Interview with Hugo Vegter of Team dZi

Team dZi may be the most active team on Zwift, organizing events, racing as a team and helping to get the word out about the dZi Foundation they support.

Here is an interview with Hugo Vegter, who (as you will see below) is just one part of this very active team.

Tell me a little about yourself–how long you’ve been riding, what sort of riding you do, when you discovered Zwift, where you live, etc.

I’m a single father of two boys (18 & 14) and still live in Leiden (Netherlands), the city where I followed my university education in the Social Sciences. At this moment I work for the Province of North Holland which is based in Haarlem. Regularly I commute this ride by bike because it’s a perfect 30 km / ~ 55 minute ride. Further I’m a WAHOOLIGAN and proud member of their Beta test team.

I bought my first race bike at the age of 18, mostly for summer holidays with friends and an occasional ride. When I became a father I started riding more frequently and for 8 years now I have been riding more seriously after joining the local club (LRTV Swift) and riding with a social group (De Roode Speer). Swift (almost the same 😉 ) organises a weekly evening criterium that I sometimes join. In the beginning I was happy I could follow the big pack now I try to get in a break. As on Zwift, I can’t depend on a strong sprint. Riding these races still scares me today because of the accidents that happen so often. In this I’m really happy with Zwift, no risk on falling!

My change in cycling came about two years since I first experienced the Wahoo KICKR which I could use from a friend of mine who’s the retailer of Wahoo in the Low lands (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). I immediately started to train more specific and loved to race on Kinomap or use the TrainerRoad workout modes. In March last year I’ve got my own KICKR and joined Zwift. From day one I was hooked by riding on Jarvis but also soon after by the friends I made within the community on Facebook and in game chat. Meanwhile the Zwift effect happened. Instead of riding 5-6 hours outside I added easily 5 more hours to my program and some of them where more intense than I could do outside on the road.

At the moment Watopia opened, riding on Zwift got a new dimension, the weekly race season opened by the races Christian Wiedmann and James Gill organised on Tuesday and Thursday. As an almost regular to those races, the after race chat on Facebook was almost as important as the race itself. In the chat with Frank Garcia, James Gill, Chris, Kevin Conners, Francois Coppex and some others the idea launched to see if team tactics could have its effects on Zwift. Just by random choice I joined Kevin’s Team dZi, otherwise it would have been Team X.

What was first an experiment soon became serious and a team identity really has grown.

I know “Team” dZi isn’t just you. Who else makes up the team, and what roles do they play?

Team dZi on Zwift is part of the (real-world) cycling teams that ride in the USA and UK with the dZi Foundation logo on their kit.

dZi Foundation is an American-English charity organisation that offers help on demand of vastly remote communities in Nepal.

Our team consists at the moment of 19 riders of whom Cassy, Frederic, Bruno, Jernst and me operate as regular ride leaders for Zwift events.

When we started as a race team we wanted to have visibility of the Team dZi: Riding for Nepal in every race category but also if possible have the power to be dominant in those races. Our most prominent racers in the A category are without a doubt Jernst Tempelaar and Alexis Louge and our big talent Christopher Durham backed by the very strong Peter Klein and Kevin Conners. In the B race we have Matt, Charlie, Frederic, Cassie. In C Mogens and Stewart play a big part.

Besides being prominent as event leaders for Zwift and being visible in the races we also want to be visible as Team dZi: Riding for Nepal on the platform and in the community. We do this by organising our race events but also by trying to protect sportsmanship within the community. At this moment we focus on delivering one quality race event a month with Prizes that are supplied by our sponsors Marmot and Le Col. As support to our events and races we recently launched a website www.teamdzi.org. The team behind the website and also the race results are Bruno (B.R. in Zwift), Frederic (F.J. in Zwift) and Jodie. Kevin (K.C. in Zwift) as founder of the team has strong relations with our sponsors and we play the role of team captain or domestic, what suites best at the moment of need. We try to keep the pack together and aim for the highest visibility of our team.

How would you describe your team’s philosophy as a race organizer? What is most important to you when organizing Zwift races?

Inclusion and sportsmanship are most important to us. This means that for our main event: The Nepalese Summit Event, the race must be accessible for all that want to race. Especially with bringing prizes in the game, the discussion about the reality of a performance is always there. By awarding in different categories but also by giving random prizes based on attendance we try stay out of this discussion. Furthermore we try to encourage riders to choose for the race category that maybe is just to hard than to play it safe.

