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5-6 for lap 1, 10-15 mins for lap 2 😂
I have done 5.11 quickest but done sub 5.25 about 5 times. That means hitting 300w average though.
It is doable though - did 280 to 295 W average on the reverse KOM which is a 5 min climb. I managed that 3 times in the race 2 weeks ago.
So what is the best way to tackle the hills as a group...someone push at the front at a reasonable pace and hope all follow? Or should we select a pace all can do and try keep to that?
I'm just conscious of the group potentially getting split. In normal races it's all about splitting the group, in this race the opposite.
Same question about going past other groups...put in a burst to get past as quickly as possible?
So many questions...sorry! 🤣🤣
Pick a pace all should be able to follow but knock it off it starts to split. When catching another group don't force the catch, we're clearly going well enough - once we get really close then put in a burst to get through and clear.
Ok, we have our start delays. So here are final details:
Teams are still as above.
TEAM ONE, STW (@phil56, @paino, @w00dster, @scaredypants, @yanboss, @zilog6128, @robbo1234biking)
Start delay is 4.5 minutes. So in the start pen by 19:40, GO GO GO at 19:44:30
Rider name tag is (STW). You are all tagged correctly already.
Use Discord voice channel TTT (STW) on the STW server.
TEAM TWO, MoreSTW (@dangeourbrain, @drew, @weeksy, @retrorick, @oopnorth, @ljarch, @ivandobski,
@haloric)
Start delay is 8.5 minutes. So in the start pen by 19:40, GO GO GO at 19:48:30
Rider name tag is (MoreSTW). You all need to CHANGE YOUR TAG - zwiftpower --> settings --> Rider name. I'll check and hassle tomorrow. [If they stay as they are, everyone will bamboozle the results for team one...]
Use Discord voice channel TTT (MoreSTW) on the STW server.
Discord server invite if necessary https://discord.gg/PwbFv2
You can give me my prize for team name imagination later. Or we can change the team name(s) in future. I did it this way for now because the team tag is often truncated in the sidebar, and them all reading "Name (STW..." seemed a bad idea, even if we're avoiding passes, so they are distinguished from each other at the start not the end.
That's all for now. Plenty of time for questions, strategizing, anxieties etc. between now and banner drop...I'll post later (or someone else can if they get there first) the start process for those who need an intro.
Keeping a steady pace up the hill is the only way to keep the group as one. There’ll be plenty of other teams splintered, but I imagine the draft/sticky effect is negligible.
@savoad change name in both zwift and zwift power....or just zwift power?
change name in both zwift and zwift power….or just zwift power?
Just zwiftpower.
👍👍
Paino, when you did it on your recce ride, what w/kg and power did you do the climb at? Over thinking this but wondering if we agree a figure we want to aim for for the 6 mins?
Being 69kgs I’ll probably end up going up faster than some of the heavier guys, might be useful to get a call on discord if we hit it to hard?
I hit it at 350-450W. I’m 79kg, so about 4.5-5w/kg. 4:30 ish to the top. It was supposed to be a recovery ride. Couldn’t do 2 laps at that speed. I’ll wait to see how the legs are feeling, but I’m hoping to sustain 300W steady for 5 minutes.
<steps quietly away from the thread>
<takes revolver from desk drawer>
<adjusts weight to 55kg>
<lights cigar from "revolver">
🙂
I'll change my zwift power tag when I get home from work. 👍
@scaredypants, those figures were just me pushing it after pootling round at 120W. No way can i replicate that in a race. In reality it goes 1. Follow Phil, 2. suffer the horrible climb, 3. Follow Phil. And repeat for lap 2.
@paino sounds like a solid plan
https://www.bestbikesplit.com/ suggests that based on a normalised power of 278w I should do the flats at 270w the hills at 310-320W and the downhills at 200w
Although it doesn't know about the draft so likely would be faster going even harder on the climbs and easier on the flats whilst being towed along.
If there are any last minute drop outs let me know as my evening has freed up tonight. Ta
Yep 7 of us in team 1 so will be good to have you make it up to 8!
Is 4 minutes going to be enough of a headstart for Team A?
😉
Isn't savoyad riding in team 1 on top of the 7 listed? If not I'm happy to make up the 8th.
Is the link to the race I need to enter in the thread?
No, savoyad cant ride on Thursdays at the moment so space for you.
Sign up to A here.
You will be on a STW tag so shouldn't be anything for you to change in ZP.
https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1106597
At this rate we will need 3 teams!
Is 4 minutes going to be enough of a headstart for Team A?
Proper Lol!!! 🙂
Think if team B rides like we did around Paris on Tuesday, then we should be okay. There are a fair few of us from that group and we held and pushed when needed really well.
