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Sorry Robbo, 69kg and not done a Zwift ride since the last race, intervals.icu currently putting FTP at 273 which seems about right
Hi Robbo - 93 kg and FTP 281 according to my Garmin - hope I can push that up a bit as the season continues!
@robbo1234biking sorry a bit late (as always) 'Ogg GG STW' 88kg ftp 250ish
@robbo1234biking Another one with excuses for being late, life a bit upside down as house move not going as I'd hoped. Will make as many as I can hopefully. Not had chance to do an updated test so I'll go with the FTP at the end of the last series/according to intervals (which I'll be nowhere near I'm sure).
Weight 67KG
FTP 273
For anyone not sure of their FTP who thinks it might have changed significantly since the last series, it might be worth dropping the FTP value stored in the Zwift profile settings by quite a bit before the race tomorrow (assuming the links arrive - eek!).
This won't affect anything during the race, but as the London Classique route is virtually flat you could treat it like a time trial & Zwift will (hopefully) give you an updated FTP at the end of it. It won't be perfect, but perhaps more representative than a 6 month old number?
I see tomorrow's race is now listed on ZP.
@stumpy01 do you mean dropping it low enough that you would definitely go over that figure for 20mins of the race and therefore zwift give out a new FTP figure as it had gone up from that? Didn't realise zwift did that if manually lowered
@karnali - yeah. Exactly that. Drop it to a value substantially lower than your FTP & it should give you a new FTP at the end of your ride. I assume it works in any kind of ride environment (free-ride, race, group ride, workout etc.)
I had a new FTP update at the end of the TTT last week (by a whole 2w 🙂 )
See method 3 here:
https://zwiftinsider.com/adjust-your-ftp/
mossimus
Free Member
I see tomorrow’s race is now listed on ZP.
I believe they have set it to public, rather than private.......Robbo is trying to sort it, but we might end up racing with non-STW scallywags....
Robbo is trying to sort it, but we might end up racing with non-STW scallywags….
Are they the ones on pink bikes?
dangeourbrain
Are they the ones on pink bikes?
HA HA!
It took me several reads of this before I got it (I was sure there was a joke in there somewhere....)
Hi Robbo
Another disorganised person with a poor excuse for being late - erm, the dog ate my homework.
I'd like to apply for my usual position of fighting for lantern rouge as I need to get off my arse and put some effort in rather than cruise around on sub 1.something rides.
87 Kg - What!!!
213 FTP according to strava 🙁
Right hopefully everyone should have a PM with the links for the races. Race 3 and 3b are on the wrong date - zwift should correct them but the entry should still count and move with the event.
Handicaps are live on the above link.
See you on the start line tomorrow night - remember you need to choose the best bike for the course this time round!
And dont forget if you want to be included in KOM and Sprint points competitions you need to be registered on Zwift Power!
Joined every race, bring on the pain!
Am I the slowest rider then as I don't have a handicap?
I'm all signed up apart from week 3, late shift at work that week.
Am I the slowest rider then as I don’t have a handicap?
For this course yes but this may change depending on the nature of the course (and as I am sure you will improve). Get in a draft on back of a group though and you have a good chance of scoring some points.
That's the plan!
At least I'll have the ultimate excuse for finishing last.
I've signed up for all but don't think I'll make 1 or 2 unfortunately.
Signed up.
Last week at Whiteroom in the alps eating cake and drinking beer...should go well !
I can't make race one! Bit gutted but got an unexpected opportunity to see Kenton Cool who has just climbed Everest for the 15th time
Have fun!
Tonight's the night. I've been busted back to B, lets see how long that lasts!
I will be streaming;
i've got that funny feeling of nervous excitement, as experienced with the last few series!
Should be a good dose of type two fun again, i look forward to seeing you boys in the pen later!
I'm likely to be cruising more than i'll be racing tonight, my plan will mostly be riding it with my mate Crust...Whilst the fitness from the racing may be useful (WOULD BE), the fatigue factor of flat out in the race wouldn't be. So i'll be mostly doing 200w with the slower of the groups.
Stupidly I did the Wild Boar event in the FOD on Sunday, my first ride outdoors for over 6 weeks. Choosing the longer route was a bad idea as I regrett d it about a mile after the split with the medium route! Was fine yesterday but my legs are rather sore today, should be interesting later anyway!
Braaaap!! I'll be going flat-out. Still be at the back though, in all likelihood 🙂
I haven't done any racing since the short Crit Crusher races earlier in the year so will probably be a bit rusty, but it's all good. I might even get better at drafting if I manage to find a group & learn not to constantly yo-yo.
