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More reasons to ride indoors this summer

Eric Schlange
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More reasons to ride indoors this summer

More reasons to ride indoors this summer

Yesterday’s post on fair-weather Zwifting generated a lot of feedback, with Zwifters around the world chiming in with their reasons for riding indoors during nice weather. Here are more reasons that weren’t covered in the original post:

  • Riding late at night: Fitting a ride in can be a challenge regardless of the season. Rob M. said “I’m only Zwifting in the summer when it’s too dark to go out, the wife goes to bed at 22:30 and that’s my turbo time. That way I get to see my wife and son, eat dinner after work and train without it impacting my family.”
  • Family time: Lots of Zwifters are stay at home parents with young kids, or simply want to spend as much time with their families as possible. Ayrton S. says “With a 3 month old baby in our house, zwift has been a lifesaver. I sometimes manage 80 – 100 zwift miles a week and a day or two on the weekends to ride outdoors for a few hours of climbs.” Derek B. says “I’m a full time dad and Zwift gives me the flexibility to do the kind of training for my epic outdoor rides (got the Race Across Germany next week – 1,100 km’s non stop as RAAM qualifier)…”
  • Avoiding sunlight: I certainly understand this one, being a fair-skinned redhead who requires sunscreen prior to any summer rides. Darren B. mentioned the benefit of no sun exposure (ie skin cancer), and Warren T. added an interesting note: “Recovering from Lyme disease so it’s a great help to get me riding since I have to avoid direct sunlight with meds I’m on.”
  • Avoiding bad air: Air quality can fluctuate seasonally, especially when it comes to pollen counts. Jon C. says “For me, the reason I’ve used Zwift more lately has been the poor air quality and exceptionally high volumes of pollen this year.”
  • Get riding quickly: I live in a small town with just one stoplight and low traffic, so finding a quiet road is easy. But that’s not the case for everyone! Kevin F. says “I live in a city of ten million and it takes me a good hour of riding to get to a good, relatively safe place to ride a bike at speed. I can do that on weekends, but during the week I just hop on Zwift.” George B. says “I would have to drive hours to get some safe hills to ride. With Zwift I get the option to ride hills everyday.”
  • No zombies: I missed this in my original post, but it’s certainly a valid fear. Randy S. says “Rain or shine, my plan is to Zwift all the time. No need to worry about getting killed by a car, dog, sunburn, bees, zombies, etc.”

Trek/Segafredo Coffee Rides announced

Eric Schlange
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Trek/Segafredo Coffee Rides announced

Trek/Segafredo Coffee Rides announced

Zwift HQ has announced a series of daily coffee rides celebrating the Tour de France. Four rides are happening daily for the duration of Le Tour (July 2-24), with each ride beginning at 6AM in a different time zone: AEST, BST, EDT, and PDT.

Each ride will take advantage of a new Zwift feature–audio playback! Participants can listen in on exclusive behind-the-scenes audio from renowned U.S. cycling commentator Dave Towlealong and the Trek-Segafredopro cycling team.

Additionally, Zwifters who complete any three of these rides will be eligible to win swag from Trek, Segafredo and CycleOps.

trek-segafredo

What’s a Coffee Ride?

Don’t even think about it!

While some cyclists (and Trek themselves) may argue that every ride is a coffee ride, a true “coffee ride” is meant to happen early in the morning in a fasted state, with the rider only consuming coffee prior to the ride.

Riding in a fasted state can help train your body to burn fat for energy, while the coffee’s caffeine stimulates your system and wakes you up.

(Just make sure you drink your coffee black, or with just some heavy whipping cream. You don’t want any sugar or lactose in the mix… and you definitely don’t want to work off a 500 calorie Starbucks Frappuccino.)

Learn more about fasted training from this Trainer Road post >

Fair-weather Zwifting (why everybody’s doing it)

Eric Schlange
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Fair-weather Zwifting (why everybody’s doing it)

Fair-weather Zwifting (why everybody’s doing it)

“Indoor training” was a phrase cyclists used to mutter angrily… something we only did when the weather grew so terrible that it left no other option. But this season, arguably for the first time ever, we are seeing massive numbers of cyclists riding indoors despite beautiful weather outside.

