I'll be there. Thanks for The Herding of the Cats @Tim Sullivan. Anyone else looking to join be sure to hop on Group Me for any last-minute and mid ride deets. Oh and for the smack talk…
Hey Zwifters... I'm thinking about this, even tho it will be 5am for me (and on a weekend to boot!!), but... frankly, I'm currently a solid D category, so I'm concerned that I'd lose you all from the get go (and that really would suck at 5am!) Are there any other D groupies, that would be warming up at <2.0 w/kg? btw, I've been Zwifting for a while, so am super comfy with all the setup; just don't have experience joining group rides, and am currently kinda out of shape.
Hi @Julie Pfeifle. Unfortunately we don't have any D category riders at the moment but we would love to grow the group
The only way I think would work for you to not get dropped is to adjust your weight and height in the settings before the ride. I think there is a handicap race that does this bit not sure.
I found a link to a handicap calculator for zwift but it is set to equalize everyone at 3 w/kg. For this ride I would probably set your weight to be at least 3.5 w/kg up to 4 w/kg depending on how hard you want to work. So if your FTP is 150 watts I would set your weight to somewhere between 37kg (4 w/kg) to 43kg (3.5 w/kg). The formula to get your weight for 4w/kg for an A rider would be FTP/4 weight in kg
Zwift also uses your height for speed calculations so based on the calculator I saw, I would set your height to 4 ft.
I know now this is kludgy but would probably make the ride more enjoyable as you could keep up. I think this is how some people on Zwift end up with those crazy times, For races Zwiftpower keeps track of the weight but for a normal ride shouldn't matter.
I hope you try this out as I would be be interested to see if this works as it would allow a much bigger group to ride together. There are a lot of Zwifters out there so maybe someone else has a different idea.
If if you don't join tomorrow you can always try this out some other time to see how it works. If you don't get up at 5 feel free to select to join one of us while we are riding
Hey Tim (not sure what your alias is, so no auto-link), thanks for all this great info! It does, however, feel kinda cheaty. I will look into it, though, but probably not for tomorrow. Depending on when I wake up, I'm definitely going to zwift, so maybe I'll join you all, and... let's keep trying to grow the D group; it would be so fun!
I am going to RUN the London Zwift route tomorrow, IN LONDON! Very excited. Looks like about 10 miles. Can't run in the tube / underground. Looking forward to the sights - in reality! This has been a great vacation!
I think I can ride. Can anyone else? Otherwise I will probably ride the Ottawa top speed race which is 3 loops of London 8 for 37 miles. Starts at 7:20 eastern.
VOICE CHATTING DURING ZWIFT SUNDAY RIDES (or other rides online)!!!!
Ok everyone. I have set up a discord channel (FREE) that lets us actually talk to each other during the ride (hopefully I set it up correctly). At any rate just click on the link below and you can set up a Discord account and download the Discord app to your mobile device or your computer. I would set the voice to "Push to talk" so that it doesn't pick up all the extra noise all of the time (there are sensitivity settings). Alot of Zwift groups and rides use this including Team ODZ. Here is a link to an overview of discord with some example videos from ODZ - https://www.teamodz.com/discord/
Here is the invitatin link to the TeamEN Zwift Talk voice channel I created
Well done Tim! I have used this many times with ODZ, and it is terrific. Big stamp of approval from me. Totally eliminates texting and riding, and facilitates normal conversation during group rides. You don't even need to be on Zwift to utilize, and hecklers can join the channel and trash talk from the couch if desired...
Thanks for setting this up. I updated my discord account, and I now have access to the TeamEN channel. Looking forward to using it on upcoming rides! Strong work!
I am out for this coming Sunday, as I will be pushing the pedals in northern Michigan this weekend. I know a lot of the discussion has moved to the GroupMe, but I wanted to post here in case any of the non regulars are not aware that this is still happening.
This Sunday's course will be Watopia. It seems like Figure 8 has worked well, but there is the new "Three Sisters" route that does all three climbs. There is a good write up on all the new changes in the new Zwift release here at Zwift Blog. I think the only downside to the climbs, is that is where the group (especially me) seems to fall apart a bit.
I have also noticed a few of us have been participating in races on Zwift. I was wondering if it would be good to start a new thread on racing in Zwift, or to just talk about it on this one. I was thinking it would be good to have a write up about how to sign up for a race in Zwift and how to create a profile in Zwiftpower. We even have a team in Zwiftpower (TeamEN), so if you are racing, set up a profile in Zwiftpower and include "TeamEN" in you profile if you like.
I believe there are a lot of benefits to utilizing the races in your training. In the few that I have done, it seems to motivate me to take my eye off the clock and ride at near threshold (or above) for most of the race (45 minutes to 1 hour).
