Category: Zwift

We won! (Sarah’s world championship winning team in profile) #Zwift
competition · cycling · Guest Post · race report · racing · team sports · Zwift

We won! (Sarah’s world championship winning team in profile) #Zwift

Sam B1 Comment

by Sarah Pie

Sam (and now Cate too) have blogged lots about their Zwift experiences both before and since the start of the pandemic. With the bike trainer the most readily available fitness option, I’ve also been doing lots of virtual riding and racing, especially team time trials (TTTs) in a league organized by WTRL. When I first started racing in the team time trial format for the ZSUN team back in April, my first rides were with a team called ZSUNR Quasar (all ZSUN Racing TTT teams are named for celestial bodies or constellations), until I was able to join a team that races in an evening time slot.

This video gives an idea of how a TTT works – riders from the same team all ride together, taking turns riding as hard as they can on the front of the group, then moving back and using each others’ draft to recover.

I recently made a guest (re-)appearance with ZSUNR Quasar in the annual WTRL TTT World Championships. We had a great race and were the fastest in the world of all the teams in our category (Vienna, women’s teams up to 3.2 watts/kg). We were so fast we beat all the teams in the next category up (Vienna-Latte, women’s teams who have up to three riders at 3.7 watts/kg) and were faster than many teams in even higher categories.

Team results

ZSUNR Quasar is made up of many riders from around the world, not all of whom are available to race each week, but who support in other ways, from acting as DS (a “directeur sportif” is a person who directs a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event), to helping with strategy and tactics, to sending encouragement during the race.

E-sports championships at the world level require you to prove you aren’t “weight doping”, claiming you weigh less (or more) than you do in real life to gain an unfair advantage. While the members of the championship race roster were busy recording verification videos, I sent out a questionnaire to the team chat to showcase the diverse backgrounds and lives of world champion Zwift riders (including many Canadians – must be something in the cold snowy air). 

Alison LeBlanc on her real world bike

Name: Alison LeBlanc

Nickname: Sugar (🤷🏼) – I think it was given to me on the Tuesday ZSun Ladies Social Ride over Discord by Alina & Iva [ZSUNR], they both felt I needed a nickname and it was discussed that I am very nice and sweet like sugar. I was in the group ride at the time listening to this and it happened really quickly so I knew there was nothing I could do about it.

Location: Aurora, Ontario, Canada

Age: 47

What do I do for work/fun: I stayed home from work to raise my kids (twins); my husband travelled a lot so it made sense. This gave me the opportunity to volunteer at their elementary school and it was something I did enjoy. I like to hike, travel, garden and just enjoy the outdoors (in the summer)

How did I get into Zwift: I always rode bikes, recreationally when the kids were younger. My husband, Craig, is the avid cyclist in the family. He started Zwifting in 2017. At the time, I had no interest in Zwift because I was actively involved in Karate and Kickboxing classes. At the end of 2018, I had received my second degree black belt and felt the desire for a change so I tried Zwifting. At first, I rode routes at my own pace a couple of days a week and did the occasional workout. Eventually, it all clicked and I found myself enjoying group rides 4 to 5 times a week. While my first ZSun group ride was a disaster, I had wanted to try the ZSun Ladies Social group ride and did a month later. The pace and company were great (as it still is today) and this has become my favourite group ride! I was eventually asked when I was going to join ZSun Racing so I jumped in with both feet into WTRL TTT (May 2020). 

My experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar: So far I have raced with 3 teams – Comets, Quasar and Pluto. Each team has felt completely different to me. Every week I look forward to racing with a great group of ladies from all over who want to have fun and kick ass.  There is so much support across every level of cycling. These races have helped improve my cycling power and make me want to continue to improve. I also want to contribute everything I have to each race.

Sylvie Holmes


Name: Sylvie Holmes
Nickname: Wingman.  I joined the ZSUN Chain Gang ride fairly early on in 2016/17. It was a fast and long ride at the time and when the leader said stay with the lead, I took it to heart and I stuck!  I’ve also always enjoyed joining Zwift friends in their challenges and therefore the nickname “Wingman” 🙂
Location: Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Age: 56 years young 😊
What do you do (work/fun): I stopped working in the work world when our first child was born and became a stay at home mom to 3 boys and a daughter. So work/ fun was taking care of a busy family. I love cooking for family and friends and being active. We are lucky to live steps away from a Conservation Area where there are plenty of trails. We moved here with a young family where hiking, followed by biking in trails, orienteering just became something we did as a family. Our young adults still move in and out due to school and work but my husband and I still enjoy hitting the trails, on foot or on bikes.  It is great to have something that keeps you moving, whatever your “thing” is.
What is your experience racing with ZSUNR team Quasar:
I have had the opportunity to race with some amazing and strong women as part of this team. The friendships and the mutual support is wonderful and makes all of us strive to put our best efforts forward. It has also been a fun learning experience as far as team trial races go.  The friendships made here and within the broader team, go far beyond the zwift platform. I love seeing how far we can all push ourselves to be our best, while all being supportive of each other.

