"Winter" - Cruzbike Virtual Time Trial Challenge

[RojoRacing]

Only System Engineering pros the likes of @ratz and myself have the skills to perform such feats.

You can still upload photos to your personal albums in your profile page. Then copy the ulr link for that pic and post it here via the photo tab next to the smiley face.

I didn’t post week 4 because the table looked a bit incomplete compared to week 3, like it was in progress. Also I’m at work now so I can’t work my magic via my phone.

 

[RojoRacing]

Ok do volcano flat right? two laps? Lets see if I can manage a ride with no climbing.

 

[LarryOz]

Ok do volcano flat right? two laps? Lets see if I can manage a ride with no climbing.

Yes, there should be a segment volcano Flat - 2laps or something similar. Oddly, some people don't pick up that segment even though they do laps, others get other segments. It has been hard to keep them straight with each person. The one you end up picking up on your ride we will try and use. I have actually using my Garmin on my bike to time 2 laps exactly as I pass under the Arch just to double check.

 

[RojoRacing]

Yes, there should be a segment volcano Flat - 2laps or something similar. Oddly, some people don't pick up that segment even though they do laps, others get other segments. It has been hard to keep them straight with each person. The one you end up picking up on your ride we will try and use. I have actually using my Garmin on my bike to time 2 laps exactly as I pass under the Arch just to double check.

It has to be the hidden segment thing for those people but I know you've already pointed that out to everyone already. I did the ride one lap for a warm up, two hard laps, then a cool down. After the ride was uploaded I cropped off the first 1/4 mile to push the 2 lap segment to pick up at the start of my second lap, worked like a charm. Spent most of the ride chatting with @trplay on discord to help stave off the boredom of the solo TT effort. I did struggle a ton with cadence and gear selection on the second lap. I wanted to hold 88-90 rpms but in my 15t cog that was only giving me like 260-270 watts on the 0% sections so I was over spinning and couldn't maintain. Then if I shifted to up to my 14t I was down at 82 rpms at 320 watts which was a struggle of another kind. I remember having this issue years ago but it's been so very long since it last bothered me enough to notice it. I guess the simple solution is to just get stronger and hold 320 to whole time.

So interesting data point is today I averaged 277 watts for 35:42 on the in game TT bike. 20 months ago I averaged 277 watts in a zwift race on the Tron bike and for a time of 33:20, so the draft in game was worth 2:22. I wonder how many watts I'd need to hold to beat my race time on the TT bike.

 

[CruzLike]

Welcome to the game @RojoRacing
It seems like you had enough difficulty on your laps to set your base time, you can be competitive in the weeks to come. It won't be long before you are passing me in the points.

 

[Pollock]

Now we need to get @trplay to join in!

 

[RojoRacing]

 

[LarryOz]

See above for the week #5 results:
Congrats to Rob Lloyd for winning this weeks honors. Besting his PersonalBest (PB) by an amazing 56 seconds! Way to go Rob - UdaMan!
Cliff and Jim F were unable to ride this week, but Jason joined us, so that gave us 8 riders!
Jason of course set a quick PB this week of 35:41 and 3 more of us also set PB's (highlighted in green).
As you can see Jason now has the overall fastest speed and highest average wattage - although for him, maybe 277watts in just under 36 minutes might be a "little low". haha We shall see.
(Note: some might be wondering why Jason received only 1 point if he was the fastest. This is because all riders receive 1 point after their "first" week. (The rest of us did on week #1). Now Jason has a PB to compare against for next weeks TT effort. If he exceeds his PB by the most seconds then he will received top points, as Rob did this week.
I think I have also talked our friend Jeffrey Ritter into joining in the fun, so hopefully you will see his name there next week as well. Come on Team Moose - you are on Zwift all the time - just do 2 lap Volcano Flat as fast as you can.

 

[trplay]

I think I'm going to be forced into this thing since I'm begging so much for Cruzbikers to do the real zwifting. But honestly the whole thing confuses me. So its an all out effort for two laps on a TT bike. I can fit this in but incremental improvement is very unlikely not going to happen. What may be nice for you number watchers is Zwift is about to drop a new route which is entirely flat designed especially for the testing types. question: Can you choose any route as long as it is 15 miles and the same every time?

 

[LarryOz]

I think I'm going to be forced into this thing since I'm begging so much for Cruzbikers to do the real zwifting. But honestly the whole thing confuses me. So its an all out effort for two laps on a TT bike. I can fit this in but incremental improvement is very unlikely. What may be nice for you number watchers is Zwift is about to drop a new route which is entirely flat designed especially for the testing types. question: Can you choose any route as long as it is 15 miles and the same every time?

