I'm out.

I get no joy out of comparing my data versus someone else's. The joy of racing comes from toeing the line and battling not only the other blokes but the elements. I get that some people really like this virtual concept. I'm not on that list.

In the mean time, I'm going to train my ass off and, when the time comes, put my fitness on the course versus yours. I'll celebrate your effort regardless of who wins. And I'll look you in the eye for that celebration.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Would you be willing to have a sticky if people made a strava course and listed it here? This way it could stay up, people could do it when they had the chance and not overlap/get too close; and they could still get out. Would also let people try some new formats that they may not have previously tried such as gravel tri, mtb tri, etc.

Stephen J

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I believe my local reality has been violated.
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Happiness = Results / (Expectations)^2

I honestly dont know how you would cheat on Zwift cycling. Other than weight but that's not a tremendous advantage if you pick a flat course. The running though, has to be done with Gps outdoors. It is way too easy to cheat on zwift run. I have the Runn speed sensor, and I could just jump off the belt and put it on 12.0. Jog in place to keep moderate hr. So ya, run will never work.

"activities: bike and run
distances: 40k and 5k
format: bike on the trainer; run on the treadmill or outdoor; run and bike discrete accomplishments; multiple efforts okay.
platform: bike 40k memorialized by a file from zwift, trainerroad, sufferfest, etc; run memorialized by a zwift effort, or by a GPS unit, or a footpod.
calendar: ; efforts must be achieved and uploaded between May 15 and May 30.
data aggregator: a slowtwtich challenge; (or bikereg; or sportstats).[/quote]

I like it. I'm in. Maybe as the weather warms for most of us, we can have a swim, thanks for thinking of this ..

i have a Runn sensor to. but you don't need that. my treadmill has built-in bluetooth. and, it has a CSafe port into which I stuck a third-party sensor. i now have 3 different ways my treadmill can transmit to Zwift a 2-flat marathon without anybody on it.

but i'm not worried about that. i would have no problem running a footrace on zwift. i have way, way, way, way bigger things to concern me these days than somebody sitting in a chair while his treadmill dukes it out with me on zwift.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

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Dan, i know that a lot of people are asking for treadmill and indoor pedaling racing (I don't even call it cycling because its not cycling when your rear axle is bolted down).

We do races outdoors in the real world. If you want to do a virtual race series, if we can't do them with real humans, you gotta do it in the real elements. As it is the human connection that we feel in the real world has been yanked away from us during this time and we're only virtually interacting with humans. At least lest preserve the real interaction with nature that we have in real racing.

Plus part of the skill of riding is getting the most speed out of your finite watts (staying aero, carrying speed out of corners, real world obstacles like pot holes and slick white lines etc etc).

If you have indoor options its uninteresting. We're no longer doing what we do in a real race. There is a reason that people who exclusively ride indoors often say, "I need to get a few outdoor rides in before racing".

I get your point. But, there are people who are either unwilling or unable to get side because of cv-19. I don't think it's in the spirit to say outside or nothing. Nobody is even winning a plastic trophy here.

Dev—
The stark reality is that you have a significant portion of the population who either feels unsafe exercising outdoors, or may even not be allowed to do so in the near to medium future.

Utilizing the tools we have available, like Zwift, will make this more appealing to people.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

This.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I love when folks are salty about things they aren’t “rich” enough to afford. 🤦‍♂️

I really like the idea and appreciate the effort put into figuring out how to do it. I don't think there is any way at all to have a single, apples to apples event for everyone to do.

I think there might need to have different options of competition (like age groups). You can a category for outdoor efforts and one for indoor. Another for back-to-back efforts and another for a certain date range. People who want to will do it and appreciate having something to train for :-).

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

yup agree with no pleasure comparing data across different states/countries, conditions etc. zwift at least levels the playing field somewhat. can't argue about lack of handling skills, but there are new skills to learn with virtual racing. this article by one of our local real life pros is great at describing the nuances of virtual racing

https://www.cycle-smart.com/...-kevin-bouchard-hall

i've done almost 50 zwift races (some of them treadmill races) over the last 4 months and am loving it. there is always competition any time of the day, all different courses to choose from. hills, flats, long, short, crits, stage races etc etc. and that is just the races, combine that with group rides and solo work outs and it never gets boring. biggest benefit is by racing 2-3x per week my power is much better than when training for tris. getting forced into the red zone constantly is a real eye opener, never thought i could hold that kind of power for that long. anyway i was really looking forward to real races this summer coming off of this indoor winter.

also zwiftpower.com is essential for racing. it filters out the flyers and cheaters and makes results realistic. plus it has great analytics and power tracking, all for free.