We don’t do road cycling really. I don’t own a road bike. Zwift is the closest I get to road cycling. Being a part of the ZSUN ladies teams has been a wonderful learning adventure and so many new friends made around the globe. The Quasar team trial races have been a wonderful, as well as a challenging, team event.

Willemijn

so, my name is Willemijn. it’s a typical Dutch name. but I am living is Switzerland now for over ten years.  Between the big mountain passes.
my nickname is Choo choo the chocolate train. during the social rides there is always a moment where talk of chocolate and cake kicks in. So I told them there is a chocolate train running in Switzerland. which of course was hard to believe. It’s not made of chocolate but it runs through the Gruyere region with final stop at the Caillier chocolate factory. That’s how I got my nickname.

located in Ilanz, Switzerland

age 42

trained as a psychiatric nurse. switched to public transport. and now working as bus driver.  I have two boys 5 & 7 yo. When I am not working or Zwifting it’s family time. walking in the mountains, skiing during the winter season.

Zwift is part of my life since 2015. you know, when it still had ghost riders and it was a record when 600+ riders where there. and then only on watopia hilly route.
I used it only during winter season and definitely not as much as last two years.

my zwifting experienced changed a lot. from mainly alone to seldom alone these days. Always a little anxious with new things and meeting new people, it was Alina AKA Goat with her warm and inviting personality that pulled me in ZSUN.  At first only the social rides and last March with half the World in Lockdown with the racing. It really helped me to stay sane. have something to distract and looking forward to.  friends for life around the globe. could not have imagine it two years ago.
but never want to miss it again.

raced with Quasar at the beginning. without DS we just did it racing together get over the line together. then Paul started to DS us around.  And slowly getting more serious.

Carol Scott racing her track bike

Name: Carol Scott

Nickname:  YoYo – I have cycled competitively on and off since I was 12, so many comebacks mean YoYo is pretty apt

Location:  Scotland

Age:  56

What do you do when you’re not Zwifting (for work / for fun): 

Worked in IT after leaving UNI but had to give that up and I consider myself very lucky that I could make that choice. Moved to an old house, built 1860 ish so do a lot of fixing.

How did you get into riding on Zwift:

I stopped cycling due to pro-lapsed disc 2008, sold all my bike equipment as I thought I wouldn’t cycle again. A few years later bought a wattbike to try and keep fit as couldn’t ride outside and by coincidence Zwift had just started and I got addicted.  I now have a Neo and a dedicated Zwift shed in the garden.

What is your experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar:

I’m a newbie to Quasar (only 3rd time racing in the team) as couldn’t join at the start as I had to have a hysterectomy in April.  The FOMO kept me going in comeback #99 (YoYo reference 😉) . Now those guys have put in stellar work over the summer and have mega-zwift TTT skills so all that have ridden for the team should be real proud and it is an honour to join.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you:

Myself and three other ladies in my cycling club competed at the World Master Track competition in 2019, set a Scottish record for 3km Team Pursuit on the track. Track cycling, especially Points Races, have been my forte in later years but I started of time-trialling in Scotland when I was 12 and competed for Scotland in some road races in the 1980’s.

Amy Barlow

Name: Amy Barlow

Nickname: Rex

My nickname was picked during the WTRL Team Time Trial series by my first team the Comets. I was determined to get my Tron bike before the next week’s race, so I spent a week climbing NONSTOP. In appreciation of my determination the team came up with the name Tronosaurus and it got shortened to Rex.

Location: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Age: 41

What do you do when you’re not Zwifting (work/fun): I am an early retiree and need to keep busy so when I’m not cycling I enjoy my work as a grad student. I am currently working on my PhD and am teaching first year undergraduate students.

How did you get into riding on Zwift: I started on Zwift to keep/gain some fitness over the winter. I had always taken the entire winter off from cycling and needed to keep doing what I loved over the winter.

What is your experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar: I have been racing with ZSUNR Quasar since September. After having participated on other teams; Comets and Pluto I got moved to Quasar and haven’t looked back. The team dynamics of Quasar are different than my previous teams but the ladies work very hard together and we all push each other to our absolute limits.

Winning the WTRL World Championships is an incredible accomplishment that was only possible through the dedication and teamwork of those that make up team Quasar whether they rode during the World Championship week or not. Our ladies support each other on and off the bike 24/7 (as we are an international team). This World Championship accomplishment belongs to all the ZSUNR ladies through the support they offer whoever is racing.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you: Cycling creates such a sense of camaraderie. I have made friends from all over the world on Zwift that I consider family.

