Official STW Zwift Club

Friday 10th December
Friday Post-Work Sprint Race – 16:30 – 2 Laps of the Innsbruckring (this is in Zwiftpower as a race)

How does this work, you just cruise around between the sprints ? Not done this before.
And its time through the sprint rather than first across ?

normally it's a group ride, with sprint sections...regroup...repeat

DrP

Tried the join the Sunday Hills ride again this morning but it wouldn't let me, is this an issue with the STW group or the club thing in general? I know a few others are saying similar on the Zwift forums, especially when using the companion app.

I jumped on ready to do the ride on Friday afternoon and again this morning but it was only showing one other rider so I opted for a different event.

Which rides do we think might achieve a bit more traction?

I think a bit more of a description could help with the events.

Well after a long time away from Zwift (18months), my bikes(6 months) & STW (10 months)

My head has just been in the wrong place for a long time. Lockdown, covid, etc..

Anyway enjoyed it, managed an hour. Massively unfit, feeling tired but better for picking it up again.

How far off the magic 100 people are you?

Still room if you want to join in.

I’ll have a look at improving the description. Friday nights sprint race was a race from the green light through to the flag but on a shorter course making it more full on. Like a crit but not on traditional crit courses.

Sunday Hills seems to have gone on the back burner at the moment for a lot of people. I rode this morning but had something else I wanted to do which Sunday Hills didn’t fit with. The issues with android don’t seem to be helping either. People are still riding outside whereas 12 months ago the options were a lot more limited.

Ultimately the club concept is good but if, for example, 70% of the members are on Android it isn’t going to work as they can’t easily join up.

Tuesday night there are two options - a sprint race or a climb up the alpe which I think DrP is going to lead a one hour pacing for but people can ride at whatever pace they want.

I tried on the first week to put things in at different times but the club isn’t going to have a full calendar like normal zwift events. If someone has an idea for an event let me know but it needs to be an event not just that you fancy some company (meet up can be used for that).

I could do a badge hunt series but what routes would you choose? Sunday Hills ticks of the longer routes so difficult to know which ones to go for.

@robbo - I joined because you were kind enough to invite me and because I wanted good uptake.  If I'm honest, the number of rides I'll get onto will be very low and I am happy to be first against the wall when the group is full

Thanks for organising, well, everything !  (and to @savoyad too, for the TTTs - hopefully back -slowly- on those this week if my bad back sorts itself out)

If you can DM me, count me in. Not sure Tue or Sun is optimal timing for me though…

Robbo..
I'm on android, and simply can't open the clubs bit..

Is there a link to the event/s at all?
A bit like the race series links?
maybe I could join that way..

DrP

I have put you down as ride leader on the Alpe rider DrP. Links are below for the two Tuesday night rides depending on your preference. Does anyone want to lead the Sprint Tuesday's ride?

Tuesday 14th December
STW Sprint Tuesdays – Sprinters Playground
Hit the sprints hard and regroup in between.
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505221

Tuesday 14th December
Tuesday Night Climb – Road to Sky – an alternative for those who dont want to sprint!
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505241

I would have done the tuesday night climb. But just remembered I have my booster jab tomorrow night.

I've put myself down for the alpe but depending how the mood takes me might do the sprints instead if it's happening.

Thanks for the links Robbo... i've joined via that, and it's now showing up in the companion app...
I daren't go near the Clubs section in the app though!

DrP

Have signed up for the Tues night climb, if there's space in there club then I'll have in there please!

https://www.strava.com/athletes/24953032 or Paul Sims should work!

Not sure how it all works with the categories etc as only been riding on my own so far!

Hi
Is it too late to be added?
I’m relatively new to Zwift and very out of fitness but interested in having this as motivation to get back on it!

I'm hoping to attend the Alpe ride tomorrow evening. Looking forward to the company and the roulette wheel present at the top.

I’ll try and hold on to the Drp train, but I’m not sure I can manage under 60 mins at the mo.

Anybody else thinking they will be slower than the hour up the Alpe?

I daren’t go near the Clubs section in the app though!

Mine actually seemed to work today despite crashing companion every time previously.

and the roulette wheel present at the top.

Do you need new gloves?

