On this episode Chris interviews Adam Zimmerman and Claudia Behring to discuss their recent wins at the first-ever Zwift US Nats.
The Echelon Podcast is co-hosted by Adam Zimmerman and Chris Smith. As they describe it, “We are amateur cyclists who cover everything in the world of cycling.” Find them on Soundcloud or iTunes.
Zwift running is currently free, and if you own an Apple Watch plus an iPhone and treadmill you are good to go! Perfect for use in the gym or when travelling.
Zwift have enabled the Apple watch as a device to pick up running speed and Heart Rate. It’s really simple to do.
Firstly install the Zwift app on your iPhone. For this example we installed this onto the iPhone that is paired to the Apple Watch. If you wanted to run on an iPad or other BLE device you’d need to install the Zwift Companion on the iPhone that is paired to the Apple Watch.
Note if you have a Mac or PC that has an ANT+ adapter you will need some sort of bridge, as detailed in this article.
I set this up for my wife to check it worked for “free” as a brand new user. She chose to be a runner, which took us straight to the run pairing screen.
So we simply chose the Apple Watch as both Run Speed and Heart rate. Sadly at this point they’ve not enabled the Apple watch for cadence.
After setting up some body measurements she was ready to run, interesting to note she unlocked a Rapha running kit without even moving.
After that she simply started running and it worked fine!
Stay tuned for further articles on both the Stryd and Garmin running pods, and then a comparison of accuracy between all three.
This weekend is CVR’s “The Major: Winter 2018” World Cup finals at StubHub Velo Sports Center in Los Angeles. Past CVR World Cups were held in Paris, London, and Las Vegas, but this weekend’s event promises to be the biggest yet, with over $100,000 in cash and prizes on the line.
Here’s everything you need to know about this weekend’s racing:
40 racers will be in attendance: 20 women and 20 men. 10 racers of each gender punched their ticket to LA in the Elite Bracket by either:
8 additional racers of each gender will be in LA as the Performance Bracket, and they were chosen based on their participation in the CVR training program. 2 additional Performance racers were chosen based on special invite.
Riders will be weighed-in and racing on equal equipment. All riders will be on CycleOps Hammer trainers calibrated by Saris engineers and double-authenticated via PowerTap power meter comparison to trainer.
You may watch the racing via livestream online, or attend the event (tickets are free).
There will be two days of racing, with heats on Saturday (March 24) and a final Sunday (March 25) in the form of a mini-stage race.
Saturday’s races are heats to determine who will race in the “Elite” and “Performance” Brackets for Sunday. All races on Saturday will be three laps of the Watopia Hilly Forward route.
Sunday’s racing takes the form of a “mini stage race” with riders competing on the following courses:
Racers will be given points based on their finishing position in each stage, and the racer with the most points after three stages wins.
Race schedule:
A growing prize purse of over $100,000 will be split among the participants.
More more information, visit cvrworldcup.com or download this weekend’s race bible.
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.
Sometimes my life as a professional cyclist can feel a bit surreal in depths of winter. Not surreal in a “pinch-me” sort of way but more in the “this could all be a very boring Groundhog Day dream” sort of way. I wake up, eat, stretch, pull on my bibs, log on to Zwift, crank out the day’s requisite pedal strokes, eat, do a bit of coaching work, eat and sleep. That’s not the condensed trailer of my day, that is the whole movie. Many days I venture out into Big White’s snow-covered expanses on snowshoes for some extra aerobic training, but just as many I don’t feel the brisk outdoor air at all. I exist in my domestic bubble in a cycle of stimulus and recovery on top of a mountain with only my wife and a well used PS3 for company.
For the most part, that’s how I want it. It is insulated, productive and actually a welcome dose of stability in the tumultuous schedule of a professional cyclist. When we made our trip to Tucson for a big block of outdoor training, I kept much the same schedule. I perform well and have loads of fun in the team environment during race season but I think that is only possible because I bank some serious introvert time in my off-season.
