In the third week of Boone’s 6-week training program we continued pushing hard in each of his 4 rides. With such a short training program, each workout has to count!
Our goal: to transform a 265-pound rookie rider with a tested 1.92w/kg FTP into a cat C Zwift racer (2.5w/kg+) in 6 weeks.
We aren’t entirely sure if the goal is attainable in that time, but Boone’s willing to take a leap and find out. Sort of like that time – many years ago – when we tied a rope around his foot so I could lower from a 20-foot tree branch. (It didn’t end well. In hindsight, it’s a miracle we survived childhood.)
The first week was mostly about orientation and baseline testing. The second week was about building endurance and improving form on the bike. And this third week was about pushing that endurance – now that Boone could ride for a full hour, let’s get those watts up!
The Plan
As a reminder, here’s the basic plan we’ve settled on for the 6 weeks. (Many thanks to Alan Dempsey of HPP Coaching for giving us solid advice that sets Boone up for success).
- Week 1: Benchmark testing + Endurance
FTP test, attempt first Zwift race, and get some time on the bike - Weeks 2-4: Endurance + Cadence Work
Lots of work from low zone 2 to mid zone 3, with some high-cadence drills to train the legs for efficient pedaling - Weeks 5-6: Endurance + Intensity, Finishing with Benchmark Testing
Start with similar rides as weeks 2-4, with some VO2 and threshold efforts included in short durations. Toward the end of week 6 we’ll do another FTP test and Zwift race, so we can compare progress from week 1.
We aren’t doing ERG workouts – rather, we’re doing free rides and Zwift events with particular goals in mind.
Ride #9: Breaking 20MPH
Boone had a simple goal for this ride: to average at least 20mph over an entire hour ride.
Before he got going, we popped into the Drop Shop and picked up a shiny new wheelset: the DT Swiss ARC 62’s. He had barely just enough drops to make the purchase!
In Zwift, wheel upgrades generally have 2-3x greater effect than frame upgrades. These wheels are about 25 seconds faster over an hourlong ride compared to the stock 32mm carbon wheels, so they would help Boone just a bit in achieving his goal.
See our wheel performance charts if you’re looking to upgrade >
We put him in with Dan Diesel, but after a short warmup and some quick math Boone realized hanging with Dan wasn’t going to get him a 20mph average. So off the front he went, keeping his watts up, sitting on wheels, and using powerups to keep his speed high on Watopia’s Flat Route.
And he did it, with 32 seconds to spare!
Starting off with Dan 
Sitting in, off the front of Dan’s group 
20 miles in 59:28!
Boone got quite a few Ride Ons during this effort, and he wanted to make sure I mention in this post that 1) he’s grateful for the Ride Ons and 2) he wishes there was an easier way to reciprocate a Ride On someone gives you. Clicking around with your mouse or fumbling through rider lists is just too much hassle when you’re pushing hard!
Ride #10: First Outing with Cara Cadence
Since Boone had been consistently dropping Dan Diesel, I figured it was time to move up to Cara – the next-fastest Pace Partner. Cara’s group clips along around 40kph, while Dan’s group is closer to 30kph. We figured Boone wouldn’t be able to sit in with Cara for a full hour, but he could try to hang for a while, then do his own ride for a total of 45-60 minutes.
The Pace Partners join screen said Cara was riding on Tempus Fugit (nice and flat – exactly what Boone wanted) but that was just a cruel prank. When we dropped into the game Boone was with Cara’s group riding the Hilly Route… in the rain!
He hung in there for 15 minutes, but blew his legs up when he decided to randomly sprint on the descent. (He was trying to get the 50mph badge, you see). He didn’t quite hit 50mph, but he did unlock the badges for 40mph, holding 500W for over 10 seconds, and hitting 1000W!
We headed over to Fuego Flats after this, where he rode for 30 more minutes. He was tired (hadn’t eaten much of anything that day) and basically ran out of juice. But he did manage one more sprint effort, enough to earn the 1100 and 1200W badges. All seated sprints!
Ride #11: A Calorie Calculation Conundrum
I checked where Cara was actually riding before we joined her this time. She was in Fuego Flats (hurray!), so Boone hopped into the group to see how long he could keep up. He lasted 25 minutes, then spent the rest of his ride just trying to keep his power decently high until hitting the hour mark.
He ended up hitting new power bests across the 18-40 minute range. He also set a new hour distance record for himself: 22 miles! Nice gains.
