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I’d be with you @reluctantjumper, but I like my wine on a Saturday night……
Hi Rob,
Can you add me please? I’m trying to get back on the turbo - not up for races just now (maybe after Christmas). Time is short but will come along where I can.
Arse, had an issue with Zwift loading so missed the 8am start! Will try for the next one, going to do a workout instead.
Morning. I joined a few seconds late for the same reason. No one else around so thought I was behind on the road. Rode with @belugabob for a bit but saw no one else. Anyway, it all works, we just need some more riders.
I'm added (thanks Robbo) but have a stinking cold, so will be sidelined for a bit 😞
@slowpuncheur - as you found, I'm even slower 😉
Was nice to see at least one other person on the event, but it was quite nice to just ride up the mountain without being overtaken every few seconds.
I've not ridden that climb before, so joining the event late at least allowed me to start it at a sensible place.
The point where you rode off ahead may have been because my wife interrupted, but I didn't actually notice the breakaway 😉
Have never been a great climber (too many pies, I guess) but I'm working on it, and slowly getting there.
P.S. what gives with the belly dancing trees?
As an aside, have you considered using something like discord, on your phones, to improve mid-ride communications?
Talking is easier than typing
We do have a STW server on discord @belugabob - it's mainly used for the TTT each Thursday, but we've also used it when racing together and for some social rides, esp longer ones etc. It tends not to be used by choice for things like Sunday Hills. For various reasons...
But if you go ahead and suggest it in advance of a ride you'll see what people prefer. Sometimes it's popular, sometimes not. But that's how it ends up in use.
An invite link usually appears quite quickly when someone needs it: https://discord.gg/YvbW87qB
LOL Awesome, currently me vs Savoyad for the Crit race on Weds lunch... errrrrm can't see me winning that one 😀
Is it open to public too Robbo ?
I’m not sure weeksy. It’s on zwift power and open to anyone but not sure if it shows up in the companion app list of events. It shows in my companion app but not sure if that is because I am in the club and if it is visible to everyone.
Prior to having to got back into the office I'd have been up for a Wed lunchtime race. But I'm at work (as in, in the office) Tues, Wed & Thurs.
It’s on zwift power and open to anyone but not sure if it shows up in the companion app list of events
The link on ZP opens the event in Companion for me, on iOS.
I’d be interested in joining some longer rides at the weekends. Endurance Z2 stuff. I’m doing a bunch of endurance based training at the moment so Zwift races aren’t really for me (unless they’re 2+ hours).
Username is R8JimBob88
Thanks for the add Robbo. I've gone and joined the Wednesday Crit....
Wednesday crit looks to be open. Just joined on as rain forecast here on Wednesday.
Im in for the lunchtime Crit as long as no-one puts any meetings in (I have blanked out my calendar!). Think we are up to 6 people now. Could gather some momentum.
I might make Wednesday, I was early shift over the weekend and I'm night shift all week. If I wake up and get out my bed I'll join in.
LOL oh joy.... we've got Nixie and Robbo too.... maybe i can lose 15kg by Weds !!!!
Don't forget we will all be dead from climbers gambit.
OK so I have put a weeks worth of events in. It wont please everyone I am sure but I have tried to get a variety of courses, types of rides and times during the day. We cant saturate the calendar with events and it is better to have a small number of events that are well attended than lots of events that arent.
So the calendar for the next week is as follows (sign up on the link below or find them in the club calendar):
Friday 10th December
Friday Post-Work Sprint Race - 16:30 - 2 Laps of the Innsbruckring (this is in Zwiftpower as a race)
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505232
Sunday 12th December
Sunday Hills - 08:00 - Triple Loops
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505216
Tuesday 14th December
STW Sprint Tuesdays - Sprinters Playground
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
Feel free to share the links with your friends. The more the merrier! Non-club members should be able to join.
If anyone would like to lead any of the rides or sweep for them please let me know.
