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Well I've not fallen asleep like this time last week, helped by being on the late shift, with an alarm at 0700 instead of 0450! 😆
I've even been organised to make and eat dinner early for myself in the last ~30mins, albeit I made way too much, but scoffed the lot down and now feel absolutely bloated.
All I know is that if I make the start line tonight, I won't be challenging my Feb lap time around here from a Tour De Zwift stage 6, my best 20mins power of the year while being part of a swift moving blob... While being a good deal lighter than I am now.
Have a good one tonight all! Wish I could be there but will be late home. I'm looking forward to reading the banter afterwards, so make sure you give good race reports for us that can't be there.
Whoops! Been too busy to look at my front mech & lost chain from last week.
Tempted to stick my other road bike one, but that means calibrating & all that faff.
Arse Biscuits.....it never used to be this complicated 🙂
At least I should have the warm-up to test it out and [s]improve things[/s] cock it right up...
@stumpy01 didnt you win a nice set of bike cleaning stuff to keep your bikes in tip top condition?
click here for topless STWers in YOUR area....
Live streaming to YouTube... can't figure out how to schedule, so it's running now!
Just warming up!
DrP
robbo1234biking
@stumpy01 didnt you win a nice set of bike cleaning stuff to keep your bikes in tip top condition?
Yeah, it looks like it!! I haven't received an email though which it says I should have done. I dropped STW an email to see if I missed it somehow!
I had a really stressful day of work today, so that was a great surprise and perked me up, no end...
Just warming up
Aren't you about an hour early?
It worked for him last week.
Meh... early bird etc etc
Sometimes I like to tuck my knees up to my chest, grab them tight and lean forwards...
Hey.. that's just how I roll...
DrP
Very Milton Jones
Argh. Invite gone. Any chance on reinvite Robby?
Sorry
I was trying to log in to watch the action unfold and maybe provide a 2nd rate version of Carlton Kirby's commentary but there seems to be an issue logging in so anyone actually racing should probably try and get sorted ASAP otherwise there could be issues with people missing the start.
I can see the event but can’t enter.... zwift!
Just sent you the link. Sign up through that
Thanks Robbo. I’m in.
Enjoy fellas!
Just been getting some tips from Sagan 2015 on YouTube 😀
Well thats annoying and new - crashed in the middle of a race restarted and did an update. Thats my C class GC hopes gone!
I passed you as you froze robbo, then had a Bluetooth drop out and nearly made myself vomit before giving up as DNF. Looked to be a few crawling on the climbs too, maybe a high rate of attrition!
Crash mid race must be annoying!
Started more gently this time, happy in the group. Trainer dropped out so DNF too rather than kill myself trying to catch up.
My trainer dropped out too at exactly 1 lap marker. Typically when feeling good.
Ooh... that was interesting!
Less constant power this race.. more cruise... sprint...cruise... climb...
I just didn't have enough legs to keep up on the last set of climbs and lost Phil etc through the arch...
Annoying how a few seconds leads to a 30 second gap when you're riding on your own!
Bravo
DrP
Oww, my legs.
Enjoyed that, thanks for towing me round people.
I shouldn't have raced. Dodgy guts caught up with me. Now feel even more like crap. Desperately trying to keep the gap down at the end while surfing the sickness borderline.
Sounds like a few dropout issues this week...annoying.
I had a good race. Started well enough to get into a group ahead of my nearest rivals. I was able to last a lap with that group then went solo for the last lap trying my best not to drop too much time.
I couldn't work out what was going on behind me exactly as K Stumpy and J imdoubleyou times kept fluctuating by 1 min or so between themselves. Probably just a zwift error but I hope the gap was the bigger of the times that kept flashing up 😉
My trainer sounds like a playing card stuck in the spokes, (Tacx Flow). It's done this before and seemed to fix itself. I'll take a look at it when I've dampened the urge to introduce it to Mr Sledgehammer.
