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Zwift what am I missing??
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I tried swift in the past and never got hooked and tried it again today.

I just don't get it? Atlas with trainer road I have a plan/goal power etc..


am I missing something? not doing right?

I really want to like it and be entertained but beside giving people thumbs up I don't know how else you interact

Yellowfin Endurance Coaching and Bike Fits
USAT Level 1, USAC Level 3
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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They have training plans as well. Also races and group rides. I love getting on group rides that are at my limit with the drafting I try not to get dropped like in real life. I just hold on for as long as I can. You can also use it for running as well. Haven't done any group runs but have done some solo. Something to look at on the treadmill .

2019 T-Rex Tri Series
Last edited by: mknight84: Aug 12, 17 10:06
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Everyone is different but for me, I like Zwift (level 24). In fact, I checked my Strava a month ago and found that I had only ridden 400 miles outside in 34 months while I rode over 3000 miles on the trainer. Until recently that was a dumb trainer. That might not be much mileage for some of you but I haven't been training for anything in particular. I have to admit that my bike handling has suffered.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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not in love with zwift either... been on/off since beta. Passes the time in winter is about all I use it for.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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try the races, they are a lot of fun and incredible workouts.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [buzz] [ In reply to ]
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buzz wrote:

try the races, they are a lot of fun and incredible workouts.

They were fun until the ones I liked doing stopped A,B,C,D groupings... I can't keep up with A's B's
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Do you have a smart trainer? if not, Zwift is much more fun with a smart trainer.
Try different courses and challenges. I love the mountain route on Watopia. Challenging and also beautiful and makes 1hr go by quickly.
Find some riders to chase just like in real life.
Try their group rides. They are good and will make time fly by
If you really want to challenge yourself, give their races a try.

I also find having a bigger screen much better for the entertainment value than using an iPad or phone. They put tons of work on little details and graphics and you will enjoy it much more on a big screen.

Give their structured workout a try. They have a lot of workouts and you can create your own and even export works from TrainingPeaks to Zwift.


SmartBikeTrainers.com || YouTube || My Twitter
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Tri Nut] [ In reply to ]
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Tri Nut wrote:
Do you have a smart trainer? if not, Zwift is much more fun with a smart trainer.
Try different courses and challenges. I love the mountain route on Watopia. Challenging and also beautiful and makes 1hr go by quickly.
Find some riders to chase just like in real life.
Try their group rides. They are good and will make time fly by
If you really want to challenge yourself, give their races a try.

I also find having a bigger screen much better for the entertainment value than using an iPad or phone. They put tons of work on little details and graphics and you will enjoy it much more on a big screen.

Give their structured workout a try. They have a lot of workouts and you can create your own and even export works from TrainingPeaks to Zwift.

This. I would bet those who don't like Zwift are not using a smart trainer. Try the Pretzel route on a smart trainer. I have yet to do a group ride or a race but hammering for the KOM's on the bigger climbs sure is a fun workout.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Smart trainer + Zwift (fast) group ride or race = lots of fun

Close 5k km on Zwift this year, maybe 500 or so outdoors and most of that would be tt's or races.


Here are the group rides I try and hit up:
Most fun would be the Back to Work Ride on Monday night's, sometimes 80+ people will start and by the end maybe 10 of us hammering it out! I try and do two group rides back to back with one being a long warm up.

(Times in EST)
Monday:
3:55pm - SAS Surise 45 min
8pm - Back to Work Ride 38km


Wednesday:
7pm - CIS Training Ride 1 hour
8pm - Ride North America 1 hour

OlympicHopeful.com - Interviews with aspiring Olympians | Strava
Supported by: Skechers|Zwift|Squirt Lube|TYR|Rubber Ducky Sunscreen|Riplaces|MultiSport Canada|Joshus Bikes
“More often than not bad luck meant bad plans” -Joe Abercrombie
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [buzz] [ In reply to ]
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How do you find out the race schedule? I would love to find out when I can mix it up in a bike race this winter.

------
"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Few people here are saying those that don't like zwift probably don't have smart trainers...

I have a kickr, and a fairly large TV directly in front of my bike. I didn't care for zwift. This is just because if I'm going to distract myself I'd rather watch netflix or something else. Watching virtual me go around zwift island, richmond, london, etc is all fine and dandy, but it's not super entertaining to me and doesn't replace outside riding. Moreover I never felt zwift was realistic, particularly on downhills where I would spin out on even the slightest downhill. To get around this I either have to turn off erg mode, or suffer through putting out no more than 100 watts on a downhill. Either way the "magic" of riding zwift has been lost. I get a lot of people like it for the visuals. That's cool, just not for me.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [PushThePace] [ In reply to ]
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PushThePace wrote:
How do you find out the race schedule? I would love to find out when I can mix it up in a bike race this winter.

http://www.zwiftpower.com

Team Kiwami
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [PushThePace] [ In reply to ]
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been a while but there's a facebook group called zwift riders, and another i think called zwift racers. Request to join those. And just read their descriptions and any help documents they have stickied. It's been a long time since i was on either of those sites but they should have some resources for new riders/racers and if there's not you can of course always ask for help.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [racehd] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
I have a kickr, and a fairly large TV directly in front of my bike. I didn't care for zwift.