If the weather is poor I might try for the Tuesday evening road to the sky meetup. Then go to the pub, assuming my post holiday PCR test doesn't prevent me from doing social drinking 🤔
In for the Tuesday Night Climb...
Morning all, are there any spaces left in the club at all? All being well work will calm down a lot over the next week or so and with a bit of luck stay vaguely sensible so I might actually manage to get on Zwift out even my real bike again in the not too distant future.
Reckon I should be in for the Tuesday night climb 👌
have joined tomorrow's crit too
Yeah we're getting a few in now.... Looking forward to it... unless it splits early with the beasts on the front... 😀
Yes please!
Stick us an invite for any weekend morning group rides.
Anybody doing the festive 500 this year? I’m working over the holidays but have odd days off, some late starts and all the bank holidays off so should be able to squeeze it in.
I'd love to do the festive 500 but can't see how to fit it in.
@kirky72 - I don't think you get invites (well, I haven't had any).
You have to go to the club page on the companion app & look for events there.
I have invited you to the club @kirky72
As stumpy says you wont get invites but all club events are available on the club page on the companion app. The app isnt running well on Android so I am also posting links to the races on here which you can see a few posts up there ^
what is the festive 500?
500km between xmas and new year
ah cool. Is that an unofficial thing? Or does Zwift track your distance by signing up?
Sounds like a pretty decent challenge!
Hey hey...
I'm very likely to make the Tuesday Alpe climb...
If you want, I'm happy to be a pacer for those aiming for a sub 60 minute time??
I’d love to do the festive 500 but can’t see how to fit it in.
Ditto... i can barely fit in Zwift workout rides (as part of the build me up plan) alongside real rides and races, alongside work etc... I think i'm OVERTRAINING at the moment FFS... load up, VO2max down...
DrP
Yeh we plan on being away with family Xmas Eve until Boxing Day so would give me 5days to do it. I could jump on with a pace partner and clock up quick miles in the desert but seems a bit cheaty! At least last year I did the PRL full!
ah cool. Is that an unofficial thing? Or does Zwift track your distance by signing up?
Sounds like a pretty decent challenge!
No I think it originates from one of the original Strava challenges many years ago. Lots of people used to sacrifice family time at xmas to go and do long rides alone in the wind, rain, snow, ice... Fortunately virtual miles have counted towards it in recent years
cheers for the explanation jimbob. i might give it a bash!
Dont forget the lunchtime crit today people! Link below to sign up. 8 of us so far so should be good and something to break up the working day.
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2492799
I'm ready... well, mostly... my right calf is tight, but it often is at the moment.. It'll be fun.... you're my goal 🙂
I'm signed up but not really looking forward to it...!
I barely rode for 6 weeks from mid Oct due to some stinking sinus & chest infection. I also haven't done anything over threshold for months.... I've just started to get back into a routine in the last couple of weeks though.
So there we go, they're all my excuses that I can think of for now. I'll add some more as and when I think of them 🙂
we don't need excuses. We've got people who win the overall races on the STW events. We're basically hanging in until they decide we're not... then we're fighting out for the minor places 😀
My objective is to be in a fit state to chair a video meeting at 2pm...
Today's training plan tells me I should be doing an "Endurance: Undulating Aerobic Ride". Somehow I don't think 30 mins flat out comes close, ooops.
will only be flat out for 99% of it.
I've just started my warm up. 1:25 of SST 😆
lol I thought i was going early with it at 30 mins to go....
I'm jumping on at 11:30 and might tag a little Z2 on the end
11:58 for me!
jimbob i'll be on for 15km after at 100-120w
Found some old caffeinated drink tablets that went of out date 2 years ago. Let’s see what happens 😂
I'm not going to make it (work, not the after effects of last night!). This time usually does suit me though. Have a good race!
I have a new HR monitor and I think it reads about 15bpm higher than my old one 😆
Or those attacks were as hard as they looked.
