Eight Year Anniversary on Zwift

 From humble beginnings to high level racer and back. It has been quite the ride. Leading group workouts, winning a few titles, working a bit for Zwift, beating some of the best, over-training, super early racing, it has all been some of the best times. Right now, I'm still working out vigorously but without a clear goal. I have done about all I can on the Alp. The truth is, it is just a bit too long for me. On a great day, yes, I can race the Alp with the best of them. I reached my goal. Really, I was thrilled by Illi's stomp on the Alp. Anyone that can beat her time is probably tricking their ride. Zwift has exposed a few riders over the years. I can't reveal their names, one has a jacked meter, we know that for a fact. There are so many people with wattage data infractions, just totally impossible wattage. Strava doesn't seem to care.(Honestly, why should they worry about virtual worlds.) But, it is sometimes frustrating when you should be Qom or at least top three.

 I was working on my portals, even though nobody else is doing that. So, it is just me trying to see which ones I can put under 20, under 30, and under 60 minutes. When I get a faster bike, maybe I will try the Epic to go under 20 or my Makuri Q that got stolen by a cheat. I know I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. I worked extremely hard on that one just to reclaim it from a different cheater. They just coast along at either 35 kg's or push at 399 watts steady uphill and down. Of course, Zwift can put up that "Oh no, you must have missed your calling" warning and keep that person off the leaderboards or give that little triangle cone. But, guess what? It still counts as 'legit' on Strava. At least, Rouvy has implemented a good solution. (Occasionally, a ride slips through the crack but that happens on Zwift portal 50 percent climbs as well.)

I'm at 984,000 meters climbing (plus 50,000 Rouvy), so I will hit the zwift million soon. I am just catching up on my portal climbs. I skipped a few and I did some just at tempo to race the descent (Hey, it's a thing in some areas, lol.) But, you can not race down if you put in a pr on the climb. Why? Because if you go too fast on the downhill, Strava computers will track your speed and flag your ride. I hit 111 kph by sprinting down a steep section and that's what happens. So, lesson learned. 

Today was great. I was just a half second slower than the leader on Domancy portal. Thrilled. Too bad I didn't get one more feather. I also did a 786 for ten second sprint but my file didn't save? I still got a picture. But, I may go again. I ran my 7 or 8 gear, that's 50 x 14 I think. So cool. One more ride to close out the month. I still need Honda, Crow and maybe Willamunga to bring down my times.

Finally got the Mary climb under thirty minutes. It seemed so long at the half-way point. Then, the final section was all red. I just kept hoping the peak was closer, but I made it, just barely. I was really our of gas, just a few seconds burst before fading. I don't really want to do this one again, ever. But, maybe that is why I should. It is a half hour time trial for me. Good enough. November is finished. Eight years of pain and joy.

Love you all.

Zee takes on Xert

 Let's see what this AI training tool can do.

At first it is telling me to try my six minute max to top 296. That sounds hard. I have a new workout to try (if it loads to Zwift as promised). 

I've noticed that the daily recommended ride can be strange, often not working toward my goals. I did manage to find a good workout or two, but you must schedule when to do that ride. If you look for it the next day, it will have disappeared and you will have to search for it, then reschedule that for that day. In other words, a pain in the tushie.

Some workouts seem too easy (way too low) and some seem way too hard (too many repetitions at a high level). Either it thinks I am super human with instant recovery or it is , like others, suggesting rides that healthy young men can do.

I did have a great ride on a short climb and took second place. 275 for 12 minutes is pretty good for me.

I still have a few more weeks, but I don't think I would pay for an Ai library of workouts. Just upload and review your best ride of every month. That should do it.

Another day...and the wrong workout was there. I scheduled a workout but it never appeared, even though the app said it was ready and there on Zwift. So, I did my own version of it mentally, without Xert. It was more of my own that their workout. Now, I'm taking this work into the Galibier. (but Zwift has the South road when the North road is where all of the excitement is. On Rouvy, I grabbed second place behind of course, Illi Gardner. To me, that's a big victory. (there is a very limited amount of people on Rouvy) But, I will be ready for this. Then, I plan to attempt an all out six minute climb because Xert says I am one of the best in this field. (What would I have to do in a minute to impress them? I'm still a great minute rider and can pretty much win this as an event. (Except the holy trinity of McCarthy, Fuhrer, and Guerra)

Yesterday I had a great ride and Xert said so, but didn't say why? Was it my sprint or my 20 minute effort to finish the Galibier with a Qom? Doesn't say. But, I averaged 260 for 24 minutes. I could have done a bit more if I had more power boosts or red zones. It was mostly orange with just a few short yellow and blue sections. I have ridden most of the climbs. However, I rode some at threshold just to race the down climb. (Crazy, I know). Partly, the reason is if I race to the top, then race to the bottom, a flag for going too fast on the downhill will also flag your entire ride. (Supposedly, you can cut the ride in half and resubmit the climb only part, but that sounds a bit too much. The one time, I just resolved to wait a week and redo that climb.

Now, looking over my climb history, I have a lot of hills to ride at full effort. I have three short climbs, 5 middle climbs and 5 big climbs. I'll never get done. I won't hit my million meters this year because I spent 3 months on Rouvy. Otherwise I would be well over my goal this year. I think I did close to 50K on Rouvy climbing all of the Vuelta climbs.

My final vote on Xert? Needs to be a whole lot better. AI can not do what a real life coach can do. The designers have not polished their product before release and have added nothing to warant a huge price increase. Sorry. This isn't half as good as Training Plans was. Training Plans seemed to die because they refused to lower their price which could have grown their customer base ten fold. They were stuck on this, "We need to make this much profit from the number of current subscribers." Well, now you know.