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Shortest retirement ever
Very [ageing] rock star though.
I also don’t look forward to flat races, but it looks like there may be a nice little bunch made up of us lightweight guys, once we get spat out the back!
Urrgh I do not feel good today. Lots of wake-ups from the little one in the night mixed with a cold.
Nixie, best be careful with tonight’s race. Maybe just treat it as a z3 workout for an hour....so cruise around at 270 watts towing me at 250! That’ll be almost pleasant for us both!
I always found this was the issue with November/December races.. it wasn't "am I fit" but "am I well "...
Often I'd forgo a brass monkey race cos I developed a cough and cold the week before!
Heal up dude...
DrP
So it will be a ROLLING START tonight. Spawn point seems to be on the Mall so race until the distance is up (it is just flat laps but the endurance will be the key tonight). Sprint points available on the Mall and you will get 3 opportunities to improve on this.
Nixie, best be careful with tonight’s race.
I can pretend that's going to happen but the reality is I'll just get caught in the race mist at some point. Going to need to be a case of race smart.
I'm currently torn between the 1:35pm Crit City and tonights long one.. Long arguably would make more sense... but i can see a chunk of it being a solo TT if i do, i can see me getting dumped on the underpass.
Other crazy option is to do the Crit and then tonights as wingman for my mate Figg.
@Weeksy, tonight's race is as near as you will get to your kind of race, being nearly flat it's the best option you have for your strengths this series. Just jump on and see how you go, I'm sure you will be faster than me on the flat as I never do any type of crit racing and struggle to keep the endurance going on a long flat race.
Only difficulty on this one will be the length of the race at speed...fast start, grab a group and hold on!!
Yeah i'll have a go...
Long and flat isn't my forte. Shorter and flatter usually. But i'm hoping i can hang in with a group for a while anyhow. My form isn't perfect, my fitness is worse and my fatigue is high... There's all the excuses out in one go.
I'm feeling a little more optimistic after my PT session. Did more than last week and completed the reps I failed then so hopefully I just feel rough rather than being too rough.
Been meaning to ask (for a friend, obviously....) - how does the 'draft boost' power-up work? It's the one that looks like a van.
Does it give you a draft effect when you are not actually in a draft, or does it increase the power of a draft, but you have to be drafting for it to do anything.
I'm never sure - it doesn't seem to make much difference when I use it.
Not that it'll matter - I generally seem to get +10XP, rather than a power-up most of the time.
YOu have to be in a draft for it to be effective.
It increases the benefit of the draft, and only works when you drafting. So it's not necessarily dramatic - makes it slightly easier for you to stay in the group you are in or on the wheel you are on - but it should provide some relief by giving you a moment to ride at a slightly lower power than you'd otherwise need. Basically it turns you into @zilog6128 but only for 30 seconds.
Any hints / tips / etiquette pointers for a rolling start? I did my first race with the STW glitterati last week which was a standing start. From reading bits of the thread, I guess I join the group a few minutes ahead of the start time Then when everyone is present we start rolling behind Robbo and when he is satisfied everybody is blobbed up close behind him, the instruction is given go, go, go. Is that about right?
standard procedure is: balls it up, get dropped, come on here crying about how unfair life is 🤣Any hints / tips / etiquette pointers for a rolling start?
YOu have to be in a draft for it to be effective.
I never knew this... I thought it just 'gave you a draft'.. interesting!
I can see a few FTPs being increased tonight!
DrP
@zilog6128 proper lol! 😉
@Burger basically yes that is it, it's not perfect and some will be left for dead, others will be off in front too early, hence the weekly "discussions"...
I was also convinced that the van power up gave you a draft as well, even when solo.
@Burger that is pretty much it. I try and go very slowly but than can be quicker than I like due to the draft effect of 40 plus people. Just try and get close to the yellow banner thing over my head and when I say go pedal like mad. I try to get everyone into a radius around me before I say go go go. Sometimes someone will be off the back - I try to let them re-join but I would say when I have about 95% into the blob I will say go.