Boone’s been dropping weight – we’ve been adjusting it on almost every ride! 
Riding with Cara 
Ah, that “new route badge” feeling!
Calories on Strava vs Calories on Zwift
Here’s a weird thing we discovered this week: Strava is showing a different calorie burn number than Zwift! (Boone is paying fairly close attention to this since he’s working on dropping weight while also consuming enough fuel for these training rides.)
Here are the numbers from some recent rides:
| Strava Calories | Zwift Calories |
| 829 | 710 |
| 614 | 526 |
| 834 | 715 |
| 313 | 295 |
If you’ve used more than one service to track fitness metrics, this may not surprise you one bit – each service has its own way of calculating calorie burn (learn more about how calorie burn calculations work). But the strange thing is, on my Strava account, the calories always match Zwift’s. Because Zwift passes those calories in via the .fit file, and Strava displays them. At least, that’s what this page leads me to believe. It says, “Strava shows Calories as they were provided to us from upload partners. If no value is sent, or you record with the Strava mobile app, we use our own calculations.”
So why do calories match on my Strava account, but not on Boone’s? All I can figure is it’s the difference between being a paying Strava subscriber and a free one. My theory is paying subscribers get Zwift’s number (calculated based on ~25% efficiency), while free ones get the number calculated by Strava (which appears to be calculated based on something like 21.3% efficiency). But I’d love to hear if you have a better idea!
Ride #12: Crit City D Race
Since we’re at the halfway mark, Boone thought it would be a fun to attempt the same Crit City race he tried the first week. In that first week, he got dropped from the front page 2.5 laps in. Could he last longer this time around? He was certainly stronger than the first week – and almost 15 pounds lighter. Plus he had the new faster wheels! But his result would also depend on the competition.
My buddy Zane came over once again to heckle and advise Boone – you can hear us alternatively cheering, jeering, and advising Boone in the video below.
13 riders joined this time around, compared to 17 in his first race. But right from the gun it was clear this would be a very different race. The front group thinned out more quickly, and the pace was higher. But Boone was hanging in there! At the 2.5 laps mark there were 5 riders in the front group, and several off the back who had been coned (no cones in Boone’s first race).
He was definitely on the rivet, but did a great job of sitting in the draft and conserving as much as possible. After the brick climb on the penultimate lap the pack strung out, and Boone couldn’t hang on, despite Zane yelling very loudly. He limped around the final lap as one of the lead riders got handed a green cone. He crossed the line in 4th. But 3rd on ZwiftPower!
Watch the Race Video:
Week #3 Takeaways
Boone’s 3rd place result in his second race (above) doesn’t look much better on paper than his 4th place result in his first race. But the difference in performance between the two races is striking:
| Race 1 | Race 2 | |
| Watts Avg | 216W | 256W |
| HR Avg | 179 | 182 |
| HR Max | 186 | 191 |
| Total 6-Lap Time | 21:45 | 19:31 |
Between weight loss and fitness gains his average wattage in these races went from 1.8w/kg to 2.3w/kg. Not bad for just three weeks!
For the next week we’ll be riding with Cara Cadence more, seeing if he can extend how long he can hang with her group. We’ll also be doing some cadence work to improve muscle efficiency, and sprints to see if we can find the top end of Boone’s power.
Support Boone
Thanks to everyone who followed Boone on Zwift and Strava and gave him lots of Ride Ons and Kudos. He’s loving it! If you haven’t done so yet, follow him on Zwift (name “Boone Bridges”) and Strava.
Your Thoughts
Got any tips for Boone? Comments on this week’s efforts? Share below!
Congratulations to Boone, moving up from Dan to Cara is a big step towards becoming a Cat C and 3rd is a great result. I agree with Boone that there should be a better way to return ride ons to your friends when on the limit. I think that one of the other important gains that you didn’t mention Eric, was Boone’s post race photos. In week one, it was a very sweaty Boone laid out on the ground with his eyes closed and this week Boone was still on the bike!
Well, to be honest, he DID end up on the ground after the second race too… 😅
Usually I end up hugging the fan after a Zwift race so I guess it’s really the effort that you put in on the bike that matters.😂
Congrats to Boone on his progress. As for the calories, it might have something to do with time in the pen before events. That time/effort doesn’t seem to make it to strava from my experience.
But it happens even when he’s not in the pens (most of his rides don’t involve pens at all!)