Anybody else thinking they will be slower than the hour up the Alpe?

Not me - I damn well know it.
Took me longer than that to do the Innsbruck climb

Anybody else thinking they will be slower than the hour up the Alpe?

My PB is 63 mins and I'm waaay slower than that now! I'd struggle to get under 90 I think. Depending upon what time I finish work I might have a go at it.

Just use DrP to pace your ride to aim for a PB. If you want to hit a 70 min ride then aim to be about 30 seconds further behind at each corner. It’s not a perfect calculation due to the difference in length for each section but gives a rough idea.

Anybody else thinking they will be slower than the hour up the Alpe?

Oh without a doubt! Tbh no idea what I'll aim for.

Thanks for the club invite Robbo

I'll be aiming for 3w/kg up the climb, maybe a smidge over.
I don't think I've done it in under an hour.

One of the key things I think is to keep the effort up round the turns where it flattens off.

Is the climb the full Road to the sky route with the few miles of easy lead in for a warmup, or is it starting at the climb?

It's the full Road to Sky route 👍

Yeh it starts from the Jungle Pens so you have a bit of a warm up before we hit the climb.

Had my booster yesterday but feel fine this morning. Will see if it has an impact tonight!

I've managed to catch my daughter's cough and sore throat, so will see how that develops today. I might end up missing out on tonight's ride.

Need to do a lateral flow test this morning although my Wife & daughter have done them and they've both been -ve so not expecting anything Covid related.

Invite received,  cheers robbo

Unfortunately I won't be home in time to do the climb tonight. If you want sub-hour then the rough rule of thumb is an average of 3.2 wkg. Big-ring it around the flat corners 😉

Yeah that'd mean me putting out 275w for the hour, with an FTP of (apparently) 227.

Who's with me at the back?!?! 😀

Morning!
As has been said... an average of about 3.2w/kg gets sub hour ..

Give it a punt,and I'm sure it'll be hard but doable...

I'll be having the leader beacon and will aim for about 58min climb... keep up the pace round the flat corners, but also the key to doing well on climbs is work *harder* when it's steeper.... you'll make most gains there! Higher w/kg pays off more the steeper the gradient!

We'll have a nice warm up into the jungle, with plenty of ride leader encouragement as we go!

DrP

I'm in for the climb.

Remember to get the badge, the timer starts at the bottom of the hill, so it starts when you go through the gate, not from the pens.

P.

Well in a fit of madness I've switched to the sprints for this evening. I figure it'll do me good and I've not done that route yet so probably get me a badge too.

Good luck on the hill folks!

I've signed on for the climb. Did it a few weeks ago in just over an hour. I didn't really push myself until around half way up when I realised I might actually do it in under the hour, so a more consistent effort all the way and I might get it. But I don't feel like I've been doing enough over the past few weeks so might be struggling!

Anybody else thinking they will be slower than the hour up the Alpe?

I've managed sub 60 once, by about 5 secs 🙂

Will give it a crack tonight but can see myself running out of steam with a few corners to go and limping over the line

see...this is where the group buzz kicks in..you'll do it!!!

DrP

Just keep pushing to that next corner....

Done the Alpe twice in last 10 days so going to give it a miss tonight! I managed my first sub 60 by 30 secs by (for me at 76kg) keeping it 240w (so 3.2 w/kg or just a shade more) on every segment. And yes pedal like whatsit round the flat bends (which is hard as you want a breather) and try not to hate segment 6 which is sooooo loooong.

Also what I forgot the first time was to leave enough gas for the last bit after segment 1. There's still a bit to go.

I'd love to get 58 mins. Defo easier if you've got a beacon to follow/wish they'd slow down.

Hope to join some rides soon. Thanks Robbo for the add. Clubs works fine for me with iPhone.

I’ll be tagging along at the back, I may be able to grind out 2.8w/kg all the way, which equates to 190w.

Really tempted to join you guys on the climb tonight but I went out at lunchtime today so I don't think it's a good idea! Zwift will probably take a back foot for me now until the rain returns! Forecast looks pretty good for the next few weeks. Cold, easterly breeze but sunny and dry.