Hardy - technically you can choose "any" route as long as you ride it each time. I was trying to limit it to the "same" Zwift segment so it was easier for me to check and tabulate, but since there were so many "variations" of 2 laps around volcano flat, that proved to be problematic.
If everyone rode their own outdoor segment they would all be different, so sure - pick "any" 15'sh time Zwift segment you want and ride it. (The flatter is it though, the easier to TT) Please tell me what segment to look forward in your Strava results (and what you see as far as your time would help too) - look forward to you in the group.
Why do you say "incremental improvement is very unlikely"? A TT like this is a great way to gauge your "fitness" and "strength" improvement. With some measure riding we all improve along the way, at least that is almost an unstated goal - go faster, go longer, go "something"??

 

[Pollock]

@trplay I didn’t expect much from it either. Almost every week I have set a PR and not due to more power. A lot of it has been more consistent power through the course.

 

[RojoRacing]

First off I want to thank @LarryOz, @Maria Parker and @Jim Parker for taking part in this mornings zwift race. It was because you guys finally came together for one of our zwift events that I felt obligated to continue with a second week of this TT challenge.

Ok so this week I gave it an honest effort for 20 watts higher average and 1 min faster time. I added my garmin edge to the mix and used it to monitor my average power for the 2 laps. This helps me if I set a goal like trying to average over 315 watts which was today's goal. I don't hold it strait at 315 watts, I just glance at the average as I go for motivation to keep pushing as I watch the number begin to fall closer and closer the the goal, I start a little hard at around 325w. Again I really struggled with gearing and cadence even more so this week since I was focused. In the harder cog I'm at 330-345w at 83rpms and the next cog I'm 270-280w at 92 rpms both are during 0% gradients. You wouldn't think a single cog would make a 80 watt difference but it does. I guess I could just get strong enough to hold that 350w at my preferred cadence but damn if that's not some simple one week goal. I guess I could try setting the trainer into slope mode and dial in the resistance to exactly what I need but I hate that idea because it's not in the spirit of riding the "course". What I ended up doing during today's ride was holding the harder gear till my HR got to mid 170's and then recovered with the easier gear and did my best to hold a higher then preferred cadence to try and keep my power up. Now I really see why TT experts are so critical with their chainring sizes, it's not like you can pick a different cassette when you're already in the single tooth steps.

 

[trplay]

I completed the 15 mile tt today. I didn't have anyone to talk to or rabbits to chase so I just went round and round the volcano. I'm not sure this is a "legal" effort as I warmed up and then crossed the volcano start banner and noted the time. I then subtracted this time after going 15 more miles? How do I get you the strava segment? I tried to figure out how to cut the segments out but you can guess how this went.

 

[RojoRacing]

I completed the 15 mile tt today. I didn't have anyone to talk to or rabbits to chase so I just went round and round the volcano. I'm not sure this is a "legal" effort as I warmed up and then crossed the volcano start banner and noted the time. I then subtracted this time after going 15 more miles? This unofficial time is 42:24; HR146-166; wts avg 166. How do I get you the strava segment? I tried to figure out how to cut the segments out but you can guess how this went.

Why not just select volcano flat route and warm up with one lap then go hard for you next two? Segment is already established

For what you did you’ll need to find or create a volcano lap segment for like 6 laps or whatever 15ish miles is.

 

[trplay]

Yep, I knew there had to be a better way. But the end of the ride is the 15 mile mark. So wouldn't the ride be from the start of the banner segment to the end? Is there a way to chop off that first .8 of a mile?

 

[RojoRacing]

Yep, I knew there had to be a better way. But the end of the ride is the 15 mile mark. So wouldn't the ride be from the start of the banner segment to the end? Is there a way to chop off that first .8 of a mile?

Go to Strava and Crop you ride to cut off the first 1/4 mile.

 

[trplay]

Ok, I'll work on it. Easier than riding it over again.

 

[Pollock]

You can see the Strava segment when viewing your ride on the desktop. Go to the bottom of the segments (I believe) and there should be an option to see hidden segments; select that. It should then reveal the 2Laps-Watopia segment and a bunch of others. I started this segment so it is easy to find on Strava next time.

 

[trplay]

Ok Larry I've done my duty you should have the data??????

 

[benphyr]

...on the desktop. Go to the bottom of the segments (I believe) and there should be an option to see hidden segments; select that. It should then reveal the 2Laps-Watopia segment and a bunch of others. I [stared] this segment so it is easy to find on Strava next time.

Thanks I'll try that next ride.