I need to find some energy/inspiration for tonight. I also need to put a bit of time into people as I bumped my FTP after last week!
Cheers gents. I'll start polishing my excuses right away.
Van draft I think gives a boost in the draft to the level you get in a double draft race (though what it gives in a DD race I have no idea). Only the aero gives you a boost out of anyone's draft. The draft boost is useful in a sprint to stay on a wheel while conserving enough energy to boost past. You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front :|.
ooh..here's a thought Robbo... Can you make a fence/elastic band for the session.. have it on at the start so we all get rolling and stay close, then you can loose the fence/band on the 'go go go'..
Of course, I've no actual idea if this is how the fence works, or is possible to do...!!!
DrP
I think the fence is only for "official" zwift events...no?
The rubber band is only cancelled if you quit the meetup, which will also be a problem, I'm not sure you have the ability to just switch it on and off.
Here is is from Zwift insider...
Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing by 50% for 30 seconds. In a double draft event, this powerup will give you 3x the standard draft effect.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.)
Well every day is a school day and I've been using it wrong all this time...
Nice!
You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front
That's me!! 😉
DrP
EDIT - well, not any more from today, obvs...!
If you have someone drafting you using it then it is often nice to give them a 'hand' by dropping behind them :D.
I have been using it wrong as well. I would go to the front and then use it thinking I was helping everyone out or try and use it for a break! Thanks for the lesson!
Once moving plenty of the flatter races last series felt like elastic band was on already.
Oddly it's always seemed the group split much more readily when we were supposed to be forming up then when you were actually trying to break it up.
Stream for tonight should be here:
I see @paino has done a short warmup for tonight with the Mega Pretzel...
Seems neither more nor less sensible than doing it at any other time robbo.
Umm, yeah. Best use of an all day ‘Teams’ meeting ever. Couldn’t tell you a word of what was being said. The main thing was I didn’t have to put the camera on.
Think I may have ruined any chance I had of a decent finish tonight, so if anyone wants wants a distinctively average wheel to ride on, feel free.
Edit-I think I may be last. Is there a wooden spoon option?
You see so many people wasting the van draft when off the front
I assumed that was because the rest of the group saw the powerup being used, so immediately eased off to force the drafter out in front. I now see they were not quite so mean as I thought.
I'm currently debating what way to play things with Zwift itself tonight.
It seems as though when running on Android my 10th gear (the only one i'll use on this course) is a bit more spinny than 10th on Ant+. That can at times have benefits or downsides... However, Ant+ gives me a HRM as well which i can't have on Android... Which sometimes is a good thing, sometimes a bad one !
I have my heart rate on, but never look at it or worry about it, I'll know if I've gone too fast for too long by my breathing 😉
The breathing thing is a weird one, sometimes i can settle in at 170+bpm and feel OK, sometimes i can struggle a bit at 165.... I'll be trying to focus on getting 168 if i go with the HRM. But that little 3% drag after the underpass often kills me. That's where i really need to focus my attention on with you, Robbo etc. I'll be able to sit on the flat mostly, but them little bits, i need to dig deep if i'm to stay in the melting pot.
Well, I thought the draft boost question was a stupid one, but evidently not, given how many other people were using it incorrectly....erm, just like my friend...
Don't look at my heart rate at all as it doesn't seem to relate to my pain level. However, if I forget to take my Garmin instinct off and race, it has a fit and thinks I have an abnormal heartrate
The truck thing I'd been using wrong too, mostly seem to get an empty circle though. Always want a feather.
That prob explains why you thought I was bluffing last week weeksy. I dropped behind you when you had a draft as I thought it would help then when it finished I went in front and used mine - so basically I wasted both of our drafts when I thought that was the best tactic! Shame you can’t get burritos in meet ups.
