Thanks. I couldn't find this particular series anywhere on ZP. No big deal, was just curious.

Is there a way to the actual distance of a course? The Jungle Loop says like 4.9 miles but has a 3.8 mile lead up. If it is available to see the actual mileage to complete a course I don;t see it. It is frustrating to try and complete courses but not knowing the actual distance.
Thank you, John

Zwiftinsider.com


You can find details for pretty much all of the routes here:
https://zwiftinsider.com/watopia/

That one's for watopia courses, but links to the other worlds

When you look at the route details, it shows the lead in. And lots of other stuff. Here's and example for "big loop"
https://zwiftinsider.com/route/big-loop/


I'll also add that the answer to just about any zwift question is on zwift insider. Not super well organized site, but if you search around a bit, you'll find what you are looking for.

Andy

Thanks Andy. I appreciate the link as well as the concept of 'lead ins". I do appreciate being able to ask questions here too!

Sometimes Zwift just drops my trainer and HR and just says ‘—-‘

It’s pretty annoying and I can’t figure out how to continue and have to log out then log in again for a new ride.

Anyone encounter this and know how to reconnect without ending the ride?

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

I've only had that once. But I turned off my Bluetooth, unplugged Hammer, turned off heart rate monitor (using rhythm+, so you can physically turn it off, if you have something like a tickr, that might not be doable). Went to menu -- devices. Looked like they were waiting to pair. Turned everything back on and it worked again.

I will say that everything seems to work better if I restart my computer right before I start my ride and have no other Bluetooth devices connected. Have had zero problems since I started doing that. 2018 MBP.

Andy

Thanks - yeah fixed it this way today. I would hate for it to happen in a race.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

I've had that - BT dropping on either AppleTV and/or Companion on iPhone. Companion tends to drop out more, so I put HR on there because the others affect the ride... I stop dead if cadence or watts disappear. Usually, I just soft pedal and they come back after a bit. Got tired of it and now use my laptop which has been solid - better image, all BT devices hook to it and it never drops. I still use companion but it cycles between maps and stats, or whatever that is and always displays numbers that are different than the main screen on the laptop.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Can Anyone advise where I am going wrong.

If I set up a route it never automatically stays on it it just seems to pick the turns needed at random.

How do I stop this from happening?

Cheers

Not to make an excuse for any cat. B "sandbagger" however I really think your last scentence is very important as well!

What I notice lately is that the level of competitors is crazy in most A races (often PCT and even WT pro's entering); from my experience, you'll need to avarage around 4.5-5 Wkg over race-distance and still barely break into top 10 on ZP ...basically able to stay with the lead-pack until a big hill comes up where the strong guys crank out > 6Wkg for 5min (or a shorter hill where they will do >8Wkg for a minute...)

So for someone with an ftp only slightly over Cat B limits (say 4-4.4Wkg) racing in A is impossible due to this huge performance gap. Therefore, I think an A-only cat is needed to solve the B-"sandbagging" and persuade some of these faster guys to start racing in A

EDIT: just to clarify ... only A races (no A+ riders allowed) are needed. And maybe another cat. for 4.5-5 Wkg riders as well ;-) then they can create another A++ cat for the 5wkg+ riders

Yes, A is really A then there is B. In B most times I end up beating people who are in A and being in the top 10 with a chance so I'm in the right grade.

My Triathlete lack of 15 sec and 5 minute power beats me every time. Some of the group rides are really good as well, yesterday we had a group, yes we road of the front, but an hour of Richmond with every corner the sauce on with efforts needed to hold in the bunch all the time, good old fashioned hour of power.

I'm right at the top of B's and have been thinking about fudging my weight UP to stay in the B Group...

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com

In lock down I don't need to fudge to gain weight, though I like fudge

It may seem random but if you just follow the automatic turns you'll complete the route. As others have noticed some of the routes can have a pretty long lead before the route actually starts.

Question to the thread.

When I look for events on my PC, the duration sometimes just says "1 lap" or "3 laps". But, it never say laps of what/where. I have no idea if I'm committing to 5 miles or 500 miles.

What am I missing?

I had the same misunderstanding.

Do not choose any of the turns. Just go where the computer takes you. Sometimes you pick up a segment in the middle of a route. THe London Loop comes to mind. During the London Loop you do the box hill climb. WHen you complete the climb, your London Loop timer comes back on.