Meredith Davies


Name: Meredith Davies

Nickname: “Bits” – The story of “Bits” begins with my kind and generous teammates, who have extensive cycling knowledge, and their attempts to guide me through my very first experience with saddle sores. This is something that, irrespective of anatomy, can plague any rider, but is rarely discussed due to its delicate nature. After learning about every potential accessible pharmacological (or otherwise – Google jellyfish nectar, Australian engine starters, etc.) product for treatment, I decided that, perhaps, creating a more pleasant environment for riding should be my goal. I begged and pleaded for my teammates to share their opinions on saddles and bib shorts, and said that I was willing to “break the bank for my bits”. Little did I know that my lovely teammates would never let me live that down. 

Location: Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Age: 37

What do you do when you’re not Zwifting: I thoroughly enjoy peeling playdough off the floor and trying to keep toilets from being clogged with various household items. When I’m not pretending to be a successful mother, I am teaching Fitness and Health Promotions.

How did you get into riding on Zwift: My background is in exercise sciences, and part of my personal and professional fitness included group fitness instruction.  When fitness facilities were closed, I wanted a different challenge. I have always enjoyed cycling, but never seriously considered it as a passion or focus for my fitness.  The challenges that Zwift provided were numerous, and the ability to track data has helped me achieve greater fitness goals. The best part about Zwift was the opportunity to connect socially with like-minded people around the world, some of whom I would now consider friends.

What is your experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar: After doing a few team time trial races with ZSUNR, I wished for a more competitive experience, and was placed with the women of Quasar. After my first race, I knew I was in way over my head and barely finished the first few races with them. The team was phenomenally encouraging, pushing me each week to improve. Much of my improvement from July-September was due to the intense nature of each weekly ride with Quasar.

When Zwift offered the Zwift Racing League, I stepped away from Quasar to ride with another team within ZSUNR called miZSUNderstood, to challenge myself in new ways with more individual races. However, when the world championships came along, Quasar welcomed me back with open arms, and I had the opportunity to ride alongside these strong women once more. I will always be grateful to these ladies and their drive and commitment. The ZSUNR ladies racing team is extremely supportive and are always the first to challenge each other and celebrate the successes of the team.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you? I’ve also competed and placed in the World Tuna Flat championships

Sarah measuring in!

Name: Sarah Pie

Nickname: Pie

Location: Toronto and Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Age: 46

What do you do when you’re not Zwifting (work/fun): I am a mechanical engineer who specializes in high rise residential and commercial buildings. Besides road cycling and fat biking, I love dinghy sailing and canoe camping.

How did you get into riding on Zwift: While I started riding occasionally during the winter months at the Bike Shed (https://thebikeshed.ca/), I got into Zwift in earnest as my primary means of exercise during the pandemic.

It wasn’t long before my competitive nature found that racing was way more motivating than workouts or group rides. One of ZSUN’s most dedicated volunteers and ride leaders, Alina “The Goat” kindly connected me with the ZSUN Racing community and I haven’t looked back

What is your experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar: I raced with Quasar during the early months of the pandemic. I look forward to the Thursday TTT race all week, even though it was incredibly challenging every week. As one of the slowest members of the team I was riding at or above threshold for most of the race, sucking the wheels of the faster riders. While you’d think that competitiveness might have been what kept me hanging week after week, but it’s actually the incredible generosity and team spirit of the women of the ZSUN Racing Team that made some pretty impossible efforts seem possible. There is incredible joy and camaraderie in suffering together, knowing that every bit of effort you put out will make you faster and lighten the burden on your teammates.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you: The goofy looking photo is a still image from my height verification video. I think you can see my giddy excitement as well as my maple leaf shorts and lucky coffee socks.

No description available.
Tracy Wright

Name: Tracy Wright

Nickname: Sweets (seemingly love of cakes/sweets/icecream but also that someone said I was super sweet)

Location: Stoke on Trent UK

Age: ooooh secret for nxt year will be out. 49

What do you do when you’re not Zwifting (for work / for fun)?: I’m a health&safety/quality consultant in the automotive repair industry. Love going to live rock gigs and watching/playing footy

How did you get into riding on Zwift?: booked to cycle London2Paris IRL and was concerned about getting miles in so hubby introduced me to the world of zwift

What is your experience racing with ZSUNR Quasar?: shamazeballs- these ladies are so so encouraging, supportive, funny and fabulous. We work hard but don’t kinda take ourselves tooooo seriously, just fab. Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?: I’m a music ‘metal head’ who has appeared in an AC/DC video

Be sure to eat after you ride.

cycling · fitness · Zwift

Tempted by distance challenges and the #Festive500

Sam B1 Comment

Oh, distance goals. In 2015 I rode 3675 kms on my bike and blogged about it here. I set out to ride 5000 km in 2016 . I don’t think I made it quite to 5k km but I think I came close.