I'm looking forward to it and the weather seems to have cooled slightly so the garage won't be stupidly hot!
Racing on the Direto as well, whereas last series I was using my Flow Smart wheel-on and never quite sure the calibration was right.
@stumpy you using ANT+ to connect the direto?
Good luck tonight everyone, wish I could be there but I won't miss the pain! 😉
I'm still suffering/recovering from a blasted non-COVID resp infection...
i'm pathetic, so MAY come for the fun... or might just do a z2 leg spin and watcha movie...
Gutted... fed up being ill around this time of year~!!
DrP
@stumpy 01 me too - upgraded from a Tacx flow to a Kickr Core, only tried it twice so far but it 'feels' much nicer.
Looking forward to it, back end of the pack but some names i recognise and like last year I expect/hope my FTP to climb ovet the course of the 6 weeks and I can get some points on the board.
@nixie - I have connected to the Direto with ANT+ when using the laptop (with a USB dongle) but it's much easier to use my tablet, so I tend to use that.
I think it has ANT+ built-in but it always connects via bluetooth and seems pretty reliable.
@snotrag - yeah, pleased I went with the direct drive - much nicer than the wheel-on. I got the Wiggle deal on the Direto so it was 'only' £500 with 12 months interest free. Hard to refuse.
I can't remember who pointed me at the deal - it was either Robbo, oopnorth or slowpuncheur.
Happy Racing All!!
@stumpy I think BT does not exhibit this issue however if you ever go back to ANT+ you will probably get sticky watts and cadence when using FE-C for power and cadence (controllable is fine). The numbers are better and ERG performs better when using Ant+ PWR for power and cadence.
@nixie - I have to confess I don't understand what all that means. I have never really paid attention to how the devices connect, so long as they do so.
Do you mean if I go back to Ant+ FE-C, changes in power & cadence data won't be instant?
What do you mean by 'controllable is fine'?
And what is Ant+ PWR? A newer Ant+ protocol?
I have noticed using the Direto in workouts that the power takes longer to adjust to changes, such as going from recovery to the next effort, when compared to the old Flow Smart. But it also takes longer to come back down afterwards so the actual interval time remains virtually unaffected. I think if doing 10 second sprints or something it might be a pain but once I got used to it, I haven't had any problems.
Ant+ FE-C is the newer version but with the direto appears to have a bug in it. Sticky watts is where the power reported by the trainer stays high when you stop pedalling. If you look at the power graph here you can see it happening on the purple line https://zwiftpower.com/analysis.php?set_id=156668. On the first and last peak the purple line stays flat and high instead of immediately dropping. THis is essentially 'free' power as I did not product it.
Adjustment during ERG mode on the direto is not the best, it can take a while to change. I found it has improved after changing how I connect, perhaps because the turbo is no longer chasing a false reading. I can now get nice stable intervals where historically the turbo would trash around trying keep the power in the right place. Sprints are best done with ERG disabled as it does not react quick enough.
By 'controllable is fine' I'm talking about the 3 connections on the pairing screen, if you look at my pairing screen in this video you can see Cadence, Power and Controllable as three elements on the screen. All three are connected to my Direto but two are using the old Ant+ PWR protocol "Elite PWR" and the controllable is using the newer Ant+ FE-C "Elite FE-C". Connecting like this gives good control and more accurate readings.
We aren't talking a huge issue however definitely something to be aware of, if only for what appears to be better ERG performance like that.
Interesting @nixie as I have a Direto too and have experienced some of those issues, (although I like the idea of "free power" 😉 ). Once I'm back up and running again I will have a play with swapping to Ant+ PWR on power and cadence.
Cheers for that.
It's going to be a bit congested at the back of the pack if the pre-race forecasts are anything to go by.
Can we all come last???
I know how my mate rides so could be entertaining back there as he yo-yo's back and forward in his good and bad sections
Ah, @nixie - gotcha! Thanks for taking the time to post such a thorough explanation.
Free power, you say....ahem. It sounds like something I am definitely not interested in.... 😉
When I get back onto using the laptop, or buy a dedicated Zwift PC I'll have to remember to investigate that. Although if I get a Bluetooth dongle rather than Ant+ I guess I don't really have to worry about it & just keep connecting via bluetooth.
gingerflash
It’s going to be a bit congested at the back of the pack
Sounds great! I kept ending up in no-mans land last series struggling round on my tod. It would be nice to have a few people to tag along with.
I usually find myself in a nice group going at my "I think I can hold onto this" pace, thinking I'm going to do well, until the result of my group all hit 12w/kg for the last five minutes and they just disappear over the horizon.
