Indoor Training season is upon us....share set-ups, entertainment options, etc. - VeloNation - Cycling Forums, Bicycle Forums, Community Forums

Posts:4209

10/20/2018 03:48 PM
Alright...it is unfortunately that time of year. When the weather turns to schitt, light fades way too early and it is sometimes just easier to hit the trainer. Upped the Paincave game this year...ditched the inexpensive Elite Qubo interactive trainer and got an Elite Direto direct drive unit. Big difference in stability (never felt super-stable getting out of the saddle on the Qubo) and accuracy. The Qubo could read as much as 50w too high...which wasn’t a bad thing when riding Zwift since it just made me faster in the game. screaming deal @ $679. Also brought an old 26” flat screen downstairs and hooked that up to my laptop. Had planned to run Zwift in the laptop screen and video on the TV, but that was asking too much of the computer...the video would lag. So I am still running video on my iPad and Zwift on a laptop. Luckily I found out that the AirPods will still work with the iPad even if hooked up to an external screen. So I don’t have to blast the TV over the sound of the fan (trainer is pretty damn quiet). When I am doing interval workouts, I will listen to music and then put Zwift on the big screen A new season of Daredevil just dropped on Netflix, so I am currently binging that. Already almost 1/2 way through it....after that I have Jack Ryan on deck and then possibly Haunting of Hill House. Any other suggestions welcome.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

10/20/2018 05:25 PM
33 miles on the tandem with my wife this afternoon... beautiful October day in MO but fully aware that the trainer & Zwift are only a wind shift away. I've done a few trainer sessions over the summer when I ran out of daylight or just needed to get in a hard 60 minute workout. Next Saturday going to double up on cross races. 60+ in the morning then Cat 3 in the afternoon so there's that outdoor riding going on even if the weather is abominable. I'll be in Chicago for the Boat Show in Jan and the Northern IL Boat Show in Grayslake... end of Feb/ first of March. Come look me up in you're anywhere nearby

Posts:4209

10/20/2018 07:02 PM
Schit...Grayslake is just the next town over. I swim in the Lake all the time. Definitely lemme know when you are in town. Would be great to shake a hand and lift a beer.

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Posts:2881

10/20/2018 07:33 PM
Peloton makes a nice product.

Posts:4499

10/21/2018 11:15 AM
The sun is out it's a beauty day and going to ride out to close to 49th parallel for some junkyard cross spectating and beers. Just sayin😉

6ix

Posts:485

10/22/2018 09:12 PM
Still in the 60's and even low 70's here so trying to put in as many miles as possible before retreating back in to the pain cave for the winter. I've made some upgrades to my set-up. Still using Wahoo Kickr but am now using Zwift on the Apple TV 4K connected to a big, wall-mounted TV. The only caveat I learned about the Apple TV is that you need a Bluetooth "bridge" in order to connect HR, Kickr and Cadence since it only has 3 BLE antennas. The Apple remote utilizes once of the antennas. This really blew my mind at first but then bought a bridge made by North Pole Engineering (side note, I did some small work with these guys while with LeMond years ago. To say they are smart is a gross understatement.) Now the system works great!!! I keep my personal iPhone mounted to the handlebars so I can use the Zwift companion App and listen to Spotify through Bluetooth headphones. Amazing how much technology is required to exercise indoors!

Posts:4209

12/04/2018 01:54 PM
I finally earned the "Tron" bike in Zwift....to get it, you need to sign up for the MT. Everest Challenge (climb 8850m) and then keep climbing for an extra 41,150m to reach 50Km total (162K feet). Been trying to get it since last winter (but I admitedly didn't ride Zwift at all from about May to November). It definitely takes awhile!! Translation - I live in crappy area for winter riding and spend too much time "climbing" on the trainer.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

12/04/2018 02:32 PM
Haha CK. We have fools here (several of my friends) doing the Everest challenge on one of the local hills (10x repeat climb to get there; about 13-14hrs worth of effort), but your trainer adventures make them seem patently sane.

Posts:2881

12/04/2018 02:54 PM
Do you need oxygen for that?

Posts:4209

12/04/2018 03:39 PM
Posted By Orange Crush on 12/04/2018 02:32 PM Haha CK. We have fools here (several of my friends) doing the Everest challenge on one of the local hills (10x repeat climb to get there; about 13-14hrs worth of effort), but your trainer adventures make them seem patently sane. Well, I did make it somewhat easier on myself in that whenever I did a programmed workout on Zwift, I picked the hilliest route I could find. If the workout called for 3 min @ 250w, it didn't matter if I was going uphill or on the flats...250w was 250w. So I could leave it in one gear and not worry about if I was "climbing" or not. Going uphill felt the same as if I was on the flats. But I also spent a lot of time climbing up the simulated Alpe d' Huez on my own....now trying to get the "badge" for climbing it 25 times (but I have no idea how many times I have climbed it so far....but I think I am getting close).