Signed up for the sprint instead of the climb as I've got an early start tomorrow and 90 mins of climbing doesn't really appeal 🤣

Good luck everyone and enjoy trying to keep up with DrP!

Good luck on the Alpe. I’ve had to drop out to look after a sick wife. Next time I’m up for a 60 min effort!

Well managed to do 30 mins of the Sprint ride. Put in some solid times for the first lap too but my left leg started to cramp up on the first sprint on the second lap so called it a day at that. Good workout though and I can only imagine how much fun and chaos it must be at the front of the League races with a big group!

Cheers for the ride folks, that was awful 🤣

How did the alpe go?

Yeah good ride that. Will try to finish the whole thing next time 😀 Crazy amount of (long) sprints so requires pacing!!

Bloody Apple TV remote, pressed the leave button by mistake as soon as I finished!! Made it in 56:55. Please with that!!
Cheers Dr.P and Robbo for all efforts 👍👊🤜

I like my new gloves 🤣

Bravo all alpers.....
Plenty of sub 60 minutes... and seems like lots of PRs too...

I paced a 58.18, so pretty consistent there!

Great effort all

DrP

That's a good time Richard, you should be chuffed.

I've got to ask though [given the tone of so many posts] is there anything Apple TV actually does well? (Granted it's got to be more Zwift friendly than android but I imagine the old acorn Archimedes in my gran's garage probably ticks that box too and it doesn't have a screen)

55:54 for me so comfortably under the hour! Previous PB Was 1:01:51 so nearly 8 minutes of that! 302w average. Thanks for running the ride DrP and everyone for the company.

Had my booster yesterday and had a mild headache and aching neck all day so wasn’t expecting to get past the first corner. But that went really quick!

I’ll put a Xmas get together in for next Tuesday. What do people think would be a good idea? Guessing Weeksy type sprints would prob be best?

Haha, it does do the trick, it's just the bloody remote is a right pain. Why doesn't it default onto the "stay here" option!? Oh and it won't update the app without uninstalling and reinstalling! But apart from that.

I tried to hang onto the front group, but every time I caught them I slipped back, so then I tried to maintain a steady gap ahead of dr.p as a way to pace. Seemed to work, almost broke me, just made it!!

That was a masterclasses from me on how not to rode road to sky. New FTP set with the forst 25 minutes through the jungle to catch you lot up then i died the whole way up.

Couldn't get my heart rate back down under 175 for love nor money. Im still at 85 now!

Couldn't leave the kid with two pages of the chapter left so missed the start by a couple of minutes. First time up the alpe this year, still 5 mins off my best but happy with sub 53.

How about neoyko sprinters playground. Great laps of I think 4 sprint opportunities.

Well done everybody that smashed their PB zip the aloe tonight, I thought I would be so far off my 49min PB that it would be disgustingly upsetting.

Cheers for the ride guys congrats to all,those under the hour and those with PBS and all,the finishers, but bloody hell that’s hard hadn’t done it for while.

Happy to try some sprints next week Robbo

Cheers

Neil

is there anything Apple TV actually does well?

Cheers all!

Close but no cigar for me.... 60mins and 8seconds......😐

I was confused about where the end was and thought that it levelled off for the entire last section. I pushed hard before that section (overtaking DFee) and then had nothing left for the last section which kept going uphill until the very end - DFee flew back past me like a train.
No idea what my previous time was - where can I find that as a non-Strava subscriber?

Great workout though. I feel drained!

How about neoyko sprinters playground. Great laps of I think 4 sprint opportunities

Was it only 4!? It felt like more this evening

It was fun riding the Alpe tonight 🤪. I started well, won the 'sprint' through the big green force field at the bottom 😉 then did ok, drifting slowly backwards from the front bunch, being overtaken by Stumpy01 half way up and then passing Paul towards the end. 63 minutes, no wheel of fortune at the top but I did complete a route that I hadn't done before so that's a bonus.

