Zwift: Tour de Lockdown

[Duane_Bosch]

Okay , thanks.

If you feel like expanding on the depends bit that’ll be great, or no problem.

Hey man. Just to add a little to what's been said.

 

I can only really comment on Rouvy and Zwift but there are several platforms for all tastes. And RGT in particular is free during this whole mess.

 

I've been a big fan of Rouvy and I've really enjoyed what it's given me.

 

Rouvy is really great at giving you a POV view of a real road somewhere. Want to ride the Tourmalet? No Problem. Want to ride Kona? They have that too. There are about 3000 routes to choose from. The Augmented Reality stuff is particularly well done and many of the routes are in the dolomites with climbs like Passo Giau and Pordoi. I've been riding mostly climbs and working through a list of climbs. Also the pricing. You get 3 logins for your $12 so if you have another rider in the house that's a big saving. It also runs on my smart tv box so less wires all over the place. That's what it does well.

 

What it does less well is the lack of training plans and the workouts compared to Zwift seem like less fun. I can't really put my finger on why. It would also be nice if you could somehow pair your workout with a chosen route video and "ride" that. It still has ERG mode so you can still do the same thing ITO workouts that you do in Zwift. You can watch a downloaded movie inside a workout if that is your gig.

 

Now Zwift

 

Firstly the training plans. I just love the training plans. You sign up for a training plan and off you go. It takes all of the guesswork out of it. You just climb on your bike and do the workout. The ERG mode takes care of the resistance and the markers on the road mark your entry and exit from the zones. The little text messages telling you what to concentrate on are great and the workout (not all) also tells you what cadence you need to be working at. You also get little stars for each section of the workout completed so you can judge how well you did the workout. This makes for a great workout experience.

 

The group rides and races look great. I've only done one group ride and that was an enjoyable experience. I've also done a "meetup" ride with a mate but that didn't go very well. too much wattsapping and not enough riding. I'm keen to try a crit race at some point.

 

The social aspect of Zwift is also great. You are constantly aware of the fact that those are real people sweating away in their pain cave just like you. On Rouvy you never get that sense of togetherness. The little things like thumbs ups, levels and power ups might be annoying to many but they are a way of keeping you engaged.

 

There's also the road noise. I know most choose to ride with tunes banging out but I actually enjoy the "road noise" that Zwift makes.

 

The things it does less well.

 

Try as I might i just can't get it to see my HR monitor. It sees it but as soon as it links to my trainer it disappears. Grrrrr. It won't run on my tv box so i have to run it on my laptop with an hdmi cable to the tv. Toooooooo many wires. I have lost connection a few times but that is more a function of my laptop and wifi than zwift.

 

The beauty of these apps is that you aren't married to them. For me right now it's Zwift but guaranteed I'll get bored in a few months and jump back on to Rouvy.

Edited April 8, 2020 by Duane_Bosch

[Kalahari Vegmot]

Is 17:00's meetup cancelled?

Edited April 9, 2020 by Kalahari Vegmot

[Escapee..]

I have figured out how to do my Sufferfest workouts on Zwift.

 

Structured workout with the benefit of increasing levels etc on Zwift

[Harryn]

@HdB sorry about the mess up tonight. One of my mates was zwifting for the first time, and there were some issues.

[The Ghost]

Hey man. Just to add a little to what's been said.

 

I can only really comment on Rouvy and Zwift but there are several platforms for all tastes. And RGT in particular is free during this whole mess.

 

I've been a big fan of Rouvy and I've really enjoyed what it's given me.

 

Rouvy is really great at giving you a POV view of a real road somewhere. Want to ride the Tourmalet? No Problem. Want to ride Kona? They have that too. There are about 3000 routes to choose from. The Augmented Reality stuff is particularly well done and many of the routes are in the dolomites with climbs like Passo Giau and Pordoi. I've been riding mostly climbs and working through a list of climbs. Also the pricing. You get 3 logins for your $12 so if you have another rider in the house that's a big saving. It also runs on my smart tv box so less wires all over the place. That's what it does well.

 

What it does less well is the lack of training plans and the workouts compared to Zwift seem like less fun. I can't really put my finger on why. It would also be nice if you could somehow pair your workout with a chosen route video and "ride" that. It still has ERG mode so you can still do the same thing ITO workouts that you do in Zwift. You can watch a downloaded movie inside a workout if that is your gig.

 

Now Zwift

 

Firstly the training plans. I just love the training plans. You sign up for a training plan and off you go. It takes all of the guesswork out of it. You just climb on your bike and do the workout. The ERG mode takes care of the resistance and the markers on the road mark your entry and exit from the zones. The little text messages telling you what to concentrate on are great and the workout (not all) also tells you what cadence you need to be working at. You also get little stars for each section of the workout completed so you can judge how well you did the workout. This makes for a great workout experience.

 

The group rides and races look great. I've only done one group ride and that was an enjoyable experience. I've also done a "meetup" ride with a mate but that didn't go very well. too much wattsapping and not enough riding. I'm keen to try a crit race at some point.

 

The social aspect of Zwift is also great. You are constantly aware of the fact that those are real people sweating away in their pain cave just like you. On Rouvy you never get that sense of togetherness. The little things like thumbs ups, levels and power ups might be annoying to many but they are a way of keeping you engaged.

