Did You Ride Today?

[CAMPYBOB]

77 degrees and the sky alternated between dark blue and threatening rain (40% chance supposedly) to sunny. Weird weather. The wind was up a little at 12 to 13 MPH with higher gusts.

22 Miles with 675' of light climbing work. Medium to high tempo riding with one half-assed sprint to out-run a muttly and a few short intervals tossed in to get the heart rate and breathing up.

Despite the odd sky and wind it was a great afternoon to be out riding.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

66 degrees and rain from before sunrise to after sunset. Wind was an easy 5 MPH...if you ventured out into the mist and cold rain.

I decided to try out the new trainer setup and did mainly a medium tempo effort with a few stops to make adjustments. The 2 pedestal fans are too low at maximum height adjustment and I'll need to build 12" tall riser platforms for them. The head on fan that now sits with its output partially blocked behind the laptop screen will need supplemented by another face height box fan angled in from off center on another shelf unit.

The laptop also needs to be positioned about 4" higher and closer to the bike.

Need to get some Bluetooth over-the-ear headphones. The wired ones I have sound plenty good and overcome the sound of the fans and the trainer, but the cord that was no problem in the past when going to the iPod clipped to my jersey is now a major pain in the ass.

2017 Tour du France Stage 17 video on YouTube was excellent to train along to, Phil and Bob Roll commentated this version.

41 minutes of light work on the trainer. The numbers looked good despite not being focused on much other than trying to keep up with Contador and Froome.

 

[zipp2001]

It's been a tough couple of days so I really needed some Bike Therapy, and didn't want to deal with knucklehead drivers. So I choose to hit the woods and just lose myself in the sounds of nature. I don't know about you but I'd be lost without my bike, it just makes life fun.

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eutj_EH35t8

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Agreed, Zipp. Life is tough and it would be much tougher without the escape a bike gives to us.

It rained lightly all day with a high of 67 degrees. The wind was running 8 to 12 MPH.

So I decided that I was set up well enough to give Zwift's free trial a ride. Guess what? It was a DOWNPOUR on Watopia! with lightning crashing nearby and thunder booming in my headphones so realistically in stereo that I jumped out of the saddle a few times to get away from it.

I'll tell you how immersive the experience was...to borrow a phrase...I found myself leaning the track bike over for the turns just like IRL. Now, that wouldn't be a bad thing if I had rocker plates under my trainer or had a Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll trainer. But, with a standard fluid trainer you can come too close to going over without even trying! Note to self: Just pedal the damned bike hard and forget the rest!

I didn't get into a race, but the workout provided by chasing guys down and staying with guys that passed you is plenty hard to get your feet wet while trying to figure out the gazillion features and functions in the VR world of Zwift.

I rode what they called a "hilly" course on Watopia that had about 11 miles to the lap. One climb was a 5+ minute segment. There was a sprint segment, a 15-second flat segment, etc.

I didn't get to do the Volcano Climb on this route, but I did get to do the undersea glass tunnel and see the giant Zwift Rider statues.

It seems to be a pretty entertaining setup and I'm guessing the racing is going to be very, very fast and hard. Don't know how I'll fare on the track bike. We'll see.

The weird thing was that despite the 'competition' I was training with on Zwift? Well, a lot of my iPod-blasting tunes workouts required more Watts, higher heart rates and more lung-busting, oxygen sucking work. Got a feeling it's going to take some time in Zwift Riders and then going into Zwift Racers to find out how much pain this is going to dish out.

 

[zipp2001]

Agreed, Zipp. Life is tough and it would be much tougher without the escape a bike gives to us.

It rained lightly all day with a high of 67 degrees. The wind was running 8 to 12 MPH.

So I decided that I was set up well enough to give Zwift's free trial a ride. Guess what? It was a DOWNPOUR on Watopia! with lightning crashing nearby and thunder booming in my headphones so realistically in stereo that I jumped out of the saddle a few times to get away from it.

I'll tell you how immersive the experience was...to borrow a phrase...I found myself leaning the track bike over for the turns just like IRL. Now, that wouldn't be a bad thing if I had rocker plates under my trainer or had a Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll trainer. But, with a standard fluid trainer you can come too close to going over without even trying! Note to self: Just pedal the damned bike hard and forget the rest!

