Sweatfest Crit - B

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JeremyC
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Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by JeremyC »

Race 1 of season 2 of the Sweatfest Wednesday night Zwift series was last night. I believe MRC won season 1 (B) in December, and maybe Mark B. was the overall winner (or 2nd not sure). Anyway, we had 7 lining up last night (61 total), and the format was a 22 mile crit on the dedicated Zwift crit course.

I've done one of these, it was a bit shorter, but it was really hard. Not much recovery during these races. Perhaps a longer version would ease up a bit.

It was me, Chris(B and P), Mark, Brian M., Briana, and Mike K. We agreed on a strategy, we would have some coordinated attacks of 2 or more during the race to either break it up, or get away. At the end we would all sprint for a good "team" result versus a leadout which is pretty tough to coordinate on Zwift. We were also on Discord, but while I could hear everyone perfectly, they couldn't hear me well (or they were ignoring me which is very possible). Also note myself, Chris P and Briana had done a computrainer workout the night before, so I was downplaying my ability to hang/contribute.

The race started hard, about 4 minutes at VO2 Max for me, but then it settled down pretty good. About 9 minutes in someone else attacked, and I decided to bridge across. It lasted less than 1/2 a lap, and hurt pretty bad. We got caught pretty quickly and I needed to recover. From there the MRC chatter was to start our coordinated attacks. At the 17 minute mark, Busick, Massey and I attacked. We got up to 5 seconds on the field but again we got pulled back. Note on both of these attacks, many people were shelled, so they served a purpose. We were down to 25.

When we got caught, the field blew up, and I noticed I was behind a split. I spent an entire lap bridging back up. Chris P was discussing another attack and I begged him to wait. Not sure he heard me, but I made it back on, matches burned. Briana and Mike K may have been victims at this point (sorry guys).

At minute 25 Chris P and B attacked (not sure who else), I just followed wheels. It got shut down but now we're down to 21. Still me, Chris(s), Mark and Massey in the front group (nice numbers). Briana was cursing his apparent inability to Zwift (I'm sure he'll figure it out).

The race really let up at this point, and I was happy to see my average power finally dip below FTP. Coming in to the final few laps, it was clear everyone wanted an "Aero" power-up, so feathers and box trucks we're being used constantly. With 2 to go I had the box truck, and decided to hold it for a long sprint from the field, versus risking no power-up at all (the dreaded XP bonus). We had discussed the ideal sprinting point, so I decided to hit the box truck (which is a long 30 sec power up) 1 corner earlier and sprint through the field and try to hold it to the end.

This strategy worked well, I passed the field, past 2 riders who had already attacked off the front, led toward and through the final corner. I thought I had it, as the line is pretty close after the corner. Then at the last second Chris P passes me at a significantly higher rate of speed with the Aero helmet and took the win.

I got second, Massey 4th. Mark and Busick in the top 14 as well. Solid team effort and a great workout.

Let's get more people to the series.
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KTeves
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by KTeves »

MRC 👍👍👍
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cbusick
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by cbusick »

I kept thinking about different things we could have tried. like having masse and i drive it hard for a lap at 4 to go, starting at the turn into the finishing straight to see who we could catch sleeping.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by Briana »

When the field blew up after that first attack is when I fell off. Cratty was chasing back and about 3 seconds ahead of me and I just couldn't catch back on. The effort in these races resembles a CX race so much. My HR goes from 100 to 180 in the first few seconds and never comes back down. Maybe I should try my cross warm-up before the start. At 144lbs, I'm not sure dropping my virtual weight is much of an option. Either way it appears we had a great team finish and I got in a good workout.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by KTeves »

Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:45 pm . . . At 144lbs, I'm not sure dropping my virtual weight is much of an option. . . .
have you seen this Brian? https://zwiftinsider.com/lower-wkg/
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Mkidd3
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by Mkidd3 »

Last night was great! MRC animated the whole race. If it weren't for us they'd all have fallen asleep.

@briana I'm in the same boat with the HR. We were chatting on Discord giving HR checks, most were 140's I was still at 160+.
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oscarp
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by oscarp »

Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:45 pm When the field blew up after that first attack is when I fell off. Cratty was chasing back and about 3 seconds ahead of me and I just couldn't catch back on. The effort in these races resembles a CX race so much. My HR goes from 100 to 180 in the first few seconds and never comes back down. Maybe I should try my cross warm-up before the start. At 144lbs, I'm not sure dropping my virtual weight is much of an option. Either way it appears we had a great team finish and I got in a good workout.
Theres also a (c) version of this race .... :lol:
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KTeves
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by KTeves »

