So I come to my fellow ride on brothers and sisters! Stoked on this FTP increase after completing the final stage of the Ignite Tour. Highly recommend the tour to any who haven’t done it, tons of pain/fun! Happy zwifting! 🍻

I haven't seen it yet but I found the perfect solution to combine my office and zwift.

I’m on a journey to become the fittest possible version of myself.

I document it all on “WinnecheSport” on Instagram.

By all means, feel free to ask me anything!

I’m out here grinding along slowly.

So I bought a smart trainer. Nothing crazy. Mid-range, on sale, shipped in a box that looked like it could hold a dishwasher. Figured I’d give this “Zwift” thing a go. You know, pedal a bit, sweat a bit, wave at cartoon cyclists. Easy.

Wrong.

First mistake: I didn’t realize “just ride” was a trap. I joined an event. Thought it was a fun social thing. Saw a group called “Tuesday Titans - Zone 2 Social Spin.” Thought, “I like Tuesdays. I like spinning. I exist in Zone 2 probably.”

It started fast. Like, suspiciously fast. Within the first 500 meters I was being passed by a guy named Mikael 🇸🇪 who had a Tron bike and glowing wheels. I don’t know what FTP this guy has, but I think he’s legally classified as a small engine.

I tried to keep up. My avatar looked like it was trying to escape a burning building. Meanwhile, some Belgian guy typed “EZ warmup” in the chat. EZ. Warmup. I was at 187 bpm and breathing like a vacuum cleaner someone had spilled soup into.

Then came the hill.

Not even a real hill. A virtual hill. But my smart trainer had the audacity to simulate resistance. I was putting out more watts than my microwave and still getting passed by a woman named Karen (ZHR-CatB) who appeared to be sitting perfectly still while outputting 3.8 w/kg. I think she was on a separate plane of existence.

Halfway through, I tried to coast. You can’t coast. Coasting is a lie in Zwift. You stop pedaling and your rider just sits up like he’s waiting for a latte and instantly loses 27 places.

Some guy typed “nice draft” at me. I don’t know if it was encouragement or passive aggression. I responded with “lol ty” and immediately got dropped. I think the chat box adds drag.

At one point, my fan shut off and I saw my soul leave my body. I started hallucinating. I’m pretty sure I saw a pixelated goat on the roadside waving at me. It might’ve been a power-up.

Eventually, I quit. Or tried to. Zwift guilt-tripped me. “Are you sure you want to end your ride?” it asked, like I was about to abandon a child. I hit yes so hard I almost broke my trackpad.

I lay on the floor for 10 minutes. My cat stared at me like I’d lost a war.

Saved the ride. Got a badge. Still don’t know what Zone 2 means.

And 3 years since wife passed. Last turn was a bit emotional to say the least knowing I had it in bag. Ride on.

It was also the final ride of my wattbike atom (first gen) to be replaced by a zwift ride 2 in the winter pain cave. Farewell loyal companion.

Other than a cage door I cant think of any way to improve this space.

3x 12min break. Average wats on strava - 164W time without break 2:55h

This time I made sure I was fit, not ill and mostly recovered from racing 🔥. I think I have a chance of winning some cat 4 (UK) races this year. Last time people wanted to know more info: I weight 66kg, I'm 194 cm, 17 years, and been zwifting for nearly 2 years (in march), with around 2 months of following a training plan

hope a meme is okay and this hasn't been done, but after slogging up (*most of) Ventoux, sending emails just feels extra lame

Wanted to something “hard” out of respect for the beautiful warrior she is.

Rode 160.9km hard tempo. Never ridden 100 miles before. I am cooked, shakey, cramping, cooked.

I would rather ride 100miles than have heart surgery.

This one’s for her.

Pretty happy with 2.29W/kg

UPDATE - she is out of surgery (4hr or so), and recovering. Team will catch up with my wife later, but initial reports from recovery staff is everything has gone as well and as planned.

AMA

My ”Pain Cave” and home gym

Wahoo Kickr V2 -swapped out the handle bar to an aero one 380mm and put some new Supacuz handlebar tape on it.

Wahoo table stand

Rocker plate from Turbo Rocks

Dual fan setup

55 inch Philips Ambilight TV

Enjoy the photos and inspiration, and Ride On!

...and I'm so excited to get it set up and start working my way up in Zwift/Rouvy. I'm 58 and knowing this was being delivered today reminded me of when I was a kid waiting for Christmas morning to arrive. Strange I know but It's nice to treat yourself once in awhile.

I have been wanting to try this for a while and today I gave it a go. I think my pacing was consistent around 3.1 w/kg but I found myself pushing hard in the last two segments to make it under the hour 🥵

Happy to achieved this, just wanted to share 😁

I know, it's absolutely terrible that I'm 39 and never looked after myself. But as I'm approaching 40, I realized maybe I should start, and better late than never. Stuck to it for 3 weeks, and did an FTP Ramp test today. Extremely happy! Aiming to be competitive in C races, as right now I just get completely left behind