It's our first outing so it will be more of a learning curve, it's going to be fun!
I'm not riding at the moment. I was very, very tempted to try and get involved today, but Thursdays (unless there's a clamour for a team in the morning slot!) are just not possible for me for the time being. I'll be back in a few weeks.
Just slot into team one @tpbiker.
Sign up to category A here:
https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1106597
Leave your zwiftpower name as it is, you are already tagged correctly for that team.
Start delay will be 4.5 minutes
Discord will be the TTT (STW) channel.
Is 4 minutes going to be enough of a headstart for Team A?
It looks like it now...
It’s our first outing so it will be more of a learning curve, it’s going to be fun!
You'll be fine, it'll be fun.
That's what I said! 🙂
That’s what I said! 🙂
"Learning curve" means "utterly hateful, way beyond your comfort zone, liable to end in bodily injury and distinctly lacking in viable alternatives" where I come from.
Haha, well I meant "we will be learning as we go round, some bits will work, some won't, but we will do what we do and have fun anyway!"
Wasn't meaning to come across negative! 🙂
Learning curve for me then!
Wasn’t meaning to come across negative!
S'all tha living aside God's own country, ys'mad yer sen soft lad. Tell ye, when I wur a lad, we had to ride up park rash every morning afore we even g'out o bed, then we ad breakfast of the left oers from last night's drip on toast and be yd thankful for it.
I know mate, I've lost some of my Yorkshireness living darn sarf over the years! At least I'm back Oop north again though...although wrong side of the Pennines!
My space is free now as I've got family stuff this evening fellas
although wrong side of the Pennines!
Explains why you come across negative, your like some modern version of Tantalus
I have updated my zwift power tag.
Yep, everyone's tags are now correct, so we've successfully split into two teams in the eyes of the results computer.
https://www.bestbikesplit.com/ suggests that based on a normalised power of 278w I should do the flats at 270w the hills at 310-320W and the downhills at 200w
It isn't an ITT though so don't worry so much about planning out your pacing.
The general STW SOP is don't worry about keeping to a tidy order/paceline but keep together as one team and do not drop anybody.
In terms of pacing, you're probably going to be working above threshold when at the front and recovering when in the pack. It is best to start out conservative - stay in the pack or short turns on the front, hold back a bit to make sure you have the legs to keep up in the Hills, if you are feeling strong towards the end you can spend more time on the front towards the end.
Are you going to join in tonight @twisty? There is a space on the moreSTW team?
Hi @twisty, good to see you back. And with good advice too. But I'm panicking that you've appeared on the start list for the (STW) team tonight though!
We have two teams now, and unless I've missed a withdrawal that's one at capacity of 8 riders already.
You are obviously welcome to ride, but we need a quick reshuffle. Don't just swap teams.
I'll figure it out and post again.
I figured I'd just make sure I'd join the discord channel in good time and work out what team I'm riding with. If both teams are at 8 pax then I can drop back to doing a Zwift academy training thingie. Let me know if I need to change my zwiftpower tag or suchlike.
Is it 2 laps in same direction?
Is it 2 laps in same direction
You could turn around on the saddle if you like?
It's sorted.
@robbo1234biking is going to ride with (MoreSTW). Start delay 8.5 minutes etc Robbo.
@twisty stay as you are, already tagged correctly in (STW) and use the discord channel TTT - STW. Start delay is 4.5 minutes.
@tpbiker - yes, twice round clockwise.
Ouch. Worked hard on that one, but are currently ranked at the top of B with a 1:11. Got a PB of 3.65wkg over the hour for me which for a 6-12 hour not-a-power-rider I'm pleased with.
****! Lost everyone going down from the last hill, all riders suddenly disappeared. I must have had a dropout or something. Checked wifi and it was on.
Oh well...shame! Was going ok too, bit annoying with 5km to go.
Hope it finished well...
Great effort folks. Lovely neat bunch most of the way round and you managed your splits well. Except Andrew who was shamed into faking connection issues obviously😂
Lost everyone going down from the last hill, all riders suddenly disappeared.
Are you and Andrew lockdown bubbling?
Awww, man - I thought it was 3 laps. Held LOADS back for the finale
😉
Thanks everybody.
I hope me rolling forward just before the start didn't cause a problem, all i did was clip in and it started registering power.
We had a tight group. I was a long way off form today unfortunately, the numbers don't lie and mine were a good bit down on usual. Thought I could help pace the group up the final climb but struggled to make any meaningful contribution.
I really felt Tuesday's race round Paris, and had 20 odd miles in legs from spin earlier this morning so thought I'd be fine.. but didn't have much at all tonight.
