Home Blog Page 368

Strava Announces Major Changes to Virtual Segments

Eric Schlange
-
109
Strava Announces Major Changes to Virtual Segments

Strava Announces Major Changes to Virtual Segments

In a support post this morning, Strava announced big changes that will drastically reduce the number of segments showing on Zwift activities. Here is how Strava summarized the changes:

  • The least popular virtual ride segments have been made private, but none have been deleted. Any segments you’ve created can be found on the Strava website by selecting Dashboard > My Segments > Created Segments.
  • Any newly created virtual segments will be private.

In Strava’s words, these changes should “… remove clutter and noise so athletes can experience the segments that matter the most.” Let’s dig into this a bit more…

Some Background

Virtual segments, and specifically Zwift virtual segments, have been putting a strain on Strava’s systems for years. Strava was designed with real-world segment traffic in mind, and that is very different from the sort of traffic Zwift brings. In the real world, riders are spread out and so are the segments. On Zwift, riders are concentrated into small areas, with tens (hundreds!) of thousands riding each day.

This strain has become clear in recent months, when we haven’t been able to create Zwift Insider verified segments for routes of any substantial length due to Strava timing out in the “Check for Duplicates” step of its segment creation workflow. It appears there are simply too many public segments for Strava to compare against.

Additionally, the sheer the number of Strava segments for Zwift courses is just silly. And Strava’s automated systems for choosing which segments to display or hide have never worked well on Zwift.

New Segments=Private Segments

With this change, all newly-created virtual segments will be private, meaning only the creator can see the segment.

Note: at the time of this post, this change doesn’t appear to be fully implemented. There was still a checkbox in the segment creator tool to “Make this segment private”.

Existing Segments Made Private

Strava says “The least popular virtual ride segments have been made private”. They aren’t disclosing just how many segments were switched to private with this change, but from what I’m hearing it’s a “significant portion of existing segments.” When I asked Strava what sort of “signals” they are using to decide which segments stay public and which ones are switched to private, they said:

We’re reviewing segments based on engagement post-activity upload and understanding whether athletes look at the segment analysis and leaderboards. Segments with lowest engagement are made private.

Sounds sensible to me. Odd that they didn’t mention whether or not people have starred a segment, but my guess is this is included in their engagement metrics as well.

Private segments are only visible to a segment’s creator, meaning they aren’t matched against the activities of other riders. So switching many public segments to private means two good things: less processing required in terms of segment matching for Strava, and fewer segments showing up in activities.

Of course, Zwifters can still see their own results on any segments they’ve created on their ride activity details page.

What About Zwift Insider Verified Segments?

Strava and ZwiftHQ reached out to me at Zwift Insider with news about this change, because they recognize that our large set of “Zwift Insider verified” Strava segments are important to the community and should be kept public. I was grateful for that! So it sounds like our segments will be kept public.

In the short-term, creating new Zwift Insider verified segments will require an extra step or two of reaching out to Strava to get the segment made public. But I can deal with that.

What About My Segments?

In my chats with Zwift, it is clear they are well aware that the community has created many bespoke segments that are used to track various events. It is unclear how many (if any) of these segments will be switched to private, but hopefully between Strava’s automated triggers and Zwift’s communication with Strava the useful community segments will stay public.

When I asked Strava what the process was for “forcing” a segment to be public, they said:

…if the Zwift team recognizes a segment as important or significant and lets Strava know, then Strava will make it public.

Wrapping It Up

A few weeks ago, Strava rolled out new algorithms to catch impossible efforts upon uploads. They say today’s change is the next step in “making the segment experience better for athletes”. I agree!

As I said over 3 years ago, “I don’t care if I got a PR on a random .2 mile section of London titled ‘your mom smells like donuts’! Reducing the clutter will make it much easier for athletes to track their progress on segments they actually care about.

My only concern is that useful, community-created segments will remain public. I’m sure we’ll hear from the Zwift community if that doesn’t happen, but I’m hoping Strava has implemented the auto-privatization of existing segments so it’s all quite painless.

What Do You Think?

Does this change seem like a good one? What are your thoughts? Share below!

Testing Zwift’s Beta Anti-Sandbagging Controls

Eric Schlange
-
153
Testing Zwift’s Beta Anti-Sandbagging Controls

Testing Zwift’s Beta Anti-Sandbagging Controls

This morning I used my test account to hop into a ZHQ Beta Crit City race as a D rider. Zwift has begun using these races to test their still-beta anti-sandbagging controls, and I wanted to see them in action!

My plan: click around and watch riders until the green cones started flying. See how much the green cone affects their speeds, and see if I can get a green cone myself. Then see what the final results look like after riders have been coned.