Thanks for organising and leading @DrP. Well, that was hard work but ultimately very satisfying. Thanks for dropping back @karnali to hitch me back on to the front group but the pace was just slightly too high for me without going too far into the red. Not entirely sure what my time was as I failed to commit it to memory and Zwift crashed just after I passed the finish line. I was between Rob and Richard so somewhere over the 56 minute mark. So first time sub 60 minutes but I’ve only been up the Alpe a few times previous to this. Currently unable to sit down for very long!
56 minutes 26 seconds. Result 😊

**** me.

I'm alive, and I completed it.
[img] [/img]

1hr 54. And 23 seconds. 🤣

I knew it was going to be hard when the lead bunch buggered off... On the warm up!!

About 5k in I would have been walking if that was a real ride on my own, felt quite nauseous. Kept digging and had a slight 2nd wind about 7k in. Then that last 400m to the flat just before the finish was pure pain.

Ah well, I've got something to aim for now!! HR didn't go below 165 the whole time, average of 175 - max is 190.

Garmin says I did a pb 20 min power of 212w on that ride so my FTP figure of 227 probably isn't far off.

Well done tallpaul! Good effort to keep plugging away! That route is a real challenge.

There's some good times there folks and that's a bloody good effort to get up there and over the line solo Paul!

I’m alive, and I completed it

Always good to hear!

What trainer are you using? Is everything calibrated and firmware up to date 🤔.

Think I need some new spd shoes too, I'm getting bad hot spots in the cleat area after an hour or so. Feet were hurting as much as my legs!

What trainer are you using? Is everything calibrated and firmware up to date

Yep pretty sure, it's an elite direto X ots. Only a few months old.

That was ace. Missed the start but managed to catch up with the group. First time up the Alpe and managed 54:28 which was good. Keen for some more of those

PB on the Alp for me too, took off 9 minutes just another 8 to go to get under the hour, I think I need to lose a couple of kilos!

Great effort by all nice to see some PBs. Ven top next 🤣

Don’t forget Wednesday lunchtime crit.

https://www.zwift.com/events/view/2512059

Not ridden up the virtual Ventoux yet, so I'd be interested in that ride.

Signed up for today's crit ride. My legs are feeling the after effects of the Alpe so I'll try my best and see how it goes.

Have joined the crit though hoping to take three MTB out this morning. Got to fit the race in between handing the dog over to the walker and him coming back as well.

I'll need to see how the leg feels as a did a Neyoko crit yesterday and i'm currently undergoing physio for a calf/hamstring issues.... So i'm a possible maybe.... I'll go in the garage and start tidying early morning as i've got bikes all over the place with the Eeb in there and the Sworks without any forks and on the workstand as tehy're off at Sprung being rebuilt.

I've raced ven top twice, once with the start going via the Petit KOM! It's a long hard ride! I think I prefer the climb to ADZ though.

Suns out so I'm saving my legs for the real world later on.

Feeling last night's effort today, mostly in the sit bones though! That'll serve me right for doing 2hrs on zwift with only 3 rides since September!

There was an update for the Companion app earlier on my Android mobile, maybe this has fixed the club section app crashes?

There was an update for the Companion app earlier on my Android mobile, maybe this has fixed the club section app crashes?

More likely they've done something really important like changed the direction the alert bell tilts

I was confused about where the end was and thought that it levelled off for the entire last section. I pushed hard before that section (overtaking DFee) and then had nothing left for the last section which kept going uphill until the very end – DFee flew back past me like a train.

Thanks Stumpy, you gave me the kick I needed to throw down again. Between that and DrP encouraging me and giving a tow when I badly needed it I managed 59:41. At 86kgs I didn't think a sub 60mins would be possible. Time to shed some kgs, should be easy this time of year 🙂

Strange though, maybe because it was an event, but I didn't get an ETA or Alpe stage time at any stage so didn't know where I was in relation to the 60mins target until I crossed the line.

Strange though, maybe because it was an event, but I didn’t get an ETA or Alpe stage time at any stage so didn’t know where I was in relation to the 60mins target until I crossed the line.

Yeh I think that must have been a result of it being an event but wasnt very useful.

I didn't enjoy the Alpe, I had a plan to ride to power, but then I set off too hard to set a PB and that meant that I just blew up and went backwards for the 2nd half, 5 mins down on PB. It probably didn't help having gone to the gym the night before, I'll rest the legs next time, which will probably be after Chrimbo now.

Well done to all thost that got PBs and badges 🙂

P.