I "joined the ride" and was on the trainer by myself until about 3 minutes before the start and then something decided to refresh and I was booted off. I think it was because I hadn't turned on Zwift for a couple months and it needed to update.....

So then I joined on my iphone (that's when you saw me momentarily) but that really sucked so i restarted the computer and went hunting for you guys after I got back on.

Anyway, fun ride. I am out of shape but the time went by quickly. 

I'll have to figure out the voice chat thing with you guys. 

I didn't but I think I was looking at my phone. Also zwiftblog.com led me to believe that taking no action once the button appears results in joining the ride. This is apparently not correct? 

Hmm it worked for me other times automatically but this morn I clicked the button to make sure.

I'm getting stoked to join some of these rides in a week or two when we're landed in the North.

Where do people have trainers set up? I am trying to figure out a way to ride these but 5:45am in our apartment is no-go. May try hijacking the building playroom and tap phone for internet. It's that or the roof deck—Joe Meuller (ex-Kissena) used to ride his trainer in a courtyard, even during snow!  

JohnMalcolmson said:

Where do people have trainers set up?

A very quiet trainer could help too. I use a 1up usa, and while it is not the best trainer out there, it has lasted forever, and it is stupid quiet, the bicycle drivetrain will be louder.

you guys work out the bugs...Yacks is still down for maintenance....feel like I got his by this

Trainer is important... Some are noiseless.  Google eddy current bicycle trainer or something like that. It was on bikerumor a couple months ago

Kickr is not quiet but mine is in a separate room on a thick mat I bought on Amazon. Haven't been zwifting long enough for neighbors to complain. I also know that their kitchen is below my trainer 

I keep pushing it, but if you have a rear tire on a roller type fluid trainer, a trainer specific tire quiets it down significantly. The fans inhave going and my heavy breathing are louder for sure.

A thick mat and wireless BT type earbuds also help keeps things personal.

John, how about your entry way/foyer? Not totally removed from the living room, but if you have a little folding table or even like a music stand if you access via iPad, it could work?

I don't suggest you use your phone LTE as a hotspot. First it's basically an MMO platform so chews up data. Second the ping latency of cell tower connections would create enough of a lag compared to a broadband (W)LAN.

Hoping a later start time during weekends gives you all more opportunity to join in.

Thanks all for the suggestions, good tips in there. I have the horse mat and my Kickr on ERG mode which is moderate noisy, It's still just loud enough to wake our son who'll want to party.

Re the LTE data suck David, Zwift says "A 4G connection should be fine to run Zwift. For cost purposes it might cap out at 200mb/hour depending how many riders are on and such." — I can deal with that once a week. 

With the kickr I find more rpm in the flywheel  is noisier. Erg mode can create weirdness and excess noise if you don't mind your cadence gear combo. If you're going to use erg mode just stop pedaling so fast and it will get quieter 

john i think earplugs for the baby are the only solution.

Weekend weather looking awful.  Virtual group riding sounds pretty pretty pretty pretty good.

Brendan Rigby said:

With the kickr I find more rpm in the flywheel  is noisier. Erg mode can create weirdness and excess noise if you don't mind your cadence gear combo. If you're going to use erg mode just stop pedaling so fast and it will get quieter 

With Erg mode you want a consistent and high cadence to adapt to resistance changes KICKR biffs at you (100rpm is good for intervals).

There's a kind of middle ground solution for KICKR users who want to have a *real world* experience and change gears, but not wind out the 53x11 getting dropped on downhills: http://zwiftblog.com/using-the-trainer-difficulty-setting-in-zwift/

I've been using 39x15/16 with the assumption that the flywheel/chain/pulleys aren't generating as much noise and chain isn't crossed. Like Brendan says, in big chainring the KICKR flywheel must be spinning faster if cadence is same. I *believe* less noise is produced, but flip-side is the small chainring wears more and the chain is stressed more (less teeth to pull on) than big chainring. Haven't found any gearing recommendations apart from keep chain straight. Maybe I should just get tattoos/aqua bike.

We might get a Kissena Zwift race for tomorrow!...stay tuned!

We're on like donkey kong!  Saturday Morning, 9:15am!  90 minutes on the London course:
http://zwift.com/events/view/4042

As posted earlier, a Discord chat server has been set up.  Probably works best with a bluetooth headset.
https://discord.gg/bB78d3m

good thing i'm going to a holiday party tonight.  going to be an interesting race!

I suggest getting in a warm up and to be prepared for pain right off the line.  Whether it is one of us or a non-club member joining the race, there will be at least one hammerhead that will pump out enormous watts right at the start.

How are KCC members identifying themselves?  Including KCC in their names?

@GregoryDonovan that's a good idea!  I think the standard is adding "(KCC)" after your last name to be easily identified with whatever group or club.

how do i join this ride?  just select the london course at 9:15?

when you login -- if close to 9am -- you will the see ride in the top right of the screen. just pick that you want to join, and zwift should take care of the rest.

will likely join at least for a little while.

I'm going to try also.

Just remember to click "Join" buton on the lower left corner of you get the prompt.

See you guys on there!

i missed the join prompt how do i find u guys?

did hit all the prompts and then, David, you passed me at 4.5 W/kg -- so I guess I joined the ride for about 3 seconds.

I logged in about 15 minutes early, joined the event and rode at the start line on a trainer until the whistle. Managed to stick with the front group for about 48 seconds and then Yang and I rode together with one or two others until Box Hill when I slipped back. Bruce was slowly pulling back time on me until I hit the hour mark (as Yacks came flying past) and had to climb off. I think this will be a good addition to the week, especially as we get into depths of winter. Hopefully we'll get a good KCC group and even if the Zwift 5w/kg monsters ride off the front we can compete amongst ourselves.

Yeah the watt monsters always hit the start at full on sprints. Next time maybe let's call a truce within KCC members for a warm up and then hit the whistle?

Greg hung out at the front and I filed it out several minutes behind with a Canadian guy for an hour. He eventually just out-ftped me and I finished solo, dying up box hill.

Sorry I missed you, Eloy and Yacks.

I botched the buttons...but i was able to join the 9:45 London ride...those guys were going fast....45 minutes at 3.5 watts per kil....according to the stages meter NOT the computrainer
I think I'll able to join the next one...

Nice to see you guys.  I was linked to my Stages and the first 4 minutes was around 320W just to watch you moving off the front, bye bye, and then 26 minutes between Sweet Spot and V02Max. 
On the downhills, Z doubled my speed, and on the uphills, cut it by 3/4.  No smart trainer for me.  I kept wanting to ease it back, and then it would show me that Jim was 54 seconds ahead, so I'd get out of my saddle to try and close the gap.  
The third time on Box Hill, I threw one of my bottles onto the couch to try and ease the weight.  It didn't help, but it did make me realize I wasn't thinking entirely straight after an hour and a half on the trainer.