But then, after a few dedicated months of solitude and hard work, that surreal feeling creeps in. I start to wonder what the heck I am doing. With intense internal focus, the bigger picture of the race season can become a little blurry and goals feel farther away than they are in reality. It can throw off preparation as motivation dulls when workouts should be getting sharper. I started to feel this coming on in the first weeks of February even as I began to hit my stride fitness-wise on Zwift’s new Surrey Hills courses. But then just as the mental screws began to loosen, everything tightened up into sharp focus and the 2018 season suddenly came into clear view. It was time for Elevate-KHS team camp in the sunbathed hills outside San Diego.
Although I am a bit used to it by now, professional cycling team camps are always a pleasant sensory overload: new teammates, shiny new equipment, stacks of fresh team kit and finally, a good excuse to ride fast. Looking at some power files it is easy to see the difference between my steady, solo training on Zwift and the variable, drill-based riding that we did at camp.
The type of training we did throughout our week at camp was thoroughly planned and may surprise the average rider. It wasn’t constant pedal to the metal slugfests, nor was it hours of sedated base miles. Rather, there was a big focus on cohesive work as a group, well-calibrated sprint lead-outs and race simulation both uphill and on flatter terrain. It was about specific, fitness-sharpening efforts but also about perfecting the fundamentals as a team so that no opportunity is wasted in a race due to technical miscues. Our team is brimming with sprint talent and proven GC threats, so practicing a dominant sprint train or a smooth breakaway chase isn’t a pipedream, it is a dress rehearsal.
This kind of positive, process-oriented thinking and planning is a big theme at Elevate-KHS and it was reinforced at camp daily. The season began to feel real in a hurry as we broke down race footage in nightly meetings. What might have been vague expectations and abstract pressure on other teams was laid out in concrete goals and clear game plans. While Zwift racing has its tactical nuances, it requires a small fraction of the team coordination and buy–in needed to win as a team on the road. Those details can make or break a race finale regardless of watts/kg and there are no aero power ups to fall back on when your sprinter comes unhitched from the train around the final bends. With all the riders together in a low-pressure environment, team camp is the perfect time to put a big emphasis on this kind of preparation. We certainly did that and the team is already proving its cohesion, winning small races in Socal and Texas ahead of bigger goals this month.
After all the sponsor talks, photo shoots, equipment tweaks, training rides, massages, team meals and strategy meetings team camp had me back firmly grounded in the reality of the 2018 season. My racing schedule kicks off in a matter of weeks with a couple of California staples, the Chico and San Dimas stage races. From there it is onto the bigger stage of the Pro Road Tour for the Joe Martin Stage Race, Tour of the Gila and Redlands Bicycle classic in April and May. I am capping off my preparation with a couple warm weeks in Tucson before a brief detour home and likely back on to Zwift before it all kicks off. Now, I can almost reach out and touch what I’ve been working so hard and it is time to go get it.
Episode 46 of Zwiftcast has been released. Here’s the full episode description:
In a special epsiode in celebration of Women’s Week on Zwift, Simon spends time in Girona with Academy Winners and pro racers with Canyon-SRAM, Leah Thorvilson and Tanja Erith. The women are now based in the Catalonian city, which is a magnet for cyclists and home to dozens of pro riders.
The Zwiftcast sets up camp in La Fabrica, a cycling themed cafe in the heart of the Old Town, and a familiar pre-ride coffee destination for the pros. There’s also a tour of the apartment Leah and Tanja share with team-mate Alexis Ryan, which ends up mostly being a tour of the fridge! Just why do the three women need 5kg of Parmesan cheese? And whose is the can of 12% beer?
Simon accompanies Leah and Tanja on a training ride, and afterwards in a wide-ranging discussion the trio sit down to discuss life as a pro in Girona, the season ahead, their acceptance in the peloton and their assessment of the state of women’s cycling.
There are also contributions from Zwift brand manager Kate Veronneau on the strength of the women’s community on Zwift, the health of the Acadamy programme and The Trouble With Men.
We also hear from the “Zwift Sisters” – two women who use the platform to work out together and catch up despite living on opposite sides of the world. Plus pro rider and podcaster Abbey Mickey, of Voxwomen, gives her take on Leah and Tanja’s position in the pro peloton.
