Zwift Team Time Trial, Thursday

@phil56 will handle it Paul. But he won't need a fag packet. He'll use his uncanny sense for the fastest time that week's riders can get to the line all together.

@phil56 Really sorry, but just got home from work and still feeling ropey from the Pfizer jab. I'm going to get an early night. Wish I wasn't leaving you with just 4 but I wont be any use.

Have a great run out - its a nce course and I'm disappointed to miss it.

@djflexure - no problem, look after yourself.

Does STW have a discord channel?

Great ride MoreSTW. Everyone worked well together we went quicker on the second lap as well but the two laps were within 10 seconds of each other!

I averaged 320w for the last 8 minutes which is a PB so that was a great effort.

@savoyad on the results my time is showing 4 mins quicker than everyone else - is there something wrong or are the results taking there time to sort out? If my time gets sorted then we will be about 50th in Latte which is one of our best ever results. The longer ones seem to suit us!

Thanks for organising us @robbo1234biking that was a really enjoyable outing. I was a bit apprehensive beforehand as I’ve not really done a lot since my last ttt three weeks ago and this one has a bit of a reputation. I’m not surprised you got a pb, you did did a lot of the pulling at the end. Your training is obviously paying dividends.

It was just the 3 amigos in STW tonight. Phil’s borrowed trainer was still putting out Watts even though he’d stopped pedalling so was already over the line...tried to jump back in but no luck. WTRL has us as DNQ, which is fair enough as we knew from the start it would just be a training ride. It was hard work though, but we pulled out a 1:06.10ish which was pretty good for just 3.

Cheers @Paino and @Paul-S. That was....character building. Shame about Phil's issues although I think it was a great non-result😉. It was fun overtaking a few teams on the way.

Thanks @Slowpuncheur & @Paino That was hard work, defo enjoyed the 3 of us overtaking full teams :-). Strava has me down for a 1:06 as well with 221W, I seem to have plateaued on power, not gone up for a while 🙁

The turbo had a blib and dropped for 1 possibly 2 seconds, and I came to a halt, couldn't believe how quickly you dissappeared into the distance, so thanks for waiting.

How did MoreSTW do?

Looking at the splits we were ahead by a 3m 15 at 30km, but STW hauled that back and finished in 1:06:11 versus our 1:07:45

We had a drama with about 8k to go and got split passing a second time on a rise, Jack and I coasted to the finish.

My time seems to have sorted itself out so we came in 76th in Latte with 1:06:20 - that's a good result and we beat our previous time on this course.

3 laps of the Innsbruckring next week so a bit shorter but the leg snapper 3 times!

So...the 3 STW amigos were faster by 9 seconds? We'll never know for sure as we were a DQ but interesting to see how we had a better second lap. It didn't feel quite like that! I will say that it is far easier passing a team if there is only 3 of you!

I'm not sure what to think about the splits, since they have changed a little since last night.

Now MoreSTW were +18, +52, +47, +9

I'm pretty sure if we could have stuck together on that last pass we could have finished even stronger as 6 - rats !.

So…the 3 STW amigos were faster by 9 seconds?

I’m pretty sure if we could have stuck together on that last pass we could have finished even stronger as 6 – rats !.

@Paul_S had a trainer drop our which probably cost us a minute or so and to be fair, there were just 3 of us all the way around!

Robbo etc weren’t easing up so just barrelled through

Yeh sorry about that - might have got a bit of finish line fever about 5km too early!

I don't think we were DQ'd.

According to this:

We are allowed a team of 3, with a Max of 2 Cat 'A', I didn't know about that.

P.

> don’t know whether you two eased off slightly after passing the 1st team and therefore got stuck behind the 2nd one whereas I’d seen Robbo etc weren’t easing up

We were still exiting the first team as you were pushing into the 2nd, we were not bunched as we hit the first one, were a little bit stretched, we didn't ease up, put in even more effort, but could not escape the first team for a few seconds and then you were all through the 2nd and they were between us and you.

Probably would have been better to co-mingle with the 2nd team, or just hold behind until we were all together, then press on, than have tried to pass both at the same time, but thats the fog of war!. They were very close together, so anything might have happened.

or just hold behind until we were all together, then press on

Double passes are always going to be tricky, especially in undulating terrain. If we had eased up we might then have had the problem of the team we’d just passed backing into us. Just unfortunate timing I think, especially as you and Jack had put in the hard work on the hills by that point.

There was definitely the possibility of it becoming a three team cluster-tuck.

I'll get my coat.

@Paul-S initially we were DNQ’ed as WTRL didn’t see you on the results-only had the 2 of us.
Now it’s showing us with a finishing position of 350th, just 15 places ahead of MoreSTW!
It’s amazing how much tougher it is with 3, there really is no let up at all.

