Indoor Cycling – Weekly Review September 30th – October 6th 2019

Each week Zwift sends me an email summarising my activity for the week. For previous weekly reviews click here.

This week started off strong, but then tapered off.

I don’t really feel bad about this.

The first three rides of the week were all good. 30 laps of Canary Wharf through RGT Cycling felt harder than 30km on Zwift, in my opinion.

Also, whilst the course was enjoyable, going round the same kilometer 30 times was a little tedious towards the end. I question how RGT Cycling would work at scale. By which I mean if you 1000 riders online, and say 500 of them are all on Canary Wharf, what would my frame rate be like?

I’m aware Zwift tackle this problem with a 100 rider limit. That is to say, if you are on a ride with 500 other riders, you will only ever see – at most – 100 riders around you. Check the minimap if you doubt this. As riders get further away from you – either in front or behind – they will disappear. This is pretty noticeable when riding with a beacon, and it looks like the beacon is riding solo if you’re a long way in front.

On Tuesday I continued on with Zwift’s FTP Builder program. There’s nothing much I can say about this other than it’s a decent workout that is gradually getting a harder. By harder I mean the intensity and length of the intervals are creeping up over the weeks.

At this point, however, I think another FTP test may be in order. It’s a while now since I last did one, and I am hoping – maybe naively – that my FTP may have increased, if only slightly.

That said, I’m not much fancying the idea of doing that test ever again. Feel like it might kill me.

Wednesday’s ride was supposed to be a little easier, but turned into a bit of a harder ride than planned. I really like the “rider’s choice” option. Essentially it gives you a completely flat surface, which is perfect for practicing keeping a steady cadence over X minutes.

I had planned to race on either Friday or Saturday. But Friday had very little to offer in the times I could attend, and likewise Saturday afternoon looked light on the ground also.

In the end I decided a few days off the bike would be no bad thing.

On Sunday I took part in the 3R Watopia Flat Route Race – 4 Laps (40.5km/25.1mi 216m) (C) race. With 3 days off the bike I had hoped to perform a little better.

The graph gives it away. Unfortunately my performance really wasn’t that great. I tried, what I thought, was my best, but comparatively speaking it wasn’t anything to write home about.

For the week ahead I’m not entirely sure what my plan will be.

I will very likely ride one of the FTP Builder workouts later this evening to kick start my week.

A ride on a new RGT Cycling map is a strong possibility for tomorrow.

Aside from this, I have no set schedule.

I’m definitely feeling like I’ve hit a plateau at 195w. Mentally, I cannot comprehend how I can ride harder than I did in my last FTP test over 20 minutes. The graph also is strongly suggesting I’m making only very marginal upward gains.

What I haven’t done in a very long time is used Zwift’s free ride functionality without doing anything else. When I first started on Zwift, all I did was free rides. I’m wondering if because I was on and off the saddle so much, that skewed my early progress? It looks as though my last major progression came towards the end of May.

Hmmm. If anything, after this week’s review I feel more confused than clarified.