Just a few hours ago Zwift released a short video clip on Twitter and Facebook:
What the Zwift?! Anyone recognize this road? ? pic.twitter.com/aBupgypt54
— Zwift (@GoZwift) March 16, 2018
The road is France’s Alp d’Huez, possibly the most iconic climb in cycling. Specifically, Zwift’s teaser route shows approximately 3km of the Alp d’Huez climb, beginning ~3km into the climb. Here is a map of a portion of the real climb, which Zwift’s route perfectly matches if rotated 90°:
What does Zwift have planned? Will they attempt to perfectly replicate Alp d’Huez, with its 21 hairpin bends who each have been named after past Tour stage winners? The actual climb is 14km in length with an average gradient of 8% for a total elevation gain of 1100+ meters. Ouch! Here’s a video of one cyclist riding the entire climb:
I highly doubt Zwift will go for a perfect replication of Alp d’Huez. In past interviews, Zwift has said their goal is to bring a longer climb into the game, but to make it fun and unique so riders don’t have to slog uphill for 45-90 minutes then coast downhill for a long time. This is the direction Zwift seems to be going (see the entire London course): including real-world elements in the game, but putting their own twist on them.
Where will the new roads tie into existing ones? This is not yet clear, although the new jungle route has included an under construction section of road which you pass just before the fork in the road taking you onto the Jungle Circuit. So it’s possible this junction may be part of the new route.
In the past Zwift has released teaser rides of new routes as Strava activities, so this video clip is a first. Hopefully it means the new route’s release is happening soon. Ride on!
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Shane Miller profiles the newly updated Zwift Companion app… a remote control for your Zwift session, with new workout features.
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Stephan Leuendorff sounds a bit like Erik Zabel and has been one of the strongest contenders in this season’s CVR World Cup. He was competing against Arvils V, who is competing for the vegan team. Who would win? (Here is Stephan’s followup video).
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Arguable one of the most confrontational figures in cycling, the Durianrider never holds back with his opinions. And as often, it might not be fully clear what his opinion really is. But with his reach and knowledge, his thoughts are worth listening to.
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As the indoor season slowly comes to an end, you might be interested in measuring how your power has changed. To that end, maybe you want to try something other than just the usual FTP test? Let CyclingTips guide you through a 4DP power test with Sufferfest. When will we see this on Zwift?
The “Zwift Mobile Link” app for iOS and Android has been renamed “Zwift Companion” and given a major upgrade in its ability to interact with workouts.Â
The new workout screen includes the following:
As you can see, Zwift Companion does not provide any new workout functionality that isn’t already available via your keyboard/mouse in game (see Zwift keyboard shortcuts). But it does put all of that functionality within easy reach! This is especially important for users who do not have a keyboard nearby, including AppleTV users who don’t want to mess with the remote to interact with their workout.
According to Zwift’s Jordan Rapp, this update paves the way for future game screen changes where we could choose to have a less cleaner screen where many of the elements are only visible in the app. I like that idea!
Here is Zwiftcast’s Simon Schofield interviewing Jordan Rapp about the changes to Zwift Companion:
And here’s Shane Miller summarizing the app changes:
A proper warmup is key if you want to perform your best in any hard cycling effort, but newer cyclists often don’t understand this. The result is not warming up enough prior to races, thinking I should “save myself” for the race.
Newbies should take a cue from more experienced racers here, because seasoned riders know the importance of a warmup and what works best for them. And while it is common for indoor racers to take their warmups less seriously than they would outdoors, Zwift provides an ideal test platform for perfecting your pre-race warmup routine. With that in mind, here is a quick guide to pre-race warmups for Zwifters.
We warm up so we can be in the optimal physical and mental state going into the race. Physically, a warmup should accomplish the following:
Mentally, top athletes will tell you that a pre-race routine is key to high performance. The warmup should allow you to eliminate distractions, address your concerns, and focus on goals for the job ahead.
A good pre-race warmup typically lasts 15-25 minutes and looks something like this:
Here’s a video from Shane Miller outlining his pre-race warmup routine, which follow the general outline above. (This is an excellent routine which I use myself before Zwift races… and the Zwift workout file (.zwo) is linked below.)
How do you warm up prior to your Zwift races? Got any tips on things you’ve tried that worked well, or didn’t? Share below!
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.
So, after three solid build weeks, it was time to take a recovery week. Here’s the thing. I don’t do recovery weeks very well. I do them better than taper weeks, but they aren’t my thing. I like training. I like to feel a bit thrashed. (I really like thrashing others more, but that’s a different topic). Thus, my recovery weeks tend to have at least one really hard day in them… sometimes two.