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Posts:1767

01/25/2019 06:49 AM
Zwift... I didn't gripe when I lost connections I didn't post when my ftp went up I didn't whine when the route wasn't my favorite I haven't complained about iPod/ Mac/ Apple compatibility ...but I'm crying now! Figured I'd get in 90 easy spinning minutes, clicked on a route and bam 20 minutes in I'm at the base of Alp de Zwift. Of course any notion of an easy spin went out the window and I settled into a solid rhythm. 202, 205, 203... every section was in the low 200something watts (3.25w/kg) and as the sections counted down my oxygen addled brain is doing advanced math to see if a sub hour was in the cards. 8... 7... maybe 6... 5... Oh yes! 4... 3... 2... it's gonna be close! And NOOOOOooo! It doesn't finish at 1, that's the START of the last segment. Dang it! 61:50 I don't think I could have picked up that extra 2 minutes. I was spent at the end.. totally spent. I saw someone's time was 60:02 I would have been so mad! The only other time I'd done AdZ I clocked right at 61 minutes. I'll crack an hour before spring.

Posts:4209

01/25/2019 10:48 AM
I went 54:30 on the Alpe stage of Tour de Zwift....technically my 3rd fastest time, but my other 2 faster times were in my old trainer, which was reading 30-40w high. So this was really my fastest time. I was wasted at the end.....not an effort I want to repeat anytime soon.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

01/25/2019 09:16 PM
It's not hillclimbing season boys. But it still is outdoor riding season.

Posts:4209

01/25/2019 11:28 PM
Like fook it is!!!!

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Posts:1767

01/26/2019 08:01 AM
Are these (F)reedom degrees or(C)ommunist degrees? ...not that it matters, the trainer beckons

Posts:4209

01/26/2019 08:59 AM
(F)reedom degrees....already brutally cold here and it is obviously only getting worse this week.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

01/29/2019 01:03 PM
This is insanely funny https://www.fastcompany.com/90298096/you-will-never-look-at-a-peloton-ad-the-same-way-again-i-e-without-laughing

Posts:1767

01/29/2019 05:29 PM
Comedic gold... gold, I tell you, gold.

Posts:4209

01/29/2019 07:05 PM
I saw that yesterday....absolutely hilarious!!! Been downtown since Sunday afternoon....literally have not stepped outside the hotel in 52 hours. Dragged my bike and trainer with me and been riding in my room. Thank god these new direct drive trainers are so quiet!!!

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

01/30/2019 07:29 AM
CK, what trainer do you have? The thought of lugging my Wahoo around hotels isn't appealing. I've got a Cyclops trainer that folds up and is easy to move around. I about got thrown out of a hotel a number of years ago when I was on rollers. Guess the folks downstairs we're happy and I couldn't hear the phone calls from the front desk... oops.

Posts:4209

01/30/2019 10:22 AM
I got the Elite Direto.....the loudest sound was me shifting. Hotel set-up is pictured below.....Did Stage 9 of the Tour de Zwift yesterday....suffice to say, the little fan didn't really cut it. I was drenched at the end!!

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

01/30/2019 10:22 AM
Sorry for the widey......

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

01/30/2019 10:48 AM
Ah, forgot about the need to pack a fan as well. Guess I'll be driving my pickup instead of my Mini Cooper...

Posts:4499

01/30/2019 12:00 PM
That people...is dedication. I just spent a week at my folks hanging out and doing absolutely nothing.

Posts:4209

01/30/2019 01:02 PM
OC, I normally would not have bothered, but I just spent a week in Taiwan doing absolutely nothing (not even a run), so really didn’t feel like losing another 3 days. The event was just downtown, so it was easy to throw everything in the back of my car and take it with me. Bell hop st the hotel made it simple to get everything up to my room and back down.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

01/30/2019 05:17 PM
Nice running into Dale today on the Alpe...unfortunately, we were both doing programmed workouts so couldn’t ride together.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

01/30/2019 08:04 PM
Yeah, I'm on a multi week program (hopefully) getting me ready to Tour of the Gila You said bellhop? Clearly we patronize different hotels, I don't see those at the Super 8 or the Holiday Inn Express.

Posts:4209

01/30/2019 09:29 PM
Haha...the hotel was chosen but the event organizers. Not my usual level of hotel....i’m Typically a Courtyard or spring hill Suites guy.

