What rides are you guys doing on Zwift? I think Slowman has a few he has created? Edit: I just saw the Slowzwift calendar. Any recs for the Slowzwift rides ? Any other rides outside of Slowzwift you recommend?
i like doing the races, they are as hard as I want to make them and encourage me to push myself more than I normally would indoors.
The Thursday Rise&Grind is a good one. It’s 5:35am ET on Thursday mornings. There is a B, C and D ride, so you have options depending on how hard or easy you want to go.
I’ve caught up with the Hilly Vanilli once.
I usually do a group ride on Saturday mornings, that’s 5 or 6 am EST. KISS or GGCC are the groups I usually ride with.
I think a weekend ride might work out well, issue is time zones and finding folks to lead them.
I like the KISS America’s AM Race (5am CT)
Been doing that one on Tues / Thurs for 3 years now!
I love to do any race that I can complete in 30 minutes or less. The longer the race, the more I fade. 
If you’re somewhat competitive, any race will be a lot of fun. It’s getting cold in most parts of the world now, so the races will really start to fill up soon with an abundance of entrants.
Like some have said, the races are really tough. You will push yourself to the limits, and sometimes you will end up doing too many hard races, and not recover enough, or sabotage your current training plan.
I am just a C+/B- rider. I was very competitive with the Cs, but have been upgraded to B category. No more podiums for me. Lol
Never done Zwift
Do they have categories like real road races?
Like cat 5,4,3 etc?
I lead a weekly ride on wednesdays at 0530 eastern time. TeamODZ coffee ride with espresso. About one hour in length, first 2/3 at easy social pace then last third as a race if you want. We host a lot of similar rides.
Also have an informal 100k rides on Sunday mornings that begin at same time. Drop me a message if you want more info.
Never done Zwift
Do they have categories like real road races?
Like cat 5,4,3 etc?
They have 4 categories, A, B, C, and D.
A 4w/kg and above
B 3.2w/kg-3.9w/kg
C 2.5w/kg-3.1w/kg
D 2.4w/kg and below
I used to do the Hilly Vanilli in it’s original incarnation before the time changed (Now I’d be starting around midnight). It was a good ride but unfortunately the current ST rides are all at terrible times for most people based in Europe (who work typical business hours) so I haven’t done any since that happened and won’t unless it changes, which is a shame.
However there are many other good rides I’ve been doing pretty regularly. I’d recommend the GGCC, Team CLS, SZR and HDR rides. I’m sure lots of the others are good too, but these are the ones I’ve generally been doing.
In particular I like the Team CLS This ‘n’ That (climbing and tempo ride) on Tuesdays at 18:50 BST and their High ‘n’ Low (HIT Intervals) on Thursdays also at 18:50 BST. Both aimed at Cat B and C.
I also like the GGCC Glasgow Green CC Tuesday Training Ride and Thursday Training Ride. These are at 20:45 BST on Tuesday and 21:00 BST on Thursday.
The recently introduced fence feature has definitely made group rides more consistent. No longer is there a high risk of the group splitting up and doing something very different from what’s in the ride description. When used appropriately by group leads it’s a definite improvement and I’ve been enjoying rides more recently.
I’m UK so currently GMT+1 or BST.
I join whatever race is available around 8pm when the kids have been put to bed and allowing time to chamois up and hopefully warm up. Doing a zwift race without a warm up is a very bad idea. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my usual bike nights so you’ll often find me on KISS Race - EU PM or one of the later 3R races. I usually miss the ZHR race a little earlier in the evening. I’ve spotted a BRT race on a Thursday which I might try this week. I prefer something 40k or longer but sometimes have to make do with whatever is on offer. I’ll usually avoid the sprint series as they are a bit short for me.
Alternatively if I’m running late, miss the start or just fancy a change, I’ll do a solo effort up AdZ. Pusing for a PR up there is a very solid workout (and mentally very hard).
But basically, whatever is on offer when the familam allows.
Sunday mornings I try and go outside but if the Yorkshire weather is a bit crap or I’m short on time I will join one of the longer group rides. From memory there is usually a 3R or Vikings 100km ride running 7am/8am ish. If it is meant to be an easy ride I make it more interesting for myself by joining the C group and offering to sweep (vs just riding to stay in the pack in B group).
Cheers,
Rich.
I’ve started doing the Maximus Time Trial Shootout every Wednesday; it gives me something to improve at/aim for! It’s 17.6km, so just a little longer than a 20 min FTP test.
Currently I’m doing the “Eat the pain†races on Tuesday morning. Those start 5:15-5:30 ish. Also the DIRT Cup races (https://indoorspecialist.com/dirtcup/) on Wednesday mornings about 5:45.
Both races are ususually just under an hour so enough time for a warm up, race and little extra before I run off to work.
I do one race a week. It’s the 3R volcano race on Wednesdays. It fits my schedule, and it is on my “interval” day, so, it works out.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for all the suggestions. Much appreciated!
We now have virtual coffee rides??? Geez, I feel old!!!
We moved Hilly because, well, ridership was significantly declining in the time spot it had been in before.
If you have an idea for a ride (which would, more likely than not, be Structured Training, as it’s way less demanding on the ride leaders than R&G/Hilly Vanilli), please message me directly and we’ll see if we can work something out.
We moved Hilly because, well, ridership was significantly declining in the time spot it had been in before.
If you have an idea for a ride (which would, more likely than not, be Structured Training, as it’s way less demanding on the ride leaders than R&G/Hilly Vanilli), please message me directly and we’ll see if we can work something out.
To be fair, the majority of STers are US based. So it’s understandable that all the ST rides may have to accommodate US time zones to get the participation you want. Unfortunate for those of us elsewhere but there are other options so it’s not the end of the world. I wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about group structured workouts. I do my structured stuff solo. However if you do decide at any point to reintroduce evening group rides (GMT/BST) I’ll be interested and probably happy to lead for Cat C.
Been racing just about every day since having our 2nd kid (DIRT squad, 'Dads Inside Riding Trainers). I race-
DIRTy Dozen on Mondays
Eat the Pain Tuesdays (although this week we’re doing the 'World Championship TTT)
OFF Wednesday
WTRL Team Time Trial on Thursday
Sprintapalooza and Innsbruckring on Friday
3R London Classique on Saturday
9 Stages of DIRT on Sunday.
I race-
DIRTy Dozen on Mondays
Eat the Pain Tuesdays (although this week we’re doing the 'World Championship TTT)
OFF Wednesday
WTRL Team Time Trial on Thursday
Sprintapalooza and Innsbruckring on Friday
3R London Classique on Saturday
9 Stages of DIRT on Sunday.
Are you wrecked all the time with that much racing?