I didn't get into a race, but the workout provided by chasing guys down and staying with guys that passed you is plenty hard to get your feet wet while trying to figure out the gazillion features and functions in the VR world of Zwift.

I rode what they called a "hilly" course on Watopia that had about 11 miles to the lap. One climb was a 5+ minute segment. There was a sprint segment, a 15-second flat segment, etc.

I didn't get to do the Volcano Climb on this route, but I did get to do the undersea glass tunnel and see the giant Zwift Rider statues.

It seems to be a pretty entertaining setup and I'm guessing the racing is going to be very, very fast and hard. Don't know how I'll fare on the track bike. We'll see.

The weird thing was that despite the 'competition' I was training with on Zwift? Well, a lot of my iPod-blasting tunes workouts required more Watts, higher heart rates and more lung-busting, oxygen sucking work. Got a feeling it's going to take some time in Zwift Riders and then going into Zwift Racers to find out how much pain this is going to dish out.

I've been old school with training, but was thinking of looking into a more modern training regime for this winter. I'm not much of a computer guy, is it pretty easy to get set-up with Zwift's system ? would it be best to have a separate computer just for the Zwift's set-up ? and what type trainer would you recommend ?

 

[Uawadall]

Haven't wanted to do long rides the last couple weeks. 18.3 miles/18.7mph/1000 ft. Weather in the high 70's and a little windy. The perfect weather for distance, i'll be kicking myself tomorrow for not riding more.

I've been old school with training, but was thinking of looking into a more modern training regime for this winter. I'm not much of a computer guy, is it pretty easy to get set-up with Zwift's system ? would it be best to have a separate computer just for the Zwift's set-up ? and what type trainer would you recommend ?

I use Zwift and its pretty easy to setup. Its compatible with most trainers, but a smart trainer is recommended.Main reason for the smart trainer is, a realistic feel on the climbs and downhills. A setup can be as easy as a iPad or iPhone and a smart trainer. I personally use a Cycleops Magnus smart trainer/Mac Pro/Iphone.

Here is a link to the site with what you need.

https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/...-need-to-start-using-Zwift-?section=201145285

 

[zipp2001]

Here is a link to the site with what you need.

https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/...-need-to-start-using-Zwift-?section=201145285

Thanks Uawadall !

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Kind of a tough ride today ha ha! 44 miles, 16.1 average speed with Gina and Aimee.

High of 96 degrees and and average of 90. Not many riders on the trail at all.

What made the ride tough? Last night's dinner. The start of Gina's birthday weekend, she'll be 55 on Tuesday and we both have Monday off so we have to celebrate some!

She suffered the last couple of miles with the heat. I was bummed because my bottle cage fell apart after 7 miles or so forcing me to carry a large bottle in my rear pocket. Then Gina dropped her chain so I had to get greasy. Then I had a flat.

But the tough part was that lobster does not do anything for nutrition on a ride the day after that kind of a dinner. But it went down nicely Friday night!

Ran into a group of guys, Team Rodney on a 52 miler. Rodney kept up for a bit but turned off to wait for his crew.

Ran into them again at the coast for a little bike chat.

Stupid bottle cage. At leas my pump didn't come off.

Getting ready for the Christmas season in Cali! Really , selling the stuff at the stores already!

Lat night's dinner. I had the lobster tail and lumberjack steak. Gina had a lobster tail. Nice place, cheese toast, great stuff. Two kinds of salad, mix and eat yum!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

I've been old school with training, but was thinking of looking into a more modern training regime for this winter. I'm not much of a computer guy, is it pretty easy to get set-up with Zwift's system ? would it be best to have a separate computer just for the Zwift's set-up ? and what type trainer would you recommend ?

There's a Youtube vide called something like "Zwift On A Budget" that shows you the basic requirements. I'll see if I can Google it...

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg0IDDmSStw


That guy...Lama...has a Youtube channel that's worth watching a few of his videos on trainers and such.

I bought this laptop in order to get the required video processor specs that run Zwift smoothly. It's a memory intensive video game. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6R466S5608

Got the Garmin ANT+ Dongle and a 10' long USB Cable to run from the laptop to get the ANT+ Dongle located near the Garmin ANT+ Speed & Cadence Sensors. This is supposedly to eliminate signal dropout while riding and racing on Zwift.