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Posts:4499

01/31/2019 03:04 AM
CK - come on fes up already. You're in one of those Peleton ads lol.

Posts:4209

09/09/2019 08:46 AM
Starting to creep up on that time of the year....still over a month away, but it is coming and there may be the odd day or two earlier that forces me onto the trainer. sigh Lots of new stuff from Zwift...the annual World's course is now available and they added two additional areas to Watopia over the summer. They have also added a steering function for some areas in Watopia. You have to be using their Companion App and then mount your phone to your HB. Accelerometers in the phone then detect steering movements. Seems kinda gimicky to me, but initial reports are positive. Don't know that I will bother however. Now if they eventually incorporate it into the whole game, and you can move yourself over onto someone's wheel to stay in the draft, you may have to use it (if you wanna do any races at least). Been stocking up on some shows to watch on the trainer....My viewing list for this winter includes: * Stranger Things 3 * Jack Ryan Season 2 * Sneaky Pete Season 3

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

09/23/2019 07:07 AM
And so it begins....first trainer ride if the season yesterday. Rain all day....even though it was warm, I couldn’t get myself motivated to go it in it. sigh

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Posts:3180

09/23/2019 05:12 PM
Rode the Harvest Century yesterday. Forecast was excellent. Rain, starting at the ride start was predicted, ~55% chance all day. I rode to the start dry on dry roads. Rain started 10 minutes before we did and kept up roughly 60% of the day. I was never "soaked" but I spent the day seriously damp. Bike was a mess. I dressed welll, with no attempt to stay dry but with enough layers to not be cold riding. 125 miles of not hard riding and I felt good when I finished. (But after the hard fix gear Cycle Oregon, I had zero interest in pushing myself yesterday and never did.) Between yesterday and the first three days of Cycle Oregon, I've experienced a year's worth of wet in the past two weeks. Ben

Posts:2881

09/23/2019 07:51 PM
Wow! Very strong. Did good ol' wool gear get you through, or something more modern?

Posts:4209

09/23/2019 09:17 PM
And Ben shows me to be the lesser man by far....

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Posts:3180

09/24/2019 12:04 AM
lsd, I stayed away from wool for 30 years. Allergic to it after exposing myself to bad chemicals building fiberglass boats. (I did a naturopathic "liver cleansing" two years ago and can wear it again but my wardrobe hasn't caught up.) Patagonia has been my friend. That and REI's cheaper copies. Yesterday I wore layers. A synthetic mesh tank, the new Patagoina T-shirt, a long sleeve REI thermal (that's long enough to pull down as almost a cycling brief minus the redundant pad), a Mavic spring-fall SS jersey and a tired Showers Pass jacket whose waterproofness left some while ago. The good, heavy-ish Segoi arm warmers. On my lowers, best shorts, my heavyweight custom old-school basketball knee warmers under regular kneewarmers and heavy Specialized tights over. REI silk liner and Sock Guy socks. Couldn't find my winter cycling cap so I wore a Halo under a Pace cap. The day was mid-50s to mid 60s, not much wind. Saw the sun once while I was under shelter. Jacket came off halfway to the start (while everything was still dry) and back on for the rest of the day. Pulled the sleeves up and centered the zippers a couple of times. Nothing else changed all day besides gloves coming off at rest stops (and twice, having a lot of water wrung out of them). The upwind starts were cold! (I never thought about it until just now, but this would have been an excellent day for the old Zzipper fairing!)

Posts:4209

09/24/2019 08:29 AM
Holy crap...I would die with that many clothes on for those temps. I know clothing is highly individual, but just thinking about that many laters for mid-50's-mid 60's has me sweating in my chair!! I would likely have worn a SS baselayer, SS jersey, armwarmers and light LF gloves and stuffed my (new and never worn) GoreTex ShakeDry jacket in my pocket. Maybe knee warmers (but I know you have knee issues that require extra precaution).

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

09/24/2019 02:22 PM
...oooooh, GoreTex ShakeDry jacket, tell me more! The price seems nuts but the reviews all rave about it. And I'm going to wimp out and spend some time on the trainer tonight if the rain doesn't let up. I should go do some wet grass bike driving but just lack the motivation to do all that's necessary both before the ride and the post ride cleanup.

Posts:4209

09/24/2019 04:31 PM
Haven't worn the ShakeDry yet....but found it on sale @ Backcountry for $195. Figured it will be the perfect jacket for the Iceland trip next year, so I grabbed it. From what I can tell so far....good fit, snug all around so a minimum of flapping, long arms and generous tail in the back. Can definitely roll it up small enough to fit in a jersey pocket. Full report after a rain ride....