The dZi Weekend Competition is part Zwift event and part dZi race event. The Zwift part is the fast paced group ride for about 45 minutes. After three rounds of a consistent high pace between the 3,5 and 4 w/kg the last lap or a part of it is a race to the finish. You can recognise the events by the event tags: AWR, OSS and WGR.

As it is with our name giver dZi Foundation (they travel days on foot through to mountains to assist remote communities), we believe personal improvement and strength is also achieved by setting your personal bar high. We succeed in our events when riders are pushed to their limits and return to our events because they feel it helps them in getting stronger. And of course we are very happy if the name of dZi Foundation and the work they do is spread and the Zwift community actually visits the dZi.org website and leaves a contribution to the charity.

Except for the races we are also proud on our new event the Breakfast and Tea (B&T). The B&T group rides take place on Tuesday and Friday morning for Europe and afternoon for Eastern Asia and Down Under. These B&T are medium paced with some small intervals called off by event leaders Bruno and Frederic.

What race(s) are you currently organizing on Zwift, and how long have you been doing them? What makes these races different than other Zwift races?

The Nepalese Summit Event started with the release of the Epic Mountain route.

The dZi Weekend Competition started in February and our ride leaders helped Zwift out with their events since autumn/winter 2015.

The Weekend Competition races can be best compared with your local cycle club competition or criterium. Because you start as a group ride and the race part is short, the fun factor is high. We see that we have a very loyal riders group joining these rides. These riders follow each other on Strava and chat during the group rides. After a few races they know perfectly well which riders to follow and to beat and you see most of them develop tactics to beat their closest rivals this time.

The Nepalese Summit event is different because it’s only organised once a month. We want to make it something special for the riders if you compete in the Nepalese Summit Event.

In a short time Team dZi will release with the help of Zwift HQ something special for the riders which join our events. Check our website regular for updates on our events and maybe for a surprise. Next to that “special” we will shortly announce our collaboration with a former world class pro and now a world class cycling coach. His advice and views on specific power training will be introduced in our group events.

What suggestions would you give to someone interested in joining your races for the first time?

Our events are not about ranking but are there to encourage you set to your personal bar high. Our events are social, feel free to ask for assistance during the ride by using the in game chat or directly to the event leader. If you have questions before or after the race you can always ask us by mailing to [email protected] or me or Frederic personally on [email protected] or [email protected].

If the folks at Zwift HQ could add one feature to Zwift to make your job easier, what would it be and why?

We are very lucky with our collaboration with Zwift HQ in the attention we’ve got from them with our events. The first impressions of the Event Module are good but we need more time with it to see if it really works well. As a race leader we would like to have more tools to validate the performance of the individual riders during a race and also to track the individual position of the riders on the circuit (this will also help in broadcasting the race).

A welcome addition for event leaders would be that you can select multiple riders for a message instead of just one or the total group. Even better if it has an audio option to for the event leader.

Interview with JZRA race organizer Tim Jones

If you’ve been paying attention to Zwift racing this year you’ve heard of JZRA (Jones Zwift Racing Association) through their unique one-off races like the Zwifta Bianche and the Team Time Trial events. Recently I’ve been seeing the JZRA name pop up even more often as other races have started to feed into the new JZRA ranking system. Because of all this I decided it was past time to reach out to JZRA and learn more about the people behind the name.

What follows is an interview with Tim Jones, who along with his brother Arnold are the brains behind JZRA. (According to Arnold, Tim is “actually more the driving force and brains behind JZRA” while Arnold handles more of the PR side of things–so Arnold deferred to Tim to do the interview.)

Tell me a little about yourself–how long you’ve been riding, what sort of riding you do, when you discovered Zwift, where you live, etc.

I live in Lancashire (England), I’m a student and I’ve just entered my 6th season of racing. Not many compared to some, but at only the ripe old age of 18 it means I feel like I’ve been doing it a while. I mainly ride and race on the road but I do enjoy cyclocross in the winter. This season I’ve been racing mainly at junior national series rounds along with a trip abroad to Belgium to race the Junior UCI Kuurne – Brussels – Kuurne, and a couple more planned for later in the season, which means quite alot of travelling. So I’m quite serious I would say. For those who are interested I am a cat 2 currently.

I first found out about Zwift seeing Laurens Ten Dam on Strava riding around Jarvis. I was confused at first by what he was doing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but when autumn came around I couldn’t wait to get on the island. I think it was October 2015 I started zwifting.

I know JZRA doesn’t just organize races–but that is part of what you do. How would you describe your philosophy as a race organizer? What is most important to you when organizing Zwift races?