I really was trying to behave this week. Seriously. I told myself that I would keep the week really easy. I would match the 540 TSS recommended by TrainingPeaks. Well, maybe just a little more. I have to say that I only went over it by 64 TSS, so I think that’s pretty good.
Anyway, the week started nicely. I did the Endurance Lab 2110 High Cadence workout. Boom. Done. Easy. Felt good. Then, I got on my mountain bike and headed to the office. I didn’t hammer any hills. I chilled while riding as opposed to other days that may involve rage-filled tirades at people who almost hit me. I didn’t even swim after work. (To be fair, it doesn’t really take that much of a push to get me to not go to the pool.) On Tuesday, I cut my swim a little short, as I helped out my friend’s teenage son with his swim technique.
So far, so good.
On Wednesday morning, I went out to the park by my house for a run. Yes, I should have run on Zwift, but the wife wanted to get outside to the park, so you know how that goes….we went to the park. I took it easy, clocking a slow 7.86 miles in 60 minutes, rode easy to and from work, and capped off the evening leading the SkillZ and DrillZ Ride. Man, I was crushing this recovery week.
Then came Thursday. I felt really good when I got to the pool. I even grabbed my swim toys from the locker in my office. [Sidebar – Yes, I have a locker in my office. Yes, it has all of my swim toys… and my TRX bands… and extra workout shoes… and some other training gear. It also has clothes for work!] I thought that I would change up the workout a little, adding just a bit more distance than originally planned. After all, I cut Tuesday’s swim short. About two miles later, I climbed out of the pool a bit more tired than when I started. I threw in my lunch time strength workout, and all felt right with the world. I stuck to the plan on Friday, keeping everything nice and easy. Then came Saturday.
Whoa nelly. Saturday was planned as a big day. My one big day of the recovery week. Pretty simple, 8 x 1-mile at 6 minutes per mile on 2 minutes of rest. That was the plan. Remember when I said that I deviate from the plan now and then? Yeah, that’s where I found myself. My wife wanted to go to the park rather than have me run on the treadmill. So, she jumped on her cruiser bike with a couple bottles of water and a bluetooth speaker in the basket, and we headed out. Now, before you judge me for having her accompany me, she is a seasoned pro and amazing sherpa, timing when I need to drink and encouraging me to push when I am suffering.
We hit the park and found the road a bit crowded but not too bad. After all, it was a little later in the morning, and the heat of the sun was coming into full effect. As each mile passed, we went faster and faster. Up and down the small hills in the park, weaving around the walkers, roller bladers, and slower runners. By mile four, we were under 5:40 per mile, and we held that for the next four miles, coming slightly back above for miles seven and eight. Like a trooper, she hung with me despite having her own workout planned immediately following mine. After mile eight, I was tapped. I hadn’t gone full gas, but the heat and humidity had exacted their respective tolls. We got back to the house, and I jumped on my bike to join the TeamODZ Goats & Bears event mid-way through, only to get dropped on the mountain. Yeah, I had nothing left.
Planned TSS – 614; Completed TSS – 604; TP Recommended TSS – 540
We’re down to 18 weeks until ITU Worlds. Really, though, we are down to 14 weeks including taper, race week, oh, and moving. Yes, I will actually be moving in late June, so Denmark will fall in between the time I leave here and arrive at my next assignment. How’s that for a little pre-race stress! We’ll cover that more a little further down the road. On to the build week!
With three months of good training left, it’s time to start getting the volume up in the swim and the bike. Fortunately, this week isn’t all that bad. The next two weeks will be much worse, though, so I’ll just have to deal. The goal moving forward is to start getting at least 10K of swimming each week and 100K minimum on the long rides. Like I said, this week isn’t bad, and I don’t hit those minimums this week. Had I not had plans this weekend, I would probably have gone a bit overboard, but other life commitments will keep me in check.
You will notice some tougher runs from here forward, as well. Wednesday’s run is especially tough if there is any fatigue in the body.
Planned TSS – 786
Well, that’s it for now. I look forward to seeing you out on course. Maybe drop in to run with me on Saturday morning after my ride. Until next time, Ride On!