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:3180

09/24/2019 08:43 PM
CK, I run cold all the time. My body temp is regularly close to a degree low. I weigh little over 150 pounds and am all arms and legs. (Small volume, large surface area.) My body runs well in hot weather (well a little less as I 1) age and 2) have gotten quite soft in this NW world). Didn't love it but in my racing days, I loved that everyone else went slower. I knew there would be a lot of outdoor stops and that I was going to do them. That it wold be a long day. And that i was choosing to go pocket/space limited so it was wear it of leave it. (Had the day warmed up or I dried out, I would have had a lot of stuff wrapped around my waist.) I also knew I wasn't going to go hard enough to get hot. That would have required some of the incentive I knew I didn't have. Ben

Posts:4209

10/29/2019 08:59 AM
Welp....looks like trainser season is officially on. Weather is gonna be schitt all week (1-3" of snow on Halloween). Was 37* and rain / snow mix this AM. Hopped on the trainer and started my journey on TrainerRoad. Had TR controlling my wattage and then also ran Zwift using that wattage for "entertainment." I am doing the Traditional Base program from now until Jan when I will switch to SweetSpot Base to bring in a litle threshold work. Gonna try and do the mid-volume variant, but that quickly ramps up into 3 hour rides on both Sat & Sun. On the trainer....ugh. If the weather is OK, i'll just do the workouts outside. Started today with the Ramp Test to estimate FTP. SO MUCH EASIER THAN A 20 MIN FTP TEST!!! A brief warm-up and then a succession of increasing wattage ramps every minute until you reach failure. So evne though the workload is increasing, it only gets uncomfortbale for the last ~3 min or so. Results were better than expected...I had kinda pegged my FTP ~230w right now and the results said 240w. Still a fair amount lower than my in-season wattage, but not as bad as it normally gets this time of year. Then did the Whorl program....75 min of aerobic work. Mind-numbingly boring on its own, but I just watched the Zwift screen and listened to music. Wasn't too bad actually. Going to try and be very structured this winter to raise FTP for next year....I wanna hit 4 w/kg in 2020 (~280w). Stretch goal will be 300w, but I don't think that is realistic....we'll see.

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Posts:1767

10/30/2019 07:37 AM
+1 on the ramp test. Start out and build to failure. Haven't done an FTP test since last spring. Might do one in the next week or so. Racing Saturday in St. Louis FWIW, I just got out of your neighborhood in the nick of time. Left Fox Lake about 2:30pm, beat the traffic headed south and roll into bed about 11:30. That's the third time in as many weeks I've made that trip. Some clients just don't succumb to my charm on the first visit

Posts:4209

11/12/2019 08:45 AM
3 weeks into TrainerRoad Traditional Base, Medium Volume. Pretty simple and easy so far....just a lot of LSD. Nothing more than ~75% of FTP (other than an occasional high RPM "form sprint"). Just a fair chunk of hours on the trainer....this week I have 4 2-hour rides on the schedule. Tweaked a few things with my set-up this year. Running TrainerRoad via Bluetooth on my iPad. I then am running Zwift via ANT+ on an old laptop. TR is controlling my power and Zwift is just getting my power signal, so it is not controlling my efforts....i'm just riding around in Zwift according to my TR power. I then got an AppleTV, which I am watching various shows through. I can also run Zwift off that, if I want. Since everything I am doing is low intensity, I am just watching TV for now. So far I have burned through 1.5 seasons of Succession (excellent) and half of Jack Ryan S2. Given the length of these rides, I am gonna need to add to my list of stuff I wanna watch....I go through ~2 episodes of whatever show I am watching each time I get on the trainer. Also doing all these rides on my TT bike....I am just more comfortable in the aero position on longer rides. Definitely digging the set-up so far....once I start higher intensity rides, I'm going to probably run Zwift on the AppleTV and then just listen to music while I ride.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:2881

11/12/2019 09:50 PM
Maybe embarrassing to admit, but I'm working through 70s TV show Kung Fu as I perspire on a trainer. Free with Amazon prime. Show ran for three seasons. Some is crap, but a lot is not. For some reason, it's working for me on a trainer. Pace is mellow with a heavy dose of watered down Dao, and some bad ass but kindly intended martial arts, and a big, soft dose of where is your head and where do you want it to be stuff. The 70's was a time of re examining. IMO the inevitable blowback to Trumpism will bring us closer to what this little show offered as an alternative.

