I don't see Zwift converting people that race in-person triathlons into pure online athletes.

I do see Zwift taking in athletes like myself with minimal time, availability to ride during dark hours, don't want to get run over by a distracted or a$$hole driver, but still want to maintain or make gains on the bike. I'm 80% indoors now with long rides outside on weekends in daylight hours when weather permits.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

I agree. Where I think it could potentially hurt the goal of getting more people to do more triathlons is: 1. Current triathlon participants do fewer triathlons because Zwift is another outlet for their competitive desires; 2. Cyclists who currently use Zwift and have never done a triathlon never do a triathlon because Zwift helps satiate their competitive desires. Of course, Zwift certainly isn't the only outlet for an athlete's competitive desires. I'm just wondering if Zwift, which it is a relatively new outlet that is currently getting a lot of attention on ST, could affect the goal of getting more people to do more tris.

As a tri coach, I've actually seen people come to do tri's from using Zwift and gaining confidence.
So far I've seen more additions to tri's than subtractions based on Zwift users.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

To be honest, I can easily see this being me. Doing 1 or 2 big triathlons a year. I'm in Florida, so I could see St. Anthony's in the spring and then maybe a 70.3 in the fall, basically just to get that big event experience. Then just do online racing during the year. I'm planning on doing around 10 or so tri's this year, but I honestly think this may be the last year I do that many, at least in the near future.

Zwift and ERG mode are the best two things that ever happened to me for triathlons. I was decent on the bike (avg 230 NP at St. Anthony's in 2016). Fast forward to this year and now I'm averaging that for a 2 hour workout including warmup and cool down. I've read on here a bunch of times that one of the ways to get better on the bike is to ride more. Zwift gives me that ability. It doesn't matter if it's raining, dark, or cold, it's always 70 in my basement.

Zwift is great, im a user since early beta and continue to get 10 hours a week in there usually

Honestly though my reason for zwifting is more to do with the death of a triathlete and two others that I know put in comas from being hit on their bike

I’ll continue to participate in triathlons as usual. My last two Ironman had 0 outdoor rides leading up to them and I performed just fine

Though I love training. I stopped training with others so I can focus on racing when... (wait for it).

I'm racing.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

its a good tool- I see lots of people doing a much better job of winter training with it. Given the level of cheating (weight, poor set-ups than are know to way overreport power ect) during the races they are more for motivation than accuracy. But its working for people. Sunday, its was raining so I hopped on with my training partner and there was 5000+ other users on. I think I saw like 3 events ongoing- rather impressive.

So in your theory you have a fixed amount of focus that you lose whenever you start competing with someone?

As a bike racer I think the opposite...group and race skills need to be continually practiced and honed or else they erode. My problem with over-racing is purely physiological.

I live in a cold weather climate so all my friends ride indoors for several months a year. I doubt Zwift will have any affect on who races outdoors, but it has destroyed the late January/February weekend group rides in my area ;-) The outdoor/anti trainer diehards who in the past would have gotten things going outside by now have taken to Zwift and appear to have raised their acceptable temperature by 15 degrees. The rest of us who have been training indoors for years enjoy not being called out to prove our manhood on 30 degree mornings. I don't use Zwift but it has made my life better!

I'm going to depart from most people here and say that I can't tolerate it. I love racing, I love competition, but I hate. Hate. Hate. HATE riding indoors. I'm good for about 30 minutes, whether it's on zwift, watching a movie, or anything else.

I don't know how the rest of you do it, but I simply can't. This is after getting punted off the road, over the sidewalk, and into a ditch by a car while riding. I understand why some people quit riding outdoors because of the danger aspect, but I simply can't stand sitting there staring at a screen.

If the choice was train indoors or not at all, I would quit the sport

No. I never said anything about a fixed amount of focus. For me, it's the opposite; I can get sucked into racing all the time. My physiology can't handle racing every day - especially in running; recipe for injury. Moreover, I'm unusual in that I can turn the switch on while alone and suffer, be it at the track, pool or in the saddle (outside). Mostly though I hate sitting on a trainer, though I do it occasionally. Though I do wonder how one perfects group bike handling skills while on a stationary trainer.

I understand I'm in the minority and wish the utmost success for all, however they obtain it. I've discovered the success formula that works for me. Save racing for race day.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

I do the same. Most groups I ride with tend to turn into a bunch of 20-somethings getting competitive and trying to tear each other's legs off. Tons of fun, but when your coach says you're supposed to do an easy ride that day it's not exactly ideal.

I do, however, find that being pushed by other people in the pool is key for me to really reach my top potential. Swimming by myself works for long stuff, but when you get lots of high intensity work in a set, I can find that extra level i didn't have before. I can find that gear for biking and running solo, just not swimming.

signed up for a ride today that's supposed to be 2.5-3.5 w/kg avg. It's classified as a "B" ride. The top 15-20 guys sustained over 4 w/kg for 40 minutes, with the winner going close to 5. WTF is wrong with these people? Why can't they just sign up for a race if that's the power they want to generate for the duration? The ride is also chaotic, and the organizer (what a misnomer) didn't bother with keeping the group together.

It seems that group riding on Zwift is either really fast (over 4 w/kg) or really slow, with no happy medium...