Episode 52 of Zwiftcast has been released, from day 2 at Eurobike 2018. Here’s the full episode description:
Simon and Shane mop up the things they couldn’t squeeze into yesterday’s coverage – including a “no contact” trainer that works by magnets; what the Zwiftcasters think about delivery timelines for all the new stuff unveiled on Day One; the antiperspirant for your bike (sort of) and a few other oddities and curiosities that caught their eye.
Episode 51 of Zwiftcast has been released, from Eurobike 2018. Here’s the full episode description:
In a slightly challenging environment (Eurobike is loud) Simon and Shane wander the halls, checking out as much as they can which will interest Zwifters. Ranging from a designer Smart Bike aimed at “people who own yachts” to the new and almost ready to ship Tacx Smart Bike, via new products from Wahoo and Elite, there’s plenty to chat about.
Editor’s note: Ian Murray is using Zwift to train for the International Triathlon Union Long Course World Championships held in Odense/Fyn, Denmark July 2018. His weekly Zwift Insider series discusses the previous week’s training and the plan for the upcoming week.
Finally back in the DC area, it was time to get in a little more training and a little more settled in to the new place. Oh, I also had to find new running and biking routes and a place to swim. So, yeah, it’s been another challenging week, but my legs are starting to come around after two big weeks of running.
After five weeks of upheaval and limited pool time, I really needed to get back in the water. Of the three disciplines, it is my worst by far. Fortunately, I finally had access to a pool with regular hours. Monday morning, I set out on a short run, but I just had nothing. My feet hurt from my shoes being completely worn out and two weeks of higher-than-normal mileage. I chalked it up to fatigue and the crappy shoes an headed out to the pool later in the afternoon after stopping in at work for a few minutes. I’m not sure if people are aware of this, but it is way hotter in the Washington, DC, area than in Quebec, Canada, in late June. I had to cut my swim a bit short because I started getting a bit sunburned. I actually felt pretty good during the swim, but my shoulders and back let me know that it was time to stop.
On Tuesday, our first shipment from the Dominican Republic arrived, so I had to wait until later in the day to get in my first ride in two weeks. I had gotten some advice about going up and down one of the roads near my house, having been told that “it wasn’t too busy.” Yeah, that was not true. Well, it was partially true. There was not a ton of traffic, but there were a bunch of traffic lights. I ended up getting onto one of the many trails in the area after the second lap of the road. I wasn’t able to hold the efforts for the prescribed time due to traffic on the trail, but I did knock the rust off and had some pretty hard but short efforts. Wednesday was another busy day, as I had to take a French proficiency test to prove that I actually learned something in Quebec. Apparently, treating immersion training like your personal vacation is frowned upon by work, so the pressure was on for some good results. I led off the morning with a quick pool workout, doing the 2700-yard Pace to Fatigue workout. Basically, that workout entails turning 200s on a five to ten seconds per 100 faster pace than what I plan to hold during the race on 25 seconds rest. Surprisingly, I did not fatigue, and I made it through the workout, hitting all of the times right on. After a quick shower and breakfast in the car, I rolled over to the testing center to take the test. I sat down with the goal of finishing it in about five hours and at least hitting the same score as I had two years ago. Boom! I passed the audio comprehension portion and scored a maximum on level on reading comprehension.Â
Thursday morning was another swim followed by a good bit of administrative stuff at work. Unfortunately, I arrived at the pool about five minutes later than the previous morning, and all of the lanes were full. I had to wait around for a little bit, so my swim got cut short after finally getting in the water. I knocked out a quick 2000 yards and went through the same routine as the day before, scarfing down eggs in the car and grabbing a so-so coffee from the shop by the pool. My paperwork only took a few hours, so I rushed home for a rendezvous with my bike and a trip towards Mt. Vernon on the trail for the workout. I nearly killed a few tourists on the Mt. Vernon trail, as they didn’t really get the concept of staying to the right when going around corners. Fortunately, there were no accidents, and I didn’t need to beat someone to death for crashing my bike, as it is the only one I have in my possession right now. It wasn’t a great workout, as the trail is not the best for doing VO2 intervals, but I got a little more distance in than on the previous ride. Friday morning, the wife and I headed back over to the pool, where I got back to business. I love the 3 x 1K workout. It is mentally tough and can be physically draining if you don’t pace it correctly. Sure, this one was in SCY and not SCM like I had been doing in Santo Domingo, but it worked. The previous days in the pool paid off. I did the first 1000 in 15:26 and the second in 14:59. At that point, I decided to up the ante and do a set of 10 x 100 to round out the 3 x 1000. I managed to hit all of the 100s in under 1:25 on 15 seconds rest. I wasn’t hammering to hit those times, so I was pretty stoked. By that afternoon, the new shoes had arrived, so I set out for a quick 8-mile run…in the heat. I really need to remember that DC is way hotter than Quebec. I was completely cooked when I got home. Sooooo hot. It was time to get hydrated and ready for the next day’s long ride.
