Zwifters

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Big_G Dec 2023 3:21pm, 14 Dec 2023 3,141 posts	0 Big_G I’m hoping to Rapha 500, all on Zwift, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I do think it’s nothing like doing it IRL, but it’ll still be a big challenge for me even on Zwift in terms of the amount of hours involved, and fitting it in around Xmas festivities. I was just basically going to do it all in Z2. I was also going to do mainly around 2hrs a day, although I may do 2x1hr rides sometimes, and hope to kick it all off with a total of 3hrs on Xmas Eve. The only running I’m planning to do is parkruns (I need the remaining ones to do 50 this calendar year, which I’ve not done before), and I’ll be aware of fuelling properly. I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions for things to consider, or is it just a case of playing it by ear?
Yorkshire Pie Dec 2023 3:50pm, 14 Dec 2023 15,496 posts	0 Yorkshire Pie I want the squirrel stuff too!
jda Dec 2023 4:16pm, 14 Dec 2023 16,098 posts	0 jda My wife also did it mostly on zwift last year (maybe the year before also?). There are lots of long group rides which may be helpful. Otherwise, yeah just plenty of Z2 and keep going
Windsor Wool Dec 2023 4:35pm, 14 Dec 2023 6,139 posts	0 Windsor Wool I was thinking about it too. It has to be a lot easier IZL than IRL though, doesn't it? In those big group rides you can cruise along at 20 mph for really no effort. At the same effort level I'd be doing 8 mph IRL!! I did my 1st 100km ride IZL the other day. I was grateful for the coffee break thingy - with a bucket nearby and a bag of snacks I can imagine competing the 500 could be pretty good fun, particularly with something decent to watch while you're at it. Enjoy!
Big_G Dec 2023 4:54pm, 14 Dec 2023 3,142 posts	0 Big_G WW, yeah, I agree - much easier on Zwift. The speeds on Zwift are much faster than IRL as you say. But it’ll still be a challenge for me even on Zwift, and I’m not pretending I could do it outside. For me, Zwifting and IRL are basically different activities, and I treat them as such.
simbil Dec 2023 5:53pm, 14 Dec 2023 9,756 posts	0 simbil It'd be about the same IRL if you were on a track in a heated velodrome in perfect draft behind another rider. So yeh, not very much like a potholed road in the rain on your tod as it is around here this time of year Good luck with the challenge Big_G, would love a go myself but the family would murder me. Desert + Z2 + some interesting TV would be my go to in the absence of big group rides.
Big_G Dec 2023 6:50pm, 14 Dec 2023 3,143 posts	0 Big_G No threat of p*unctures either, simbil!
Chrisull Dec 2023 6:11pm, 18 Dec 2023 20,948 posts	0 Chrisull Finished the Zwift Academy. The last race was awkward to enter, bloomin' yanks, meant there were none in the morning, so I had to do it Sunday night when I was full of cold and feeling rubbish, as I was out several evenings in a row before then. I noticed that (although I was nowhere near the top end), the top 10 winners in cat C were basically all 3.4-3.7/pkg, which is way over the 3.2 max. Now I seem to recall jdawayinamanger saying here once that he'd gone slightly over the power and been disqualified/shunted up to next category? (apologies if I remembered wrongly) I looked at Zwiftpower and while several seem to have been disqualified (the 3.7), there was still a few 3.4s in the final results? So what is Zwift's rational for disqualifying some and not others, as it seems to be pretty random? When I'm close to going up to cat B, I'd like to have a crack at winning at cat C race, but looking at those kind of stats it would seem to be nigh on impossible? I know we have some race winners here (but in cat A in Gobi's case?), what kind of performance is needed to win but stay in the Zwift guidelines? I point out the 3.4-3.7 because the beginning of these races is always higher power than the race average once it settles down, but that kind of average would mean I'd need to be putting out 4.0+ to stay in the front group for the first few minutes and that seems a near impossible ask...
MudMeanderer Dec 2023 6:44pm, 18 Dec 2023 2,498 posts	0 MudMeanderer Did it state their average absolute power? There is a secondary characteristic that cuts in for lighter riders (I think it occurs somewhere around 55-60kg range), and so doesn't bump them up a grade.
jda Dec 2023 6:45pm, 18 Dec 2023 16,113 posts	0 jda Oh they've completely overhauled the categorisation system. It's still nonsensical, but in a different way. I suggest you do your best to ignore it. The best way to win zwift races (in B-D cats at least) is to be a big person with a strong sprint, so you can cruise around in the middle of the front pack (and quickly close a gap if it looks like one is opening ahead of you) for most of the race and then crush everyone else in the final sprint. Of course everyone else has much the same strategy