This year I will for sure. All that Zwifting! I’m at nearly 5000 km and averaging 150 km a week. There’s 5 weeks left and so, barring injury or trainer issues, I’ll make it to 5000 km by 2021.

Distance4,509.5 km

All of that is just to say that the usual, for me, distance goal of 5000 km, is no longer a goal. It just happened.

Likewise, I’ve whooshed past the 220 workouts in 2020. (Want to join us next year? Find out how to here.) I’m currently at 364, thinking I might make it to 400. The pandemic has been horrible in so many ways but for me exercising lots is helping me cope.

All of that said, I miss Holiday Challenges. In past years I’ve done a holiday bike streak. Before, when I could run, I would do an annual Thanksgiving to Christmas running streak.

I’m also on record of supporting the idea that December can be the new January. When I wrote about that back in November 2016, I said, “I like the idea of hitting the holiday season with my fitness habits in place. It’s not about weight or dieting. It’s partly the stress of all the social stuff. I like my time at the gym. It’s also about aging. When I was younger I could take longer breaks. Now I notice fitness drops off quickly. So yes, while I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions, I do think about getting fit for next year’s cycling season. And for me this year, December 1st will be the new January 1st.”

Now there are no parties this year to distract me but I still like the idea of taking on a special holiday fitness thing.

So I can keep on doing what I’m doing and make it to 5000 km, or…..

Or what?

Well, my Zwift Bike Club, Team TFC, has a monthly mileage challenge. I could try to win that for December. But that’s too ambitious. There are people riding more than 700 km a week in that group.

And then there’s the Festive 500. “500 kilometres. Eight days. Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. Restrictions come and go but some things never change. Rapha’s annual festive riding challenge is back, with an all-new capsule collection and more ways than ever to go the distance.” I’m tempted! For the first time this year the Festive 500 allows zwift kms to count. (It’s a UK based challenge.)

Festive dancing penguins

En route to the Festive 500, I could knock off some Zwift badges, like the one for 25 laps of the Volcano. That’s also a Century and another badge. Zwift Insider says, “There’s also a “100 Clicks” badge awarded the first time you ride 100 km in one activity. If you complete 25 Volcano Circuit laps you will hit 100 km, unlocking this badge and 500XP bonus if you haven’t done so already.”

I’m still mulling it over. The issue is I think if we’ve got nice weather and snow I’d rather be outside.

(There are also less challenging annual challenges out there. If 5000 km isn’t your thing, you can start smaller.

There’s a group aiming to ride 2021 kilometers in 2021.)

Festive!

How about you? Do you love holiday challenges or hate them? Love them generally but declining this year because pandemic? Are you taking on a fitness challenge this holiday season?

cycling · fitness · Zwift

Sam adds the Dutch Diesel Cycling Dames Peleton to her list of fave group rides on Zwift

Sam B1 Comment
Ride Schedule | dutchdiesel

I blogged about great group rides on Zwift here and made some additions here.

Then last night–thanks to a stone cold dead iPad–I missed the start of the Monday night TFC race. Grrr! I also missed the new Canadian Cycling group ride. I love Zwift but hate the technical challenges.

By the time I (okay, we, thanks Sarah) sorted out how to connect my phone to the big TV my planned options had passed. I scoured the Companion app, as one does, for another ride and came across the Dutch Diesel Cycling Dames Peleton group ride.

Aha! Flat, with sprints. Right up my alley. I’ve been riding up some pretty big hills lately and this sounded like a welcome alternative. And it was. I had a terrific ride and I think I’ll be back.

What did I like so much about it?

First, it was run by women and the women on the ride far outnumbered the men but men were welcome. I generally don’t like sex segregated spaces–where do my gender non binary friends go?–but cycling can be pretty male dominated. So, for me, a ride that’s run by women but allows people of all genders to take part is a pretty wonderful thing

Second, it was exactly as advertised. They advertised a pace and they stuck with it. They put up the fence and called upon the faster riders to help out at the back.

Third, sprinting! Yes, there was a fence and yes, there was a commitment to sticking to speed but they also allowed and encouraged sprinting. Whee!

Here’s my sprint times. Happy to get a PR that last time through.

Sprint!

The loop is about 5 km and approaching the sprint, the fence came off, and after the sprint, we coasted and regrouped and the fence went back up. Perfection.

Fourth, it was that perfect time of day–late in Eastern Time zone –very early morning in parts of Europe, early in the evening on the West coast of North America and midday in Australia. I loved all the flags!