 

There's also the road noise. I know most choose to ride with tunes banging out but I actually enjoy the "road noise" that Zwift makes.

 

The things it does less well.

 

Try as I might i just can't get it to see my HR monitor. It sees it but as soon as it links to my trainer it disappears. Grrrrr. It won't run on my tv box so i have to run it on my laptop with an hdmi cable to the tv. Toooooooo many wires. I have lost connection a few times but that is more a function of my laptop and wifi than zwift.

 

The beauty of these apps is that you aren't married to them. For me right now it's Zwift but guaranteed I'll get bored in a few months and jump back on to Rouvy.

Thanks for this, great info

[HdB]

@HdB sorry about the mess up tonight. One of my mates was zwifting for the first time, and there were some issues.

Hey, no worries at all

 

I just rode a while, while watching the Ineos team's race.

[RocknRolla]

For some stupid reason I decided to go up the alpe yesterday. It was harder than I remembered.

wanted to take it easy today, got invited for a ride in NY, and ended up climbing another 500 odd m, at a fair pace. Needless to say, I’m toast at this stage.

have been riding everyday since lockdown, which makes it 18 today.

 

just a bit of useless info.

[HdB]

For some stupid reason I decided to go up the alpe yesterday. It was harder than I remembered.

wanted to take it easy today, got invited for a ride in NY, and ended up climbing another 500 odd m, at a fair pace. Needless to say, I’m toast at this stage.

have been riding everyday since lockdown, which makes it 18 today.

 

just a bit of useless info.

I'm on 17 (only missed the 27th Mar), not all on Zwift though.

 

Did the Discovery live workout thing this morning (at least until the instagram feed fell over), I am once again reminded that being cycling fit means very little when it comes to HIIT workouts...

[Harryn]

For some stupid reason I decided to go up the alpe yesterday. It was harder than I remembered.

wanted to take it easy today, got invited for a ride in NY, and ended up climbing another 500 odd m, at a fair pace. Needless to say, I’m toast at this stage.

have been riding everyday since lockdown, which makes it 18 today.

 

just a bit of useless info.

Nice one, I admire your determination and tenacity ! But, consider taking a rest day or have easy peasy days? Overtraining weakens the immune system.

[RocknRolla]

Nice one, I admire your determination and tenacity ! But, consider taking a rest day or have easy peasy days? Overtraining weakens the immune system.

 

Yes, yesterday was exactly that. Took a real easy day, will do the same today. 

I have a wealth of knowledge regarding this in my house, and am following suggestions from a HRV tool, to assist in monitoring fatigue levels.

 

Riding is the only way that keeps me sane at this stage, so as rightly mentioned, monitoring fatigue is quite important.

[Chris_]

Yes, yesterday was exactly that. Took a real easy day, will do the same today. 

I have a wealth of knowledge regarding this in my house, and am following suggestions from a HRV tool, to assist in monitoring fatigue levels.

 

Riding is the only way that keeps me sane at this stage, so as rightly mentioned, monitoring fatigue is quite important.

 

What is this witchcraft?

[RocknRolla]

What is this witchcraft?

 

Heart Rate Variability.

It's a measure, using lots of high-speak stuff, that has to do with other mindfuckery that measures the time between your heart beats to determine your stress levels, as well as fatigue. Luckily my wife is an expert with this, as she is doing her master's degree along these lines (cant divulge too much)

 

There is an app on the IOS app store "Elite HRV" one uses this with a bluetooth hr monitor (a tickr in our case) to take baseline measurements, these then are used to "predict" or one's possible level of fatigue. I am using this as a guide to structure my workout load accordingly. I take measurements every morning, keeping to a more or less routine before. (all explained on the app)

 

There are a lot of factors that has an impact, like alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, general stress levels. But as a basic guide, if it says take it easy, or do active recovery, that's what I'm doing.

Edited April 15, 2020 by RocknRolla

[Chris_]

Heart Rate Variability.

It's a measure, using lots of high-speak stuff, that has to do with other mindfuckery that measures the time between your heart beats to determine your stress levels, as well as fatigue. Luckily my wife is an expert with this, as she is doing her master's degree along these lines (cant divulge too much)

 

There is an app on the IOS app store "Elite HRV" one uses this with a bluetooth hr monitor (a tickr in our case) to take baseline measurements, these then are used to "predict" or one's possible level of fatigue. I am using this as a guide to structure my workout load accordingly. I take measurements every morning, keeping to a more or less routine before. (all explained on the app)

 

There are a lot of factors that has an impact, like alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, general stress levels. But as a basic guide, if it says take it easy, or do active recovery, that's what I'm doing.

 

I read up about it just now actually, its super interesting. Kind of makes sense, but I'm a sucker for a gimmick too... It'll be very cool to experiment with in real life. I've also heard of Whoop before on various videos and podcasts and whatnot, so now I finally know what they do! 

[Patchelicious]

I bought my first Zwift bike yesterday, and its embarrassing how excited I am to ride it. 

[fanievb]

I bought my first Zwift bike yesterday, and its embarrassing how excited I am to ride it. 

 

no couch pic? you know the rules.....

[RocknRolla]

I bought my first Zwift bike yesterday, and its embarrassing how excited I am to ride it. 

 

As per real life, I am not splashing out on bikes. I have a lot of drops (not as per real life), and I'm not sure what to buy. Currently on the Giant Propel advanced.