Overall it went OK for me - I needed to get with the front group over the first set of hills without @kirky72 if I was to have any chance of making up his for his minute handicap and it was touch and go all around the second lap has he manfully hung on at about 50 seconds deficit until the last couple of hills.
I just didn’t have enough legs to keep up on the last set of climbs
@DrP I think the only difference between you and I on that final climb is I was very lucky to have a feather and it just let me cling onto Paino as got to the arch. You spend an incredible amount of time on the front powering the group around - you deserve bonus points for that!
Sorry to hear you were ill @nixie - there had to be some reason for you not being on the pointy end fighting for the finish with Phil.
Thanks again for another great event @robbo1234biking
Wow... Found that a lot harder than it should have been for the second race in a row. Either I'm getting slower or you lot are getting much faster 😂. Was glad to get swamped by the second group in the end for a bit of drafting respite, and then ended up in a small breakaway group with Mr Nedeh and Drysdale, who me honest right to the very end. Great racing but totally wrecked now.
That was a disaster. My pedal started to wobble as we approached the first climb, and sheared straight off the crank half way up. It was probably a bit stupid to keep riding as long as that (maybe "new chainset" stupid)... Sorry @kirky72 and @mahowlett if you were stranded the wrong side of the gap I let open...
After I accepted that the pedal wasn't going back on and finished having a paddy I went back into the game and tried to record the finale for a few groups - I got some footage including @phil56 pulling away from @paino and @j-r (great ride btw), @kirky72 sprinting around @mahowlett at the finish and @slowpuncheur leaving behind @v7fmp and @mossimus. I'll try and find a way to share it.
Thanks @robbo1234biking for yet another great event. My strategy next week is to get to the finish line with me and my equipment in working condition.
I think one of you has my ass. Could you hand it to me please?
Sorry to hear you're not feeling so clever nixie.
Much better for me than last week, felt pretty reasonable but my legs were empty, couldn't seem to turn the pedals fast enough.
Lost the front group on the first sprint, barely managed to hit 600w let alone hold it so ended up watching everyone disappear off into the sunset.
Spent most of the rest of the race ticking along with a few folks (ta for the tow) but couldn't seem to muster it on the hills and everyone rode away from me on the last climb.
Ah well. I guess all that cheese and beer combined with very little pedaling had taken its toll since summer. Still feels like a positive after last week.
(edit: well despite feeling like that was very disappointing I've got 4 pbs on that. Guess it's not a course I like then!)
Enjoyed that, first Zwift race since last winter, so just sat in the group for 90% of it waiting for it to kick off 😅
Knew I wouldn't have the pace if it went to a sprint, so just chanced my luck on the last hills.
Well, my usual tactic of pedal like mad to hold on to a group failed this week. Or at least I failed to execute it properly!
Good ride round in the end with a few folks.
Well, that was interesting... Decided not to even bother trying to stay with the keenies in the front group from the start (which is why I’ll never be a racer) so after about eight seconds found myself with a good bunch of folks and rode around for a couple of laps, mostly with other people. That’s how it’s meant to go, right? 🙂
ANT+ pairing to my bike gear failed just before race start, by luck Bluetooth paired Direto, perhaps through Zwift Companion bridge. Don't know if it was a USB extension or ANT+ dongle fail or just a random spare of the moment fail... All worked last time I used it ~2 weeks ago.
A few mins after the race start, I managed to get my Lezyne GPS recording power and cadence from Direto, plus heart rate monitor, all on ANT+. If you want me to find a way of uploading this Lezyne backup for the hrm data, let me know.
Found that very tough, almost certainly the hardest ~55mins I've done since before October.
Thanks again Robbo. Wasn’t feeling very with it this week and hoped to just ride and have a go at the sprints, which I did but the power up gods haven’t been kind. All fun though and thanks to those who dragged me round with them.