I am an extreme diesel. FTP isn't terrible but I have no top end whatsoever.
@oopnorth glad it may be of help. I know of at least one other direto user with evidence of this occuring.
@stumpy01 no worries. If your building a zwift PC a lot have built in BT now anyway. My motherboard certainly supports it. I don't use it as I have a number of other things connected by BT and it messes with my headset when the headset is taking music from my phone.
I've got a 85k ride planned tomorrow so obviously planning to go all in :D.
Hoping to join if I can get the kids off to bed! How do I join, I clicked the orange plus buttong on the link and it turned into a blue tick, will I now see the event in my Zwift app? Can't see it there at the moment!
It looks like you can sign up from the companion app, as it's listed on events
I think Zwift have created two events. Dont join the one on the companion app. Join through the link that I have sent out @joedilla @andeh @scaredypants @driley @alexrbts
these rides had totally slipped my mind - tonight's outsideride cancelled so switched oin the PC and saw this thread. Thanbks Robbo for watching your messages so close to the event. Wasn't expecting to be enrolled 'til next week; well beyond the call of duty !
I’ve just walked through the door after a long drive from Wales so it looks like I’ll be missing the first race!
Good luck all and ill be back next week!
Do you have to join 10 mins plus before start? I saw it momentarily, then it disappeared. 😞
It took me over 25 minutes to log onto Zwift. Obviously missed the race.
One odd thing though.
I got to the menu at about 7.28 and, while the event appeared at top right, showing 2 mins to go, there was no option to go straight to the race. Instead I was sent to France, and by the time that loaded it was about 7.35 and too late.
How come there wasn’t an option to go straight to London for the race? Do we always have to go to the scheduled world and then to the race from there?
Oh my days. Well out of race practice, forgot my fan and forgot how hard the starts are!
Same time next week, thanks all.
Well that was tough. I got in with a good group that was a bit too fast for me and got dragged all the way round, mainly by K Allen, so thanks! Finished last in the blob sprint by some way.
I was there in the blob too, as above, thanks K Allen for dragging us around. And thanks again Robbo for organising.
Well it would appear I've gotten less fit since february despite riding all year. Either that or my legs were suffering from doing 500km on the roadie in the past week. Tried a suicidal attack from group 2 up the hill 2km out and predictably it lasted about 500m before I was caught. Need to work on that.
Well that didn't go very well!
Got dropped by everyone within 10 seconds of the start. Really struggled to make any more power than 180w for more than a few seconds. Couldn't hold a cadence above 75 without going into the red. Got lapped halfway round my second lap. Couldn't physically turn the pedals any more once I started lap 3. It's taken me half an hour to recover enough to type and the turbo trainer is making a weird noise that sounds like a knackered bearing in the flywheel, spins fine though and can't sense any excess drag.
Oh well, suppose I'd better start improving ready for race 2. Maybe I'll finish that one!
Busted myself to stay with the lead group on the first lap, found a just about maintainable pace after about 7 miles, just about clung with the pack, sprinted for the wrong finish line, nearly threw up trying to keep up to the real finish line, now trying to gather myself for a shower!
Great fun, thanks everyone and thanks robbo!!
New FTP too 232 --> 244 🤯😬
I led the first 200m just for fun then towed my mate Figg round until he sent me a WhatsApp with "done. Dead" and I tried to grab some sprint points, but I'm a rubbish sprinter. Although I was top for a lap. I think I stayed top 10 which ain't bad for me.
Are there points for the biggest calamity? So…I was late getting to the garage cause my kids needed fed (I know!)…jumped on bike with 10 mins for warmup - it’ll have to do…that’s odd, pedal feels weird…ok, I’ve time to swap it from my new bike…pedals swapped, realise I’m bleeding everywhere from chainring injury. Never mind. Press on. That’s still odd, this pedal’s wonky too. Let’s take a look. Oh…my crank has a massive crack in it. 3m30 to go…ok, swap bikes…and put the pedals back over. Of crap, this is a bolt through rear, not a QR…find the box of bits. Swap them over. Jump back on. The gun went 30s ago, but I can get back on…redline and almost catch the Borg group…but just fail. Drop back to the group behind and all going very nicely. Chasing the sprint and manage to get secondishbi think. Lining up for the last lap, fancy my chances in the bunch sprint…3k from home the bloody trainer dies!!! Arghhhhhh!
Went far too hard at the beginning thinking the group would fracture and I could hang with whoever fell off, although I was the only one to drop off, so that didn't go to plan.
Was fully in the red when I had to drop, until I found my moving buddies led by stumpy. Managed to hang on in the blob until the end despite several crises of conscience and continual hitching of the big boy pants.