Thanks Dutch Diesel Cycling Dames Peleton! I’ll be back.

cycling · fitness · Guest Post · motivation · Zwift

Moving my own goalposts (Guest Post)

Sam B

by Jennifer Szende

A little over a week ago, Samantha wrote about giving herself permission to quit, and it was just the push I needed. You see, I had been struggling with Zwift Academy for a few weeks and I had just about come to the decision that I should quit the program. I was hating it and avoiding it, but still in denial. I kept setting up my bike on the trainer, then doing other things. Or, just not setting up the bike at all. I would look at the schedule of Zwift Academy rides for the next day, and then find conflicts with all of them. I was going days in a row without doing any Zwift rides, let alone Zwift Academy rides. I finally motivated myself to do a group ride by choosing one of the easiest rides I could find. I was running out of time to complete the rides before the two month long “Zwift Academy” program closed. 

I had finally reached the point of naming my problem: Zwift Academy workouts are hard. Really, really hard. I would find myself either yelling or on the verge of tears trying to complete the workouts. On the plus side, I was really doing what the rides are aiming for: leaving it all on the field. On the downside, I was hating it to the point of avoiding it. I was making excuses to myself. And to make matters worse, the rides are so popular that they seem to also be prone to bugs. I had at least one ride where ERG mode disengaged, and it took a ton of effort (and was virtually impossible) to hit the required cadence/wattage combos on the workout. And I had another ride where I lost internet just minutes from the end of the cool down, so the ride didn’t upload, and I had to do it again to get it to ‘count’. So, I was finding Zwift Academy frustrating, too. Finally, the parameters of the rides are genuinely designed to push a rider to their limit. That means that the rides were genuinely designed to be difficult. Naming the problem was the first step towards recognizing an obvious solution: I could quit. 

After all, I was completing the program for fun, and not competing for a contract. Why continue to torture myself? Why continue with Zwift Academy once I realized that it was demotivating me to Zwift at all? This is supposed to be my fun. It’s a game, and it’s exercise. It’s endorphins, and serotonin. It felt like I wasn’t getting any of that, so why was I doing this again? 

I have always been motivated by the game of Zwift. The game aspect usually helps me to complete hard tasks that I wouldn’t otherwise attempt. It helps me break them down into manageable chunks, provides additional external motivations, and quantifies them. Since joining Zwift just over a year ago, I have completed a series of challenges: the Off the MAAP Tour; the Tour for All; Tour of Watopia. Each of these gave me specific ride-tasks to complete in a specific timeline, and I felt motivated to work for the completion-reward (usually, completion would unlock a virtual kit to wear in the game, or a virtual bike to ride in the game. Occasionally, completion would unlock a code to purchase a real-word jersey). The game aspects of Zwift generally help me stay motivated and goal-oriented. I like the game of Zwift.

But Zwift academy felt different somehow. I would look at the hard task, and think, “That’s too hard.” I was giving up without even attempting certain rides. Samantha blogged about it here, and discussed how the rides feel a lot more contrived than other ‘group’ events on Zwift. All of the comments and discussion are pre-programmed, and there is nobody monitoring them in real time. So, when the ride flashes a message on the screen saying: ‘Great job!’, it feels much more disingenuous than usual. And Zwift workouts are also designed to adapt to your FTP. They are designed to be hard for everyone, in approximately the same way. Zwift Academy does this extremely well. 

Along came Samantha’s post. When she pointed out that she had tricked herself into completing a race, by reminding herself that she could always quit, I saw a way forward. After all, I had already decided that quitting was on the table for me. I could walk away without finishing ZA, and that would be fine. The next day, I started a Zwift Academy Segment –Three Sisters ride which was an incredibly long ride with a lot of climbing, but no timer, and I gave myself explicit permission to quit. I didn’t just give myself permission: I told two people that I was giving myself permission to quit. I vocalized it, and gave myself accountability. I wanted my ‘permission to quit’ to be meaningful. And, it worked. I finished the ride: 13th out of 13 riders and completely exhausted, but I finished it. 

Completing that one thing helped me feel better about Zwift Academy. It helped me tick off another ‘accomplishment’ within the game. And it also served as a reminder that completing something feels good. I didn’t have to hit a particular performance marker. After all, I came in last in the segment ride. But even so, the feeling of completing something difficult helped me get back on the bike. The feeling of accomplishment was real, even if the challenge was slightly easier than it could have been. 

I realized that the only way that I was going to finish Zwift Academy was if I gave myself permission to quit each time. But the workouts were still incredibly hard. So I gave myself permission to lower the bar, just a bit. I didn’t have to excel. I didn’t have to perfect the workouts. I could *just* finish, if that was all I could manage. And I did. 

I ended up completing my last 4 Zwift Academy rides (3 workouts and 1 group ride) in the last 5 days of the program. I used the group ride as a ‘rest’ between two workout days. I completed some of them well, and some of them just barely. But I completed the entire Zwift Academy training program with a day to spare. 