Enjoyed that, not quite as intense as last week but still almost vomiting
1st lap got into a good little group including chipps, up until the climbs, where I was dropped like a particularly slippery bar of soap. When I got to the start finish I was in no-mans-land about 8secs behind OGG and DFee and the same in front of J Antram - it was an easy decision to sit up a bit and wait for J Antram, as I was goosed. We worked together until the climbs and I managed to pull clear up the second short steep bugger and hold it until the line.
Cheers all top entertainment once again
That course is a ****er, but I felt ok tonight. HR monitor wouldn't pair tonight so maybe not having the HR in the corner didn't make me think "oh Eck, I'm redlining, better chill out" so I kept on it.
Anyway, as it always goes I got to play with the big boys until my mum (the first climb) called me in for a bath. Toddled over the climbs with a few folk and then Crazyharry came hooning past up the last wee bit, so I dug deep and managed to snag a wheel, bringing Drysdale with. We cruised in a 3 for the next lap, with Crazyharry, the TT machine, pulling us along at a fairly constant 3.6w/kg. We didn't make much time on those in front but cleared a bigger gap behind. When we got back around to the climbs the other 2 flew off and left me to race myself. Managed to just about hold off the chasing group, which I was pleased about.
Cheers Robbo 😁
It was quiet at the back.
Wow. That was...attritional. It's a tough course but a shame it was hard on some people's wifi/hardware! I count 13 DNFs (31 finishers from 44 in the starting pen).
I gunned the start and stayed with a fairly big (20ish) lead group until the first sprint when the fast lads buggered off and I was left to cruise with 5 or 6 others for a lap. The first set of hills split us and I was with @drew until we swept up a few more including @dangeourbrain and @garrylager. We picked up @mossimus and @v7fmp and the three of us ended up together and had a good scrap to the last hill when I eaked out a lead thanks to a feather. I've got to say the PU gods were smiling on me tonight. I hope I haven't used up my luck ahead of next week...
Well that went ok. Tried to keep up with a faster group than usual but they all left me on the first climb. Then toggled with RM for a While. Top tip, don't put your laptop on the floor right under where your hands are dripping sweat. Mine kept landing in the mouse pad and was causing me to wave at everyone for a few minutes, gave me the right giggles 😆
That was eventful! Probably spent more time watching everyone else’s power output on the sprints. I didn’t have it in me to sprint on lap 2 so watched in hope that Gary didn’t take the second sprint, then @Nixie stormed it, despite dodgy guts!
For me it was all about getting to the flat section after the first climb so I could draft the fast group. The gaps quickly opened up behind us. Didn’t quite know how the split happened in the last few km but great work again from @j-r who I’m surprised didn’t pass me at the banner!
Well another good race. I had a crash after 12 minutes so watched DrP and Nixie’s feeds for the rest of the race. I have got screenshots from Brian for the sprints but they match to the Zwiftpower data so I am fairly confident in the results.
So onto the results:
Cat A:
1. benman
2. Phil56
3. DrP
Cat B:
1. Paino
2. J-R
3. Kirky72
Cat C:
1. V7mfp
2. drew
3. Ogg
Cat D:
1. Jimdoubleyou
2. Whirld
Sprint 1 Top 5
1. Garry Lager
2. Paino
3. Oblongbob
4. Nixie
5. Ogg
Sprint 2 Top 5
1. Nixie
2. Paino
3. Garry Lager
4. Oblongbob
5. Kirky72
And the overall race winner with handicaps applied:
1. drew
2. v7mfp
3. J-R
With the sprint points added the top 3 for the series is as follows:
1. J-R (209)
2. Kirky72 (201)
3. V7mfp (196)
Green Jersey Race
1. Paino (54)
2. Garry Lager (46)
3. Nixie (39)
Congratulations to Paino on winning the inaugural STW Zwift Green Jersey!
The standings are close for the final race. Kirky took 1 point on the sprint which could yet come into play! Don’t forget the series points are decided on the best 5 results so it could all change next week (all to play for).
Link to the full results: These are provisional in case I cocked anything up. Let me know if I did!