Is it mass hysteria? Some sort of cycling brain flu?

trevor-heather
Trevor and Heather Wurtele Zwifting away

A recent post on the CycleOps blog from professional triatheletes (and Zwifters) Trevor and Heather Wurtele discussed this phenomenon. For Trevor and Heather it comes down to two simple reasons:

  1. Getting shorter rides done more quickly: “For me a 1500 kilojoule ride often takes around 1 hour and 50 minutes outside, but I can finish that off on the trainer in 1.5 hours, and spend all of that time in the aero position.”
  2. High quality interval sessions: “Putting these shorter, hard workouts, on the indoor trainer keeps them very specific. We can control every aspect of the workout with no risk of interruptions.”

These are excellent reasons, and I could add many more to the list. Here are just a few:

  • Easy race access: it may be racing season, but my closest races are a 2-3 hour drive away. Thankfully I can clip in and compete whenever I’d like thanks to Zwift’s busy race schedule–and I don’t have to pay an entry fee!
  • Safety: whether you’re recuperating from an injury or just concerned about the dangers of real-world riding, moving the ride indoors keeps you out of harm’s way.
  • It’s cooler: when the temperature starts to hit 90+ degrees Fahrenheit, the coolness of my garage and a big fan become quite appealing.

Yes, I’m currently doing most of my riding outdoors here in northern California. But I’m still enjoying regular Zwifting sessions as well.

What about you? Are you finding yourself riding indoors in good weather this season? Why?

EDIT: many Zwifters have chimed in with their reasons for riding indoors in good weather. I’ve created a new post with those reasons here.

Zwift course schedule for July

Eric Schlange
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Zwift course schedule for July

Zwift course schedule for July

Here is July’s course schedule. Richmond has moved from Tuesdays to Thursdays, although Zwift’s Jon Mayfield notes: “this may change towards the end of the month if/when the London course is released.”

Keeping our fingers crossed!

schedule-july

Pleasenote: the course changeover happens at 21:00 Los Angeles time (PDT) or UTC-7hrs.

Zwift version 1.0.12817 released

Eric Schlange
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Zwift version 1.0.12817 released

Zwift version 1.0.12817 released

Yesterday Zwift rolled out its latest update. According to lead developer Jon Mayfield:

One notable change is that we’ve added the ability to have pre-recorded audio feeds playing during some of our events, much like a podcast. We’ll be testing the new feature in the coming days during some of our daily rides, and if you get to experience it we welcome feedback you may have on them.

Jon also included this blurb which makes it sound like the new London course will be released towards the end of this month:

Richmond is now on Thursdays in July (note: this may change towards the end of the month if/when the London course is released)

See the official update announcement with a detailed list of changes here >

Canyon Ultimate winner announced

Eric Schlange
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Canyon Ultimate winner announced

Canyon Ultimate winner announced

The winner of Zwift’s Canyon Ultimate giveaway is David Phillips from the UK. Congrats, David!

Watch Hannah Barnes of the Canyon//SRAM Racing Team make the announcement here. According to Hannah 2,690 Zwifters completed the challenge, with an average ride time of 2:50.

Canyon//SRAM Ultimate: quite a machine!
Canyon//SRAM Ultimate: quite a machine!

 

Team dZi offering daily, weekly, monthly rides

Eric Schlange
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Team dZi offering daily, weekly, monthly rides

Team dZi offering daily, weekly, monthly rides

dziTeam dZi is one of the most active, global teams on Zwift in terms of riding, racing, and organizing events for other Zwifters. You likely have seen them riding in their distinctive Nepalese Red, Le Col sponsored kit with “dZi Riding for Nepal” written on it.

I recently chatted with founder Kevin Connors about dZi’s slate of popular group rides–here are the details of each ride:

Weekdays: dZi’s Daily Zwift Igniter (DZI)

Less than 60 minutes long at a moderate pace (2.5 w/kg on flats, 3.0 w/kg on hills) with efforts made to keep dropped riders to a minimum. Usually led by Frederic Jacquemin or Bruno Fernandez-Ruiz. Each day features some different sprints or other efforts which are always voluntary and announced by the Ride Leader. The group comes back together after all efforts.