The phrase ‘moving the goal posts’ is ambiguous between two possible scenarios: making some goal harder to achieve or making a goal easier to achieve, but doing each while the game is already in progress. Make the goal bigger, or make it smaller. By giving myself permission to quit, I made completing Zwift Academy a bit less likely. But by giving myself permission to *just* finish, I made finishing a bit easier. I don’t feel like I’ve cheated myself out of anything. After all, I was ready to walk away with nothing. At the end of the day, I’ve walked away having left it all on the field, having accomplished something hard, and feeling good about my accomplishment. Permission to quit felt like I was walking away from the game, but in the end, it helped me stay in the game. So, I moved my own goalposts, and it felt great. Sometimes, admitting the possibility of defeat, coming to terms with failure, and letting go of a goal, can help you succeed. And sometimes, coming to terms with walking away is its own success. Sometimes, I just have to move my own goalposts. 

Jenny Szende is a philosopher, writer, climber, cyclist, and mother based in Toronto. 

OMG. Sam did it. Sam completed Zwift Academy 2020.
cycling · fitness · Zwift

OMG. Sam did it. Sam completed Zwift Academy 2020.

Sam B

This morning at 6 am, this was me. It took several alarms and a coffee but I made it to my bike on the trainer. My soundtrack was Happy morning songs.

Photo

In theory, it was an easy ride. In practice, not so much because it was less than twelve hours after finishing the last of the Zwift Academy workouts, #7.

The ride was full of people like me, racing to complete Zwift Academy 2020 before tonight’s deadline. I teach Wednesday evenings so that wasn’t possible for me.

What do you need to do to finish? “To graduate the Academy, complete the program’s 8 structured workouts and 4 additional Zwift Academy events, which can be any combination of Zwift Academy group rides, Zwift Academy segment group rides, or Zwift Academy races between October 1st and November 25th.” From the FAQ.

One person was doing this ride right after completing workouts 7 and 8. Ouch. Also, not possible for me. Eight was tough. See Anaerobic depletion is about as much fun as it sounds. But 7 was tougher. I think it was the hardest of the lot.

I have fond memories now of the earlier workouts and might go back and do Sprint! again even. All the workouts stay in my workout folder so I can repeat them again without a deadline this time.

I did it. It wasn’t easy but I’m glad I finished.

Next up, a new FTP test to see if I’ve improved any. I’ll report back.

cycling · fitness · training · Zwift

Anaerobic depletion is about as much fun as it sounds, Zwift Academy Workout #8

Sam B3 Comments

As you know, I’m racing to finish Zwift Academy before the November 25th cutoff. It’s still touch and go whether I’ll make it. I’m trying to fit it all in.

Thursday night was a tough team time trial effort with TFC Phantom with missing team members and technical difficulties. Friday night was the usual TFC race with the usual suspects. We race as a team Thursday night and then Friday we race against one another, with a nice mix of cooperation and competition.

TFC Phantom Thursday night line up, Sam and the guys!

Saturday, my 💓 heart was all about sleeping in but that wasn’t to be. I only had five days left to finish Zwift Academy. Workout #8 was scheduled for 9 am.

I did manage to sleep until 8, make instant coffee and toast, and hop into bike clothes and onto the bike.

My playlist was the Awesome Mix, Songs to Sing in the Shower and then some jazz/soul by Joni NehRita.

Joni NehRita

NehRita gave a talk on Friday as part of the Improv Institute’s Thinking Spaces series. Her presentation was called “Love + Protest.”

Here’s a brief bio from her website: “Jamaican-Canadian artist Joni NehRita writes songs about unity, hope and social justice. Her jazz-tinged brand of soul is infused with rhythms & sounds from her Afro-Caribbean background. A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, she has a gift for writing infectious, well-crafted songs that are deeply personal.

This year NehRita releases her 4th full length album, “Love & Protest” which is a marked step further toward global roots/world music. She has played festivals & concerts (both as a solo artist & backing other artists) in North America, Australia, England, France, Germany & Oman. She has also sung with the KW Symphony & Hamilton Philharmonic.”

Love it when my work introduces me to new music and a new artist.

Digression over now back to Zwift Academy!

From Zwift here’s the description of workout 8: “This Zwift Academy workout helps build your attacking power level for a solid punch. Short efforts all under 1min will make you feel the burn.”

https://youtu.be/RMrtajoddgI

I loved seeing all the different country flags over the riders heads. And as usual I enjoyed the banter and chit chat during the warm up, cool down, and the chunks of recovery riding.

The first half was all out sprint efforts and then having exhausted our anaerobic abilities, we recovered and turned our attention to three one minute efforts will above FTP. Not fun. But I did it. We survived. Yay!

Just one more workout and two more group rides or races to go. Wish me luck!

competition · cycling · fitness · race report · racing · team sports · Zwift

This post is brought to you by technical difficulties, #Zwift

Sam B1 Comment
Brightly colored bars indicating technical difficulties

Tonight’s Zwift race, a team time trial which was three laps of Watopia’s Hilly Route, was for me an exercise in technical difficulties. Also, hills. And a smaller roster than usual of teammates. But mostly technical difficulties.