If your tablet or laptop lacks Bluetooth, you'll need a $10 External Bluetooth Network Adapter that will plug in to another of your tablet's or laptop's USP ports. Then you can use Bluetooth Headphones, Earbuds and link the Zwift App on your phone to your computer. The Garmin Computer Heads (I use a 510 and a 520) can also pair with your Laptop and automatically upload your Activity Files to the Laptop, Garmin Connect, STRAVA, the Garmin App on your Phone, etc.

You can you a standard 'dumb' trainer on Zwift as long as it's on their list of compatible trainers: https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/203152565-Which-trainers-does-Zwift-support-

Of course, the Zed-driver will want to get one of the $800 to $1600 sooper dooper 'smart' units. They apply a brake when you're climbing to simulate grades. Hell, they even have separate units that attach to your fork to jack the front end up or down to simulate climbing and descending!

On a 'dumb' trainer the Zwift program just slows you down on a hill. Let's say you get on a climb with a couple other riders. You're riding hard to keep up with them and your Garmin Head Unit is reading 18 MPH. In the Zwift game your Watt readout (estimated or calculate if you're on a dumb trainer from the list of trainers) is displayed and your corresponding speed might only be 10 MPH as you climb along side the other guys.

It's pretty intense for a rookie like me. I can see the workout value as being there from solo rides to group rides to the races. And everything is scheduled and is displayed on your phone Zwift App so you can sign up for and join rides and races.

Me? I'm looking for diversion. ANYTHING to get my mind and eyes off the clock on that damned boring Kurt Kinetic Road Machine 2.0.

If I haven't answered everything, fire away. I'll try and point you to the experts. I'm just a beginner, but Zwift sure seems like the ticket to indoor training fun to me.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

77 degrees and sunny today. Gun show in the morning and a resort lake Fall Festival in the early afternoon. That left precious little time for training, but I did manage to get 32 miles in!

A bit over 1600' of climbing on a rolling to steep course.

The wind was up at 14 to 17 MPH with headwind gusts as I started the ride running to 27 MPH.

Traffic was also up a bit. More overtaking vehicles than I normally encounter. It was a nice late afternoon ride and I boogied through the course to get back to the truck before it got too close to sunset.

A fun ride!

 

[Uawadall]

As stated above, Zwift is no joke, it can get you more fit than the road. Of course its no substitute in terms of enjoyment and bike handling. One of the guys in my bike club wins races solely off of training from Zwift, the fastest rider in my area uses it often and he and his teammate placed first and second in the NYS time trial championship this year.

The Zwift mountain course is some painful stuff, with a smart trainer, you really feel the gradient. I spent an hour spinning my hardest mostly in the 34/28 (as a gear masher). 2000+ ft in 16 miles. Let me know what you guys thought about the mountain or any other course.

Make sure your trainer difficulty is set to max, I was wondering why the gradient wasn't matching my gear range when I first started using Zwift. Found out a month ago my settings weren't on max difficulty. Basically, it doesn't alter your power numbers, but changes how the grade feels. For example, if you have it at 50% difficulty, and 8% grade feels like a 4%. Then they have some calculation to average out the power numbers. Its on this page in the settings menu

https://i2.wp.com/zwiftblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/settings.jpg?fit=922,509&ssl=1

 

[Uawadall]

A rainy day, not much distance, but I put in decent effort. Stopped on one of my sprints, a kid threw a ball across the street and I stopped to throw it back. I remember as a kid, we'd have several of our toys crushed by traffic when we had a house closer to the street. I also remembered a guy who lived by the school keeping every tennis or baseball that made its way to his house.

19.4 miles/19.1 mph/950 ft. An enjoyable, but short ride.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Ride for Sunday, 10/08/2017. Too tired to post it last night.

51 miles with only 1700' of climbing over a fairly flat course. The wind was 6 to 8 MPH, but the headwind seemed to by pretty nasty the last 15 miles or so as the rain moved in. The temperature only climbed to 69 degrees and the sun was hidden by gray clouds all day.

Yeah, rain! It only drizzled on me the last 3 miles, but then it started and didn't stop until after midnight.

Again, what a wet and cool Summer and Fall is following along with the same weather pattern.

The ride was mainly a long-steady-distance cruise for the for 30 miles, but the kick for home into the wind over the last 23 miles was a good effort. I kept running the same gear like a track bike and had them turning over with good conviction. A good workout.

Light rain all Monday morning here. Might end up an indoor training session this afternoon unless things really hurry up and dry out.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

U, what trainer are you using for Zwift?

