The guest map on Zwift today was Richmond. Cobbly, wobbly Richmond.
I woke late today, sleeping in for 15 minutes longer than planned. Tut tut.
On the plus side, the circuit was short – 5.1km as best I recall. But immediately it started with Cobble Stones. And on the Tacx Neo 2, you know about it. Each pedal forwards is greeted with a “zzzz” buzz through the bike frame and into your buttocks. It’s not unpleasant, but I much prefer the smooth friendly road.
About half of the 5.1km Richmond flat circuit is cobbles. I can’t say I saw too much of the scenery as I was head down, eyes closed, pushing because I had too, not because I wanted to.
My workout this morning was less intense than yesterday. This wasn’t intentional, but a couple of things got in my way.
Excuses?!
Firstly, I’d been woken at 3am by my youngest, applying creams and helping her fall back asleep (as much as I can, anyway).
Secondly, I’ve been harping on about how great Zwift is to my wife, and keep urging her to have a go. My wife, who is undoubtedly fitter than me, primarily complains that the seat on my bicycle is much too high. She may well be right, as I can’t say I’ve adjusted it since the bike arrived from the shop.
Last night I lowered the seat a touch, and we both had a short pedal about. I felt it would probably be OK for me, so left it at that height. Well, within 3 minutes of riding this morning, my left knee in particular felt really weird, like it was compressing or something.
I therefore had to stop, dismount, adjust, and get back on. All whilst being already late to the party. It messed up my rhythm honestly, but I’m not suggesting this is an excuse for my performance.
All in, Richmond has to have been the flattest route I’ve ridden yet. It was also the least inspiring. That said, it was also, I think, the busiest. My iPad did just fine with 10+ riders on screen at any one time. I have been curious as to how the iPad would hold up in terms of graphics and performance, would it lag or stutter? So far, it’s been absolutely great, a credit to the developers at Zwift.
I think I managed two full circuits this morning. I intentionally pushed past 10.2km, as I thought the circuit was 5.1km. Zwift could make it more obvious as to when I have completed a lap. That, I think, would be helpful.
Everything about my ride this morning felt less intense than yesterday. I’m not getting disheartened about this. I’m going to give it another go tomorrow (I think it’s London map again), and if I’m still dropping off then I will have a rest day on Sunday.
Lastly if you have a Tacx Neo 2, there is an app in the App Store (or the Play Store, but more on that in a moment) that is called The Tacx Utility. Installing this on any device that has bluetooth will allow you to update the firmware (mine was already at the latest) or more fun, test out all the different types of surface that the Neo can simulate.
I urge you to try the cattle grid at 100% intensity. VRRRRRRRRRR. What fun.
That said, I had no end of trouble trying to get the Tacx Utility to work on my HTC Android phone. This isn’t specific to that app, sadly. Most apps give me grief and I don’t know why – something about “Screen Overlay Detected”… whatever the hell that means. It worked perfectly, and first time, on the iPad.
Right-o, I’m off to let me legs recover and have a nice cup of tea