Start Times:

  • 21:30 PDT (Monday for USA-West)
  • 00:30 EDT (USA-East)
  • 05:30 GMT (UK)
  • 06:30 CEST (Europe)
  • 14:00 ACST (Australia – Adelaide)
  • 14:30 AEST (Australia – Sidney)

Learn more >

Weekends

Saturdays: dZi’s Watopia Group Ride (WGR)

This is dZi’s most inclusive weekend ride, with a pace of 2.5 w/kg. Every effort is made to keep the group together, so there are no sprint sections or raced sections. Ride length is just 3 laps of the Watopia’s flat route (~30km).

This is a great event for someone trying their first group ride and keen to learn how to draft efficiently. Team dZi’s Cassie Baldi is the regular leader, but other Team dZi members will lead at times too.

Start times:

  • 07:30 PDT (USA-West)
  • 08:30 MDT (USA-Mountain)
  • 09:30 CDT (USA-Central)
  • 10:30 EDT (USA-East)
  • 15:30 BST (UK)
  • 16:30 CEST (Europe)

Learn more >

Pro-Style Events

Both of dZi’s pro-style events below are uniquely set up to help you train like a pro. These rides have “tempo” riding at 3-3.5W/KG to get rider hearts and muscles pumping. They then add 1-2 sprint intervals per lap. Finally each event closes with a full gas race of the fifth and final lap. This combo of high tempo, interval, and full effort riding/racing for approximately 50km is very similar to how pro teams train to drive improvement.

The results of the raced sections are displayed via ZwiftPower technology on that and Team dZi’s website. Race results will be part of the JZRA rankings too.

These rides are usually led by Frederic Jacquemin, Bruno Fernandez-Ruiz, Kevin Connors, or Hugo Vegter and take place on Watopia’s flat route.

Saturdays: dZi’s Aussie Watopia Roll (AWR)

Start Times:

  • 09:00 BST (UK)
  • 10:00 CEST (Europe)
  • 15:00 AWST (Australia-Perth)
  • 17:30 ACST (Australia-Adelaide)
  • 18:00 AEST (Australia-Sydney)

Learn more >

Sundays: dZi’s Oz Sunday Spin (OSS)

Start Times:

  • 09:00 BST (UK)
  • 10:00 CEST (Europe)
  • 15:00 AWST (Australia-Perth)
  • 17:30 ACST (Australia-Adelaide)
  • 18:00 AEST (Australia-Sydney)

Learn more >

Monthly: dZi’s Nepalese Summit Race (NSC)

The very popular Nepalese Summit Race happens on the second Monday of each month. This is an all-inclusive multi-category race (9 different categories!) with a staggered start so riders come together on the final climb.

The race features a significant amount of climbing since it ends at the very peak of the Radio Tower climb. It is named the “Nepalese Summit Race” because of the race’s long and steep finishing climb, but also because of Team dZi’s link to its eponymous foundation supporting mountainous Nepal. This race is a true dZi team effort, with all of dZi’s almost 30 team members contributing in different ways to make the event happen.

Learn more >

Team dZi is obviously putting a lot of effort into these events for us Zwifters. They are doing this to help the Zwift community, but also to create exposure for their title charity sponsor, dZi Foundation, who helps some of the world’s most remote communities with agricultural assistance, sanitation improvements, transport efficiency, and education in Nepal. All help for Nepal and dZi Foundation from the Zwift community is very welcome!

You can sign up for all of these events beforehand or even while Zwifting up until just before they start on the Zwift Mobile App under the brand new Events tab. Learn more about joining group rides >

These dZi events are hosting between 300-500 riders each week, so it seems the Zwift community understands that daily, pro-style, and race training in combination is a great way to improve fitness while having some fun in a group. Thanks to the Zwift platform and organizers like Team dZi this training is now available even to time-crunched or weather-bound riders.

Feedback on the events or those with interest in Team dZi can get in touch via www.teamdzi.org.

Zwift version 1.0.12372 released

Eric Schlange
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Zwift version 1.0.12372 released

Zwift version 1.0.12372 released

Last night Zwift pushed out a release which updates the game to version 1.0.12372. This isn’t a major update, but fixes a few bugs to improve accuracy and reliability.

The most exciting thing about this update is the teaser shot included of the soon-to-be-released London course… it’s beautiful! 

london_preview

 
See the official notice from on Zwift’s support portal >

Zwiftcast Episode 6

Simon Schofield
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Zwiftcast Episode 6

Zwiftcast Episode 6

After taking a bit of a break, we’ve released the latest Zwiftcast episode–here are the notes on what it contains:

Welcome to Episode Six of the Zwiftcast – and a new format.