I hope me rolling forward just before the start didn’t cause a problem,
I wouldn't worry. Phil spent a good minute one evening merrily pedaling away thinking he was in pairing or something. Worst that will happen is you'll get your zwiftpower profile black listed for a few years.
Enjoyed that, especially the bit where we got slow passed in the the rollers and I got tractor beamed along at 0w for about a minute.
@tpbiker exactly the same here mate. Last few days have taken their toll. Don’t feel I performed badly, just didn’t feel I could do any decent turns on the front to help out. Kudos again to Phil for huge turns on the front & for seemingly to sound like he’s not putting in any effort whatsoever.
That aside, it’s the tightest I’ve ever seen our group in the small time I’ve been riding. Well impressed!
That worked really well. Well done all. Stayed together as a group well. When Brian pulled on the second lap of the dessert it worked well - power went down loads which allowed a bit of a rest before the woods section.
I think Craig got ate by a dinosaur or something! Burnt off 900 calories on that ride.
Tough first course for anyone who was new tonight.
I enjoyed the race also. I found the first lap harder as I was warming up and didn't know the route. The 2nd lap felt better for me but I couldn't give any more as I was pretty close to my limit. My heart rate monitor played up so my avg heart rate is misleading. It was good working as a team.
Same as TPBiker and Paino, I had zero to give. In fact I was struggling at the start of lap 2 when we were going at about 225 to 235 watts for a while. I just had zero to give. The last 10kms felt like an eternity.
Looking forward to my bed tonight 😴
I think the bear ate me...he fell out the tree and then everyone disappeared Haha!
Gutted to go out with only 5km to go.
How was the finish?
We seemed to hold pretty well overall...I reckon we could have pushed on a bit but an excellent blob for our first outing as a team.
By the way...was my discord not working or was everyone just quiet??
I might put music on next time...felt weird peddling in silence...apart from my squeaky chain 🤣
That was fun.
We finished 4m30s down on the A, erm Other team, 62nd out of 135 in Frappe so far.
Thanks to Brian for shepherding us through, we could probably have knocked a few seconds off if we had let you pull us more on the first lap, but I think it worked well overall.
Shame to have a few technical glitches, Andrew who dropped out the back and then shot right through in his alternate universe, and Robbo near the end.
Hard to tell how hard we are working individually, I felt we could have gone a little harder from about 7k out, rather than save for the last 500m, based on what I know of Ivan and Robbo from the Paris ride, which seemed much harder to me, but I would rather be within my limits in a team than blowing hard and out the back.
If we could hold a consistent w/kg going up a hill we could be something to contend with !
We got a bit out of shape in the rollers at one point, if was like the bermuda triangle.
Thanks all, Ant
Could you hear me this week?
There wasn’t a lot said really. Luckily we didn’t really split.
Drew - did you say you lost your glasses? Was that why you couldn’t see or were you experiencing dropouts?
Hard to tell how hard we are working individually, I felt we could have gone a little harder from about 7k out, rather than save for the last 500m, based on what I know of Ivan and Robbo from the Paris ride, which seemed much harder to me, but I would rather be within my limits in a team than blowing hard and out the back.
I think we hit those other teams when we would have pushed on a bit and all got a bit disjointed with the couple of dropouts. Looking forward to see what the course is next week!
My discord was apparently a bit garbled so I never said much.
Brian would make a great BA pilot such was the reassuring tone employed throughout - "Ladies and gentlemen, we're shortly going to be passing a small group of WKG riders, if everyone can close up and steadily accelerate we'll soon be through them and normal riding can then resume. I'd like to take this moment to thank you all for choosing STWMore for your TTTing experience and hope to see you all again in the future. If anybody needs any assistance please don't hesitate to wheeze into discord and I'll get to you shortly“.
Another tough effort! Even the last couple of k was a struggle, didn’t have much (anything) left by that point, it’s a fair chunk longer course (& it felt it 😂) Great effort from all & enjoyable in a weird way 😀
Great (spontaneous? Don’t think we’ve done it that way before) idea of Phil’s to drop to the back whilst passing, worked exceptionally well! That said, having to dig to pass that 3rd team just after finishing the big climb nearly finished me off, took me nearly a whole lap (until just before we started the big climb again really!) to recover from that 🤣
I couldn't hear anyone...especially on the last lap. Was there conversation going on??
Tuesday definitely felt harder, more on the limit. But this one is about the team and keeping it together, not killing each other 🤣🤣
How was the finish?
We could probably have pegged wkg back in the last k or two but the group held up really well barring the unavoidable loss of you and Andrew.