FYI.... In case you forgot or maybe were not aware, these Zwift ABP TeamEN group rides have been going on every Sunday at 8:00 EST time. There is a pretty regular group (East Coast, Central and West Coast) showing up each week, and the rides have all been very fun. The rides, for me, are great tool to push myself harder than I normally would on a Sunday morning ABP ride while laughing and having fun on Discord (see instructions a couple of posts prior from Tim Sullivan) with my EN teammates.
This week we will be doing Watopia's Figure 8 at 8:00 Eastern Time. Hopefully we will see you there!
Anyone interested in riding custom workouts into Zwift is welcome give a warmup file I created a try as proof of concept. I'm linking it here so you can use to see if it would benefit you without having to actually create the workout.
Additional How Tos: - Create your own structured workout to ride in Zwift like this: https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000325647-Structured-Workout-Export - Create a race plan for a course in the real world like this: https://www.bestbikesplit.com/support (go to the last FAQ under the "File Downloads and Device Settings" section. Of note you can also drop this onto your Garmin to give guidance during an outdoor ride and into TrainerRoad to ride it there. I'll be giving the outside on a Garmin a proof-of-concept ride this weekend and am glad to share how it goes if there is any interest.
I noticed a few days ago when @Coach Patrick posted a photo of the Sunday Endurance Nation Team Ride that there are a number of you that may not be aware that this ride exists. So, I want to take the opportunity to reintroduce this ride to everyone. You can go back to the beginning of the thread to get the basics of how to join the ride, but here are a few things to know.
These rides have taken place every Sunday since they started last spring (we usually have between 5 and 10 riders).
The ride takes place at 8:00 Eastern time. There are a couple of West Coast regulars that join at 5:00 (@Jen Edwards and @Tom Box) and several Central Time riders. We even have a newer regular from Dublin Ireland (@Donnacha Holmes)
The rides have evolved into a mostly social ride in which we use the Discord app to communicate during the ride. (see post above from @Tim Sullivan on June 6th.)
I say "mostly" social because we do go all out for the King of the Mountain and Sprint jerseys. This gives you anywhere from 2 (if the course is London) to 4 (if the course is Watopia) intervals where the effort picks up and the talking pauses.
We always regroup after the climbs, so everyone stays together. Basically, the third hour is when everyone starts to do their own thing or ends their ride.
The team also use the GroupMe App to communicate when we are not riding.
A lot of the team ride regulars have been participating in races on Zwift and seen measurable gains in all points of the power curve.
This Sunday, the course is Watopia's Figure 8. Hopefully we will see you there soon!
Great point Al! The good thing with Zwift is that you could join the group at any time. Once you use the Zwift app to follow all of your EN team mates. You can select the course and then chose to ride with the team members that are already riding.
The time was chosen, because almost all of the regular riders were in Eastern and Central and the west coast riders are early risers. If you send a message to the GroupMe that you were going to join at 8:00 west coast time (11:00 Eastern) it would encourage other riders to join into the ride at that time.
If you have a chance to join one of the Sunday rides, do it! They are lots of fun. The rides start with an easy 2 w/kg pace and don't get to 3 w/kg until the hour mark. As @Brian Hagan said above, the only exception for that is the short sprints (less than 30 seconds) or a KOM (2-7 minutes) that might be on the course we are riding. Some go all out on those and others just go steady. One thing that stays fairly constant, is that the group ends up getting a lot of sprint and KOM jerseys!
No matter what your power or fitness level is, you will get a good workout that is FUN! You can ride as long or as short as you want. Some ride an hour or two, others may ride a full century depending on what their goal is for the day.
I'll speak as a BOP rider - I get a great workout out of these (when I have a chance to join)! I usually stay about 2 hours, get dropped on the hills, catch up when everyone else slows down, repeating as needed. It's a good time and a great workout, and the bigger the group, the more the fun!
Since everyone else is sharing thoughts, I will put in mine. As a MOP aspiring to be a FOP guy, this ride has been one of the tools I have used to increase my FTP fairly significantly. I started out struggling to hang (and everyone was more than happy to bring me back to the group), but now have enough gas to play in some of the sprints and KOM's. So first, my strength on the bike has been steadily growing.
Second, the interaction with the group is worth it all on its own. You get good insight on relevant topics from WSMs as well as your fair share of snarky comments and humor that keep me coming back each week. Give it a try, and like me, I suspect you will keep coming back. If you typically ride by yourself (we are triathletes after all, who needs a group, right?) this is a great way to get that group feel and interaction.
Give it a spin and you won't regret it (plus your FTP will thank you!)
Okay, you've got me interested. I'm sure there is something in this thread that gives equipment requirements and set up instructions right? I only have a cycleops fluid trainer and Garmin 520.
