scottish lad who came 2nd.

Mega ride again mate, seriously impressive how consistently you're able to perform at that level across various courses. I wouldn't have thought Stage 9 suited you (being a lighter rider) as it's more of a 'power'/pucheur/rouleur type rider course.

Eric Min is good (CEO of Zwift). Quite a chatty friendly guy and not the silent professional type you'd expect. Had some fun chats with him in races before - critiquing peoples sock choices and stuff. Good laugh!

New Sufferfest app looks good:

https://thesufferfest.com/blogs/the...-available-new-look-new-features-new-workouts

Oh nice. New App because they now allow you to change your power zones before a ride (lets be honest, that's all 4DP is, a measure of your different zones independently). And you can now use YouTube in the app rather than opening a browser winter/YT app. And a bunch more training programs with no videos.

Meanwhile the badly designed power tracks for the quality videos is still there with the rubbish onscreen pop ups don't match the interval. No new footage (think the 'newest' race footage on there is TDU 2018?).

Bore off Gunter! Do something to draw people to your platform, or at least work on the things which make it different. Rant over! Haha

<snip>
Obviously i kept on paying for Zwift until the start of the month... when I cancelled it. Cancelling it and the start of this years Tour was enough to get me back on the bike for my remaining sub and resubbing and i've found time for Zwift again.
<snip>

Haha they got you back hook line & sinker didn't they?!

Good riding, well done on getting it all finished!

<snip>
Someone said to me a while back that a good 50% of your current fitness comes from what you've done over the last 3 weeks - I didn't believe that at the time - but I'm starting to believe it now!

You'll be surprised how well it comes back, but it does take some dedication and work to get there. I've had to come to the conclusion that my FTP isn't going to be near it's previous 280w+ as I'm finding it tough enough to get enough riding in to even maintain it's current 250w. Although I'll be happy if I can maintain that through the year with the large decrease in quality time & mileage due to the little one.

Or alternatively it might just be that you’re not back at 100% well yet!

Probably this - you might feel back to 90% but in reality your body might still be back down at 75%. Recovery takes a while, especially recovering your full lung capacity after a cold/flu. Then you need the regular cardio to increase the red blood count again...

Ed Hopper smashing it in the KISS super league, just pounded 450w for 15 minutes out to win solo.

Worth a watch? Sounds like he just casually rolled off the front. That's damn hard enough on Zwift, nevermind from a Zwift peloton of pro riders!

 

[Berger]

It looked as if they stretched out the pack for the prime, the other riders sat up and he kept going once he had the gap.

Anyway. Did one of your 3R races tonight round the volcano. Lining up in B sees you off with the A riders out of the pen. Having ridden 4 days on the trot I knew it would be tough.

First 5 minutes I held onto the front A/B group but then realised I wasn’t going to make it up the small punch before the line, so eased off and got up there under control before being picked up by the main B bunch.

The next couple of laps were bloody quick, setting 30 day PRs. Guy infront dropped the wheel before the line on lap 2 and I had to do a huge effort to get over the gap.

The bunch continued to go super quick picking up dropped riders from the A/B, I held on until the last climb then sat up as I had nothing, rolling over in 24th with there being 8 guys in B we still didn’t catch.

275w (3.5w) average I’m reasonably happy with considering I had no kick at all over threshold!

 

[merlin]

Super work. Shame you couldn't have saved a scrap of energy for the line - it's amazing how many you can pop on the final sprint.

I think I put in a 3.45w a few weeks back (before getting germs/infection) and honestly I thought I was gonna die

 

[Berger]

Super work. Shame you couldn't have saved a scrap of energy for the line - it's amazing how many you can pop on the final sprint.

I think I put in a 3.45w a few weeks back (before getting germs/infection) and honestly I thought I was gonna die

Yeah I might have had a 10 second effort in me, I certainly didn’t have 60 seconds! I knew at the start I was working too hard, had the sprinters cough coming on and getting a stitch which never happens unless not fit enough.

I think you need about 20 seconds up the hilly bit into the volcano and then another 30-40 to keep the hammer down to the line.

Rest day tomorrow! Then more turbo all weekend as forecast doesn’t get over freezing much!

 

[Shadowness]

I very much doubt I'll be heading out this weekend with forecasted figures well below 0C.

I'm going to make the most of the TdZ make up days and do all the events I missed. I've only done stage 5 and 9, so lots to make up!

 

[Jonny ///M]

Had a shot of Zwift again at a mates house, using his dads account haha.

Went as C cat this time as the B was brutal but I didn't realise it was quite as hilly a course.

Was up there as the first C quite a lot and had a few Bs around but I struggled to learn to ride it properly, I'd see a gap and go too hard to close it, zip past and be out front again, sit up and be doing 200w then when the guys pass me having to go waaaaaaaaaaay deep to get back on to the draft of them. Will ride it differently next time.

My mate G.Scott got bumped up to a B due to 3.7w/kg and it looks like I was 1st C at least on ZP, at the end screen we were both showing 293w for 20 minutes and basically bang on 5 minute powers too.

God it's hard

https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=142681

 

[merlin]

How the hell do you weigh 78 kilos Jonny?

You looked rake thin last photo. Unless you're tall? Or have you not adjusted your profile weight from the loaned Zwift setup?

 

[Jonny ///M]

I don't weigh myself a lot as I don't have scales in the house.

My mate just adjusted his dad's weight down to 78 so we were similar, he had out 77.

I think I was as low as 74kg last year so 78kg probabaly isn't far off haha.

 

[Roady]

<snip>
275w (3.5w) average I’m reasonably happy with considering I had no kick at all over threshold!

281w NP, nothing to be sniffed at mate - that's a great effort!

Looking at the results it split into 2 big groups sprinting it out with very few riders between them!? Swatts won the B cat I see (3R race admin). Also a local semi-pro (E123 riders) I know came in 15th in the A (commenting 'ouch'). Popular race as many names in there I recognise! Might explain why it was such a brutal finish... Yup, you where empty! Need a 60 sec up there to even be close mate! Haha

As you said it's a ~20 sec up the ramp, most there will sit up afterwards to get some recovery on the ramp down into the volcano, so if you can maintain that power you can create a gap. But obviously you still need enough of a kick for the sprint, otherwise they'll catch you in the finish. So it's either a 20s up the ramp + 40s sustained, or a 20s ramp, 20s rest, 20s sprint.

Super work. Shame you couldn't have saved a scrap of energy for the line - it's amazing how many you can pop on the final sprint.

Yup, even this ~20s effort (at the end of a sustained effort to hold a group) was enough to slingshot past 20+ riders.

Some of the best Zwift racers are those who hide well and have a good long sprint with a 10w/kg+ kick. Marc Swatton (mentioned above) is a prime example.

I'm going to make the most of the TdZ make up days and do all the events I missed. I've only done stage 5 and 9, so lots to make up!

Some big days ahead for you, but we all know if anyone can you can! See above for my schedule as it's not that great - different each day & 2 hour gaps between rides. Most stages (for you) will be sub 1 hour.

Had a shot of Zwift again at a mates house, using his dads account haha.
<snip>
God it's hard

Yes, yes it is! Takes some getting used to, as you're finding. Power delivery much more gradual and sustained - rather than the stop/start of group road riding. Some great numbers there though mate!