I reckon we could have pushed on a bit but an excellent blob for our first outing as a team.
With a bit of practice I think you will, there were a few digs from most of you but your numbers were all fairly stable with a few small exceptions when you were due to pass and there was a bit of eagerness. None of you were really relaxing into the draft very much from what I could see. Give it a few weeks and you'll get more used to the pull/rest/pull/rest routine rather than trying to hold pace all the way.
It was visible when I pulled on the front that you were all happy holding a wheel and went from a tight rolling blob to a bit more stretched out as your distance started to go out to the 2,4,5,6m rather than all being 2s, which is good and why you saw your numbers drop.
When I dropped off in the desert just to check where I needed to be to pace back on I was closing on the group holding 280avg which is about what I'd expect if you were all averaging about 250w on the front of the group bubbling away as zwift blobs do.
When I was pulling I was at about 290-300 (awkwardly you were all in the middle of a gear, I really wanted about 48:14.5 to hold you all at a nice cadence!) and you got a bit of a rest so it does work 🙂
Zwift power time seems a bit off, 1:07. Doesn’t it start the time from the time we go rather than the time we get to the pen?
I think we have to wait for the official WTRL results which take the start delay into account. I think ZP is from the minute the clock hits 0.
Brian would make a great BA pilot
Ohhh do you think they're hiring?
That's all credit to you folks to be honest, I'd very much expected to be doing a lot more nipping in and out to plug gaps but for the most part I got to just sit out 5 or 10m behind and watch.
Course of two halves for me. Chilling at the back on the flats as the step up in power required to pull on the front was just too high. Then full gas though the woods, didn't seem to be any let up on the downhills as the rollers forced a gap if I eased off at all.
Thanks for a good ride, might have to start doing some training if we keep this up!
Zwift power time seems a bit off, 1:07. Doesn’t it start the time from the time we go rather than the time we get to the pen?
It'll adjust once all the times are in, 1.07 doesn't sound out of the way though. Iirc that's about a 35-40minute lap at a repeatable pace*, so as a team you're a good 5 minutes a lap up on that.
(WTRL has you at 1.03.22)
*it's been a while so I could be making that up completely!
didn’t seem to be any let up on the downhills
Nah, downhill is where you make your time in zwift.
Cheers guys really enjoyed putting an effort down again. hope I didn’t slow us down too much! Couple of weeks and I’ll be back up to speed and perhaps I’ll be able to contribute again.
Sorry for any yo yo effect, I just need to get used to doing a pull then dropping off, I found I was going back to front and front to back.
I was also conscious of not splitting the group, I had more in me on the hills, one point I found myself off the front so reigned it in. Flats are more difficult for me, sustaining the same power throughout.
Really enjoyed it though, well done all.
Robbo, I didn’t drop my glasses (lol), everybody suddenly disappeared and I was all on my lonesome. I assumed I’d lost the the internet connection so kept peddling hoping everyone would reappear. Only thing was I had no idea how to judge my effort. Discord kept dropping out so I’m sorry if I was shouting. My daughter who was downstairs thought I was shouting at somebody out the window! Everybody reappeared in the margin on the right as we neared the end but you were 7 seconds ahead and there were two separate riders in between so I thought it better to just let you go as I assumed Brian would be intending to put an effort in to get everyone to the line. Great fun though.
My discord mic was playing up this week. I think I tried over the cable after the last TTT I joined in on and broke the wire?
Brian's instructions were clear and helpful.
I didn't feel as if I needed to say much else during the race as we all stuck together.
Part of my race experience was trying to figure out what everyone else sees on their screens. I think we all see a slightly different bunch/group/position of riders during the race and maybe the power numbers alter quicker than the graphics?
I'm not able to join in next week so there is a space available on the B team.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one riding around with no one else on the screen 🤣🤣
I had a connection drop out a few weeks ago on the ttt and the 15 seconds I lost were impossible to regain!
With the dropout I have no zwiftpower results, so can someone post up once the official results are in?
Cheers.
So it looks like the provisional results are
STW - 187/476 (Frappe 107/177)
Split 1: 14.52 Split 2: 29.54 Split 3: 44.20 Total:1h03.12.81
MORESTW - 318/476 (Latte 62/136)
Split 1: 16.09 Split 2: 32.08 Split 3: 47.36 Total:1h07.54.54
Looking at our race we lost a fair bit of our time on the first split then pulled it back a bit on the second and third splits.
Just been looking through my ZP profile - as best as I can see, these 2 TTTs are the 2 longest race efforts I've ever done on zwift by quite a stretch. In real life, all I do is 40 min cross races a few times a year
No wonder i'm ****ed