Dropped the zwift ftp before the ride and post ride went up to 245, with my claimed as 247, so that's as spot on as I can do.
If there had been any hills other than that slight rise I would have been gone.
Cheers, good to be back.
So who knew the lead in was a lap long? I thought it was 400metres,, webasicalltydid 6 laps!
33rd on the road, stayed in the blob for 1.5laps but need to work on my drafting and pacing especially over the little crests.
Mega fist bump to D Dixon who latched on about halfway and we dragged each other round, I'd have given up otherwise.
I slipped my chain on the 11tooth just as I sprinted at the finish. So I beat you to the line but also nutted myself on the stem, so I guess you win that one!
Oh and.. Just call me Andre 😉
Oh yeah indeed!
20th on the road, which I suspect will equate to no points, but good ride all the way round.
Tried a sneaky drop of the Borg after the 4th lap sprint, got a few seconds but was well in the red and I couldn’t make it stick.
Got 4th in the final sprint so happy with that, but I think led Andeh out nicely for him to come flying past :p
So who knew the lead in was a lap long?
Zwift insider 😉 - gotta do your research 😛
I like the lap counter lozenge though, not sure I’ve seen that before.
“Good” to be back. Seemed to feel like every other STW race I’ve done.
Crazy start, just hung on for the first break, then when Paino, Kirky and the other fast boys turn up the heat again I’m toast and spend the rest of the race clinging onto the second group constantly thinking I’m going to have to drop off the back of them too, but just managed to avoid that indignity.
Despite all that, my FTP turned out to be lower than measured a few weeks ago, down to just 250W. So I’m way less fit than last year. Let’s hope these races can turn that around.
Great tone back racing with you all and well done to the winners.
Thanks for everyone for taking part in the series!
The results are provisional in case I have made any mistakes. Please let me know.
href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1La3WIPQUrOIv7FQHkJ_SSKDJsRoQPgCCR8RtR15TrC0/edit#gid=1628366731">RESULTS SPREADSHEET
Race 1 - London Classique
Cat A:
1. savoyad
2. nixie
3. tomnavman
Cat B:
1. kirky72
2. paino
3. mahowlett
Cat C:
1. feed
2. mossimus
3. jimdublyou
Cat D:
1. DD (Straightliner)
Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. richardkennerley
2. v7fmp
3. mahowlett
Sprint Points (The Mall)
1. andeh
2. nixie
3. savoyad
4. jimdubleyou
5.straightliner
Green Jersey Standings
1. andeh
2. nixie
3. savoyad
Series Top 3 (including sprint/fastest lap points) Best 6 race points counts
1. richardkennerley
2. v7fmp
3. mahowlett
Urgh, been a while since I've done one of those! Misjudged my ability and went too hard to begin with, shot out the back of the front group after a lap and a half. Fell so hard I went straight through the second group, crippled with a plum crumble stitch, and was left floating in space until the Borg assimilated me into their ranks. Did a bit of pulling but decided to have a dig at the sprints (edit: which paid off, wahoo!), as I'd buggered any handicap points for the week.
Horrible as always, thanks Robbo!
Whaaaat!!?
Blimey, I've never scored a single point before 🤷♂️😎
(is it because I is fatter now)
Urgh, that was stupid. Never meant to force a split at the front, but kind of had to go with it after Nixie, Kirkby and Savoyad joined in, and it seemed to stick nicely. Just kept clock watching and hoping the distance would decrease faster than it did. Zwift gods were kind though and gave me 3 feathers otherwise I’d have never kept up with the lighter boys up the climb. Really had to push to get back on at the top. Great work from the other 3 but I never had the beans to keep up at the end. Definitely pushed too hard for the first race back.
FTP up to 305 though Robbo!
Thanks Robbo for organising the series again.
Had an issue with my PC, the screen kept going black (think my graphics card might be on the way out). So I didn't know if I was still in the nice group I found myself in from the start, or if I'd fallen off the back. So didn't do as much work at the front as I would have liked but we did well as a little group. Those feathers power ups people used on the little climb were so hard to keep up with. I forgot about the power ups for the first 3 laps, bit out of practice with Zwift racing.
All in all, I quite enjoyed it tonight but I'm not looking forward to the TT.
Well! That was fun!
After the start I was riding along with IMartin (I think) and realising that the blob behind was gonna catch eventually.
Once I'd been assimilated, it was a good fun thrash.
I'm crap at drafting and have no sense of tactical whatsit so kept pushing off the front of the group.