Interesting that:

I had joined team STW, but my name/tag did not mention it. Yesterday I changed my tag to include STW. I thouhght that it wasn't supposed to be using that any more?

P.

Finally, be the man you've always wanted to be.

https://zwiftinsider.com/community-welfare-update/

Annoying that its coming in just as I've found the perfect 1kg/day diet, but we can't have little Timmy being upset...

Probably trying to head off some sort of law suit.

At least I will no longer have to spend any time raising my eyebrow at team Tugaz riders, who are all under 68kg.

Probably trying to head off some sort of law suit.

Exactly this.
At least I’ll now have an(other) excuse for not podiuming.

Teams are entered, and our spreadsheet is cleared for next week.

3 laps of the Innsbrucking, so loads of flat with the exception of a little leg snapping. It's not long at all, 27km.

Enter here, I'll get teams sorted:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E_0I0hulOaE2y34RpjckVCoT2Jks16vypeZ98L_LUw8/edit?usp=sharing

Our numbers are on the cusp of two teams, sometimes only one, but the power spread is pretty wide now so two teams will always be better. We'll persist with two teams for now.

If you have views on the desirability of two small teams versus one big but varied team, speak up and I'll bear it all in mind.

Bump. 10ish riders at the moment. Any more takers?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E_0I0hulOaE2y34RpjckVCoT2Jks16vypeZ98L_LUw8/edit?usp=sharing

I'm in, but only if the numbers work for you all 🙂

P.

any plans @speedstar, @karnali, @djflexure ?
I'm not nagging, just making sure we get it right either way...

OK...

STW
19:43 +5.5 minutes
Enter pen D here: https://www.wtrl.racing/zwift/zwiftsignon.php?id=L3MyWW5ydVJVRUZ3MlVGUUtFRm9zQT09
@phil56
@munkeymadness
@Scaredypants
@paul-s
@mbs

MoreSTW
19:40 +11.5 minutes
Enter pen A here: https://www.wtrl.racing/zwift/zwiftsignon.php?id=NzJlb3IvUzV2amk2WS9wd25FM2FmUT09
@robbo1234biking
@zilog6128
@haloric
jack
@drew
@slowpuncheur

There is still room in both teams. Just wave and we'll slot you in somewhere.

Cheers Savoyad

I am going to plug our numbers in here tomorrow morning and see what is predicted!

https://zwift-ds.com/ttt-time-predictor/?fbclid=IwAR28U8JQNShsLsCmSz8BYvKHQBHP7MST4ZVge0Usk1eW354AZ7EOEZkqOz4

So 42:11 is the predicted time for tomorrow night. Nice and simple course in any case.

Turns as follows. As it is a relatively short lap we are likely to get tangled with some other teams at some point so will manage that as it comes. 3.0 w/kg up the leg snapper - keep the power down until we are 10-15 meters into the descent. Watch out for the bump at the end of that descent. Other than that just follow the rotations.

Rob - 60 sec
Paul - 30 sec
Ant - 30 sec
Jack - 30 sec
Zilog - 30 sec
Drew - 30 sec

See you later!

Still space in both teams if anyone wants to be welcomed as a reinforcement?

Did I spy @drp in the start pen for this morning's time zone? I can't find you on the results though...I don't suppose you want another try this evening?

Also sign up people! Racepass links above. Click carefully and join the right pens.

Cheers guys enjoyed that again tonight. We rode really well as a team - no gaps formed which going up and down the leg snapper 3 times was a good result. Once the results sort themselves out I think we will have about 41:30 so a decent time.

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/gc4NMtx6/54421-C2-F-B90-F-4115-A988-9-AD9-CE638-EF6.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/gc4NMtx6/54421-C2-F-B90-F-4115-A988-9-AD9-CE638-EF6.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

SORRY to STW team - couldn't connect to discord (every now & then it seems to forget my password and none of their recovery methods seem to work). Sadly I'm a dozy git and in all the pissed-off excitement of trying to reset, I forgot that there was a race starting. Totally missed the start time and by the time I went back I was the only moron in the village start pen
What a nob

So 69th/193 in Latte last night so not a bad result at all. Starting to get close to the top 25% now!

3 laps of Watopia Flat route next week - 30km total so a fast short one

Thanks for having me back More STW - after my dalliance with the fast lads. I really enjoyed that as I was a little apprehensive that the Covid vaccine might mean I was hanging on rather than contributing. I wasn't quite firing on all cylinders.

After a few weeks away, it was noticeable how well you now ride as a team now. It seemed to go like clockwork. Hopefully, I'll be back to doing longer turns next week.

Thanks for the ride, nice result, just 35 secs down on the (admittedly depleted) STW !.

I think we are almost ready for the sink and sprint technique the pros use.

