Zwift - Cruzbike Activities (races and group rides)

[Tigerpaw]

I'm thinking you are gunning for Phil Ligget's job.

 

[RojoRacing]

just tried to race KISS race on TT bike, utter failure getting dropped like a stone by large 25 rider group. Decided to turn the first 20 mins into a FTP test instead and then recover it home to finish. 318 watts avg for first 20 mins then cooled down and watched race for lead. Because I was peeved about my choice to race the TT bike I decided to enter the XRS race 15 mins later. Two races back to back with the first one being a FTP test of sorts was not easy. I held on to the end but our remaining group of 4 started the sprint from like 0.5 mile out and I ran out of juice way to early and finished 4th. No more TT bike for awhile in the non TT races, I need to try a TT race once to see what it's all about

 

[RojoRacing]

they aren't DF's they are a bunch of equally hollow avatars

 

[RojoRacing]

I would call an improve ftp test resulting in an ftp increase plus a solid race a rough day, I call that unconventional progress. The way I figure it is your FTP is always "at least" as high as your highest test result. If you suck at performing the test or perform the test in a less then optimal recovered state and score 200 then chances are you FTP could be 220, 240 or even higher. I just scored 318 for 20 mins so 95% of that is 302. I raced hard monday and Tuesday plus the pacing of the KISS was way higher than 318 for the first 5-10 mins while I was trying to hang on so my physical state was below optimal and pacing was not great. So its safe to assume my actual FTP could be higher than 302 but it's hard to say just how much higher. This is about where I always seem to plateau so I'll need to try a little harder or maybe something a little different if I ever want to reach that magic 350 watt ftp.

 

[RojoRacing]

OK all you yard birds. No one shows up to race but that's alright. Daisy carried the Cruzbike torch. Sorry everyone missed the show but don't fret here's a small clip of the race so you don't miss out entirely. Oh the velcro worked just fine.

:lol that music :lol you may want to find something a little more new age if you want to entertain the younger generations.

 

[CruzLike]

OK all you yard birds. No one shows up to race but that's alright. Daisy carried the Cruzbike torch. Sorry everyone missed the show but don't fret here's a small clip of the race so you don't miss out entirely. Oh the velcro worked just fine.

Hardy, after watching the video. I'm sure you missed your calling. I would love to hear more of your "play by play".

Go Ms Daisy!

 

[RojoRacing]

P race in T-minus 40 mins

 

[RojoRacing]

Excellent P race today you guys missed a good one I'll be cooling down for about an hour I'll turn on Discord if anybody wants to hear about the race

 

[RojoRacing]

I was the only attacker of the group of 15 and I attacked 9 times before it stuck with one rider in tow. I asked for 30 sec rotations and he was working with me well taking pulls at 5.0wkg to my 4.4wkg pulls. With 2.5 miles to go he attacks out of nowhere for like 30 seconds but I hang on. With cooperation out the window I held my effort at a comfortable 3.0wkg while he just sat behind me. I dont worry about someone sitting behind me when I'm at a comfortable 3.0wkg because that is still a recovery pace for me and they are gaining a whole lot being at 2.5wkg behind me. With 0.5mile to go I tried to bait him with a false sprint but he only fell for it momentarily. With 0.2mile left I dropped all the watts and dropped him like like a bad habit. I saw at least 13wkg and could have sworn I saw as high as 15wkg at one point.

The problem with my earlier attacks not sticking was no one was going with me and after I got 10 seconds out then the group would start working together to close back in. My last 3 attacks were less intense but longer forcing the main players in the group to pull the wheel sucks with them each time. The key was as soon as the group would engulf me I ease my way to the front a sneak away as they all slowed up. This forces the key players of the group to consider hard if they want to be the one to bridge the gap and pull the whole group again. After the third time in a row one of the riders caught on and went with me strait away with everyone else's motivation was broken.

 

[RojoRacing]

No I didn't realize who he was in relation to recent races but I did kind of recognize the name. We didn't have the big hitters today that we had last week so I had to take up the roll as the instigator, the mouse becomes the lion. You are right his HR is super high but maybe he's just one of those dudes with a max of 200.

 

[RojoRacing]

He seems are par with me, he's fast but seems to just not have that extra bit to be on par to attack with the likes of the fast Kiss race team and team experimental races. So yeah his numbers say big hitter at least faster then me but he doesn't ride like one.