Onto the final stage and the Queen stage next week which is a shortened version of Quatch Quest taking in the Titans Grove KOM and finishing on the summit of the Epic KOM (but not including the Radio Tower – I am not that evil!).
For those interested there is a TTT on a Thursday evening. I would strongly reccomend you to get involved if you can. Its a great event.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/zwift-team-time-trial-thursday/page/20/#post-11460181
oh yeah, power ups were rubbish tonight - sweating over the first climb - please be a feather, please be a feather.. oh crap more XP again!
Much better for me this week. Managed to hang on to a small group at the back for the first 10k, before the hills kicked in.
I very happily received prizes for coming last in the first series this wkend. Singletrack has been very generous and sent me a t-shirt, bobble hat, Chamois cream and some stickers!
Thanks again Robbo for organising everything and Singletrack for being so generous.
That’s how it’s meant to go, right? 🙂
@chipps the important thing is whether you or @Mark are having to pay for this week's STW Towers drink beer at your desk Friday. Given lockdown means you're likely working from a home desk I imagine this is also significantly more costly than an office bound one.
Hey @Robbo1234biking. Thanks again and sorry to see you stranded on the roadside. What a pain.
That was hard going rode lap and a half on my own stumpy 30 secs behind and a group nearly 2mins in front.
cheers Robbo, for organising perhaps do this course in reverse next time.
That was fun (well, type 2 fun). Thanks to crazyharry and andeh for the tow (mainly CH)! I just didn’t have the legs or lungs to do much on the front, sorry. Also thanks for not sprinting on the second lap - I think that would have finished me off! Andeh, I was sure you were going to catch me on the final climb - but I managed to just keep enough gap to the line. CH was just storming off into the distance.
Next week is going to be brutal for me and my mass! Just glad we don’t have the radio tower to do. Though I’m down to sub 90kg now, so I need to update my stats. I also really need to do a ramp test as I’m realising my claimed FTP is clearly well and truly out of date!
Thanks again Robbo!!
@slowpuncheur, think I was knocking around the same sort of group as you guys - P.Liddington on Zwift.
I was marking v7mfp before the drop out. Was going to go for the GC win but that isnt going to happen now! These things happen. At least my pedal didn't fall off. I pedalled like mad for 1 minute hoping that it was going to somehow come back to life but realised it was time to call it!
Congrats @paino on winning the sprint comp, and wd everyone who threw in some hard digs - made it a fun (if somewhat sickening) thing to contest in the races.
I tried again second lap but couldn't get in contention - impressive effort @nixie to take that deep in the race.
@funkybaj. Yep, it was a good group with everyone taking a turn. You seemed strong but the group just seemed to whittle down bit by bit. Those hills man.
well done all of you - I bloody HATE that course !
Got home from work early, just in time to boot up zwift and get my avatar in the pen with 5 seconds before the start. Then got the gamebar thing going and have an hour of race footage - tried to cover everybody, though I missed a few key points of course
Once I work out how, I'll upload it somewhere - it's a big file though (5Gigs) so not sure where or how. If anyone has any tips, ...
(oh, and Mark had the nicest bike, by miles !)
I enjoyed that one, had a look at the course beforehand which helped with when to start putting the power in on the climbs with my dumb trainer so I didn't get dropped too much. Big effort on the first lap to keep with the front 12 paid off for me and ended up in a nice group of 5 after lap 1. We slowly put more time into the chasing group then @kirky72 and @mahowlett shot off on the first climb of the second lap. That left 3 of us riding to the line and I luckily got an aero PU to use to sprint for the line. The only mistake I made tonight was my pre-race snack of super noodles, crisps and chocolate; defiantly not recommended!
Lots of issues tonight for people, just a thought, anyone got their xmas lights on? I remember xmas lights used to interfere with wi-fi (don't know if that's still the case).
Congrats to the winners and @paino for the green jersey.
retrorick
I couldn’t work out what was going on behind me exactly as K Stumpy and J imdoubleyou times kept fluctuating by 1 min or so between themselves.