Before we begin, I want to make a couple things clear:

  1. Zwift’s anti-sandbagging controls are in early beta. They’re testing the feature in ZHW Beta Races currently, but the feature is being fine-tuned. The final product will certainly be more polished and precise than what we’re currently seeing.
  2. My test account ride was done in such a way as to not interfere with the actual race in any significant way.

Here’s a quick video I cobbled together so you can see portions of the race live:

Starting Up: the Out of Category Alert

I signed up for the event from within the game itself, and when I clicked to join the event the following popup appeared:

This alert is better than nothing. But it’s also far from ideal! This won’t change signup behavior much, if at all, because there’s no way for me to easily join the correct category from this popup. I would have to exit the game and restart, or use the Companion app to change my category signup, in order to make the swap. Nobody will do that. Or at least, almost nobody.

Instead, I should see a popup when I click to sign up, and that popup should drive me toward joining the category I should be in. Something like this (excuse my terrible UI design, it was a quick job):

Some would say that Zwift shouldn’t even allow riders to join a too-low category. I’d be OK with that, but I also understand Zwift’s position of not wanting to be too heavy-handed in this first iteration.

The Green Cone of Shame

Once the race began, everything was “normal” for the first ~4 minutes or so. Then the green cones began to fly! The first cones were given to two riders in the group of three off the front. Perfect! Zwift race sandbagging legend Bath Salts was one of these riders, and I was happy to see him (or her?) coned.

Cones began to pop up in the main peloton behind the leaders as well. Eventually there were probably 10 coned riders in a field of 95 – but it was hard to keep track because the riders were scattered all over the course. Here you can see what the cone looks like – it floats over the rider’s head, and shows up in the rider list as well.

What does the green cone look like from a rider’s perspective? I pushed my one-minute power up to 500 watts and got the cone in short order – here’s what popped up:

The message says “We’ve ratcheted back your power a bit”, but my wattage readout didn’t change at the top-right. My w/kg number in the rider list was hidden, which seems odd to me. Is Zwift actually reducing my power? Or are they just artificially slowing me down? The answer is unclear.

What about Throttling?

My rider definitely slowed after receiving the Green Cone of Shame, but it wasn’t an extreme slowdown. I would estimate it knocked ~5kph off of my speed at 300 watts (4 w/kg). But that’s just a guesstimate.

The riders who were off the front and received the cone were able to stay away from the much larger chasing group, despite being coned and slowed. My conclusion here, based on this one limited test, is that the cone isn’t slowing people down quite enough. They shouldn’t be able to stay off the front, or even hang with the front pack, after getting coned. There needs to be more of a performance penalty.

Race Results

Lastly, I wanted to check the race results screen. Would coned riders not be included in the list? Would they show up as being coned? Unfortunately, neither of those is currently the case. Coned riders show up just like other riders in the rankings (several of the riders in this screenshot were coned, but you can’t tell be looking at it):

An Anomaly

The rider who “won” this particular race (R. Foucault) certainly must have exceeded the triggers for the Green Cone. But he was never coned. Was he running an outdated version of Zwift, or was there some other issue?

Conclusion

Again, I want to stress that this is an early beta of Zwift’s anti-sandbagging features. It feels a bit unfair to even write about the features in their current state, but at the same time, the racing community is wondering what the feature looks like, how it works, and what the current state of implementation is.

I think there’s a lot of promise here – it just needs some fine-tuning. And that’s exactly what beta testing is for! So keep up the good work, HQ. We’re all rooting for you!

Your Thoughts

Have you tried one of the beta races yet? Seen any green cones? Been coned yourself? Share your experience below!

How the Race was Won: Tour of Watopia, Stage 4

Jarrad Bird
-
5
How the Race was Won: Tour of Watopia, Stage 4

How the Race was Won: Tour of Watopia, Stage 4

I joined Zwift in November 2019 after picking up a Wahoo Kickr Core during Black Friday sales. A series of knee surgeries over the last few years have put an end to any team sports or running aspirations I may have had. I have been riding on and off for the last 10 years, but my competitive edge brought me to Zwift racing!

Stage 4 of the Tour of Watopia headed to the dirt of the Jungle Circuit – a part of Watopia I had never actually explored. During the first three stages, I found that the pace was quite high and never really considered racing. I prefer handicapped races like ADHR’s Chop ride, but I really enjoyed the Jungle Circuit ToW group ride and thought it might be a fun but tough race as I felt the course suited my rider phenotype. According to my Zwift Power profile, my strengths are short/uphill sprints… which is just what this circuit has!

My ZwiftPower phenotype chart

Route & Bike Choice

Two days later I headed into my pain cave ready to race. The Stage 4 race consisted of two 8km laps of the Jungle circuit, with a lead-in of 5.6km from the Jungle start pens.