I'll have to look and see if the difficulty level can be adjusted for dumb trainers. Like I said, I'm really new to all this.

 

[Uawadall]

U, what trainer are you using for Zwift?

I'll have to look and see if the difficulty level can be adjusted for dumb trainers. Like I said, I'm really new to all this.

Cycleops Magnus http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_601803_-1___204678

Nashbar often has it on sale for 25% off or more. Decent trainer, but it can get old when ramping up the speed. I think the trainer difficulty isn't as important with non smart trainers. Dumb trainers don't change the resistance, you just have to put out more watts to climb or less to descend. Here is a link that explains trainer difficulty.

https://zwiftblog.com/using-the-trainer-difficulty-setting-in-zwift/

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Thanks, U! Reading it now.

70 degrees and overcast today. Moderate morning rain and the sky was threatening all afternoon and into the evening...other than the 5 minutes of sun that broke through while I was riding.

The wind was at 6 to 7 MPH. Again, for some reason it felt like more when moving into it.

Just 16 miles and only 425' of climbing over a lightly rolling course. Just a medium effort and all of it felt good. No hard efforts or heroic chases of imaginary pro riders.

Here's a pic and old team mate found of me. It was taken at a race up near Cleveland that always had (as still has) very large fields.

Talk about a race face! No power, so I had to intimidate the competition somehow! Helmet is a Time model that would be considered very aero today! The bike is one of two red Pinarello Treviso models I raced on. I still have that beauty! Full Campy Chorus, the same level components I rode this afternoon. I believe those are Modolo semi-anotomic bend bars and the infamous Modolo Death Stem!!! Brake wires are routed under the bar tape so I was a cool kid, for sure!

Sorry about the quality, but when we were kids we didn't have no steenkin' digital cameras! We was lucky if one of the Pharaoh's stone carvers to chisel a pictograph of us getting our asses kicked in a chariot race! Obviously, a scan of an old Polaroid complete with human thumb to prove I really existed!

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Nice trainer, U! I think the mid-line 'wheel-on' models are the best value and probably offer 95% of the road feel of the $800-$1500 high zoot models. So what if you can't feel the wood planks and cobbles?

I think a rocker model...something like the Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll...would be needed before I would bolt a good bike to it. There's a Hellova lot of stress placed on a frame of a fixed wheel-on trainer like ours and even the wheel-off models stress the hell out of a frame.

And thus, why we read about so many Zwift riders busting up carbon bikes and crying.

Home made rocker plates are a good idea even if they just us up another 2" in the air. Let that frame float like it does IRL. If Kurt Kinetic abandons it's weird protocols and goes to ANT+ and/or Bluetooth, the Rock&Roll Smart trainer would be on my short list for a wheel-on version!

Now you know why I think the CycleOps bikes and the Wattbike might be viable alternatives to trainers...if you want a dedicated $1200 bike that may or may not have gears and takes up a lot of room in the pain cave. Neither of which bothers me.

 

[Uawadall]

I put my carbon bike on it twice to try out the sprint course, but other than that, its the alloy. You are right in that the wheel on trainer clamps on that frame tight! I figure the alloy is a little less fragile to clamping forces and cheaper to replace in the worst case scenario. Most of the guys I know with top of the line stuff have the Cycleops hammer or Wahoo Kickr direct drive trainer.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

It's not the clamping forces that kill the frame. It's the twisting and straining forces applied by the rider to a rigidly fixed frame in the trainer.

IRL when to apply sprint and climbing forces to the bike the handlebars, BB and stays take 'some' of the power while the bike directs some away with the side-to-side rocking motion. You push on the bars...they move away from you and the bike leans or turns a little or does both motions. You power up a climb or blast into a full sprint and the bike moves in reaction to your efforts.

With the frame rigidly mounted in a trainer frame, wheel on or wheel off, the frame is constrained and the forces input by our hands, legs, feet and moving upper body have no where to go. The frame must absorb everything the trainer doesn't.

Kurt Kinetic's system looks to be the best 'protection' for a carbon frame in trainer design.

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQz_u0Vc8Os


About $550 retail for the 'smart' version, but no ANT+ CE brake AFAIK.

https://www.kurtkinetic.com/trainers-products/kinetic-rock-and-roll-smart

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Various trainers on home made rocker setups.

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