Jimdoubleyou and I stuck together in a small group until the descent on the first lap when he shot off. Took me pretty much all of my effort to catch him on the hills, then hung on until the second lap hills when he battered me 😁
Crossed the line barely able to turn the pedals!
Crazy start again. I rather stupidly tried to mount a break not long after the frantic watt fest had died down. just to thin down what was a massive group at the time but none of big guns followed on so of course it didn't stick.
seemed to offer myself up yet again as lead in for the first sprint.
was crazy hard trying to keep up with the fast and lighter lads up the climbs, managed just about on the first one but got separated on the second and gradually wound in a few up the last drag to form a group with. bloody needed it as the climb almost today drained me.
We worked together nicely as a group and gradually increased the gap behind a touch whilst keeping it to 45/50 seconds to the lead group. like JR i had one eye one his position and time, yet again he did amazing to stick with nixie and Phil in the lead pack.
our group crested the first switch back section together. I then made the massive mistake, probably caused by oxygen starvation to the brain, of thinking the arch on the next bit of a climb was the finish.
I drafter the group on the down slope leading into it, dropped a feather and sprinted Sagan style up the climb totally emptying the tank and opening a 8 second gap on the others. Elation turned to despair when I powered through the arch and realised the error.
thank god there was a stretch of downhill to recover before the final drag. unfortunately I was now stranded on my own and knackered so some time and vitally at least the one second that separated me from JR after handicap.
matt caught me and we had a very tired on off sprint switching positions a couple of times before I edged over the line.
Great race again, I'm going to try and keep fresher for the final race.
shame so many seemed to have issues tonight.
Well done Paino, consistently awesome sprinting along with the actual racing.
well done JR on stretching out the lead, I tipped you to win overall tonight and expect pretty much the same next week. you just won't be shaken off the pack you bugger.
shit sorry that was so long. Think I could have done the uber pretzel in the time I typed that. mobile and no glasses is a recipe for disaster typo wise.
Yes congratulations @paino.
@Garry_Lager I'd been cruising the whole first lap to try and settle so had the reserve to try on lap 2. That second effort was enough for stomach to say enough. Was annoyed not to be close to you two in the first sprint.
If anyone wants to relive the pleasure:
(flips between groups a lot and I found that when you follow a rider right to the finish you get booted out of the race view but worked that out "fairly" quickly)
^^^ that's my pink butt on that pink Trek in that shot...
😆
just to echo others, well done to everyone and the sprinters. I cant fathom putting such a big effort in multiple times a race and still hold on! Kudos!
I had an OK race. First lap was pretty decent, held onto a fast group (sorry, cant remember names), but then got dropped on the last climb, which left me on my own. Tried to keep in front of the chasing pack, but they eventually caught me. Then it was a case of working together to get round, which we did well, until it splintered on the final climb. Hard to chase a wheel when your eyes are bleeding!!
@robbo1234biking I knew we were fighting for GC victory so was pleased when I managed to pull away a little on the first lap (when you announced your legs were dead). Unbeknown to me you dropped out, so when the pack behind was catching, I assumed you were in it, so tried my hardest to stay ahead. It the kindest possible way, it was a relief when I realised you weren't there!
I take it the GC is for all races, it wouldn't work if we dropped a result? (PS, what does GC stand for??!?)
GC is general classification. It is taken from the Grand Tours as the quickest possible time over the whole route (or 6 stages in this case). You need to complete all 6 stages for the GC so I think you have a good lead over 2nd place now!
well there goes my hope of sitting out the last race!! 😀
Thanks Scaredypants, it's fun to see what was going on with other groups and also the ones I rode with. It's amazing how quickly those gaps can go out when a rider or two drops away.
Thanks Scardypants. All that was missing was the breathless excitement of Nathan Guerra's voice calling the race. I've got to say the avatars need to be more realistic though. Mine had an implacable face of calm up that last hill but in reality it was a gurning sweating bright red mess. Not quite eyes bleeding though @v7fmp ;). I enjoyed our little scrap at the end again.