Same for me when I was riding. I tried Zwift and it just wasn't for me. My preference was TrainerRoad and a podcast with headphones. Allowed me to zone out and get the workout done.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [owtbac86] [ In reply to ]
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owtbac86 wrote:
PushThePace wrote:
How do you find out the race schedule? I would love to find out when I can mix it up in a bike race this winter.


http://www.zwiftpower.com

Awesome thanks for this. I don't have facebook so I had heard about races in the past but had no way to actually find them.

------
"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Probably a smart trainer.

"One Line Robert"
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [logella] [ In reply to ]
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logella wrote:
Quote:
I have a kickr, and a fairly large TV directly in front of my bike. I didn't care for zwift.


Same for me when I was riding. I tried Zwift and it just wasn't for me. My preference was TrainerRoad and a podcast with headphones. Allowed me to zone out and get the workout done.

I understand how you feel. I first tried Zwift when it was still in beta at a friends house one night and couldn't understand why people were enjoying it so much.
A year later I gave it another shot once I got a smart trainer. I logged in and immediately a big group ride passed me, which I then chased and joined up with. Was lots of fun.
I probably enjoy it so much because i'm really competitive. I have to put a movie on when I'm doing an easy ride to stop myself from chasing other riders and end up forgetting I was suppose to be doing an 'easy ride'.

OlympicHopeful.com - Interviews with aspiring Olympians | Strava
Supported by: Skechers|Zwift|Squirt Lube|TYR|Rubber Ducky Sunscreen|Riplaces|MultiSport Canada|Joshus Bikes
“More often than not bad luck meant bad plans” -Joe Abercrombie
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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I prefer to stare at the workout in TR and watch TV over Zwift
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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surfNJmatt wrote:
I tried swift in the past and never got hooked and tried it again today.

I just don't get it? Atlas with trainer road I have a plan/goal power etc..


am I missing something? not doing right?

I really want to like it and be entertained but beside giving people thumbs up I don't know how else you interact
It's absolutely a "your mileage may vary" thing. TrainerRoad is probably a more effective pure training tool, but I am an ADHD video game nerd and enjoy the social aspect (have friends who use it). I used to watch cycling while riding, but feel like Zwift is at least a stimulus that is related to my actual workout.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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surfNJmatt wrote:

am I missing something? not doing right?

I really want to like it and be entertained but beside giving people thumbs up I don't know how else you interact


I saw this post the other day... and someone asked the exact same thing to me in person yesterday. So here's my reply, in video.

What is Zwift? What is it all about? (in less than 90 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSgVJNo3o1k

Shane Miller - GPLama
YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [gplama] [ In reply to ]
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Shane's video does a good job summing it up. Look, if you are a stare-at-the-wall kind of rider, Zwift isn't for you. Yes, it is a bit video gamey, but that adds to the fun of it for many of us. The fact that I can race as often as I want without having to worry about crashes or even going anywhere is great. I like the social aspect of it when using third-party apps like Discord, even when I am doing something different from other riders I know. The workout mode is pretty similar to TR, and I can import BBS plans, too. At the end of the day, it is all about what motivates you to train.

https://www.endurancelab.fit
https://www.teamodz.com
https://discuss.endurancelab.fit
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [ianm98] [ In reply to ]
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ianm98 wrote:
Shane's video does a good job summing it up. Look, if you are a stare-at-the-wall kind of rider, Zwift isn't for you. Yes, it is a bit video gamey, but that adds to the fun of it for many of us. The fact that I can race as often as I want without having to worry about crashes or even going anywhere is great. I like the social aspect of it when using third-party apps like Discord, even when I am doing something different from other riders I know. The workout mode is pretty similar to TR, and I can import BBS plans, too. At the end of the day, it is all about what motivates you to train.

I agree with the above. Certainly makes the indoor training more palatable and fun. Lots of great groups that are hosting group rides, races and even workouts.

http://www.teamodz.com
http://www.endurancelab.fit
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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The only time I use Zwift is if I have something on the schedule that's just time in the saddle. ie - easy 3-4 hour ride and the weather is just too horrible to be safely ride outside

Aside from that, if I'm going to workout on a trainer - I'm going to do a specific set and be done with it. Which is TrainerRoad does a much better job IMO.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
The only time I use Zwift is if I have something on the schedule that's just time in the saddle. ie - easy 3-4 hour ride and the weather is just too horrible to be safely ride outside

Aside from that, if I'm going to workout on a trainer - I'm going to do a specific set and be done with it. Which is TrainerRoad does a much better job IMO.
I think this is especially true with short and sharp efforts as the power lag is accentuated when you're trying to settle as you start a shorter interval, and there's no on-screen way to track AP/NP for a specific interval. It's less of an issue for me with 5+ minute efforts because I'm able to hit 90%-105% FTP more precisely than 120%+, the impact of the first few seconds matters much less, and looking down at my bike computer every half minute or minute to check AP/NP (versus constant monitoring) is much less cumbersome.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
The only time I use Zwift is if I have something on the schedule that's just time in the saddle. ie - easy 3-4 hour ride and the weather is just too horrible to be safely ride outside

Aside from that, if I'm going to workout on a trainer - I'm going to do a specific set and be done with it. Which is TrainerRoad does a much better job IMO.
Zwift does have an editor which allows you to set up your own workouts with whatever intervals you want, and those can then control erg mode.