On Saturday, I planned to ride 120K. I didn’t plan on going hard. I just wanted some time in the saddle, and I wanted to work on my nutrition a little bit. I didn’t get out the door until a little after 8 AM, and I started sweating immediately. Holy cow! By the time I hit the 37.5-mile point to turn around, I already had gone through three bottles of water. At mile 41, I stopped at a cool BBQ joint called Carolina’s BBQ right on the W&OD trail outside of Reston, VA, and filled up my water, trying to cool down a little bit. The remaining 35 miles was an exercise in heat management. It was not all that bad when I was moving at speed. However, the closer I got to Alexandria, the more stoplights I encountered, all of them being red. The constant stopping and starting, along with being roasted by the sun, took its toll. I ended up stopping for water one more time with about 13 miles to go, dumping a couple of bottles over my head for some minimal relief. Right about that time, I noticed that I was getting a bit hungry and scarfed down my last gel. That satiated me for all of about 15 minutes. With 2 miles to go, I was totally bonked. Looking back on it (aka examining my pee color afterward), I think I was more dehydrated than hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast that morning, though, so it was probably a combination of the two converging factors. Anyway, I made it home safely, and headed straight to the shower to cool off. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, relaxing in my Air Relax boots and watching movies with the wife. We caught a great one, actually. Now, I’m not one to watch artsy films, but the one we watched on Saturday night was a great exception. I highly recommend CHiPs if you haven’t seen it. We laughed quite a lot. Wait, that’s not an art film?
Overall, it was a good week. It started out a bit rough, but the body has really started to come around. Next week begins the taper period, so training is done. Now it is about maintaining my sanity.
Planned TSS – 712; Completed TSS – 667
Next week is taper week and the start of our travels to Denmark. Like this week, it will be a heavy bike and swim focus before packing up and heading to Tampa for a couple of days. Over that weekend, I plan on getting in a couple runs before getting on the plane to head across the pond.
Planned TSS – 584
It’s been a long journey together, and we’re just about to wrap it up. I plan to get up some posts from Denmark up more frequently than only at the end of the week. It looks like I will receive the shipment with my Zwift setup after I return, so I’ll be back rolling around Watopia with you in August. Until then, I’ll keep sharing the experience from the road. That’s all for now. Ride On!
After 40 days of GDPR-induced shutdown, ZwiftPower is back online and processing Zwift race results.
Zwift added data sharing opt-ins to account profile settings approximately 10 days ago, and Zwifters must choose to share their data with ZwiftPower in order for their race results to appear in the final listings on ZwiftPower.
My hope is that Zwift will soon allow race organizers to restrict participation to those riders who have opted in to share their data, so racers can know those they ride against are those they will be ranked against. But for now, I’m just happy we’ve got ZwiftPower back!
A big chapeau is due to James Hodges and the rest of the team behind ZwiftPower for moving quickly to implement the changes needed to get the site up with Zwift’s revamped API. Nice work, team–we appreciate you!
In Episode 11 of the Zwift Coaching Podcast the coaches talk with Mitchelton–Scott’s Mat Hayman and Team Sky’s Luke Rowe about training secrets and threshold workouts on Zwift. Plus, cycling lingo is explained and a quickfire round of fan questions are answered regarding training during recovery.