Brilliant progress, very inspiring! I’ve just checked my calorie expenditure too – I’m a strava subscriber and my calories seem to match what Zwift has. As you say, it’s a little subjective at times but its still a good indicator when trying to increase the calorie deficit. Well done Boone 😁🙌
Amazing progress Boone! I’m pretty sure Eric is making sure Boone is getting the rest days he needs but a little reminder can’t hurt. Much.
I will say that when Boone gets to fighting weight and fitness he’s going to be a strong rider. His ability to get his heart rate up and hold it at this point in his program is a very good indicator. I look forward to seeing how this goes for the six weeks and beyond.
I don’t pay for Strava and my calories match Zwift.
Mine match too and I am using Strava for free.
if ur pushing 1200w seated (even at 120kg) there’s no way in hell ur a Cat D rider xD
what training has Boone done in previous years? cos I doubt this is his first rodeo :p
Boone hasn’t ridden a bike since High School (he’s almost 41 years old) – and he wasn’t any sort of serious cyclist back then.
I showed Boone this comment and he said, “What kind of training I’ve done is my legs have had to carry my fat upper body around all these years.” 😂
He stays active in his work as a self-employed builder/contractor/carpenter. But he hasn’t done any real “training” basically… ever. He’s just strong as an ox because he’s a big dude who does physical work day in and day out.
Also: there’s a big difference between sprinting at 1200W on fresh legs, compared to finishing in the front group of a race and still having the legs to sprint it out. That’s the part Boone lacks! But if you want a whole lotta fresh watts, he’s your Huckleberry.
So I’m a 160 lb distance runner (who does triathlons due to running injuries). I’m on Zwiftpower and have been doing races as ‘workouts’ for about 2 months (but have been on Zwift for a pretty long time – lvl 35). As a Cat. C, I always laugh at the results of races. Today, I got beat by 0.4 seconds by a guy that is 2″ shorter than me but 45 lbs heavier. My second ever silver in a Zwift race. I am not at all surprised that Boone can put out big watts – he’s a big guy! At my weight, I have still not achieved the 1.2 gigawatts badge!
BTW – love ZwiftInsider! Enjoying Boone’s journey, and was totally glued to Monica’s badge hunt last winter.
if he is shorter and heavier than you that means he goes a lot faster than you at the same w/kg thnx to zwift’s algorithms. also if ur a distance runner, ur not likely to have a strong sprint finish as ur not training ur neuromuscalar power. on sprints, raw wattage is more important than w/kg anyway, so heavier dudes have an advantage there (as long as they have the power to back it up).
and i still stand by my original point that 10w/kg is not Cat D numbers. there’s plenty of Cat B riders that don’t even hit those numbers. you don’t just roll off the couch and push 10w/kg. takes some kind of strength training at some point in ur life to be capable of that (or a physical job, in this case).
builder/contractor/carpenter = case closed, those guys are hard as nails. defo not going from “couch” to Cat C, but a noble effort nonetheless.
I am really enjoying the “Boone” articles. Well done for progress so far. A cycling coach I used many years ago said he loved training overweight cyclists as they had strong legs from just getting around and the gains from weight loss plus their strength translated in to good, solid gains in form.
Exactly right!
Hi! So how (day and time) can I join Cara Cadence too? Is it a specific race? Do I need to follow her? Thanks! 🙂
Just click “pace partners” from the “ride with” list, after you’ve selected watopia
On calories – I always find that Zwift reports a lower calorie figure than TrainerRoad – in TrainerRoad the calories matches the kJ work done exactly, whereas in Zwift the number is a bit lower. For example in a recent ride I did 742 kJ of work and Zwift gave me 708 calories (this is in line with your article https://zwiftinsider.com/how-many-calories/ )
So the elevated calorie figure Boone gets from Strava could be the same thing – but the ratio on Boone’s rides is about 1.17 whereas your article and my experience shows it about 1.05 kJ:calories. Seems to imply Strava is using a higher number than the reported kJ figure for work done.
I had a quick Google and it seems that Strava is using the lower figure for rider efficiency, as several riders report seeing the same thing (as per your calc). I also went back and checked some of my own outdoor rides which I recorded through the Strava app (I usually use a Garmin which obviously reports its own calorie figure), and they show the same pattern, one example:
Strava work done (from estimated power): 232 kJ
Strava calories burnt: 259
Obviously I don’t know what Boone’s kJ figure is for the ride but that would seem to explain it – Zwift reports a number that is lower than work done but Strava reports a number that is higher. The real question is why Strava is not taking the calorie number from Zwift. My guess would be the same as yours (free account), but I don’t see why that should matter.
