Zwift Group Ride - Getting Dropped

Gav888

Hi guys,

Is anyone any good at maths haha...

So, I was doing a sub 2.0w/kg group ride which was an hour long, but about half way through my computer froze for a moment, not sure why, but when I got it working again I was 2min behind the group, and for the remainder of the ride I was working my hardest to try and catch up but I just couldn't gain any ground on the group. I was riding at about 200w, yeah not great but I'm working on it.

So it got me wondering, if the group is riding at 2.0w/kg for an hour, which is about 150w average for me, and I lost 2 minutes to the group, with 30min remaining, what effort would I need to do to catch up to the group again?

Is there a online 'get dropped' calculator to give you some rough ideas to know if its achievable to catch up or to just give up and try again another day?

Cheers

norvernrob

If some of the people in the group were 100kg then they'll have been riding at 200w anyway, assuming it was flat they'd be doing the same speed as you so you never would have caught them.

If they were riding to an identical wattage then that's different. The difference between 150w and 200w is around 2mph (looking at a few cycling calculators), so in 30 minutes you should have gained 1 mile on a group riding at 150w, assuming the lead riders weren't exceeding that.

At 17mph the group is covering a mile every 3.5 minutes, so in theory at 2 minutes behind you should have caught them well before the 30 minute mark, more like 18-20 minutes.

fenix

I got dropped on a London ride the other night - was messing round with the turbo at the start and they all shot off. (so realistic !) I had to chase for 20 mins and only caught them when they hit Box Hill and the big units slowed down.

Never give up - the practice will do you good !

peat

Fenix wrote:

I had to chase for 20 mins and only caught them when they hit Box Hill and the big units slowed down.

How does that work then? There's no gravity to slow them down.

Ben6899

Peat wrote:

Fenix wrote:

I had to chase for 20 mins and only caught them when they hit Box Hill and the big units slowed down.

How does that work then? There's no gravity to slow them down.

W/kg and Zwift's algorithm(s) for virtual gradients.

peat

These compooters eh. Clever. Skynet will kill us all.

fenix

Damn right - Zwift has tried its best to kill me.

One thing I found out last night isnt that realistic is that I waited at the top of a descent for the rest of the group to catch up. I was slow setting off again and all the big riders flew down the hill. I was off the back for ages. They assume everyone can blitz round corners at 50mph.....

roubaixmb

It's likely that at least some at the front were riding at more than 2w/kg. Don't ask me why, but on a 3w/kg ride I did last night the leading group were riding at 5w/kg at times. Dumb trainers also play a part.

darkhairedlord

try getting some miles in the legs by riding on the road; this would be good practice for practising on your trainer.

fenix

:-)

Zwift won't replace the road for me - but I can be on Zwift and get a good session in much easier than I can on a winter's night battling traffic. Weekend rides outside are the payoff for the work in the week in the garage. Well that and cake.

fat daddy

dont forget the draft .... the group will be travelling a lot quicker than you at the same watts .. the amount of times I have been caught napping spat out the back of a ride and had to get out the saddle and sprint to get back in the back before its too late

2 mins is a lot to catch up on if the group is riding at your tempo ... you will need to be riding at your threshold to be catching them

MiddleRinger

If the group is particularly large then the draft effect can be massive, giving the bunch a huge speed boost over riding solo (just like the the real world only stronger). So if you fall off the back of the bunch you'll require some big wattage efforts to get back to them. And you can't soft pedal or coast a little once you're in the middle of the bunch either like you could on the the road, that'll have you spat out the back!

Take the Aussie Hump Day ride for example; it's a 2.5w/kg cruise but with 300+ riders at times in the bunch if you let a gap form off the back it's pretty much impossible to chase back on again!

MiddleRinger

darkhairedlord wrote:

try getting some miles in the legs by riding on the road; this would be good practice for practising on your trainer.

Yep. I do all my training for Zwift on the road. 8) lol

dowtcha

Just close zwift, open the app again and you can rejoin the group.

darkhairedlord

Can you not get a tow from the team car while your rear derrailiur is adjusted.

roubaixmb

darkhairedlord wrote:

Can you not get a tow from the team car while your rear derrailiur is adjusted.

We are not worthy