Mkidd3 wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:00 pm @briana I'm in the same boat with the HR. We were chatting on Discord giving HR checks, most were 140's I was still at 160+.
And the link above probably at least partly explains why.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by Mkidd3 »

oscarp wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:04 pm
Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:45 pm When the field blew up after that first attack is when I fell off. Cratty was chasing back and about 3 seconds ahead of me and I just couldn't catch back on. The effort in these races resembles a CX race so much. My HR goes from 100 to 180 in the first few seconds and never comes back down. Maybe I should try my cross warm-up before the start. At 144lbs, I'm not sure dropping my virtual weight is much of an option. Either way it appears we had a great team finish and I got in a good workout.
Theres also a (c) version of this race .... :lol:
Looking for company?
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oscarp
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by oscarp »

Mkidd3 wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:06 pm
oscarp wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 2:04 pm
Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:45 pm When the field blew up after that first attack is when I fell off. Cratty was chasing back and about 3 seconds ahead of me and I just couldn't catch back on. The effort in these races resembles a CX race so much. My HR goes from 100 to 180 in the first few seconds and never comes back down. Maybe I should try my cross warm-up before the start. At 144lbs, I'm not sure dropping my virtual weight is much of an option. Either way it appears we had a great team finish and I got in a good workout.
Theres also a (c) version of this race .... :lol:
Looking for company?
Ha! YES
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cbusick
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by cbusick »

Discord was critical for this since we were trying to catch out riders who weren't paying attention. BrianA if you knew we were about to attack you could have moved up to the front. otherwise, if you are on the back, things will be all strung out and you have to close gaps. Of course, if you were near the front when we attacked anyway and just got dropped because of absolute watts (we did attack the downhill after all) then discord isn't going to help much
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oscarp
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by oscarp »

Curious do you have some other app like the companion app on the phone running in overhead mode so you can see the pack and if it is splintering? Or do you run the screen you are looking at in that mode? Or is there a way to split screen so you can have a forward view and an overhead view? I find it hard to tell, unless you are at the front, what is happening.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by Mkidd3 »

@oscar here is what I run.

Zwift companion app displayed on my phone set to map showing the same as the mini map
Discord open on my phone as well with Bluetooth headset connected. +1 for the Bose Sound Sport!!
Zwift program from my laptop to my TV, find your favorite mini map (upper right hand side) to see where you are and where every one is. For in game display, I like it in the first person view because I can't tell where my avatar is in the pack from the default view. That's the upside, the down side is I can't tell when my avatar isn't in the draft.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by Briana »

I did see that article Kevin. Kinda like getting behind Reese on the Wed night ride on a flat section when he is doing 400 watts :shock:

Discord might have helped with the 1st attack but I think getting dropped was bound to happen last night.

140HR Jeebus, that's just ridiculous.

What's per/kg are way to high for the C race.
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pace21
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by pace21 »

Briana I agree it resembles a cross race, which is why I’m convinced your setup is wrong — you should be crushing us!

Maybe the physics engine is really just that out of whack from reality though
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by ppereira »

Great job guys, I always get excited about seeing the results in my strava feed. I definitely get a little FOMO and ought to jump in sometime, although I have nothing but sweet spot power (260-280w) to contribute lol
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by KTeves »

Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 4:01 pm I did see that article Kevin. Kinda like getting behind Reese on the Wed night ride on a flat section when he is doing 400 watts :shock:
Yup!
Briana wrote: Thu Jan 09, 2020 4:01 pm 140HR Jeebus, that's just ridiculous.
Yeah. Even more so on a 2.25 hour fondo and you've average zone 4 HR and others that finished ahead of you have averaged zone 2!!!
Last edited by KTeves on Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by bmassey »

I like to have ZwiftPower running on a second screen so I can see mine and the competiions w/kg and heart rate during the event.

It seems I will be joining Reese next week for the NY Gotham Grind as I have been upgraded to an A. I sure I will be dropped quickly so I will plan on giving a few good hard pulls for the B group.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by remad »

bmassey wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:48 am I like to have ZwiftPower running on a second screen so I can see mine and the competiions w/kg and heart rate during the event.

It seems I will be joining Rees next week for the NY Gotham Grind as I have been upgraded to an A. I sure I will be dropped quickly so I will plan on giving a few good hard pulls for the B group.
Yippee! I have a team mate! You will probably be able to stay with the group longer than you think, just do your best to draft and know where the hills are.
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by JeremyC »

bmassey wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:48 am It seems I will be joining Reese next week for the NY Gotham Grind as I have been upgraded to an A.
Brian, any insight as to why/how you got upgraded?
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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by cbusick »

Brian,
I think you'll be able to hang on in the A races on the flat courses at least. You've been throwing up good numbers. I'm guessing the fact that you put up 4.2 w/kg for 20 minutes on Wednesday were the reason for the upgrade. Even 95% of that is 3.99

A: 4.00 w/kg and greater
B: From 3.20 w/kg to 3.99 w/kg

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Re: Sweatfest Crit - B

Post by bmassey »

My best 3 20min efforts are 4.11 (Wed), 3.98, and 3.92 for an average of 4.003 which puts me right above the limit. I knew I was close but that is really close to the limit.
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