Advance notice - I am out for next Thurs, enjoy the ride.

Ant

Yep, I really enjoyed that, pace was perfect (for me anyway 😃) - intervals were tough & definitely starting to feel them at the end, but the in-between time allowed decent recovery in the draft. We stayed together perfectly but that was probably helped by only being caught by one team, and having to make no passes ourselves!
There were a few times we drifted into an almost perfect line formation and it felt like we were really flying along.
I always feel we could possibly push harder on the hills because they never particularly ruin me, and a hill like last nights allows a good few seconds recovery after. Difficult balancing act though, and I appreciate it might feel different for the heavier team members!!

STW was a bit if a fiasco last night - only two of use actually started on time!

Scaredy didn't appear at all for reasons he's explained, Ian joined but had a turbo failure before we got to the start time and then Paul had a drop out just as the countdown reached zero - which left Martin and I setting off alone!

Once Paul got going Martin and I waited for him to catch up, but we were nearly two minutes into the race before we finally grouped up for another 'Three Amigos' effort.

After this fiasco of a start we settled into a good pace and rode well together - it was a good effort in the end considering we lost so much time at the start and we were depleted.

Well done STW. Apologies didn’t make start line. Turbo went pop. Not fuse so think it’s the power block. I haven’t been on it in a few weeks as been outdoors so typically happened before an event not just a training ride.

Yes sorry too, it came right to b the end though. Did we get credited with my time or your/official time in the end?

I found that hard. Whenever I go for an overtake I end up riding beside you for a bit before I give up and drop back in line. Looking at my power the watts are well down on you 2 but my w/kg is bang on. Guess I just need more power 😉, 'cos nobody ever says that 😁

Thx for waiting

P

Spreadsheet is clear for next week. 3 laps of Watopia Flat, 30km.

Sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E_0I0hulOaE2y34RpjckVCoT2Jks16vypeZ98L_LUw8/edit?usp=sharing

We could do with pushing numbers up slightly so that 2 teams is more feasible each week. If you can think of anyone who might get involved (from Tuesday night racing maybe, or otherwise) just tag them in here / send them this way?

Bump. Entries are open here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E_0I0hulOaE2y34RpjckVCoT2Jks16vypeZ98L_LUw8/edit?usp=sharing

3 laps of Watopia Flat, 7.40pm, Thursday.

@savoyad

I daren't put myself down as "in" - and don't want to be a maybe

... but like a backwards Gallagher brother I'm a maybe definitely (my dad's in hospital and I'll drop if I have to bring him home but otherwise should be OK)

Please put me in IF AND ONLY IF there's an otherwise empty slot; otherwise feel free to drop me like a red-hot turd !

Oh, and pls can somebody re-invite me to the discord server ? I've made a new account as the last one had way too many gremlins. Contemplated calling myself "keep up scaredy" but just went for scaredy in the end instead 😀

@Savoyad it's looking like just one team this evening?

Morning @phil56 - yes just one team. I'll post details next...

STW
@paino
@phil56
@slowpuncheur
@drew
@mbs
@robbo1234biking
@zilog6128
@paul-s

+13 minutes (!) so in the pen by 19:43 and off at 19:56

Enter PEN D here: https://www.wtrl.racing/zwift/zwiftsignon.php?id=TnJGYUNPbjI0alJDRHAyODJxS2JNZz09

@scaredypants you might still get to ride - watch this space and just jump in if anyone withdraws...

I

didn't

mean

to

format

it

like

that!

Signed In 🙂

Here is a preview for tonight to get you in the mood 🙂

https://zwiftinsider.com/wtrl-ttt-106/

P

Just @mbs and @paino still to sign up.

7 riders now signed up, and in the correct start pen.

@mbs if you're just clicking on late, no worries. But if you aren't going to ride, can you post in here (or on the discord chat) to let @scaredypants know there's a slot.

Well done all. As Phil said - 8 of us got of the line which was a good start. The pace was pretty fast and definitely a step up from MoreSTW so not surprised we lost a few but a good effort from all.

I know Phil kept saying stay in the draft but the new pack dynamics really do make it hard. You seem to wiggle all over the road trying to stay behind people but have little control on where people go.

10 seconds over the 45min mark and 193rd out of 610 teams so just sneaked into the top 3rd. Good effort from @mbs digging deep on the 2nd lap and then finishing strong.

Next week is a shorter one again - 25km of French roads. No big hills so should suit both (or one) team.

Starting is easy, it's the finishing bit that's hard! Seriously though thanks everyone for the tow and to Phil for keeping me attached at various points. I was frustrated I couldn't keep going till the end but the 5% ramp at the start of the esses just did for me and I couldn't get back on. The second overtake had me at 120% for two minutes which meant I was then over threshold so ultimately on borrowed time from then on. Felt pretty wiped out at the end but then that's how it should be so I appreciate the restraint from the stronger riders in the team.