I began with my phone at 5 percent battery and the threat of losing discord loomed large. I plugged the phone in but it doesn’t charge that quickly. Discord matters because it’s how we communicate who is next up in the sequence of riders, how we’re feeling, how long a pull we want to take at the front and so on. There might also be some crying, swearing, and whining. We agreed I’d use the app to signal with my avatar’s arm if I lost Discord and wanted to skip my turn at the front. We had a set order of rotation of riders and in theory it ought to be okay with one of us out of communication.

Here’s me at the start. On the left, my avatar is in yellow TFC kit, with a pink Zwift academy hat and socks. On the right, actual me looks nervous about the race. My team lost two riders at the last minute. One didn’t get in the start pen in time and the other got stuck at work. I had been telling myself that I only needed to do two laps and that we could send the four best climbers ahead on our third time up the KOM. This is now no longer true. Gulp.

Left: Avatar Sam in the pen before the race start. Right: Actual Sam on her bike looking worried.

In the end my phone stayed charged. But I had bigger problems. My internet was wonky and I kept losing everyone on the screen. For about half the race it looked like I was riding alone. I had to use the listing of riders on the right hand side of the screen to “see” where I was in the group. Pacing was a challenge. I kept going off the front because my big worry was being dropped. It wasn’t until the final lap that I could consistently see my teammates which is strange and challenging in a team time trial.

We also lost a teammate tonight who got dropped and isn’t coming back next week. I feel bad about that and wish I could have explained better what was going on. Teams are hard work that way.

All of this reminded me of my worst technical glitch ever, completely losing power in a race and getting dropped. I wasn’t sure what happened until Sarah and I looked at the trainer after. The extension cord plug which leads to the trainer had come unplugged.

Here’s our high tech fix!

A plug held in place with electrical tape

Anyway, in the end we did okay technical glitches and all.

Wish me luck next time!

Sam goes WAY out of her comfort zone
cycling · Fear · fitness · racing · Zwift

Sam goes WAY out of her comfort zone

Sam B4 Comments

If you know me as a cyclist at all, you know that climbing is so not my thing.

I could insert lots of pictures of me walking my bike up hills. But I won’t.

Tonight was the last race in a Zwift series in which I’d been participating. Race series like to mix it up so no one kind of cyclist is favoured. Some weeks are hilly, some weeks are flat, and some are mountainous. You probably guess where this is going.

I’ll ride flat. Whee! I’ll even ride hilly. But I tend to give a pass to routes described as mountainous. Tonight’s route was even called The Mountain Route. It’s 29.5 km but with 682 m of climbing. Ouch.

The Mountain Route

There was a lot of chatter in our team about who was and who wasn’t going to do the race. I tried the “I’m washing my hair that night” line but I was encouraged to give it a go. We’d cheer each other on on Discord. It would “fun” they said.

In the end, I tricked myself into it, telling myself I could quit if it took me more than an hour and a half.

And I was heartened by encouraging words from teammates during the ride. Sarah also cheered me on and brought me cookies as I got to the last climb up to the radio tower.

I did it and I finished and I think I came third in D category. Well, I think I came third. I can’t say for sure because Zwiftpower is down. Zwiftpower is the race results site for Zwift races.

It was, for me, a long steady effort. It was also proof that I can climb even if it’s not my favorite thing. Sometime over the next few days I’m going to check out some of my in real life climbs and see how they compare.

Oh, I got some new Zwift badges. I got the 100 km an hour Daredevil badge for descending the Epic KOM. And in the warm up before I got the badge for exceeding 700 watts in the sprint which I couldn’t resist.

I will sleep well tonight even with all of my now usual pandemic fretting and worrying.

Night all!

I’m glad I got way out of my comfort zone and did a challenging thing.

Here’s a few more race photos:

Sam climbing a mountain, mostly alone, with lots of time in the red zone!
What are you listening to while working out these days?
cycling · fitness · motivation · Zwift

What are you listening to while working out these days?

Sam B1 Comment

I blogged recently about combatting pandemic sadness by working out to the happiest songs of all time. And my other post about great group rides included links to Zwift playlists curated by the HERD, the Pride Ride, and others.

So I’m not short on playlists, and yet, I’m wanting to branch out.

I’ve been amused by the range of things people listen to while riding bikes. When we’re using Discord on my bike team, occasionally sound breaks through. The Beach Boys? Really? Really. I get teased about disco. Other teammates get teased for Gilbert and Sullivan. It’s clear there’s a lot of variety in our tastes in workout music.

I recall years ago at the velodrome that we had some serious arguments about music. I was on record for not liking music with swearing and language that insulted women. I think I was parenting young children at the time! The young men, teenagers, who rode there used to swap to easy listening when I arrived and tease me about it.