@v7fmp you don’t want to miss out the last race, as things stand and your worst result is eliminated (5 from 6) along with myself there would only be 5 or 6 points separating jr, me and you.
On second thoughts yes give it a miss, it’s a horrible climb up the epic and you don’t want to be racing up that at the pointy end of a race.😀
@slowpuncheur its becoming a habit! Once again you did the business on me (oo-er).
@kirky72 you make a bloody good point. ill be there, a top 3 finish would be amazing on a personal level. Fingers crossed the top 3 or so get gifted a sick bikes frame and a catapult to send it into orbit.
Its a shame we cant have a live group chat, add an element of phycological torment into the mix 😀
We could have discord going?
Or not...!
DrP
I'm not going to do any more racing this week in a hope I can recover sufficiently to keep the GC lead next week. Its mighty close. Even pulled out of the ttt tomorrow.
@DrP I thought from your other thread there was enough discord in your life already?
My race went better than last week when my link crashed after 1km. This time I got across the start line and immediately pulled out of my SPD, despite having done a ten minute warm up in them. I blame these new fangled start pen launches! The couple of seconds of realisation and clipping back in was enough to be detached from the megawatt blob ahead. I made my way forward a bit and settled into a good sized group that lasted until the first climbs when everything fractured. Thereafter, I found myself with @Chipps and @Straightliner, both of whom had more appetite for energised sprints and climbs than I could muster. The trio came together each time until the final climb series where first Chipps and then Straightliner left me choking on their dust. A feather on the last climb was enough to limit the losses and keep me ahead of the chasing pair behind.
Another great race and a further learning opportunity- though not sure what I can apply to the Queen Stage, other than checking my pedals and offering a small prayer & sacrifice to the connection gods.
Thanks to crazyharry and andeh for the tow
I was desperate for someone to take over the lead at one point and was poking the little 'elbow' button on the Zwift Companion in the hope that someone else would take over the lead of our group but @andeh and @Oblongbob weren't responding to my kind invitation.
Also thanks for not sprinting on the second lap
That was me sprinting (on tired legs)... clearly I am not that impressive!
That was me sprinting (on tired legs)…
I was very surprised to see it was you you when we did catch you. I was temporarily pleased thinking you and I could maybe show a pair of heels to the small group but we didn't manage to get properly clear. I don't actually recall where I lost you though I assume it was on the cobbles first time out when I just couldn't turn the pedals fast enough to keep moving forward.
but @andeh and @Oblongbob weren’t responding to my kind invitation
Oh man, I wasn't paying any kind of attention, for the most part I was only just about clinging on. Sorry about that 😬
Well @scaredypants beat me to it, but I have some videos of last night. I got back into zwift a bit late, so it's all towards the finish, and I tried to catch groups where there might be some action, so I have nothing on @benman flying along lonely at the front.
But here's @phil56, @paino and @j-r settling the race for 2nd up Governor Street and into the neverending drag to the end:
Then came @kirky72 (who "has no sprint") coming around @mahowlett in the sprint for 7th place (@scaredypants helicopter view of this is a belter):
And (this is my favourite I think) here's @slowpuncheur pulling away from @mossimus and @v7fmp and THEN dropping a feather to seal it, ending up with an 8 second gain on the road...and overhauling @yanboss by exactly that margin in the handicap results as well:
that last climb felt like it went on forever. I was so done by then, so couldn't do anything other than watch slow & moss pull away. But still fully aware there was a group closing in behind. So much to think about!
Something oddly satisfying to see yourself riding/racing!
You just need to be able to adjust your avatar more like you could on a wii! It’s nice that they think that the heavy riders are all muscle but my avatar definitely has bigger biceps than I do!
Thanks @savoyad. That ^ may not look much but it is my favourite thing on the internet right now. Trust me, it felt far more frantic than my avatar suggests.