Posts:4499

11/17/2019 07:17 PM
Thanks to you fools strava is filled with nonsense trainer entries. The only stuff that still makes sense are my kids cross country races and my friends friday night track sessions. Time to unfollow some people lol. My setup remains to check real time and long term weather forecasts and adjust my schedule accordingly. Successfully identified and engaged the weather window this afternoon. All day ride planned for Friday. The wet coast rules especially now that with climate change we're becoming more the way California used to be.

Posts:1767

11/18/2019 08:55 AM
The weather here bounces up and down like a superball. 70* and sunny one day, 10* two days later so it's alternating between the trainer and outside in short sleeves. Saturday it was 28* at the start but sunny and looked like low 40's for a high. I did 55+ miles of gravel with a buddy. About froze the first few miles... mostly downhill so there you go. After those 5 or 6 miles we hit some climbs and things went swimmingly from there. Just shy of 4 hours and I was toast but it was great to be outside! Tomorrow looks like sunshine and 60 so it's outside for me again.

Posts:4209

11/18/2019 02:33 PM
The only "gravel" option for us is the Ders Plaines River Trail....which has been flooded for almost the entire Fall.....otherwise I would be riding outside a lot more.As it is, we are confined to the area right around our town, between underpasses to the north and south of us. It kinda sucks...

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

11/23/2019 12:42 PM
Friday's long ride was successfully executed. A bit of a hair raising start going downhill out of town on shiny roads in frosty conditions. The destination trail got a bit much for a gravel ride with numerous rocky stream crossings. But we didn't wreck on either occasion rode 116kms and drank four beers. Got home just as the daylight switched off again. Raining and gloomy now.

Posts:2881

11/23/2019 01:57 PM
Great RR!

Posts:4209

11/23/2019 02:22 PM
Looked like an epic ride!

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Mr.Earl

Posts:8

11/25/2019 12:21 AM
Hi Guys, I haven't posted here since Goat Roper days, but I see that as many of you are training with Zwift; I've got a question for you. I live in two different locations and have a Zwift set up at each. At one I use a Kickr Snap and roll along near the end of the pack. At the other location and use a dumb trainer (Cycleops fluid 2) and I'm a star off the front. I'm pretty sure I'm set up correctly at both locations. I go from about 1.6 w/kg with the power control to about 3 w/kg with only speed, cadence and heart rate with the dumb trainer. I'd hate to disappoint the Zwift people with my fall from physical conditioning when I start using the smart trainer again. Any explanations? - Mr.Earl

Posts:1767

11/25/2019 07:08 AM
No explanation but of the two, which do you think is more accurate? There are a variety of charts giving estimate w/kg. ~3w/kg is about what an average Cat 4 roadie can sustain (20+ minutes). 1.6 is below the chart for anyone racing. If you're 70+ you might be the latter, 30-60 and an active racer or reasonably fit 3 might be more in line. FWIW I'm mid-60 mid-pack cx racer and can sustain 3.2 for an hour PS Nice to have you back and +1 for the Goat Roper reference. Those were the days

Posts:4209

11/25/2019 07:25 AM
Sounds like you are using Zpower with your dumb trainer, which is only an estimate of actual power and is known to be vary pretty wildly. I bet if you increased the resistance on your dumb trainer, you could get the two set-ups to better mirror each other. Alternatively, recalibrate your smart trainer and make sure it is giving you accurate numbers. Goatroper....god help us. LOL!!! Welcome back!

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Mr.Earl

Posts:8

11/25/2019 09:53 AM
Dale The power trainer is probably more accurate. I'll be 77 in January, and can only keep up with the old guys i.e., until I bought a Bianchi Aria E- road bike. No, I don't use it with Zwift. Cosmic I am only using Z power with my dumb trainer. I've got the wheel resistance turned up to the suggested values, but maybe I'll give it another turn. I do like being at the head of the pack though... I don't use a separate power meter with the dumb trainer.

Posts:4499

12/23/2019 02:32 PM
I had one more go at a tough ride this weekend. Decided to check out snow level on Burke Mountain forest road. Found trace snow at around the 700 m elevation mark after about 10 k of climbing and a few minor hike a bikes on steeper rocky sections. Spent an inordinate amount of time "assisting" a group of MTBers (everyone else was on full suspension bikes out there) who were trying to fix a flat. Faced with another steep uphill and increasing snow, I decided to call it a day, there would have been another 3-4kms climbing to reach top. On descent I came across a friend that I hadn't seen in a year but who's brother we just happened to have over the night before, what are the odds. He also informed me about an old abandoned ski lodge up top, so I will have to return one day and complete the full climb. Also came across the MTB group who had found someone with a bigger and better pump and were about to bomb down one of the singletrack trails. Riproaring rocky descent followed by road descent followed by river gravel trails. Mighty sore today. Maybe one more ride this year. Have a great exit to 2019 and a great entry into the new year everyone.