Tune in to find out about:
Download Mat Hayman’s Cruise Intervals Session
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).
This week Nathan and Karissa dig into the following:
Zwift Community Live’s Weekly Wind Up features hosts Nathan Guerra and Karissa Minn discussing the week’s happenings on Zwift. Find Zwift Community Live at ZwiftCommunityLive.com, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.
Edit: Zwift official came out of beta on Android in mid-May 2019. Read more about it >
Big news for Zwifters today as Zwift Beta for Android is now available. While not nearly as polished as Zwift for iOS, it is a very functional beta version which will surely be improved over time as beta users test and send feedback to Zwift support.
With this announcement Zwift takes a big step towards making it that much easier to start riding and running indoors. Availability on the Android platform means a dramatic increase in the number of people who can have Zwift at their fingertips using a device they already own.
Speaking of devices: it is not yet clear which Android devices are capable of running Zwift. The app description simple says “… we will only be supporting devices with higher-end graphics processors.” My guess is that, like running Zwift on a PC, users may need to simply install and test to see how good the experience is on their specific phone or tablet.
Here are more details from the Google Play listing:
Thank you for trying Zwift Beta for Android. Zwift has a fairly high requirement for our world full of Zwifters to run smoothly, so we will only be supporting devices with higher-end graphics processors. Since Android devices exist across a broad spectrum of performance, we need your help testing against your devices. Simply giving it a try will allow us to monitor how the software performs, and if you have additional feedback please email [email protected].
One last thing – we do know of several major outstanding issues, and we’re actively working to resolve them. They include:
SUPPORTED BLUETOOTH HARDWARE:
SUPPORTED BICYCLE TRAINERS:
SUPPORTED TREADMILLS AND FOOTPODS FOR RUNNING:
Signups are now open for Zwift Academy 2018, the third year of Zwift’s groundbreaking talent ID program. This year promises to be the biggest yet with more incentives than ever before. Here are the details…
For those unfamiliar with Zwift Academy, it began in 2016 with a women’s-only version. The idea was groundbreaking yet simple: sign up for free and complete a series of designated Zwift rides to qualify as a finalist. Finalists were then taken to a real-world CANYON//SRAM team training camp, where one rider was selected for a 1-year contract with the team.
American Leah Thorvilson won that first Zwift Academy, and is now in her second year of world-tour racing with CANYON//SRAM.
German Tanja Erath won the 2017 Women’s Zwift Academy, so she rode this year with CANYON//SRAM. 2017 also saw the unveiling of the first-ever Men’s Zwift Academy, with Kiwi winner Ollie Jones being signed to Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s Continental U23 Team.
In 2018 Zwift rolled out Zwift Academy Tri, a sponsored team of Zwifters targetting personal bests and achievements at Kona in October 2018.
Ollie Jones had this to say about last year’s Academy experience:
“The Zwift Academy really brings the community together, sharing their experiences. During the Academy last year, I was in the Facebook groups a lot and it was great to see the interaction between people there. Obviously, I was in it to win, but for many it’s a great way to share an experience and improve overall fitness. It’s a great challenge for people of all abilities.”
Zwift Academy 2018 begins on August 6th. To graduate from the Academy you must complete a series of 10 workouts, 4 group rides and 2 races.
20 semi finalists (10 women, 10 men) will be unveiled in early October, and those semi finalists will eventually be whittled down to a women’s and men’s winner who will each be offered a 1-year contract (to CANYON//SRAM and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka’s Continental U23 Team, respectively).
Registration is free and includes some new perks for 2018. First, all riders will be offered free premium access to Today’s Plan for the duration of the Zwift Academy. The Academy will offer a series of four unlocks (themed virtual swag), encouraging Zwifters to finish as much of the Academy as possible on their way to graduation. Unlocks come after completing each quarter of the series with both in game and real life rewards up for grabs.
This year a new feature on the Zwift Academy site will allow participants to see how they stack up against others in their age group, as well as the overall competition.