I’ve been joined by Nathan Guerra from the US and Shane Miller from Australia. Together we’re chewing the fat over all the latest news and developments from Zwift as the focus shifts towards the Southern Hemisphere’s indoor season.

The episode features an interview with Zwift’s creative genius and co-founder of the company, Jon Mayfield. Jon has some really interesting things to say about a division between Z Power users and those with Smart Trainers/Power Meters. He also talks about how the draft in Zwift is still at an early stage and raises the prospect of introducing steering into the game.

There’s a great interview with Australian hand cyclist Alex Welsh and myself, Shane and Nathan discuss the issues he raises about avatar customisation.

The KISS races have now launched all over the world and are attracting huge fields in the Southern Hemisphere. I talk to Glen Knight, one of the originators of the wildly popular series and afterwards we discuss the genius of the zwiftpower.com tool.

Matt Hayman’s coach, Kevin Poulton, still buzzing from his rider’s amazing victory in Paris-Roubaix, talks about how Matt used Zwift in his training – and gives his views on the value of indoor riding for training for the rest of us.

There’s also a lively review of the indoor season so far in Australia with Shane and I discussing the massive popularity of the Aussie HDR group ride.

I hope you like the new format – let me know on the Zwiftcast Listeners Facebook page.

Will Indoor Training Damage My Carbon Fiber Frame?

Eric Schlange
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Will Indoor Training Damage My Carbon Fiber Frame?
The vast majority of serious cyclists today ride carbon frames. And when it comes to clamping that frame into a stationary trainer, some riders believe you are placing damaging stresses on the frame. Is this a valid fear? Are you putting your baby at risk while Zwifting? Here are five reasons why I believe these fears are unfounded:

#1: Industry disagreement

If stationary training was leading to broken frames, we would see an industry-wide stance against training on carbon. Yet this is not what we see. As it stands, some big bike makers are friendly towards trainer use, while others are not. (See Is trainer use covered by your warranty? for more on this topic.)

#2: Where are the broken bikes?

Searching on Google and YouTube for stories of people breaking their carbon frames on indoor trainers turns up very few results. Instead, I see numerous posts from people saying “I’ve used my carbon bike in my trainer for years with no problems.” I also see posts from shop owners like this (taken from this Bicycling.com forum topic):
Just pulling up our sales history on trainers – since 1999 we have sold 377 trainers. I couldn’t even begin to search for a total number of carbon bikes we’ve sold in that time, but we’re talking WELL over 1000. We’ve never once had a frame failure attributed to a trainer.
Given how many miles people are putting in on Zwift (5.8 million miles in January ’16 alone), the Zwift Riders Facebook group should be blowing up with stories of failed frames if this is an issue. But I’ve never seen such a post. If this was a common problem you would see stories and strong warnings everywhere online. Speaking of warnings…

#3: Trust the Lama

Shane Miller, OZ Zwifter extraordinaire, posted a video on this topic just last night: He includes good points about using the proper skewer and understanding that sprinting technique on a trainer is different than outside. (On a trainer it’s an up-down motion, while outside there is a lot of side to side movement of the frame).

#4: Trust a carbon fiber bike repair expert

Shane was also part of the video below from Cycling Maven which includes tons of fascinating information about carbon fiber bikes, including a carbon repair expert stating that he never gets bikes in for repair due to damage from trainers.

#5: Trust the boys at GCN

Here’s a GCN video on this topic:

If it’s a myth, why do some believe it?

It is true that a standard titanium rear skewer can be bent while using a trainer (hence it is best to use the steel skewers commonly supplied by the trainer manufacturer.) So obviously there are some stresses on trainers which don’t exist on the road. This may lead some to believe that the frame is in danger as well. And while I’m not entirely sure, my guess is this myth began as a legitimate concern when carbon frames were in their infancy (~25 years ago). Surely various frame designs and carbon layups were experimented with, and it is quite possible that the stresses of indoor riding (which are different from the stresses of outdoor riding) caused some of those frames to fail. Based on current manufacturer warranties, though, it is clear those challenges have been overcome and carbon frames are safe to ride on indoor trainers, provided out of the saddle efforts utilize the proper “up-down” technique. So #RideOn, carbon bike owners!
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