Zwift levelled the playing field when it came to bike and wheel choice for this race, which was appreciated as a relative beginner at level 13, competing in my seventh race.

The Warmup

I’ve always preferred racing in the afternoon or evening – early starts are just not my thing! My usual routine consists of a late lunch at work, then a piece of toast about an hour before jumping on the bike. Nothing fancy, but it works for me.

I chose the Grand Central Circuit in NYC for my warm-up, a 7km 15-minute roll with a decent hill to get my climbing legs ready for the race ahead. Warming up for any longer than this usually results in me blowing up before the end of a race.

The Start

As an avid reader of the “How the race Was Lost” series, I have learned a lot (in theory) about Zwift racing but I’m still learning and slowly improving. Prior to this event, I put in the time to come up with a race strategy, and it felt like I had race director “Coach ZwiftInsider” in my internal race-radio…

The starting pen held a group of 88 riders in today’s C Grade event. I joined the ride about 15 minutes before the starting time to secure a spot in towards the front (thanks Coach). The start was fast as expected, 40 seconds of 280 – 360w with a peak of 400w was enough to form a group of about 25 riders off the front. Goal number one for today’s race achieved – get in the front group.

The Middle

The bunch settled into a fast but manageable pace descending towards the start of the main part of the course. The jungle climb has an average gradient of 2% with a couple of pitches at 4% so the pace was always going to be high enough that drafting would be important. I managed to stay with the first 10 riders until about 500 meters before the suspension bridge. I settled into a rhythm for the rest of the climb and joined the second group for the descent, figuring that the front group probably contained a good number of sandbaggers anyway.

A key strategy for me this race was to conserve as much energy as possible during the two descents to finishing banner. In my reconnaissance ride earlier in the week I was able to save at least 1-2 w/kg compared to other riders by positioning myself in the middle of the group. I recovered as best I could but needed to deploy my aero powerup after getting stuck behind a rider who was struggling to hold on to the wheel ahead. Was this going to hurt me, burning a useful powerup on lap one? Thankfully the powerup gods smiled on me a gifted me a drafting bonus.

The second climb was slightly slower than the first, 6:26 at 280w compared to 6:11 at 297w, mostly due to being in the second mix of riders with everyone on their limit causing several splits. A couple of 400w+ efforts kept me in touch with 3 other riders as we hit the suspension bridge and the lumps before the descent.

The Finish

The pace increased on the second descent to the finish, which made it challenging to hold on and tempting to deploy my draft power-up. But it also brought a group of 10-12 riders together by the bottom. As the road flattened out managing my position was a challenge, trying to maintain good rhythm and power but keeping my nose out of the wind was the aim.

Powerups started flying as soon as we hit the cave with about 1km to go, and then again on the wooden bridge at about 500m to go! But I held back as I kept hearing Coach ZwiftInsider telling me to wait until the last minute – so I did. I waited until 200m to go, just as the slight rise starts to hurt. Coming from the middle of the pack I put the hammer down and tried to catch as many wheels as possible to really maximize my draft. It worked perfectly! Jumping ahead of 8 or 10 riders in our group I finished a few seconds behind the small bunch ahead of us, placing 9th according to Zwift.

I was excited that I was able to execute a race plan well, and while I waited for ZwiftPower results to load, I thought I might have a chance at a top 5 or even podium finish. What I wasn’t expecting was that little gold trophy next to my name as a number of sandbaggers and non-ZP riders were removed. The race was won!

See my activity on Strava
See my ride on Zwift
See race results on ZwiftPower

Takeaways

  • Ride smarter not harder. Conserve energy wherever possible but especially on descents! Mid-race recovery can provide a huge physical and mental boost. The how the race was lost series really got me thinking about the strategic aspects of racing on Zwift, rather than going full gas the whole way and trying to hold on to the end.
  • Know the course, know your strengths. Knowing when to sprint/hold back/chase a wheel can make or break your race. Knowing your rider phenotype can help you find courses or events best suited to your strengths.
  • You don’t have to win to win. The confidence I gained from planning my race well and winning the sprint in my group was just as great as winning the race. Zwift is an amazing platform to improve as a rider both on and off-screen.
A picture containing text, map Description automatically generated
A screenshot of a map Description automatically generated

What About You?

Have you raced in the Jungle lately? How did it go? Share below!

Covid-19 Host Check-In with Kristin Armstrong (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast)

Eric Schlange
-
0
Covid-19 Host Check-In with Kristin Armstrong (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast)

Covid-19 Host Check-In with Kristin Armstrong (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast)

Matt catches up with Kristin to talk about juggling life as a cycling coach, an entrepreneur, a mom and a school teacher! Plus, Matt and Kristin chat about the latest Zwift feature—Clubs!