I've cooked my legs. Can't currently do a quad stretch as they want to cramp 🙄.
The attacks killed me... i was doing OK, then next minute we had 10w/kg...
BOOM ! gone.
Thanks for the drag Deacon... i trie a few times to give a turn and when i did you went faster lol.
Enjoyed that one guys, sort of!
Does anyone have an appetite for a longer endurance ride on Saturday morning if the weather is rubbish out there? 3 hours or so.
Or those attacks were as hard as they looked.
Probably something to do with the expired caffeinated drink tablet too. HR was 150bpm in the start pen doing 100w
Wed could be good for me - I like the crit format too.
We done JimBob! I shouldn't have let you get the gap - thought you'd blow and I'd real you back in, but you kept on going. Could see Robo sitting on my wheel waiting to pounce as I worked on the gap, so happy to get the sprint.
Cheers guys - that was good fun
I wasnt waiting to pounce djflexure - I was trying to hang on!
I have put London Classique on the calendar for next Wednesday. 3 laps so a little longer.
https://www.zwift.com/events/view/2512059
I wasnt waiting to pounce djflexure – I was trying to hang on!
I had flashbacks to last night 😉
haha I was pretty surprised to drop you on the climb last night! Was expecting you to fly off!
I'd had a bit more than half a bottle of red while putting the Christmas tree up early evening. Wasn't expecting to race and then all of a sudden it seemed like a great idea. Surprised I got to the hill never mind up it. Not all bad though as my mindless 'pissed up' attacks gave me a big FTP gain. Well done for last night - you were on a mission!
That was a good lunchtime break - thanks all, back to work now
Hi Robbo,
If you still have space can you add me.
Ta. PeesBee
I just opened the companion app to see you'd all been racing without me so had to come on here and have a look what it was all about 😀
Sign me up, although wednesday lunchtimes after tuesday nights is gonna hurt!
I’ve got a quick Zwift question for those of you in the know.
I’ve got a Kickr Core and a set of the new Garmin power pedals on the other bike. Should I stick the Garmin pedals on the turbo bike to control the turbo rather than having the Kickr control itself?
No, the pedals don't/can't control the kickr. The game controls the turbo. The pedals can be used as a way of measuring the power your producing but it is recommended to use the turbo, especially when it's a decent turbo. Pedals are a good way of secondary recording if that's your thing.
On the other hand I’d suggest using the pedals to record power both indoor and outdoor. That way you get consistent numbers to train with.
I use my Assioma Duo’s on my Wattbike atom. Zwift takes the power reading from my pedals but controls resistance via the Wattbike. I can’t see a downside to that.
r8jimbob88 makes a valid point about having a consistent measurement for training in and outside. I should clarify that my view is based on the more serious* end of the indoor race world where it is expected that the turbo is used as the primary source. You are in they lucky position that both the devices you have are considered accurate.
* as in the rules that are applied to the higher level events.
I use a Kickr Core and have 4iiii left sided crank PM. I tend to use the Kickr for Zwift power output recording. I occasionally check the crank power v Kickr by saving the ride file from the Precision 4iii app and the fit file from zwift to compare the 2 power levels. There's a good function in zwiftpower for this. Normally its within about 1-2%. So it might be worth comparing the Garmin pedals now and then but I don't see a reason to use them for zwift all the time.
Ah that makes sense for the national events etc nixie. In the ideal world everyone would be using the same device and the field would be more fair that way.
I think there’s two ways to look at it.
1) If zwift race fairness and results and are important to you then use the Kickr power reading (although you’ll likely be racing against others with wild one sided power readings etc so I don’t think the field is even or fair in most zwift events anyway).
2) If consistent training figures are important and you train indoor and outdoor then use the pedals.