I knew from previous races that Jimdoubleyou has a powerful sprint and felt most aggrieved when him and Andeh pulled a fast one after one of the sprints (4th one?) 😂😂 Great effort! It was a good target to aim for to drag you back into the blob....
I knew once the sprints started my number was up.
They didn't bloody crumble though, did they!? 😉
Do I miss out on sprint points cause I didn’t finish? Pretty sure I was on top 5 on 12.54 😢
Hoping the neo 2t has a 2 year warranty!
Annoyingly the sprint display only shows best time for a given lap, so although you might have a fast lap at one point, it may have been beaten by someone on a previous/later lap. The only real way to tell is the Sprint/KoM results on ZwiftPower post race.
Last lap sprint times were really fast. 11.4 seconds got 5th
Did everyone get shit powerups? - I think 1 feather early on, then 1 aero and then many, many extra points (i wouldn't mind if it really was many but 10's a ****ing insult !). Should've kept the aero to the end, when I unleashed all my nearly 556 Whaaaats, but needed it to get in front for the massive climb
Never mind! I can’t see my times on Zwift power, wasn’t sure if that was because I didn’t finish the race or just me being rubbish. Can’t remember if it was 12.54, but I was 2nd to andeh at some point…maybe that wasn’t last lap…11.4 does sound fast. Maybe I’m just deluding myself! Hope I can sort a trainer for next week's instalment.
I think I mostly got the exp points. But I did get one feather and one aero so it could be worse. Didn’t get to use the aero as my trainer died though.
Thanks for organising Robbo, great to be back, despite the drama tonight.
Holy Crap oblongbob! Sounds like epic race prep! Is the trainer dead?!
Man alive andeh! The plum crumble stitch comment caused me to spit tea everywhere 😀
Power-ups weren't too bad for me. Couple of aero, one of which I accidentally used in completely the wrong place. Also got a draft boost which came in handy.
Some good results from the blob group! Well done all.
Once I got an aero I sat on it till the end. Didn't do much good though as @savoyad got the drop on me when we were both being cagey and I couldn't quite close the gap.
I'm happy with that. Felt much better tonight than I have on most recent events. Even happy enough to put in a number of attacks. The split down to 4 just knid of happened. Seemed a shame not to capitalise once the initial split occured and the gap nicely opened up to around 45s in a lap. That gave the room for a bit more fun later on. @kirky72 and I nearly got away at one point before the final split down to two.
@robbo1234biking believe it or not ZP has me as B currently!
It's so good to be back at this. I love riding with all those names in the sidebar.
I thought we needed a small group to push on at the front - @nixie and @phil56 have suffered in the past having to TT their way to overcoming handicaps - and we got one. I did nearly miss the boat and had to bridge across. I see now @paino is taking the blame for forcing that split taking @kirky72 and @nixie clear...
The four of us went well together (we were even 5 for 1km when @weeksy made a cameo appearance in the group) until near the end. The gap we opened did us all good for the overall standings.
At the end, we were down to 2 and neither of us really wanted to race home from the hill, but we could hardly trust each other so we pushed quite hard together and it came down to the sprint. I went painfully early, and @nixie was more patient and was catching me very fast as the line approached- so I managed to cross the line first, but in a panic about being caught! It took 15 and 30 sec all time power bests to stay ahead...
Thanks @robbo1234biking for organising.
Wow that was harder than I remember, and I'm much less fit than at the end of the last season... ZP put my FTP for that race at 262watts / 3.86wkg and dropped me back to Cat B.
More training and less pudding from now on...
Think it’s dead. Light all went out and no resistance. Tried everything I could to get it going to finish the race, but no joy. Will leave it for a bit in the hope it magically works again. Think warranty is 2 years, so email to merlin cycles sent. Also emailed madison as apparently ultegra cranks have a bit of a habit of breaking (though my mad power might be to blame 😂). Not sure what to do for next week. Dumb trainer and power meter I suspect…though my new bike won’t fit on that…hmmm
That sucks. Hope you get it sorted soon.
More training and less pudding from now on…
Same for me. Less beer as well.
@oblongbob what a 'mare! I had an Ultegra crank fail on me earlier in the year. Yeah. They are pants. My LBS offered to send it back to Madison but their charge wasn't worth the risk if Madison just said it was fair wear and tear.
Why do we always look back and think what if? I am now convinced I could have tried harder to go with 'the big 4' but in reality I was breathing out my a#$€ at the time. Chased @richardkennerley down with his ill conceived sprint thinking he was going for a break at the flame rouge so that took the edge off my sprint. Still, did a decent sprint from the second group but felt a bit rusty in terms of tactics.