About the Podcast

The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features training tips from host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson (Coach Hendy) and Kev Poulton (Powerhouse Cycling).

Tony Kanaan: Why Pro Drivers are Turning to Tri (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #25)

Eric Schlange
-
1
Tony Kanaan: Why Pro Drivers are Turning to Tri (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #25)

Tony Kanaan: Why Pro Drivers are Turning to Tri (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #25)

Fast cars and TT bikes are life for Brazilian IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan. We learn why the Indy 500 Champ leans on Zwift to support his racing career – the answer will surprise you.

Plus, how coronavirus is affecting the season, and more insight into the onion that is Jordan Rapp.

About the Podcast:

The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.

Dear pro cyclists: this is why you’re losing Zwift races

Eric Schlange
-
82
Dear pro cyclists: this is why you’re losing Zwift races
Hi Lawson!

Anyone who’s been paying attention to cycling lately knows that riders worldwide are joining Zwift in droves. This mass indoor migration includes pro riders in the upper echelons of the sport on WorldTour teams like Mitchelton-Scott, Bahrain McLaren, Trek-Segafredo, Ineos, Jumbo-Visma, Cofidis, EF Pro Cycling, Israel Start-Up Nation, NTT, and Team INEOS. As a huge cycling fan, it puts a smile on my face whenever I spot one of my favorite pros spinning around Watopia!

While you pros have historically stayed away from Zwift races, we’re seeing you jumping into these competitive events in increasing numbers. This is fun to see! But here’s the weird part: you’re not winning! (Well, not very often at least.)

I’ve been thinking about writing this “letter to the pros” for a while, then a recent race made me decide to pull the trigger. Mathieu Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Fenix team raced the Richmond UCI route against some top community teams in a one-off race titled “Ronde van Zwift”. And even though Alpecin-Fenix brought 18 team riders to the event (the community teams each brought 7), they still neglected to place a single rider in the top 10, with only a couple of riders holding onto the main pack through to the finish!

Watch Lionel Sanders’ view of the race:

This isn’t an edge case, either. Pro teams have historically performed poorly in Zwift races against top community teams. What’s happening here, pros? Why are the world’s top road racers being beaten by amateurs?

Here are the reasons, as I see them. With a few tips along the way.

Insufficient Course Knowledge

You wouldn’t go into an outdoor race without a course recce, and this is also true on Zwift! But when I’ve spoken with pros before races, it’s clear they have very little knowledge of the route they’re about to take on. It’s not a difficult job – most race routes are quite short, the route details are readily available online, and you can hop into Zwift at any time to pre-ride your race route.

When you research your route, start by paying attention to just a few key things:

  • Length and elevation: this is obvious. You need to know how long the race will last, and what sort of profile it has.
  • Climbs: whenever the road turns up, wattage will jump as well. This is where attacks and selections happen.
  • Banner locations: you will need to know the location of any sprint and KOM banners, especially in points races. But even in simple scratch races, the banners are where you get powerups, so knowing their location is an important part of knowing when to use or hold a powerup.
  • Finish: ride the final kilometers several times, because chances are your race will end in a pack finish. You need to know how best to strategically ride the final minutes of your race.

Wimpy Setups

I laugh every time I see a pro rider trying to race on Zwift while squinting at an underpowered laptop screen set on a table off to one side. (I only laugh to keep from crying… it’s a sad situation indeed). The vast majority of top Zwift racers do so with a large monitor or TV so they can clearly see what’s going on.

Worse yet, recently I’ve seen many pros riding outdoors with no fans. My guess is they will only make this mistake once, because pros know that overheating results in reduced power. Unless the winds are high outside, you will need a fan! Outside air doesn’t move enough to dissipate the superheated pocket surrounding your body. And of course, if you’re indoors a fan is even more essential.

Working Too Hard

Mastering the draft on Zwift is not difficult, but it does take a little practice since it doesn’t “feel” anything like drafting IRL. Drafting out on the road is intuitive because when you’re not drafting you feel the wind and the increased effort. Plus, you can steer yourself back to an ideal drafting position whenever you’d like, unless there are teams working some wicked echelons in the crosswinds.

On Zwift, being in the draft saves you 30% or more. But you don’t feel the draft – that is, resistance doesn’t drop when you enter the draft, or increase when you leave it. So you have to pay attention to your location in the pack on screen. Again and again I’ve seen pro riders killing themselves on the front of the pack, only to get shelled off the back on the first climb. (This may be a team tactic, but I doubt it.)

Smart racers on Zwift know to shelter themselves in the pack and conserve energy so they have it when it matters. Yes, at times you may have some domestiques whose only job is to keep the pace high by pinning it at the front of the pack – but pros new to Zwift should probably work on just hanging with the front pack first!