Can someone confirm this: your first time doing a route does the clock run?

Yes, the clock does run, although it may not be visible for the entire route.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

This is a tiny bit of a brag but:

Since April 15 I've been on Zwift and doing it consistently. I have yet to ride outside, other than a couple of days pulling the kids around. Since then I've done 36 hours on Zwift (1004kms and 10,730m of climbing), and only 2 days that I did not ride. Minimum of 7 rides each week.

April 15 - off the couch (well, kinda, I haven't run or ridden in ages, but I've been in the water. Although with the lockdown, the last time I was in the water was early March). I had used TR before, but decided to go with Zwift this time since I have a TV in my workout area now. Did the intro ride and an initial FTP test, using the ramp test, at 268 watts*. I opted for the ramp test because ramp tests are easier to be consistent with.

April 17 - started the FTP Builder 6 week program (it's actually 7 weeks, because there's several workouts in a prep week before week 1 starts, but I digress). I'm also adding in easy to tempo / sweetspot rides on days that I don't have a scheduled workout, using those to put in things like going for PR's on KOM's.

April 19 - did my second "Tempo" workout of the program. 7th Zwift ride overall. This was the first one I had done with the HR Monitor. this had 4 x 3min intervals and 3 x 5 min intervals, the final 5 min interval was at roughly 220 watts and finished at 163bpm

skip ahead to April 27 - did another FTP test (same protocol, but this time after a 1 hour "Foundation" workout, which is basically a Z2 ride.) This time, FTP went up to 279

skip ahead to last night (May 19, so a little over a month in) - Threshold Development workout, so similar to the Tempo but a bit more intense. 5x3min at 240w with 2 min recovery (finshed that section at 138 bpm) and then immediately into 5x3min (2 min recovery) at 280W. (159 bpm on the last interval).

So in the space of 1 month, I've improved by about 60 watts at the same or slightly lower effort level. I have yet to repeat the FTP test, I'll probably reassess at the end of the 6 week program. I'm quite pleased with how this is going. I also picked up a couple of green jerseys along the way (I know, I'm on virtual power so they don't really count, but still, it's fun to go for them)


* the watts being reported are from virtual power, and are probably lower than that in reality. One of these days I'll finally rectify that situation.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I just finished my free month that came with the purchase of a new direct drive trainer. I'm not sold on the game's UI and Zwift Companion app, but riding and especially running indoors is far more fun now. I haven't tried any races yet, just followed the multi-sport mixer training plan as an intro. When I'm allowed to hit the trainer and treadmill again I will ante upping for at least a month or two until I my shoulder is fully recovered and I can swim again.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

I have similar stats to your FTP on Zwift. It says I am 277w, which came up after a 280w 1hr ride. I haven’t purely tested FTP but think it is a bit higher.

I did my first ride on Zwift April 20 and have logged 1296mi since then. I’m definitely a stronger rider after these miles and also haven’t really ridden outdoors much.

For now, I want to focus on Zwift and just increases in raw power from my quads. I’m pretty much almost where I want to be for my Sept 70.3 race.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Jumped into a Zwift race last night, placed 6th in the D's :-) (up to 3.1 w/kg). I was in a group sprinting for 3rd, but started my sprint too early and ran out of gas.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

are you in C now?

depends on the event, I guess. the one I did yesterday was a little different from the norm. there were 2 distances, the longer one was the A and B groups, the shorter one was the C and D, but the w/kg guidance was the same for A and C, as well as B and D. You could say that each race was split into 2 groups - A/B and C/D under the "normal" guidelines.

In most events with 4 w/kg divs, I'd be in the C's.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Zwift is good for raising FTP quickly, I've found that after a month of always suffering as Zwift is rarely easy, even on easy group rides it is always some hammering.

When my my roady arrives this week, I'll roll 500 km weeks just easy and then come back to zwift

Question for the group:

Did my first "workout" on Zwift last night and it wasn't nearly as smooth as Trainer Road.
1. Does the terrain play into the workout? I felt like even though I was mid-segment in a workout, there was power fluctations that seemed to correspond with the terrain changes.
2. Can I speed up the reaction within Zwift? When intervals started, there was a long lag before the wattage came up. Same for when intervals ended. On some of the shorter intervals, I essentially missed the interval all together.

In general, it was a pretty poor experience that left me frustrated as opposed to focused on the workout.

---

I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com