Lol Zilog for the win tonight! I've just been looking at handicap
Hey Weeksy, I'll pace you up the underpass if you pull me around the flat! This isn't my parcours tonight (not sure what is?). Juts hope it doesn't turn into an ITT.
Ghost would be pretty cool in meetups as well.
Ghost would be pretty cool in meetups as well.
Letting your laptop battery go flat is apparently a good approximation.
I’ll pace you up the underpass if you pull me around the flat!
I'm hoping my Zwift race skills will help me, the only time I'm hitting the front is when I've made a mistake. I'll be hiding as much as possible
Letting your laptop battery go flat is apparently a good approximation.
Internet dropouts do it as well :D.
Wtrl series is in London tonight - hope the servers are stable! We are in meet-up only view so shouldn’t affect us too much. Will be busy in there though!
the last few days on zwift have been pretty poor actually - I did a solo ride in 'open world' and people were dropping in and out like crazy! 2 min on my own for a bit..then busy again.
One dude got understandably angry in the comments and left a group ride!
Hope it holds out.
DrP - getting bloody nervous again!
There's already 27,000 people on there. I'll try and get on in good time to save any disaster's.
Almost 30k now!
Sadly going to have to miss tonight's event. Moved house over the weekend and still trying to find everything. Also not got any internet yet 😟. Have fun and happy racing.
Well that didnt last long. Drop outs, so dropped out.
Justgot in from work & watching
looks like phil's had the same - or he's fallen off
SHame jamesoz, you've some power as I remember
Damn you Zwift - how hard is to have a button that says 'join this ride that I see you are going to, that is starting in 15 mins'.
Riding around hoping its going to appear, then 15 mins of logging in/out, restart, go/don't go, made to the event with 3 mins to go (all warmup time gone), managed to ride the go wave, yay, but then dumped out after 15 mins.
I hope Veloton eat all their lunch.
nixie 20 sec off the front and going hard. Paino doing a lot of pulling in the chase group of 5 - either feeling very strong or shortly to be mugged
LOL - 1st attempted robbery as I typed that !
now that's weird, watching a sprint finish without being able to see the line 🙂
Finally started fast enough! I like the flat
That was horrendous. Well done John K and guys in front group. Tried to bridge over to you but just couldn’t make it, got to two seconds but no way could I continue.
Sorry @w00dster I upped the pace at that point and left you in no man's land as I didn't want the second group to come back with you.
That was quality tonight. Got a 12 watt increase to my ftp too
Managed to hold on to some Cs all the way round so happy with that.
Also seem to have developed a medium sized lake under the turbo. Ew...
That was guuuud.... in a type 2 fun kinda way! Pretty much dead on ftp for the hour.. looking at the stats my hr was 178 for 80% of the race.. going to 182 for the last portion....
Good strong effort from Nixie and the breakaway gang!
I tried a sprint with 400m to go... I should learn I can only manage about 300m of proper sprint! Doh!
12th overall across line... will see where handicaps put me...
DrP
@scaredypants I was amazed to even be in that group at all given the earlier warm up 🤣. Damage limitation to Nixie if anything!
How did the sprint go? I know I was top after lap 2, but that Lager boy has got legs till the last lap??
Oh, and massive thanks to @yanboss for pulling me back to the lead group on 2 occasions when I missed the split!
Cheers to @slowpuncheur for dragging me around the last 7km, I could have give up at any moment, but kept getting some kind of 2nd wind!
I just about managed to hold on to what I think was the 3rd group on the road. The difference in speed between the group I was clinging on to and those who didn't quite hold the wheel was huge - there was no way you could pull that back.
I crossed the line at the back of the strung out group but with nothing else left in the legs. No thoughts of tactics or anything tonight, cling on for grim death and cling on tighter on the rises was as much as I could do.
A hard race for me. Glad I managed to stay in the group near the back. Thanks to the rest of the group for helping out 👍👍
You won the sprint @paino (unless someone at the back threw down a huge dig in the last lap), well done.