Posts:3180

12/24/2019 01:08 AM
Mr.Earl, was that your handle in the Goatroper days? I was new then and there were a lot more of us so I was rather overwhelmed with all the names. Welcome back! Ben

Posts:4209

12/24/2019 05:30 PM
Weather has been nice the last few days...mid-40’s to even a few days cracking 50*. Been able to get out and enjoy the trails....a bit soupy in places, but nice to get outside. Still doing some training inside, but looking to do the prescribed workouts outside where possible when the weather cooperates.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

12/25/2019 04:45 PM
Did 41 gravel miles the 24th with a group of close to 20. Passed through Amish country with horse and buggies all over the place. Bike was properly filthy at the end. Tomorrow it's still in the low to mid-60's and a nice ride on the rails-to-trail path up to a town I lived for quite a few years. I'll grab lunch and ride back. Might get in 70 or so. Not doing any training, just goofing off on the bike but I do want to get in a few more rides to beat last year milage of 3,655 I'm actually embarrassed that my annual total is so low. Stupid work

Posts:4209

12/25/2019 05:27 PM
Got in a solid 2 hour trail ride today...56* on Xmas!!! Only wore arm / knee warmers. Outstanding.

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Posts:2881

12/25/2019 08:57 PM
Slow speed in the woods = baggy and light works well. Big change in mindset from roadie rules thing.

Posts:4499

12/25/2019 09:17 PM
Are you saying you're one of them Klunkerz LSD? Saw some awesome 1979 California footage on FB yesterday featuring Gary Fisher. Souped up cruiser bikes going downhill on the trails.

Posts:4209

01/05/2020 05:20 PM
OK...remind me to never do this again. Been wanting to watch Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame back-to-back. I am also heading to Asia again next weekend so I wanted to load up the miles before I left. And, in the back of my head, I have been wondering about grabbing the 100 Mile badge on Zwift. Thus was born the Avengers Century. Worked out about perfect.....the two movies right after each other (leaving out credits) came in a bit over 5 hours. Pick a relatively flat course on Zwift (Figure 8 Reversed) and the right workouts from Trainer Road and should be good to go. First workout ended after 3:15...already into the 2nd flick by then. Felt good, but ook a quick break, grabbed a coke and a Clif bar and got going again. Struggled the next hour....felt like a bonk was right there. Kept eating and drinking but no relief. Took another break at 4:15, grabbed another Coke and then decided to make a quick shot of espresso. The extra hit of caffeine, plus the last battle scene in Endgame, got me to the finish line. Had to ride maybe an extra 3 minutes after the movie ended to get to the end of my Trainer Road workout, so almost perfect timing. Ended up with 103 miles on Zwift and earned my 100 Mile Badge. Never, ever again.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

01/06/2020 12:25 PM
You are one sick individual. 100 miles outside is pushing the limits of tolerable for me... solo on a trainer? That's certifiably nuts but congratulations anyway.

Posts:4499

01/06/2020 12:33 PM
When you bonk in your basement full of leftover Christmas treats. That's nuts alright. I went out for some dike riding into 50kph winds yesterday but brought the wrong companion. A skinny climber type that could not hold my wheel after 30 kms in the bluster. We also ruined our drivetrains in deep mud and standing water, did some trespassing, got caught in a hail storm but in the end got some sunny weather and tailwinds. Just made it home when it got dark. First ride of 2020 will likely go down as one of the almost epic rides of year.

Posts:1767

01/06/2020 02:49 PM
Riding someone off your wheel Deep mud Standing water Ruined drivetrain Trespassing Hailstorm Back as it's getting dark ...dang, that's the making of a great ride!

Posts:4209

01/06/2020 04:43 PM
That's certifiably nuts but congratulations anyway. Congratulations or condolences? Like I said, I'm not doing it again..... OC, the pics from that ride looked awesome!!

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Posts:2881

01/06/2020 06:45 PM
Low country hard guys are a breed apart.

Posts:4499

01/06/2020 08:49 PM
There was a gal on the trail too but she was smarter than us and going the other way flying with the wind. We checked later she hit a couple QOM top 3s. My companion figured out later there was a parallel higher drier trail and I had to fess up it was well known to me. But where's the fun in that.

