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Zwift

theBlob

Bokeh master
Sep 28, 2011
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So I screwed up my neck and that put an end to road cycling and swimming and life as I knew it for a while. But I thought I might be able to ride an indoor trainer, so I bought a proper trainer and signed up to zwift. It's been a fun few weeks of exploring the different places and group rides etc.
of course cause I can't help being me, I've found myself pushing harder and harder, (within the limits my injury will allow)

Anyway I was browsing through some of the races, and some of them require a bunch of documentation to be awarded an official podium, and I guess there are a million ways to cheat these kinds of things.
But verifiable power and heart rate seem good, but what stops people just pretending they are 15kg lighter than they really are?

Anyway it's certainly nice to be able to jump on the bike whenever I like and get some exercise, without having to deal with all the gear, and I just leave everything set up so that is convenient too.
 
Sorry to hear about your neck. Accident or stress from biking?

I also like indoor training when the weather is bad or I don't have time for a long ride. I've never gotten into the competitive side of Zwift though. Like everything else, cheating is a problem. Knew a guy that used to do fishing competitions for biggest fish caught that day. Turns out some yahoo had a large fish in a freezer which he unthawed and 'won' the competition till he was somehow discovered. Cheating is everywhere. Only the Tour De France is free from it. :sly:
 
There's nothing to stop someone from weight doping or screwing with their power meter's factor settings.
Heck, you can get a few extra watts just from using power meter instead of trainer power (due to drivetrain losses).

Just think of Zwift as a way to get fitter, not a way to scratch that itch for victory.
 
I've never done Zwift in my life, I am an avid TrainerRoad user. As far as I hear, sandbagging is common on Zwift: as far as I understand many races split users into different classes by their W/kg. So the users can cheat by both, lowering their FTP and lowering their weight. A lower weight evidently gives them advantages at climbs, and a lower W/kg means they will have superior fitness to the other participants. If you are really eager and your power meter supports it, you can also change the slope and offset of your power meter.

Personally, all of this sounds pretty stupid to me. Like @baribari said, just focus on improving your own fitness.
 
I haven't tried it yet, but the latest extension to Zwift looks very familiar...



My suggestions for additions would include zombie pedestrians, riding on the sidewalk, COPS riding on the sidewalk, homicidal taxis, kamikaze crows, umbrella powerup... the list goes on. Could probably make a decent game of it.
 
So I screwed up my neck and that put an end to road cycling and swimming and life as I knew it for a while. But I thought I might be able to ride an indoor trainer, so I bought a proper trainer and signed up to zwift. It's been a fun few weeks of exploring the different places and group rides etc.
of course cause I can't help being me, I've found myself pushing harder and harder, (within the limits my injury will allow)

Anyway I was browsing through some of the races, and some of them require a bunch of documentation to be awarded an official podium, and I guess there are a million ways to cheat these kinds of things.
But verifiable power and heart rate seem good, but what stops people just pretending they are 15kg lighter than they really are?

Anyway it's certainly nice to be able to jump on the bike whenever I like and get some exercise, without having to deal with all the gear, and I just leave everything set up so that is convenient too.

I did my first Zwift since March today.

The workouts are good training and if you follow a workout plan, I think you will notice the benefits.

The racing is good training if you want a full on eye ball popping out workout! But without real weight and universally calibrated power meters it will only be a game.

But, then again, the game is a workout if that is what motivates you.

Last year the Niigata road race championship was online. The protocol was something like this: within 3 minutes you had to post 3 time stamped photos. The scales calibrated to zero, the scales with a sealed 10kg bag of rice on them showing 10kg (!), your weight taken by someone showing both the reading and you standing on the scales properly...

Like something from the Crystal Maze!

I went out for a ride instead!

Andy
 
I did my first Zwift since March today.

The workouts are good training and if you follow a workout plan, I think you will notice the benefits.

The racing is good training if you want a full on eye ball popping out workout! But without real weight and universally calibrated power meters it will only be a game.

But, then again, the game is a workout if that is what motivates you.

Last year the Niigata road race championship was online. The protocol was something like this: within 3 minutes you had to post 3 time stamped photos. The scales calibrated to zero, the scales with a sealed 10kg bag of rice on them showing 10kg (!), your weight taken by someone showing both the reading and you standing on the scales properly...

Like something from the Crystal Maze!

I went out for a ride instead!

Andy
Ha ha ha! That's awesome.
 
Of course I'm not thinking of ways to cheat cause I don't actually care, it is fun being able to ride with so many people day or night, even if it is digitally.
I may try some races once I can hold the bars and not just be sitting upright just to see what it's like.
 
Sorry to hear about your neck. Accident or stress from biking?

I also like indoor training when the weather is bad or I don't have time for a long ride. I've never gotten into the competitive side of Zwift though. Like everything else, cheating is a problem. Knew a guy that used to do fishing competitions for biggest fish caught that day. Turns out some yahoo had a large fish in a freezer which he unthawed and 'won' the competition till he was somehow discovered. Cheating is everywhere. Only the Tour De France is free from it. :sly:
From lots of high intensity swimming, and then some badminton with the kids was the last straw in a badly herniated vertebrae in my C5. Awful nerve pain in my shoulder and arm, numb fingers, and sleeping sitting up since September, if you can call it sleeping. A couple of months as a zombie.
But getting better now, can sleep lying down again, but only on one side. And mostly off the meds. Which saved my sanity. And now I have zwift and that is making me feel almost normal. Well it does aggravate my neck but it's worth it.
 
G
From lots of high intensity swimming, and then some badminton with the kids was the last straw in a badly herniated vertebrae in my C5. Awful nerve pain in my shoulder and arm, numb fingers, and sleeping sitting up since September, if you can call it sleeping. A couple of months as a zombie.
But getting better now, can sleep lying down again, but only on one side. And mostly off the meds. Which saved my sanity. And now I have zwift and that is making me feel almost normal. Well it does aggravate my neck but it's worth it.
get better soon. zwift does makes quarantine feel a tiny bit closer to normal. whatever that is.

dont overdo it though.
 
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