If Id got a powerup I would have tried again last lap, but didn't fancy it bare - first two laps took their toll.
ITT for me after a couple of drop outs in the first km think it was my end though. I couldn't find the usb extension cable so the dongle was at the laptop. It seemed to drop on the big efforts throughout the ride.
But TBH I'm pretty stoked I wasn't lapped, every cloud an all that.
I'll be better prepared next week, with a whole 7 days to think up a different excuse 🙂
I was waiting for someone in our group to go so was trying to conserve energy on the last lap. Think we were all doing the same.
I had more to give but didn't fancy a solo TT to real in Paul and Giggsy, plus I knew they both had time on me in the handicap so a few seconds wouldn't make a difference. I was keeping an eye on Ivan and Robbo as I knew they were near rivals.
We pulled a fair gap to the next one behind...around 4 minutes so we must have been motoring but it didn't feel like it.
That first lap was tasty and I was a bit worried it would continue at that speed but once the ultras left it settled down 🤣🤣
Great race all and well done to our group
Ouch, only a few watts below FTP with an IF of 1.05
Was expecting big attacks in the underpass but no. Well done @nixie how many times did you have to attack before it stuck? Long old TT for you at the end.
Just about hung onto lead group, spent last half of race getting a tow from @paino , cheers for that.
Race started ok, first lap I was in the big group until bang bang bang, the splits appeared and I was on the wrong side of one.
Waited for Figg who was flying! But when he bailed I cruised for 3km and jumped on a great group, it was fun.
Ogg is great at hiding, narnold was great talking turns.
I went 559m out with an aero but died before the line.
Results showed me at from of our group but on my screen I was last out of the group Robbo.
Urgh, flats.
Clung on the the front group until the 2nd time up the "climb" and just couldn't be arsed to keep up. Max HR and nowt in the legs. Ended up in a nice pair with T.Ward, taking turns doing pulls to the finish. Objective was to not get caught, and not lose too much time to those ahead, seemed to about manage it. Good work dude!
That was great!
In a group with (excuse the terrible recollection) neilarnold, jimdoubleyou, OGG, RM, yandurra and some others - mind gone blank....we caught Weeksy who then joined in.
It would have been horrible riding that solo...!
It was horrible riding that solo!
It would have been game over at the pointy end if anyone lost a group, for sure!
DrP
It would have been horrible riding that solo
I had that dilemma for a while and decided against it.
The underpass is too obvious. Need to have people hurting before you get there.
I've no idea how many times I went, 7, 8, 9. Most of the early ones were lower impact where I pulled through at just over FTP from the back. These give quite a jump off the front as you pick up speed drafting the pack. The pack speed was low enough in the draft that recovery was quite quick.
Annoyingly I had a aero on lap 2 but didn't use it for the sprint. Was saving it for lap 3 but was solo by that point as there was no way I was sprinting.
The break after the lap 2 sprint worked really nicely. Think it cut the group in half. Felt good pulling on the front this week.
A 10k TT was not the plan but the gap opened so it seemed a good time to go. Was convinced the group would get me in the underpass however I guess they had had enough of the repeated pushes. It seemed a very long way to the end!
Really enjoyed this week. It's nice to be able to practice and play with attacks. I so rarely get to do that. Well done to those who were and the pointy end of the sprint times.
That was not very enjoyable, really struggled to get up to pace. Nearly got caught by A.Barry so fair play to him, he was only about 100m short of catching me before he finished.
Tablet lost WiFi when saving the ride so can't check how poor my stats are and it hasn't loaded to Strava.
Really enjoyed that. Decided to set my sights a bit higher and stay with one group ahead of my usual. Was praying that things would settle down and fortunately they did. Only received 2 power ups but actually managed to deploy them at the right time for a change. Big thanks to all those who pulled me along.