 

[RojoRacing]

Well he doesn't live up to his stats in the weekend P-race which would be an evening race for him so maybe he takes it a bit easier. In zwift racing it can be a good thing to underestimate the other racers because if you overestimate their abilities you will ride holding back waiting for an attack and putting yourself on the defensive. It can be better to get out there and attack early and make them wonder if you are the big dog that day. Although I may need to change my name again because at least one of the racers called me out as Perez in the in game messages so they are getting too used to the Recumbent Dork title.

I do like when you know a few of the racers you up against and you can exchange some friendly banter during a race. I used to make jokes all the time during my MTB races. Just random stuff like "hey guys don't you think were going out a bit fast, maybe we could slow it down a bit" or my personal favorite " OH shit my bike is stuck in the wrong gear again" best used when racing the single speed against in the open class. Some of the guys would act all stoic but for the few of us it was worth it if we could at least get someone else to chuckle a bit.

 

[RojoRacing]

I may do the Kiss 100 race tomorrow if I don't wuss out.

 

[Suz]

Any other Ladies gonna be there?

I'm almost ready, my weekend was too busy to complete the setup. I have all the pieces and parts, the goal is to be moving by Tuesday. Slowly I'm sure but participating nonetheless. Excited to start.

 

[joy]

I've done a few Zwift rides, not races, and really like it. Not sure I want to race, but when do people ride? Is there an event list for CBers?

 

[RojoRacing]

Nightly Zwift report: Jason wins the EVR race with insane finish. To add icing on the cake he did it against my ODZ buds who ganged up on him the entire race. Since Jason had the top of the race well under control I took the back end finishing second from the last in the C's. Yes Joy, Connie does a lot of group rides along with races. Suz is about to start. It would be fantastic if you can join them! More on this tomorrow.

Noty sure how long this will stay up since it's marked as live video but this should be the race. Keep an eye on the riders list to the right, my code name is Recumbent Dork. My avatar has orange jersey, orange socks and is on the Tron bike with glowing yellow/orange wheels. Don't worry about the orange jersey rider who eventually breakaway and wins, he was auto DQ for putting out Lance Armstrong watts on an I un-calibrated trainer setup so we didn't bother chasing. The poor Vegan cyclist was the only one in our group stressing about that guy getting of the front.

Enjoy the show

 

[RojoRacing]

45:15 into the above video we pass @trplay all on his lonesome because you other cruzbikers won't race with him

 

[RojoRacing]

Two things I learned from that guys video.

1. Some of these guys work just as hard during a race as me which is nice to see because I swear based on HR of some of the strongest racers it always seems like a chill ride for them as I die to hang on.

2. This guy is crazy serious about cycling, racing, diet and stuff. It really put into perspective how relaxed I am with how I approach daily riding and the food I eat. In fact I pounded down a dozen cookies and tall glass of milk as I watched his video :lol

The vegan cyclist is stronger than me watt for watt for he has a little ways to go before figuring out the dynamics of zwift racing, especially his hate and use of power ups.

 

[RojoRacing]

I've done a few Zwift rides, not races, and really like it. Not sure I want to race, but when do people ride? Is there an event list for CBers?

No event list because our schedules are not always consistent. I don't do zwift group ride events because they aren't my cup of tea so I mostly do races instead. I'll make the same suggestion I made to trplay, join or follow one of the large established teams like ODZ. You'll learn a lot from them plus they do keep a ride schedule as well as ride several times a day every day. Also let us know when you plan to join a ride here and some of us may join you. You really want to try and get on discord online chat because what is a group ride if you can't talk to anyone. Trplay uses discord through his computer which has a bit of a learning curve but I find the phone app with a pair of headphones works perfectly and is almost dummy proof.

 

[RojoRacing]

This what I mean by some of the racers not working as hard as some of us. This Ian guy is a frequent racer on zwift live and claims he hates races with climbs meaning box hill because he among the heavier of the racers. Of course he makes no mention of how his massive wattage give him a substantial advantage on the flat course we have to race 90% of the time. Then during he whole race he's talking and even when he says he popped and hates this climb he's still able to talk. Meanwhile guys like myself and the vegan cyclist who's video I posted yesterday are pushing so hard we can barely utter a word between gasps for air. I felt bad for laughing every time the vegan tried to start talking about a subject only to realize he couldn't because he was about to get dropped.

This is what I mean when I tell people I'm not really that fast, I'm just really good and pushing harder than most.