Not Your Typical Road Race

Zwift races are nothing like the 5+ hour road races enjoyed by pros during a typical season. In terms of effort level, Zwift races are most comparable to cyclocross or short TT races. Here are a few key things that characterize most Zwift races:

  • The start will be fast. There are no neutral starts on Zwift! Instead, the peloton will push hard from the gun in order to establish a selection. Be pedaling hard when the clock hits zero.
  • You should never stop pedaling, except perhaps on a steep descent. Doing so will get you spit out the back, never to return.
  • Expect to be riding near threshold for the entire event… except when you have to go harder!
  • If you’re dropped, you won’t return. There are no team cars to help pull you back to the pack, and your teammates dropping back probably won’t help, either. When you get dropped from the front of a Zwift race, chances are you’re not coming back.

Serious Business… for Some

As a top pro accustomed to racing and training outdoors, you may think Zwift racing is a bit silly. And that’s understandable. But here’s what you need to know: the community teams you’re competing against take it very seriously. Not only are they stacked with super-strong athletes, but they’ve also been racing on Zwift 2, 3, 4 times a week… for years!

They know the routes like the back of their hand, and they’ve got big screens, strong fans, and high framerates. If you think you can just pop open your laptop, log into Zwift, and beat these teams – you’re probably in for a rude awakening.

In a typical year, at this point in the season, a pro could be excused for not giving Zwift races any serious thought. But this isn’t a typical year. Zwift racing is (arguably) the only serious indoor platform in town, and cycling is only indoors for the foreseeable future. In an industry where camera time leads to sponsor money and fan engagement is paramount, pro teams would be well-advised to avoid “doing a Cofidis“.

We all want to see you pros competing in Zwift races, but it’s going to take some practice and homework if you want to perform well.

And we hope you do, because it’ll be fun to watch.

See you on course!

Meet the First Woman To Hit 100,000km on Zwift

Monica Schlange
-
14
Meet the First Woman To Hit 100,000km on Zwift

Meet the First Woman To Hit 100,000km on Zwift

If you look around the Zwift Riders Facebook group it won’t take long to find several posts from people announcing their latest accomplishments: FTP increases, long rides completed, Tron bike procurement and so on. But not everyone likes to fly their own flag, so we’re here joining a growing number of Zwifters to fly the flag of a certain lady Zwifter who was going to silently hit a pretty big milestone in a matter of days!

Sharron Yaxley, affectionately known as “The Mink” is about to hit the 100,000km mark on Zwift! The first woman to ever hit it, with only 8 men getting the milestone before her. 

A Little Background

“My first bike!”

Born and raised in Tasmania, the island state of Australia, 57-year-old Sharron was not what you’d call athletic or a cyclist. Between being raised without encouragement to be athletic, her full-time job as an accountant, and raising 4 children all very close in age there wasn’t much time to take care of herself.

Three of her kids all accomplished national level athletic status, and the fourth got himself a PhD. It seems they were well on their way to successful lives when Sharron found more time to take care of her own health. Sharron started road riding but found the climate on her island to be fickle. A friend told her to Google “Zwift” four years ago, and the rest is history!

Zwifting

On a typical day you’ll find Sharron popping out of bed at 4:45am, grabbing a cup of much-needed coffee and heading to Zwift in her garage. She rides her oldest and first touring bike, a BMC GFC01 set up on a Wahoo Kickr until it’s time to get ready for work, usually around 8am. That’s a ~3-hour ride every morning, riding up to 100km every day! 

After work she does a stretching program, except on Wednesdays when she hops back on in the evening to lead the Crikey Down Under ride. This event is a bit of a fun cat-and-mouse sort of ride, be sure to join her on it! Saturdays are her endurance days where she’ll ride around 150-200km, up to 12 hours or more. Because of the circumstances of COVID-19 she’s careful not to deplete her immune system these days, adding that ride-recovery takes longer the older you get.   

Sharron laughingly said that when she first started on Zwift she couldn’t keep up with anyone. Her first event was ZWOZ (out of Western Australia) where she kept getting dropped, after which the ride leader gave her some tips on drafting. She intentionally practiced the tips by jumping into the drafts of groups that would ride by. She got better and was able to hold on in the events longer and longer. 

As Sharron continued on Zwift she has found it a great place to push herself without fear of cars, dogs, intersections, and weather. She mostly prefers riding in Watopia. Her favorite rides are endurance or interval-based. Zwift has also been a great tool for her to train for IRL cycling tours, a new passion of hers. 

“Mountain pass between Italy and Switzerland… had to walk due to snow, then these cows with their bells ringing… awesome.”