Organising races is probably the main thing we do at JZRA, as an organiser our philosophy is to put them on for great training. Since we also think competition is the best way of training we introduced the rankings, more competition between riders, better training for them, better results in real life. What’s important to us is trying to make our races stand out from the others and making them different from your regular KISS and ZTR type events.

What race(s) are you currently organizing on Zwift, and how long have you been doing them? What makes these races different than other Zwift races?

Well we don’t have a usual slot for our races. We tend to jump around with different one offs. We did our first event (Zwifta Bianche) back in January. We try an make each one different. For example the Zwifta Bianche races are 65km long with a hilltop finish so a bit longer than normal. Other events of ours include the Team Time Trial which really has gone down very well both times with Zwift HQ even sending a team to the second one, and of course the Elimination race! (Which is publicly debuting today, May 11th.)

What suggestions would you give to someone interested in joining your races for the first time?

Our best advice really is to pick a format you’ll think you’ll enjoy. Not everyone wants to do 65km in a race, not all want to go hell for leather for just 30 minutes like the Richmond Criterium series we held. Other than “just enjoy it!” my real advice is read the instructions fully… twice! Make sure you get your head around what’s happening, nothing worse than being at a race and not having a clue what on Earth is going on!

Apart from organizing races, what else does JZRA do? I know you post some written race reports on your site, and you’ve also got the rankings which seem to be catching on quite nicely.

The rankings is pretty much it other than the races and the short little updates on the homepage from the racing that counts towards them, we try and do those weekly along with the rankings. Initially just our races counted but then the dZi Summit Races and now KISS and ZTR are getting involved with too, it has seemed to have taken off pretty well, some riders are really throwing themselves in head first. Helps to raise the profile of our events too which is a bonus! (Note from Eric: we’ll have a separate follow-up article discussing the JZRA ranking system soon!)

If the folks at Zwift HQ could add one feature to Zwift to make your job easier, what would it be and why?
I think I’d have to ask for a filter on the names list on the right, just get those people in the race listed, it works pretty well as is at the moment.

But incorporating some stuff like the logger couldn’t hurt either. (Note from Eric: Tim is referring to the “zLogger” created by Jonathan Lemon which logs race results very accurately in Zwift. It is being used by many of the race organizers.)

Nathan Guerra: Gamer and Pro Cyclist turned Zwift Broadcaster

Jason King over at Zwift HQ posted an excellent interview with Nathan Guerra, everyone’s favorite Zwift race commentator. It includes some interesting bits about Nathan, including:

• How World of Warcraft helped him gain fitness
• How he became the #1 ranked USA Cycling MTB Pro in 2015 (and wants to repeat for 2016)
• That he has logged over 15,000 miles on Zwift since he became an early beta tester

Read the full interview > 

Interview with Tim Clark (or: how to drop 42lb in 3 months)

I first ran across UK resident Tim Clark via the Zwift Riders Facebook group, when he posted a quick blurb about his fitness gains in early 2016. As you’ll see below, Tim’s fitness gains and weight loss have been quite impressive! If you struggle with trying to shed some pounds and/or increase your power, read Tim’s story for inspiration and tips.

2016 has been quite a year for you so far. How would you summarize it in just a few sentences?

In November 2015 I met with my cardiologist and he suggested we operate on my Atrial Fibrillation this year, so we ended up setting a date for April. I got Christmas out of the way and was horrified to see that I was 18½ stone (260lb/117kg). That was not a condition that I felt was conducive to having my heart operated on, so I set about doing something about it.

So you basically had three months to drop weight and increase fitness before your heart surgery. How much weight did you lose in that time?

I managed to get down 3 stone (42lb/19kg) in total. 

Give me more detail about your fitness gains thus far using Zwift. I know you besides losing substantial weight you have increased your power significantly. What are those numbers?

I started in January with a pretty poor fitness level, but I’ve been fit in the past so I knew I could get to back to some reasonable level. I’m not there yet by any means but I’m proud of where I’ve got to so far. Not being able to comfortably put on my socks in the morning for having to suck in the belly was also a good motivator to get rid of the gut.

[Editor’s note: here are Tim’s numbers from two “max effort” rides:]

8-Jan-16
Distance 11.2mi
Weighted Average Power 202w
Avg Speed 17.1mi/h

4-Apr-16
Distance 12.0mi
Weighted Average Power 341w
Avg Speed 22.6mi/h

Impressive power gains for sure. What’s your Zwift setup (bike, trainer, power source, etc)? Did you have any challenges getting it dialed in?

I run a 2014 Giant Defy 1, Cycleops Fluid 2, Zpower, Garmin speed & candence + Premium heart rate monitor. Garmin ANT+ usb key and a MacBook Pro.