It was a good workout, sadly I just didn't have the Raw Watz to keep up! Maybe if it'd been hillier that would've slowed the heavier riders down slightly, as it was I was on the limit just keeping up in the draft, and way over the limit passing that first team (we seemed to start the pass [I]really[/I] early for some reason, rather than creeping up as MoreSTW might've!) such that I couldn't recover after.

Maybe it was the first pass then that took it's toll. Did we even make two passes, it's all a bit of a blur now.

I think the second team we passed was that rag tag Irish team who had a member wheelsuck in our line for a good while, trying to rejoin his mates. Glad we burned him off. It was a good workout last night.

That looks like a good ride last night.

The spreadsheet is clear for next week. Sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E_0I0hulOaE2y34RpjckVCoT2Jks16vypeZ98L_LUw8/edit?usp=sharing

It's short and flat (shorter and flatter that this week in fact), 1 lap of RVG in France: flat, flat, flat, aqueduct "KOM", flat, flat, flat, suddenly loads of bends, flat.

Thursday 7.40pm - all welcome, just add yourself to the sheet if necessary. Any questions post them in here...

Just like to take the opportunity to say thanks for organising this @savoyad. I’m in.

Bump for Tuesday morning - 4 riders so far - anyone else riding this week?

It'll be a few weeks/months before I'm TT fit 😭

5 riders at the moment. I've only entered one team.

Any more takers? I'll post entry link and time delay tomorrow.

Had my jab & not feeling 100% so will skip it this week!

I’d forgotten about having my follow up jab tomorrow morning but managed the ttt the same day as having my first so hopefully will still be feeling up to it.

I make it six riders at the moment - so a viable team already, and room for two more. The start delay is good, if that helps...

STW
Start delay 3.5 minutes (so pen by 19:43 --> start at 19:46:30)
@phil56
@paino
@slowpuncheur
@drew
@robbo1234biking
@paul-s

Enter PEN D here: https://www.wtrl.racing/zwift/zwiftsignon.php?id=MWl0NkQwZHhuSEdFanVteGxyWTFCZz09

If people want to grab those spots, speak up and then click the racepass.

Sorry for the late entry. I've just signed up. The bank holiday through me.

Great - 7 riders all signed up and ready to go.
Still one more place.
Otherwise, have a good ride!

Ach I'll join! Weather's so b******* here I'm ready to lodge a complaint. I'll add my name.

OK, team full! @speedstar use the entry link above, enter pen D

It'll be @phil56, @paino, @mbs, @slowpuncheur, @drew, @robbo1234biking, @paul-s and @speedstar

In the pen by 19:43, 3.5 minutes delay, off at 19:46:30

Good luck all, expecting a great time with that team 😃

Oh Gawd another hang-on-athon then.

I think you mean ‘character building!’

Sorry, I'm out. Got too much to do tonight, devo'd

P.

Shame you couldn’t join us @Paul-S it was a great ride yesterday evening. Shorter than last week and flatter too, so it was easier to stay in the draft. Still hard though, I spent a fair amount of time in zone 5 as we speeded up in the later stages and was rewarded with a ftp rise of 4 watts to 244. Not a huge amount but my first for a while. Thanks to everyone who took turns on the front and to @savoyad and @phil56 for their work in organising us. @Phil seemed very happy at the end with the team effort😊

@drew I was!
Shame we lost Martin with under 10k to go, but to me that finish especially was everything I enjoy in the TTT. We were flat out closing on the other team - they knew we were coming and were desperately trying to stay away - but we nailed it with about 200 metres to go!

We finished 170th out of 595 teams - a great effort.

That was good last night. That last section is tough though through the roller.

Phil's excitement at the end was definitely a highlight!

3 laps of Watopia Hilly next week so a course we are pretty familiar with. Still fairly short but with 3 hill efforts.

Yeah last night was a great team performance. My prep was 2 glasses of wine while cooking a paella. Not ideal! Tried the sprint and sink technique last night and seemed to work well. That last 2km was brutal. Maxed out HR for longer than ideal hence why I couldn’t communicate when we’d finished! Took me another 5km of steady pedalling to sort myself out. There were a couple of stragglers (one we passed twice??) where I tried to give it some beans so they wouldn’t hook onto us-I think the efforts worked really well, the speed as a unit was great. Shame Martin got dropped, would have been an immense 7 man finish.

That was the fastest TTT I've been involved in. I am pleased to see I wasn't the only one hanging on - particularly towards the end. I think the guy you mentioned @Paino had a French name beginning with V and the cheeky git did it with at least one other groups and I swear, he changed his jersey at one point! Thanks for the encouragement near the end Phil, it was a cool way to finish it off. See you next week!