IRL Rides

Last year Sharron took a trip where she rode with others across 8 countries in Europe, for a distance of 3300km. She’s also done Lands End to John O’Groats (~1700km), London to Venice (2200km), and Bordeaux to Barcelona, to name a few. 

One of her more epic rides was 1150km she did solo over 10 days. It was a round-trip from Aukland to Cape Reinga, New Zealand. She had mapped it out meticulously, had a tracker beacon and booked accommodations. The night before she left a Kiwi friend sent her a message, “You can’t go that way — too dangerous.” That threw her, but apparently not enough. She still went. On Day 2 Cyclone Hola swept through her mapped-out ride, winds expected at 150 km/h. She had no plan B so pressed on. The winds weren’t as bad as anticipated, but the rain was almost too much. She made it to the end of the route and found that she had far more tenacity and depth of strength than she could have ever guessed. 

“Our bikes ready to roll leaving Mirek’s house north of Prague… enough stuff there for over 5 weeks.”

An Amazing Indoor Feat

A few years ago Sharron competed in a 24-hour team challenge on Zwift, and quit 17 hours in, physically and mentally drained. She was determined to one day do the entire challenge and found the timing was right this last August 19th. It was a day when her husband Tony was going to be away and she’d just finished leading the 100km Mink Centurion (now called Endurance 101). She was feeling fit and strong and thought, “Well, it’s now or never.” 

As she rode, without telling anyone her goal, she found she was almost never alone. She likens it to the scene in Forrest Gump where he runs across America and people just kind of appear and run with him for portions of it. She ended up riding a total of 836km (only 15 of which she guesstimates she rode alone)! 

As she continually added distance people started noticing and would pop on to say hi, or would send her a note of encouragement on Facebook at 3am. It touched her heart. It was at that point that she found such encouragement and support from the TBR Club that she decided she must officially join them! When she finished the 24 hours she cried–both from physical and mental exhaustion, as well as being touched by the generosity of other Zwifters. 

Community on Zwift

Sharron is yet another Zwifter who has found that Zwift isn’t just a great training platform but also a place to find real lifelong friends. She fondly speaks of Miroslav (Mirek) Horak, a Zwifter from the Czech Republic that she loves like a brother. She and Tony have stayed with Mirek and his family and plan to see them again in the coming years. 

Miroslav (Mirek) Horak: “…he is the one who compelled me to have a crack at my first 24 hours… I repaid him by flying over to stay the next year. Then a second visit last year!”

Sharron also mentions a cohort of Zwift friends in New Zealand and the UK, all of whom are on her bucket list to visit in real life.

The Zwift Community is also where Sharron got her nickname “The Mink.” When she first started on Zwift she was a part of the SAS Team. Having given animal nicknames to other Zwifters she nearly ended up being called “The Armadillo.” After googling other options she found the Mink: short, sharp and furry! The name stuck and since then she’s championed IRL minks who are sadly farmed for their fur and eyelashes (she adds: ladies, please do not purchase genuine mink eyelashes!)

A Keto Diet

Some have heard that Sharron is on a keto diet even as an endurance cyclist and there are a few outspoken ones who give her grief over it. Sharron has found that while it doesn’t work for everyone it works for her. She has severe knee issues that came on after a grass skiing accident years ago. More recently she was told she wouldn’t be able to ride more than 5km at a time due to her knee issues. She works really hard to keep inflammation down and a keto diet is one way of doing that. Her 100,000km on Zwift is pretty great proof of that! 

As an example of her way of fueling, on her 24-hour ride she had: veggie soup, cheese and feta muffins, fat bombs, plenty of cheese, and a whole meal with Atlantic salmon and veggies. Her favorite meal on that ride was the soup as it was easy to digest and perfect for a warm middle of the night meal. 

Hitting the 100,000km mark

If you want to follow Sharron as she hits 100,000km follow her on Zwift, or check out the Facebook page set up in her honor: Mink Hits 100,000km. 

She has graciously allowed us to follow this journey and plans to hit her mark on Friday, April 10 around 3:30pm AEST. A special Zwift event has been set up so we can all join Sharron as she hits this milestone!

Ride On, Sharron! As we know you will!

First Look: Zwift’s Anti-Sandbagging Plans

Simon Schofield
-
273
First Look: Zwift’s Anti-Sandbagging Plans

Whether by accident or design, Zwifters who “sandbag” in races cause the community a whole heap of angst. And whilst complaint posts about Zwifters racing in categories below their abilities have been a constant low hum since beta, the influx of new riders has seen a fresh peak in these kind of grouses.

Now, not before time according to some, we are going to see HQ act. Starting soon, there will be a four-pronged approach to persuading Zwifters to enter the race category, (A, B, C or D) which best matches their power in w/kg.

The initiative, revealed by senior game team member Jordan Rapp on Episode 81 of the Zwiftcast, will be rolled out gradually and will start with selected events.