The user interface is sort of irritating - it tries to get you riding right away -- and it would be nice if you could just log in and go edit things more easily. But dig around, the option is there.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [spudone] [ In reply to ]
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spudone wrote:
Geek_fit wrote:
The only time I use Zwift is if I have something on the schedule that's just time in the saddle. ie - easy 3-4 hour ride and the weather is just too horrible to be safely ride outside

Aside from that, if I'm going to workout on a trainer - I'm going to do a specific set and be done with it. Which is TrainerRoad does a much better job IMO.
Zwift does have an editor which allows you to set up your own workouts with whatever intervals you want, and those can then control erg mode.

The user interface is sort of irritating - it tries to get you riding right away -- and it would be nice if you could just log in and go edit things more easily. But dig around, the option is there.

The workout library is much smaller...and my coach puts workouts into trainerroad
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file

the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning
Last edited by: Callin': Aug 17, 17 12:08
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Callin'] [ In reply to ]
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Callin' wrote:
It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file

Point is, I don't want to create my own custom workout. I want to use the 1000s that are available in trainerroad or the one my coach built for me.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Fair enough

the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
Callin' wrote:
It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file


Point is, I don't want to create my own custom workout. I want to use the 1000s that are available in trainerroad or the one my coach built for me.

and that's one of the huge advantages trainerroad has. their extension workouts and they're always updating or adding new ones. I've started looking at perfpro. which has lots of different workouts from different sources. not quite the same as having one trusted source such as trainerroad. I'll have to give zwift a shot again this winter.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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I just started doing the races and I think they are damn fun. I have never ridden indoors in the summer til I started on Zwift. Now I prefer it sometimes.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [mickison] [ In reply to ]
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mickison wrote:
Geek_fit wrote:
Callin' wrote:
It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file


Point is, I don't want to create my own custom workout. I want to use the 1000s that are available in trainerroad or the one my coach built for me.


and that's one of the huge advantages trainerroad has. their extension workouts and they're always updating or adding new ones. I've started looking at perfpro. which has lots of different workouts from different sources. not quite the same as having one trusted source such as trainerroad. I'll have to give zwift a shot again this winter.

Their library is so expansive that I honestly have never built a custom workout. There is always been one that was 99% of what my workout was. My coach puts some custom ones in there when prepping for something specific, but even he will just often assign an already existing one.

The other issue I have with Zwift is how it interacts with smart trainers that require calibration. On Trainerroad I just hit pause and calibrate. I still can't quite figure out how to do the calibration with Zwift is running and often end up spending 5 minutes fiddling around with logging in and out and other nonsense I don't have time for
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
I still can't quite figure out how to do the calibration with Zwift is running and often end up spending 5 minutes fiddling around with logging in and out and other nonsense I don't have time for

It's now in-game. Explained in under one minute here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-YWZwAdu4

Shane Miller - GPLama
YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [gplama] [ In reply to ]
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gplama wrote:
Geek_fit wrote:
I still can't quite figure out how to do the calibration with Zwift is running and often end up spending 5 minutes fiddling around with logging in and out and other nonsense I don't have time for


It's now in-game. Explained in under one minute here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-YWZwAdu4

Excellent! That will make it easier when I do use it
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [Geek_fit] [ In reply to ]
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Geek_fit wrote:
Callin' wrote:
It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file


Point is, I don't want to create my own custom workout. I want to use the 1000s that are available in trainerroad or the one my coach built for me.
I know Training Peaks will now export to the .zwo Zwift format, if your coach uses that, just as another option.
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [spudone] [ In reply to ]
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spudone wrote:
Geek_fit wrote:
Callin' wrote:
It's incredibly easy to create your own workouts in zwift using a basic text editor instead of within the app. If you need more information send me PM. I have a spreadsheet that will output a custom .zwo file


Point is, I don't want to create my own custom workout. I want to use the 1000s that are available in trainerroad or the one my coach built for me.

I know Training Peaks will now export to the .zwo Zwift format, if your coach uses that, just as another option.

Also good to know! Thanks!
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Re: Zwift what am I missing?? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Love Zwift, I use it with a Tacx Neo. The races are fun, and can be really hard. The routes on Watopia are challenging, and I can be home with my kids.
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