Love it. No complaints. (Yet). If I avoid reading this thread, other than original post, I’m more likely to keep that at zero.

A local ultra running club put on a virtual treadmill marathon as a training motivator this winter. During a one week span, we could pick any 24 hour period in which to complete a marathon (treadmill only) broken into as many segments (or as few as we wished). Times and distances were e-mailed to the RD along with photo evidence.

Some comments on this event that may or may not translate to what we're trying to do here at ST
- Our ultra running group is a kinder gentler gang and we had a lot of fun posting pics of our treadmill endeavors on a FB group. For most, it was about completing the distance and not the speed or placement vs other competitors. STer's have a bit more of a competitive bent. In a perfect world, this would lead to lots of good trash talk and such. But, I could also see it head in the direction where each participant needs 50 levels of verification and an Einsteinean level algorithm to normalize results for wind direction, elevation gain/loss, phase of the moon etc.

- There was an entry fee for the virtual marathon (the bulk of which went to one of our group's charities). I like that idea and I think that it would be great to do that with an ST based event as well. It could even be a $0 entry with an option to donate?

- The e-mailing of results and photo documentation might not be very practical without reasonable entry cap's.

Heart rate sensor, foot pod sensor to track leg speed or watts if a fancy one, video cam for people paranoid of cheats. Lots of options, but agree with the Runn you could just let it go and sit back and eat doritos while coasting to victory. The idea is to get the events going instead of complain about possible cheaters before even starting.

You could just as easily cheat in an individual outdoor timed event where no one is watching. Ebike, motor pace or motorcycle, drafting. What if you don't have a power meter?

If there was a Zwift-sponsored, integrated duathlon 'series', I could be convinced to transition from the Zwift legacy (early adopter, no longer payer, get 25 km/mo free) to Zwift paying. THAT ought to get Zwift's attention...

yes i would like to see zwift take duathlon over, and run it as a single event, rather than signing up for 3 sequential events. the guy running it now is doing a good job, but from a programming standpoint, it could be easily streamlined. as far as virtual tri goes, i used the ANT+ on the vasa erg today, and it worked well with zwift. i created a second account with a minimal weight of 99lbs, otherwise my meager 50-60watts on the vasa wouldn't get me very far. it works though. probably not a lot a vasa erg's out there who want to zwift, but it would be pretty easy to make a swimming avatar and drop us in an out and back section of water. for that matter, there are TONS of concept2 rower users who would probably use this functionality....maybe start with them.

http://www.220triathlon.com/...lJt4wF0YM0PoBLs43oCU

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David T-D
http://www.tilburydavis.com

yeah. i think that's in another thread. i traded several emails with ironman prior to the announcement. there's pretty much nothing there yet. the announcement is to let us know there's going to be an announcement. is this aboard a stationary platform? as in, you're on a smart trainer? is this out on the road, and you're "timing" yourself using your GPS device? can you answer that for me? because, if something that basic can't be answered, the only thing we know really is that ironman is going to announce something which they really haven't announced yet, unless i missed it.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

2PEAK has just launched our Virtual Racing series we have named the Social Distance Race Series.

The way it works is fairly simple as described below but I am happy to answer any additional questions on it.

There are many races to chose from ranging in different sports and distances. All of the races are open and free to register for everyone regardless of if you have an active 2PEAK account or not. There are running only, cycling only and duathlon events. Running races range in distance from 5k to marathon. Cycling races range in distance from 30k to 200k. Triathlon/Duathlon races range in distance from Sprint to Ironman. You can also chose multiple events. Each event has a set date but all you have to do is complete the race distance and upload the GPS data in plus or minus 10 days from the event.

Platform
You can choose to do this outside if it is still permitted in your city or complete the distance on and indoor trainer like Zwift and or a treadmill.

Format
You ride/run start to finish and upload your GPS data to 2PEAK. You will be added to the ranking list once it has been uploaded. It must be uploaded 10 days before or after the original date. The event and ranking list is final 10 days after the ranking list is available to everyone. elevation gain is taken in to account.

Each 100 meters elevation gain of running = 1 Kilometer of distance and each 200 meters elevation gain of cycling = 1 Kilometer of distance. So for example if you cycle 35km with 1,000 meters of elevation gain followed by a 9km run with 100 meters of elevation gain this is equal to a 40km ride with a 10km run.

activities: bike and or run
distances: multiple
format: bike outdoor or on the trainer; run on the treadmill or outdoor; multiple efforts okay.
platform: GPS unit.
calendar: efforts must be achieved and uploaded between plus or minus 10 days of the race date.
data aggregator: 2PEAK.com or the app

10km run.
More information here: https://blog.2peak.com/...istance-race-series/
2PEAK.com