Lastly, as an extra incentive for men to complete the program, Zwift will be donating one Qhubeka bike for every 10 graduates of the Men’s Zwift Academy to support the Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka cause. Last year 850 bikes were donated through this program.
Easy! Just visit https://www.zwift.com/academy, choose the women’s or men’s academy, and sign up!
Editor’s note: Jordan Cheyne’s “The Open Pro” series details his experiences with high-level Zwift training as a rider in the pro Continental ranks. You can read his past posts here.
I somehow snuck my way into the Tour de Beauce as a novice in 2012 and was absolutely decimated by the grueling courses and world-class competition.  The DNF beside my name after 4 stages should have been written in red ink and bold face type–I was nowhere close. Over the next 5 editions though, I gradually raised my level and the results always showed in Beauce. I managed a couple top 15 stage results in 2014, a podium in the time trial in 2015 and 12th overall and finally a breakthrough 3rd place overall in 2017. I was highly motivated to take another step up this time around as I raced on the Canadian national team for the event.
Our national team roster was loaded with talent and experience. Joining me were 3 up and coming U23 talents, multi-time national champion Ben Perry, my climbing-ace teammate James Piccoli, and legendary WorldTour veteran Svein Tuft as a sort of team captain.
I had a great showing on stage 1 of the race, bridging to the day’s break with 30km remaining and eventually storming all the way to the 1km to go banner before being absorbed by the peloton. Anything can happen in Beauce and it is always worth rolling the dice if you have the legs. I was feeling as strong as I ever have and ready for a big showdown on Stage 2’s mountaintop finish on Mt. Megantic.
Then it was time for Beauce to bring me back to earth. A forecast of periodic showers turned into a 4-hour frigid downpour. I made a critical mistake in getting so hyper-focused on the race to the mountain that I eschewed an extra warm rain jacket and ignored the shivers and hypothermia that gradually worsened through the race. James and I both suffered flat tires and broken wheels riding through the pothole-riddled roads. By the time the climb started I think we were both empty and lost over 2 minutes to the leaders, our GC hopes deflating as quickly as our tubulars had.
I felt the hangover of Stage 2’s suffering in the next day’s time trial and pedaled to a mediocre time in the top 20. James and I would enter the weekend outside the top 10 overall and a seemingly insurmountable 3 plus minutes behind the yellow jersey that had been within reach just 24 hours before. I fought hard to stay positive and believe in my ability to do something special in the final 2 stages.
“Chaos. Breakaway. Win”. That was our team director Kevin Field’s highly condensed team plan for the weekend’s races. We had 4 strong, experienced riders to attack the race and the plan was to use them early and often to try to tip the race in our favor for a stage win and maybe a quiet move up the GC standings. As we tore through Quebec City’s historic streets with 5 laps to go in the 35 lap criterium, we had the first two boxes checked. We had repeatedly attacked the race and ended up with Ben, James and myself in a breakaway of 8 and a healthy gap on the field. It was time to use our numbers to check the third item on the team plan.
I attacked as hard as I could through the start/finish with 5 laps to go and didn’t stop until every member of the breakaway clawed their way onto my wheel. James immediately countered and for a moment you could only hear the clicking of freewheels and heavy breathing… no one countered. The gap opened and James was away solo. Ben and I covered last-ditch attacks and watched our teammate ride away. James took a huge win in front of friends and family and shattered the malaise of the previous stages. What we didn’t know was that this stage victory was about to become a footnote in the story of the  2018 Tour de Beauce.
The final stage city circuit of Beauce is one of the most demanding courses in North America. The constant climbing, descending and 18 corners per 10 km lap have determined the winner of the overall in something like 8 of the last 10 editions of the race. I was the final finisher over 10 minutes down when I first finished the St. Georges circuit in 2014. I had the virtual yellow jersey there in 2017 and watched it slip away in the final 2 laps. There were a lot of demons I wanted to vanquish this time around.