The only challenge I’ve had is the 6am cold in the garage, a heart rate monitor strap failure (that Garmin replaced free) and the odd drop out of signal from the cadence sensor (fixed with new battery).

Dialing it in? No, as I use the Zwift power estimates, I’ve not had to dial anything in. However I would say that keeping your weight measured and honest in Zwift pays dividends for two reasons. 1, a more realistic ride, even on a ‘dumb trainer’ and 2, Keeping yourself honest and showing yourself the respect that should be earned when you grab that jersey.

Were your Zwift efforts fairly consistent these past few months? How did you decide what to do each time you logged on?

I normally ride before work early in the mornings, between 6-7am. What I did depended on if I was on my own or riding with a buddy in Tokyo. If I was on my own I’d more than likely pick a workout (mostly Jon’s Short Mix) just to keep me focused. Sometimes I’d just spin around a couple of laps but kinda want to ‘achieve’ something. So I’d try and bust a jersey each ride. Nothing more satisfying that having done Jon’s Short Mix and then grab a green jersey on the way to the end of lap two of Watopia.

The thing I always did without fail was to push myself to a sweat each and every ride. In the beginning that wasn’t hard to do, but now I’m having to bust 400w up the Watopia Hill to get a sweat on by the top.

What about diet? I assume this changed for you as well. How so?

You assumed correctly. My wife is a consultant for Cambridge Weight Plan, so I’ve been following that since January 4th. It’s a high protein/low carb diet, so if you stick to it and keep drinking your water I find it easy to lose weight. I personally don’t like tomatoes and fish so most diet plans leave me with a dilemma of what I can actually eat. The Cambridge Weight Plan replaces some meals with ‘products’ so that I didn’t have to work out what I could eat.

I also cut out alcohol completely, not just during the week, but totally. There are so many hidden calories in beer, wine and spirits it’s a great way to lose weight without having to do anything else.

For most people, weight gain and poor fitness happen slowly over a period of years, sort of a frog-in-a-kettle situation. How did you come to arrive at that spot where you decided it was time to make some positive changes?

My weight crept on over the last few years and even doing the London Ride 100 a couple of years ago didn’t help me shift much of it. Also having lost both parents in the last couple of years I’d found myself comfort eating. The heart surgery was the deciding factor for me. I sat in the car park after the consultation for about 30 minutes wondering what the hell this all meant. And then I got really upset with myself for having a defeatist attitude towards it all. I was letting it happen “TO” me rather than “MAKING” it happen for me. So that was it, I’d get Christmas and all the socializing out of the way and then go for it.

What does the future look like for Tim Clark in terms of health? Do you have further fitness goals?

It’s only a few days after the heart surgery so it’s too early to say if it’s fixed the Atrial Fibrillation or not, but the future looks great. I want to get down to 14½ stone (203lbs / 92kgs) by the end of June, so I’ll be back on the bike Zwifting or outside as the weather gets better and I heal more.

I’d also like to do the Ride London 100 again as the year I did it (2014) they closed part of the course due to the rain. My goal is to do it in under 5 hours.

That’s a good pace! Do you have some local friends to ride and train with outdoors?

I ride with my local cycling club Farnborough and Camberley Cycling Club some of the time. But I can translate most of what I’ve learned in Zwift about pacing, cadence and zone training onto the road. We have some long boring but good training roads around here and I can ride for a long time without having to stop for junctions and the like.

After running my own “Zwift Weight Loss Group” I know there are many folks on Zwift who struggle with being heavier than they’d like to be. What advice would you give to these Zwifters?

Firstly – KEEP GOING. Starting out is the hardest bit to do. For us Zwifters we don’t have the issue of being ‘seen in public’ wearing lycra, unless we want to be, so that’s not a factor. But I’ll be the first to admit that some mornings I’d lay in bed and not want to get out of it to ride. That’s when you need help, so I’d try and find someone to ride with. They will help to keep you honest and will miss you if you don’t make the ride.

Secondly – Pace yourself. Don’t start out too strong or it will seem too hard and you may well want to quit. Start with small goals, get a Strava account if you don’t have one and track your PRs for each segment. Just keep going a small bit further or harder each time you ride.

Last – Don’t beat yourself up – Be your own best cheerleader. Everyone has an off day. I’ve had ‘off weeks’ but the important thing is to get back on the bike and try again. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come and what you enjoy about that great feeling when you are climbing off your bike at the end of a ride knowing that you have done a good thing for your weight and your health.