I used to have a one sided stages that would read about 30w higher than my current pedals. Whilst they would clearly give me an unfair advantage in zwift the fact that I could train indoor and outdoor with one set of numbers was more important to me so I used the stages. Fortunately my Assioma’s and Wattbike are pretty closely matched now so I could use either in zwift but I’ve just got into the habit of swapping the pedals over as it only takes a moment and things are completely consistent that way.
(I used to have a kickr and 3 stages across different bikes and training was a nightmare with so much inconsistency between them. I simply use my Assioma’s on everything now. Its great that I can swap SPD pedal bodies onto them too so I can use them on the MTB as well).
@crossed It’s probably worth doing a comparison between the two and making a decision based on what is more important to you.
I've just got some of the garmin rally xc pedals too....
(Dual sided) to measure when xc racing and gravel riding...
I've a l sided pm but tbh, it's gone shonky recently, and I think it's leading to skewed training data 🤷♂️
For zwift I just use the tacx neo 2t for power/control... it's meant to be very accurate
DrP
I think the main takeaway point is if your pedals and trainer measure the same then it doesn’t really matter either way. You won’t know unless you do a side by side comparison though.
I’ve been in the Wattbike FB groups for a while and some of the inconsistencies between side by side Wattbikes is quite alarming! Wattbikes official response is that they’re calibrated to be consistent within themselves rather than accurate against one another and I think that’s a similar approach adopted by the other big manufactures but obviously not something they shout about. Explains the parc ferme conditions at the zwift champs etc as they will be calibrated to be consistent with each other.
Outdoor is where it all counts anyway 😃 indoor we’re just staring at pixels going nowhere.
I think the main takeaway point is if your pedals and trainer measure the same then it doesn’t really matter either way.
Not strictly true, though Zwift remain cagey, one reason is that the way PMs measure power is often different to trainers and are therefore more susceptible to sticky watts. I believe with certain pedals it's surprisingly easy to do it by accident so expect that's one of the reasons that the regs at the higher level require it. How much it matters elsewhere is debatable, personally I ask all the folk in our club to set trainer to primary for races like ZRL where riders can and do get reported for things like sticky watts, so it just gives me one less thing to worry about since the issues go to manager first before riders.
I’ve not heard of sticky watts before. Looks like an interesting read. I’ve had a glance through it though and it appears that it may only happen when you stop pedalling quickly.
It sounds like something you may be able to exploit for a small advantage if you’re aware of it. I’d imagine for most users though, me included, that it’s a non-issue. I start pedalling when I get on Zwift and stop when I get off it! I’m sure the people exploiting it are probably those that weigh 10kg less in zwift than the real world but that’s another can of worms.
Sudden stops is not the only way for it too occur but it is the most common exploit. Some turbos are also susceptible. A lot won't even realise it occurs (I didn't till a teammate showed me the data from it). Now I know what to look for it is quite common. The exploiters are obvious.
It would be interesting to know how much you could actually influence a race result with sticky watts. My old Kickr occasionally gave me a 2,000w boost for a few seconds which was entertaining.
I don’t think either option is perfect but they’re pretty close in the grand scheme of things as as good as we’re going to get until the technology improves.
It would be interesting to know how much you could actually influence a race result with sticky watts.
Significantly I reckon. It's surprisingly easy to do and if done right can give a good boost, if you look at the power graphs or in game footage of someone riding off with a stupid stop start cadence, you can see the benefit.
Yeah it can be significant. Enough for a realistically 4.5 wpkg A to win events stacked with decent A+ riders.
Dont forget there is a post work sprint race tonight and Sunday Hills as well! Sign up via the links below.
Friday 10th December
Friday Post-Work Sprint Race – 16:30 – 2 Laps of the Innsbruckring (this is in Zwiftpower as a race)
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505232
Sunday 12th December
Sunday Hills – 08:00 – Triple Loops
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/view/2505216
I’m going for the Mega Pretzel badge tomorrow if anyone wants a meetup. Starting early about 7-8am. Pace will be a steady 200w which is around 2.6w/kg for me.