“Chaos-Breakaway-Win”. This time James and I fulfilled the first two elements almost immediately as we tore away in a group of 8 on the first lap. Thanks to his win in Stage 4, James was now only around 75 seconds off yellow and best placed in the move. He was also the only rider with a teammate and I dutifully started swapping 400w+ turns with him to stretch the gap. That’s the way it was for 100 more kilometers. Our gap waxed and waned, the peloton shattering under collective infighting and our breakaway companions gradually became passengers one by one. For the first time, when I heard a time gap of over 2 minutes with 2 laps to go I left the focus of the moment and began to dream ahead down the road. Moments later I was snapped back to reality and the pavement rushed up to meet me as I overcooked a tricky right-left chicane.
I didn’t feel panic or pain, only guilt that I had left James to do the job alone. I got up as quickly as I could and tore off in pursuit, hoping to regain contact and help finish the job. I clamored back just in time to do a couple more full-out pulls and struggle my way home as the breakaway attacked itself.
There was an exhausted but emotionally charged silence as James and I waited for the peloton to sprint in. I started to get a good feeling but no confirmation of time gaps. The anticipation continued as our teammates joined us in a sweaty huddle on a random St George’s lawn. We did hopeful mental math and waited. A few minutes felt like forever but finally director Kevin ran towards us and bellowed ”We won everything!!!”
It was true. James in Yellow, King of the Mountains, Team Classification and three in the top 10 overall. I have never been so happy with a bike race. I ended up 9th overall and 5th on the stage but the victory felt as momentous as anything I had ever won myself. The pictures from the finish say it all. We went for it. We finally beat Beauce. We won.
Editor’s note: Jordan Cheyne’s “The Open Pro” series details his experiences with high-level Zwift training as a rider in the pro Continental ranks. You can read his past posts here.
June has always been a big month for me in terms of racing. As a Canadian growing up on the heavily wintered east coast, June was usually the first time my fitness started to click into gear for the season. In my early seasons the June focus was coveted National Championships. As I progressed in the sport the Tour de Beauce was added to the month’s big goals as I began to test my mettle against North America’s best riders at the iconic Quebec stage race.
This year, however, featured another unusual addition as I found myself on the Elevate-KHS roster for the National Criterium Calendar’s Armed Forces Cycling Classic in Washington, DC, featuring a pair of the year’s most hard-fought crit races. The combination of these events made for a heavy and diverse slate of racing that would turn out to be the most successful 2-week period in my cycling career.
The trip didn’t start successfully; it started with a swift kick in the gut. About 70km and 350 turns into the 100km Claredon Cup criterium, I was questioning every bit of progress I thought I had made in the sport. I felt like a junior again, getting stretched and snapped in the cruel elastic of the peloton around every corner. The unrelenting sharp turns of the course meant that anyone outside the top 5 positions would be closing gaps multiple times a lap. And so it was, after some early attacking I would spend the next 90 minutes fighting for those top positions, mostly losing and then punching over 700w dozens and dozens of times to stay in the train. The day ended with a whimper, we missed the winning move and our sprinter Cory Williams was understandably exhausted when it came to the sprint for minor placings.
The next day at the Crystal Cup, I rolled to the start line with few expectations and sore legs. As soon as we rolled off though, I could feel that this was going to be a better day for the team and myself. The course was longer, less technical and more strength-based while the total distance was about a third shorter. After a chaotic 80 minutes of racing, the race was still wide open as a breakaway dangled tenuously off the front and the lap counter ticked down to 5 to go. I sensed a lull in the peloton as tired legs, frustration and a pinch of apathy meant no one wanted control of the race. With Cory looking good, I decided to take our small crew of 4 to the front and ride like we wanted to win.
And it worked. Eder, George and I rotated, gradually picking up speed and trusting each other to hold the pace and reel in the attackers. With a lap to go we had Cory in 4th wheel, the break in sight and I pulled off the front for the final time. Game on. As I gasped for air and parachuted through the field I also craned my neck to see the final battle for the win. I thought I saw a pair of electric blue gloves punch the air at the finish but I wasn’t sure. And then I heard it: “Cory Williams Wins for Elevate-KHS!!” We did it, just like that–almost out of nowhere. I rode a pleasant buzz of elation and satisfaction as I scrambled to the airport to make my flight to Beauce.
Coming up soon… watch for part 2 of this article all about racing Tour de Beauce.