A Bit of Backstory

It is important to note that not all sandbaggers are trying to cheat their fellow Zwifters in races. Many will enter the “wrong” category because they’re not clear on the detail of each category; because their set-ups are less than perfect or maybe even because English is not their first language.

But it’s also a reasonable assumption that, regrettably, some Zwifters get a kick out of “winning” a race unfairly.

In February Zwift CEO Eric Min, suggested that “ghosting” riders was the solution. This would have seen riders who exceeded some kind of power trigger point vanish and become invisible, although they would have finished the race.

Now that approach has changed.

The Trigger Point

Jordan is still going to devise a trigger point that will prompt action. It will be a secret blend of both 1-minute and 5-minute power. Each of the B, C, and D categories will obviously have a different trigger point. Zwift holds this data on each racer and that’s what will be used a source.

The trigger point will be biased more toward 5-minute power as Jordan explains: ”5-minute power is a really good proxy for FTP. It’s pretty clear from 5-minute power the difference between an A or a B or a C and a D.” And the trigger point will stay secret so that racers don’t manipulate their performances to remain in a lower category. “People staying nought point zero zero one under the limit is not really what it’s meant for.”

When riders select a race category at signup, their 1-minute and 5-minute power will be used to decide if Zwift pops up a warning indicating that they risk being flagged. At least initially, Zwift will not prevent the actual signup. But they will present a warning.

If the trigger is hit during the race three things will happen:

  1. The Zwifter will get a new green “cone of shame”.
  2. They’ll be given a message suggesting they move up a category, indicated by an arrow.
  3. The racer’s power will be throttled, slowing them down but not bringing them to a standstill. As Jordan says: ”If you want to race in the Ds, that’s fine, we’ll just make you a D racer.”

Racers will, however, stay in the race and they will remain in the results.

Keeping It Light

The trigger points will remain under constant review and Jordan expects them to change as he gets feedback from the racing community – feedback he really wants to hear.

The approach is described as “light touch” with Jordan adding: ”I don’t want to whack these people with a huge hammer for something that might have been truly accidental.”

The rollout will be gradual, starting with selected events and even Jordan is not certain exactly when it will begin. The code has already been included in the game. The betting is that rollout will start once HQ has got ahead of dealing with the increased workload of the huge influx of new Zwifters and once all events have been synchronised as time-zones have changed across the
world.

Will It Work?

I think this stands a chance of working well. Nobody likes getting slowed down and this makes the power throttling a powerful tool. Combined with an element of mild public approbation with a new green cone of shame, Zwifters racing in the “wrong” category will not be left in any doubt.

You can hear the full interview with Jordan in Episode 81 of the Zwiftcast.

Your Thoughts

What do you think of HQ’s plans to reduce sandbagging in races? Share below!

Episode 81: Is this the Solution to Sandbagging? Plus all the Zwifty chat

Simon Schofield
-
4
Episode 81: Is this the Solution to Sandbagging? Plus all the Zwifty chat

Episode 81: Is this the Solution to Sandbagging? Plus all the Zwifty chat

Another week – another Zwiftcast. Simon, Shane, and Nathan unite to discuss the boom times on Zwift as the platform provides welcome relief from the burden of the virus.

The headline feature on this episode is the long-awaited Solution to Sandbagging. This is a short term fix which Zwift hopes to implement within days (for testing) and weeks (for a full roll-out).

The approach sees four types of warnings/sanctions applied to Sandbaggers… listen to a full explanation of the system from senior game guy Jordan Rapp.

The Zwiftcasters move on to discuss the measures Zwift is putting in place to prioritise the stability of the platform as truly enormous numbers flood the events as Zwifters look for a challenge to distract them from the concerns caused by the pandemic.

One of the biggest rides has been with Mark Cavendish – and Simon talks to a Zwifter who got picked out of 3,500 riders for a live Insta chat with the Manx Missile himself.

Later the podcasters speculate about the cryptic clues on a new feature outlined in the latest update and wonder whether some interesting development work on enhanced PowerUps described by Jordan may offer further hints.

Simon also gets behind the story of one particular Event on the Zwift schedule. The Bike Breaks Shop Ride is an IRL institution. Now transferred to Zwift, this ride is proving a source of much needed comfort and support for a bike business which has been hammered by the travel ban across Europe.

And finally, the Zwiftcasters talk about the implications of other platforms muscling into the online eSports arena and whether they’re making a good job of it.

We hope you enjoy listening.