If he is trying to lose weight I suggest to use the Zwift reported figure as it is more conservative – that’s what I do. The difference between TrainerRoad and Zwift is not that big, probably in the noise given the other uncertainties around calorie measurement, but the difference between Zwift and Strava does seem to be significant. Especially on longer rides that would have a big effect (17% is quite a lot! on a 2000kJ ride that would be over 300 calories).
I pay for strava summit but I too have been realising that my zwift and strava calories are different usually only by a few on shorter rides but on anything over 40km it starts to differ by 100+. Good going for Boone, looks like he is really making improvements.
Such a great story to follow, it reminds me of my own over the past nearly 12 months:
My first ride on Zwift (6th March 2020) was a bit of a shock, I went into it blind on the back of suggestion from a friend. After investing in a smart trainer and deciding to commit fully my initial ride was an iTT on the Bologna circuit (curse me thinking it would be a good introductory ride at only 8km….hahaha!!!). I ended up smashing those first 6km, only to discover that the final 2km was like hitting a brick wall, that final climb felt like it took forever to finish…I ended up averaging 205w @ 2.1w/kg (97.1kg at the time).
I then immediately started doing a training program (6-week FTP Builder) and got drawn into completing the Tour of Watopia. Over the course of these next 6 to 8 weeks, I ended up winning a couple of events in the D-Category and was pushed up into C-Category. By this point I was fully invested in this form of training and was loving every minute…
It was around this point that I was then introduced to “The Alpe” and also went on a bit of a Route Badge hunt with a few friends that had starting using the platform. The Alpe showed me a whole new level of fitness. My first attempt up there was long old slog for 1:19:59. And so I set about a new long term target of hitting a sub-60 effort. This was in no short order an easy thing to achieve but I was committed…
Consistency was my main aim, in order to achieve this goal…
The Zwift events that followed helped me immensely and kept me engaged. I “fondly”(hindsight is a wonderful thing) remember doing the three back-to-back Stages of the “Haute Route Watopia” event, the “Zwift Classics Race Series”, “The Tour For All” and then a race series “Stages of Dirt”. These community rides, races and events, along with some group meet-ups with my friends kept me motivated and allowed me to continue to make progress with my own numbers and up through the Zwift Category system and ZwiftPower rankings…
Then came the newly formed Zwift Racing League run by WTRL…
The group of friends that I had been riding with over the previous 6 months and myself decided to form and enter a team. Being a mix of Category C and B riders we reluctantly entered into the B-Leagues, this helped all of us push our performances on again to a new high. After a mixed bag of results in Season 1 we ended up finishing mid-table in EMEA W1 Division 3B.
Another ZRL Season has now come around and progress has continued, our team is currently sitting 2nd place after the first three rounds (again Division 3B) and we are loving every minute…
After reading Boones story, as he starts his journey, it has made me look back to those first few weeks and the progress I have managed to make so far. From starting out at the bottom of the pack with numbers 205w @Niall Raeside.1kg I have been able to lift my FTP to 353w and dropped my weight to just under 91kg (as of this AM). I have gone from being dropped in Cat-D races to being able to compete at the front in Cat-B. And finally most recent time up the Alpe (during Tour de Zwift Stage 3) was 54:57, an improvement of 25:02.
I write this here in the hope that Boone (and anyone else on a similar journey) can see that continued progress is possible for us mere mortals. All it takes is a bit of determination, some consistency and the support of a great community…
Regarding the calorie discrepancy – is his weight the same in both profiles?
Not exactly, but that shouldn’t matter, IF Strava is just taking the calorie number from Zwift like it says they’re doing! Something work checking, though…
The best way to reciprocate RideOns while digging deep is with ZC on a bike-mounted phone or tablet (clamped to handlebars). With Map view you can click your icon and give 5 rideOns to nearby riders/runners.You are limited to one local RideOn every ~ 12 seconds.
Enjoying this series, but (just in case) do you have an AED handy? Is Boone wheezing at 16:45?
Yeah, he sure sounded like it. No AED handy, so hopefully he doesn’t push himself over the edge.
Fantastic effort Boone, way to go!!! Stay strong and consistent. This will really pay out. Enjoy your further journey and I enjoy the reading about it :-), thanks Eric!
Is there a way to tell when Cara will be riding the hilly loop? I love riding with that group but the desert route is getting old.
Currently, no. It’ll happen eventually though.