Comments
The course hath been choseth by Sir Timothy Sullivan....going to be fun. Be early, be late...just be there if you can!!!
~ Coach P
The only way I think would work for you to not get dropped is to adjust your weight and height in the settings before the ride. I think there is a handicap race that does this bit not sure.
I found a link to a handicap calculator for zwift but it is set to equalize everyone at 3 w/kg. For this ride I would probably set your weight to be at least 3.5 w/kg up to 4 w/kg depending on how hard you want to work. So if your FTP is 150 watts I would set your weight to somewhere between 37kg (4 w/kg) to 43kg (3.5 w/kg). The formula to get your weight for 4w/kg for an A rider would be FTP/4 weight in kg
Zwift also uses your height for speed calculations so based on the calculator I saw, I would set your height to 4 ft.
Here is the link for 3 w/kg handicapping for reference. http://www.virtualonlinecycling.com/p/initial-handicap-calculator.html?m=1
I know now this is kludgy but would probably make the ride more enjoyable as you could keep up. I think this is how some people on Zwift end up with those crazy times, For races Zwiftpower keeps track of the weight but for a normal ride shouldn't matter.
I hope you try this out as I would be be interested to see if this works as it would allow a much bigger group to ride together. There are a lot of Zwifters out there so maybe someone else has a different idea.
If if you don't join tomorrow you can always try this out some other time to see how it works. If you don't get up at 5 feel free to select to join one of us while we are riding
Ok everyone. I have set up a discord channel (FREE) that lets us actually talk to each other during the ride (hopefully I set it up correctly). At any rate just click on the link below and you can set up a Discord account and download the Discord app to your mobile device or your computer. I would set the voice to "Push to talk" so that it doesn't pick up all the extra noise all of the time (there are sensitivity settings). Alot of Zwift groups and rides use this including Team ODZ. Here is a link to an overview of discord with some example videos from ODZ - https://www.teamodz.com/discord/
Here is the invitatin link to the TeamEN Zwift Talk voice channel I created
https://discord.gg/FhfQmRH
This should be FUN!
Thanks for setting this up. I updated my discord account, and I now have access to the TeamEN channel. Looking forward to using it on upcoming rides! Strong work!
This Sunday's course will be Watopia. It seems like Figure 8 has worked well, but there is the new "Three Sisters" route that does all three climbs. There is a good write up on all the new changes in the new Zwift release here at Zwift Blog. I think the only downside to the climbs, is that is where the group (especially me) seems to fall apart a bit.
I have also noticed a few of us have been participating in races on Zwift. I was wondering if it would be good to start a new thread on racing in Zwift, or to just talk about it on this one. I was thinking it would be good to have a write up about how to sign up for a race in Zwift and how to create a profile in Zwiftpower. We even have a team in Zwiftpower (TeamEN), so if you are racing, set up a profile in Zwiftpower and include "TeamEN" in you profile if you like.
I believe there are a lot of benefits to utilizing the races in your training. In the few that I have done, it seems to motivate me to take my eye off the clock and ride at near threshold (or above) for most of the race (45 minutes to 1 hour).
This week we will be doing Watopia's Figure 8 at 8:00 Eastern Time. Hopefully we will see you there!
1: Download this file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwpmL2y6gEJxVmtLY3dQT3I4WWM/view?usp=sharing
2: Do this with the file: https://zwiftblog.com/load-custom-workouts/
Additional How Tos:
- Create your own structured workout to ride in Zwift like this: https://help.trainingpeaks.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000325647-Structured-Workout-Export
- Create a race plan for a course in the real world like this: https://www.bestbikesplit.com/support (go to the last FAQ under the "File Downloads and Device Settings" section. Of note you can also drop this onto your Garmin to give guidance during an outdoor ride and into TrainerRoad to ride it there. I'll be giving the outside on a Garmin a proof-of-concept ride this weekend and am glad to share how it goes if there is any interest.
Enjoy!
This Sunday, the course is Watopia's Figure 8. Hopefully we will see you there soon!
The time was chosen, because almost all of the regular riders were in Eastern and Central and the west coast riders are early risers. If you send a message to the GroupMe that you were going to join at 8:00 west coast time (11:00 Eastern) it would encourage other riders to join into the ride at that time.
No matter what your power or fitness level is, you will get a good workout that is FUN! You can ride as long or as short as you want. Some ride an hour or two, others may ride a full century depending on what their goal is for the day.
Second, the interaction with the group is worth it all on its own. You get good insight on relevant topics from WSMs as well as your fair share of snarky comments and humor that keep me coming back each week. Give it a try, and like me, I suspect you will keep coming back. If you typically ride by yourself (we are triathletes after all, who needs a group, right?) this is a great way to get that group feel and interaction.
Give it a spin and you won't regret it (plus your FTP will thank you!)