Why do we listen to music at all when we’re exercising?

Obviously enjoyment is a motive. But so too is performance. Many people listen to music that they think will make them go faster, whether on foot or on the bike.

Exercise psychologists have been studying this for a while.

See What songs make you workout harder? in which it’s noted that when listening to music people tend to underestimate their exertion by 10%.

Here’s an excerpt from that piece: “Costas Karageorghis at Brunel University London has pioneered much of the research in this field. In his book Applying Music in Exercise and Sport, he identified many ways in which music can improve physical performance.

The most immediately obvious benefit is the intense emotional connection with certain songs. Listening to the Rocky movie soundtracks, for example, “can conjure positive imagery, a feeling that one can overcome adversity”. He compares it to Ivan Pavlov’s famous conditioning experiments – in which the mere sound of a bell, usually accompanying a meal, would have dogs salivating. Gonna fly now? The opening bars of Rocky’s theme song might just prime you to push yourself harder.

Then there’s “dissociation” – music helps to direct your attention outwards rather than inwards, and drowns out the feelings of fatigue in our bodies. This can have a particularly powerful effect with more moderate workouts. When listening to music, people tend to underestimate their exertion by about 10%, meaning the whole workout ends up feeling much less arduous than it would have without the music. This should increase your overall endurance, helping you to run faster for longer.

For the most intense workouts, music-induced dissociation may not be possible – the feelings of exertion are just too strong to ignore, no matter how great the music. But during those periods, the body may still benefit from “entrainment”, a process in which the body’s natural rhythms begin to mimic those of the music.”

The article goes on to discuss studies which take participants and have some workout with music, others in silence, and others listening to podcasts. No surprise those who listen to music do better.

So I’ll go faster, and I’ll be happier. I just need more tunes.

What are your recommendations for workout music?

Photo by Norbert Buduczki on Unsplash

light bulbs in the sky Sam’s list of six things she wished she knew when she first joined Zwift
climbing · cycling · fitness · Zwift

Sam’s list of six things she wished she knew when she first joined Zwift

Sam B1 Comment
  1. The Everest Challenge as a route to the Tron bike. Yes, I’m making good progress. I’m more than halfway there. But at the start I rode for a few months without signing up for the challenge. Today in my group ride we talked about someone who had completed the climbing mileage and wondered why he hadn’t gotten the Tron. Turned out he’d never signed up.
Tron bikes all in a row

2. Other people seemed to be better about giving Ride-Ons than me. But it was only later I discovered you can give more than one ride-on at a time. “Use the Zwift Companion App to quickly give Ride-Ons to 5 random people within your near vicinity. Just tap your location arrow in the app! If you’re in a group ride, those Ride Ons will go to others participating in the same group. Ride on.” From Zwift Tips. I also learned that if you want to give everyone you rode with kudos on Strava, you just view the list of people and shake your phone. Who knew? I didn’t. I do now.

Zwift Ride On
Ride on!

3. When I first started doing workouts, I did them in any old place. It was only later that I realized (thanks Sarah!) that by doing my workouts on serious climbs, I could accumulate climbing metres faster. See THE EASIEST (LEGAL) WAY TO GET THE TRON BIKE IN ZWIFT for route advice.

4. It also didn’t occur to me–you’ll get the sense that the ‘game’ aspect of Zwift was new to me–that if I was attempting a climb to accumulate metres climbed I could turn around at the top and come back down to accumulate kilometres ridden. You can also just coast down and answer your email! Shhh.

5. You can return to the pairing screen and do things–like swap virtual bikes–without exiting your ride. It also took me awhile to figure out when to use which bike.

6. In real life, I don’t super tuck. I’m not a particularly nervous descender but I don’t adopt the aggressive aero position of pro-cyclists. I saw some avatars doing it in Zwift and I didn’t get it. I should have googled. At a certain point in real world cycling you go faster by aero tucking than pedaling. That’s true in Zwift too. See “How to” here.

From Zwift News: “In cycling, “aero is everything.” So pros like Chris Froome get into an aero-tuck (aka “super-tuck”) when descending, reducing air resistance and allowing them to travel faster with less work.

Looking for some rest while descending one of Zwift’s many mountains? You can use the super-tuck. It is literally the easiest way to go faster on Zwift, since it requires you to stop pedaling!

Here’s how it works: if you are on a 3% or steeper downhill moving at least 35mph (57km/h), stop pedaling. Your avatar will enter the super-tuck as soon as your power drops to 10 watts or less.

Once in the super-tuck your rider will travel faster, mimicking the reduced air resistance you would encounter when aero-tucking outdoors.

There is one exception: riders on TT frames cannot super-tuck.”

Zwift How-to: Super-Tuck When Descending | Zwift

How about you? If you Zwift is there anything you know now that you wished you knew at the get go?