Posts:4499

01/06/2020 09:14 PM
BTW...speaking of hard folks from low countries, this is a quote from van Vleuten who is currently on the men's team training camp, the only woman there: "I have found my place (like last year): last wheel or just dropping from the last wheel. Today 200 kilometers of epic headwind. Headwind uphill today was my best friend (because they go a little less fast in front 😎 so I was able to stick a bit longer to the group." Now we know why she is such a beast riding with Yates bros etc.

Posts:2881

01/07/2020 06:46 PM
Geezer flashback, brought up only to enhance the longitudinal vibe of this forum. Mimi Roach (forgive me if I do not remember her name correctly) tucked in the Mens' 1-2 crit fields back in the day. More midatlantic than New England. Small, aero, and pretty decent wattage made it easy for her to finish in the mens' bunch back in our crits crits crits and more crits era. Yo Ben, I hope you can help me out here.

Posts:4499

01/30/2020 11:10 AM
Haha CK, saw you're note on Strava about getting dropped in first 5k of Tour de Zwift Stage 5. Then I saw that a local friend was in same race as you (at least I assume that's how it works?). Curiously even though he put out 70 more watts than you and was 3-4 kph faster his distance was shorter. He's also the provincial TT champ and came 2nd at nationals TT (Masters C, the youngest age group). Meanwhile my kid ran 100.5 kms last week while I only totalled 98kms (in a single ride mind you).

Posts:1767

01/30/2020 12:38 PM
Jumped on the Zwift last night and saw CK was there, clicked on to ride with him. After sitting in his draft for a couple of minutes he must have looked up from his TV show and messaged me... we rode about half an hour together, he was loafing along, I was on the rivet.

Posts:4209

01/30/2020 04:14 PM
getting dropped in first 5k of Tour de Zwift Stage 5. Oh no....it wasn't even that long. More like 500m. Probably not even that.....seriously. That said, I was also riding a Trainer Road program, so even though I timed it so that I was on a threshold interval when the flag dropped, I was immediately blown out the back. Within less than a minute, the fron group already had 10"+ on me and I was tailing off the second group. shrug I was just trying to get credit for the stage, not really racing it. The distance / time difference was probably because I kept riding for ~40 min after the stage to log a few more miles. And Dale is correct....at least as far as the timing. I don't believe for a second he was on the rivet. Definitely fun to "ride" together, though!!!

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:1767

01/31/2020 09:32 PM
Did an advertised 2.5 w/kg ride last night. Finished 93 or something out of close to 200 and averaged 3.0w/kg. Something about the algorithms they use punish us 63kg guys on flat routes. I'm at 4.0 and hanging on by the skin of my teeth. On the climbs it's another matter.

Posts:4499

02/29/2020 12:26 PM
It’s solidly spring. I just wanted to put that out there. Didn’t miss a single weekend outside riding this winter. That’s a bit uncommon. Normally there’s 2 to 3 weeks where outside riding is not possible or safe.

Posts:4499

04/26/2020 08:07 PM
Just wanted to say I went over to dark side and rode a trainer today. It was just to prove a point. It won’t happen again. Promise.

Posts:4209

04/27/2020 10:47 AM
LO, OC...good for you!! So I had a nightmare scenario yesterday. On Zwift you can earn "badges" for riding all the different routes in game. Dunno how many there actually are, but a lot...maybe 50+. I have ridden them all except for the the PRL Full ride in the London map. It is a whopper of a ride.....107 miles and 8K feet of climbing (11 times up Box Hill for those that know it). So there was a group ride organized yesterday to tackle it....200+ riders signed up. Thought "great....I can have some company and ride wheels to save some energy / time." Was doing great....riding my pace (~200w avg, 220w on the climb). Right where I wanted to be....feeling great and eating / drinking well. Got 85 miles done....9 climbs completed and only 2 to go......and my computer crashed. It occasionally runs into a situation where it runs off battery power even though it is plugged in. BOOM....computer shut down and I wasn't able to complete the route. So I have to start all over again on that ride, and this time I will have to do it solo since there is no upcoming group ride for it. sigh

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

04/30/2020 10:56 AM
Got the ride done yesterday....108 miles in 5:14. Given al the climbing on the course (almost 8K feet), I was pretty damn pleased with that, especially since I was doing it solo and not with a group. Went back and checked my buddy's time from Sunday and I was only 1 minute slower than him....not bad. Very happy with my power / pacing. Could have ridden longer if I wanted to (and I absolutely did NOT!!) All Zwift routes have now been completed....and with the weather improving this weekend, hopefully I can now abandon any longer rides on the trainer.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

04/30/2020 01:02 PM
Dang CK, that beats my ride from last week by 8 miles and is an hour shorter (my time showed on Strava as 6:45 but was actually 6:15 moving time). Impressive. I spent some time fixing a seat post issue. Had put on a quick release clamp so the shorter segment of the family can easily drop the post and use the torture machine, but the clamp proved to be not a perfect fit and my post kept dropping during the first half hour. So I got out the tools and put on the old clamp. My 100 miler was done in the span of listening to 8 records. Some were massively better for keeping cadence going than others. Other than that I had no distractions, just a constant resistance, no uphills, no downhills. Major butt hurt.