Creating a Zoom Zwift Meetup

Jonathan Brostoff
-
18
Creating a Zoom Zwift Meetup

Creating a Zoom Zwift Meetup

For many of us in these crazy times, Zwift is our only cycling option and video chatting is our only social connection to the outside world.  So our local weekend warrior cycling group decided to combine the two using the Zwift Meetup function and Zoom meetings! While not perfect, these “Zoom Meetups” are easy to set up and a fun new Zwift experience that has tremendous potential.

Creating a Zwift Meetup

Creating a Zwift Meetup is easy.  Using the Zwift Companion app, click the EVENTS tab on the bottom, then the “People” icon near the top and then the CREATE MEETUP button near the top.  Enter the time you want to meet, the course and route you want to go, the distance or duration of the ride, whether you want to “keep everyone together” and an optional message.  Finally, invite people who follow you on Zwift to join the Meetup. 

Shane Miller has a great video that goes into a lot more depth:

Despite its simplicity, there are a few things to know about creating a Zwift Meetup.  First, you can only invite people who follow you so you’ll likely have to notify some people to follow you and then wait for them to do so.  Second, while you can select the distance of the Meetup, you can’t select the number of laps so your ride may not end at the precise finish of a route.

Creating a Zoom Meeting

Creating a Zoom meeting is also straight forward.  Download the Zoom app to your computer/phone/tablet, sign up, click the Schedule button then enter your meeting details. Once scheduled, click the Copy Invitation button and send the invitation to whoever you want to attend the Meeting. It’s that easy.

Keep in mind, for meetings of more than two people, Zoom is only free for up to 40 minutes. If your Zwift Meetup is longer than that and has more than two participants you may need to upgrade to the $15/month Zoom Pro plan. 

Organizer Responsibilities

As the Zwift Meetup and Zoom Meeting Organizer, make sure you are familiar with both platforms, that all of your hardware is working correctly and you have time to field myriad questions from your invitees. For your first Zoom Meetup, I suggest doing a dry run the day before. For all rides, be ready at least 20 minutes before the start time.  Remember, people are counting on you to make this happen so be prepared.

It’s important for Organizers to email/text invitees a couple of times before the Meetup. 

The first group email/text should:

  • Let people know that they’ve been invited to a Zwift Meetup
  • Ask them to respond to the Zwift Meetup invitation
  • Provide them with a summary of the ride details
  • Instruct them to download the Zoom app onto their device of choice
  • Include the Zoom invitation

The second email/text should contain more details such as:

  • Get on Zoom and Zwift at least 15 minutes before event time
  • If possible, wear an open-ear headphone with a mic for better audio quality
  • Ride close to the yellow beacon
  • Click the JOIN MEETUP button while riding in Zwift. It will appear 5-15 minutes before the Meetup starts.
  • Grab <fill in the blank> jersey from your Garage before the ride starts

Your First Zoom Meetup

Despite your best efforts, your first Zoom Meetup may not go according to plan.

About 15 minutes before the Meetup start time, things may get a bit frenzied. Once people join the Zoom Meeting there may be cross conversations, cut off heads, inaudible audio, annoying noises, technical issues and lots of questions. Be ready.

Once the ride begins, you may get a little disoriented and lose track of some group members… especially if there are a lot of other Zwifters on the road and your group is wearing different jerseys.  Although riders in your group appear in green on the nearby riders list, it still may be hard to keep track of everyone since some may be too far ahead or behind to appear on the list.  While this is going on, your Zoom chat may devolve into a cacophony of “Where are you?”  But don’t worry… things will calm down, the group will eventually find each other, everyone will have a good time and your next Zoom Meetup will be even better. 

Now you can avoid this chaos altogether by creating a Zwift Meetup using the “keep everyone together” option.  This feature keeps the group together regardless of the different power outputs of the riders.  Although this feature works great for group workouts where everyone is doing the same workout but at their own power levels, it has its drawbacks for group rides.  Keeping people together eliminates group sprints, KOMs and mini-races and may demotivate some since you don’t need to work hard to keep up.  That said, if your group is looking for a more social ride and chat, the “keep everyone together” option works well. 

Final Thoughts

Ideally, I’d like Zwift Meetups to have similar functionality to Zwift group rides such as options to select any map/route, hide other riders, and wear group jerseys as well as the ability to message the group, late join a ride and even enable the fence.  In the future, maybe Zwift can even incorporate group video chats right into the game like Trainer Road just did with their group workouts.   

But that said, there is a lot that can be done with Zoom Meetups such as indoor rides with friends, trainer-hosted live workouts, birthday rides and much more.  Perhaps some of this functionality will eventually be replaced by the new Clubs feature but for now, Meetups are the only game in town.

In summary, Zoom Meetups give us a new Zwifting experience… and that’s a good thing.  They are fun, interactive and about as social as any of us will get these days.

If you’d like to see what a Zoom Meetup looks like, check out our ride at:

1...367368369...526Page 368 of 526