Posts:2881

04/30/2020 08:20 PM
Good for you getting by with music. I must be weak, but I need a good movie or similar visual stim.

Posts:4209

05/18/2020 11:13 AM
As I have still been spending a fair amount of time on my trainer (combination of crap weather, social distancing and not wanting to ride too much solo on the roads), I built a rocker panel / plate. Pretty simple design....top and bottom plates, mini-bosu balls for suspension and uses a 2x4 (rounded on the bottom) for the rocking motion. Done 3 rides on it so far and it actually works really well....but the motion out of the saddle is a weird. It is actually the complete opposite of how the bike rocks when you are outside, so it takes awhile to get used to. Top plate with the 2x4 rocker Bottom Plate with suspension balls. Note the blocks at the top and bottom to keep the two panels aligned, front-to-back. Assembled down in the Pain Cave

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4499

05/18/2020 04:59 PM
Haha. Nice CK.

Posts:1767

05/19/2020 04:28 PM
Nobody cares and it only mildly interests me but I've done Alpe du Zwift a few times and been right at an hour but never really made a concerted attempt to beat an hour until last night. Did the run up to the base and focused on keeping my watts/ power-to-weight ratio where they needed to be and came in at 56:57 Gave myself a weight penalty of 2# and had the trainer set at 100% just to prove a point that my gearing would work in real life. Got the notice that my ftp is 211 which is funny since the data said I averaged just shy of an hour at 219... anyway, that's that. ~3.5 watts/ kg which qualifies me to be a low end Cat 3

6ix

Posts:485

05/19/2020 04:36 PM
That's a SOLID time there, Dale. I've done Alpe d'Zwift and the virtual Alpe d'Huez on Fulgaz. Times were comparable between the two but since it's close enough to an hour, wouldn't you think that whatever your average wattage is for the climb would be a true representation of what you can really hold for a full hour? I mean, FTP is supposed to be what you can hold for an hour less 5% since they somehow think that we'll only lose 5% of our strength over the remaining 40 minutes. And that's just silly. My 20-minute FTP can be over 300 but I was nearly dead averaging 256 going up Alpe d'Huez (virtual) for an hour. Those numbers are useful for training, I suppose, but it's just plain silly to think you'd only lose 5%. And on top of that, there is no way in hell I could average close to 300 for an hour. 20 minutes, sure, but not an hour.

Posts:1767

05/19/2020 05:11 PM
I take FTP with a grain of salt. Seated, standing, combination of both? I probably stood 1/3 of the time but get told to do the legit ftp test seated. Standing I can generate more watts but if you've going any speed at all it's counter productive (cue up CK to elaborate on at what speed to stand vs seated and in the drops).

Posts:3180

05/19/2020 08:51 PM
Posted By Dale Dale on 05/19/2020 05:11 PM I take FTP with a grain of salt. Seated, standing, combination of both? I probably stood 1/3 of the time but get told to do the legit ftp test seated. Standing I can generate more watts but if you've going any speed at all it's counter productive (cue up CK to elaborate on at what speed to stand vs seated and in the drops). Or - stand in the drops. like a 79pmooney going uphill and upwind or (for far more style points!) like a certain Marco P.

Posts:4209

05/20/2020 12:02 PM
Cracking an hour on the Alpe is a solid effort, no matter how you slice it....which is why there is a badge for it in Zwift. 56' is excellent. And yeah, i would take your average power for that climb as a real indication of what your FTP is. Little over a month ago, after a poor Ramp Test, I decided to do a race up the Alpe to check my FTP on a longer effort. My 20' Avg was ~270w and my total avg up the climb was 256. Take .95 of my 20' power and you get....256w. I have zero idea on what the breaking point is for standing vs. sitting and the associated increase on power vs. aero drag. Way too many variables....but standing is just not an efficient way to generate watts on an extended basis. So regardless of the increased watts, it should be used sparingly, IMO.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!

Posts:4209

05/20/2020 12:03 PM
And hard pass on doing the Alpe at 100%....i usually have mine set at 50% (but then I am also big ringing it up the climb the whole way). shrug

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!