My Stages watts read 257
https://www.strava.com/activities/824142419

Dropped my chain the first time over the climb and that was it.  Everyone else looked awesome!  Surprise participation of ex-Kissena Eric Ragot.

One thing they really need to do is have an official results board at the end of the race.

Something is up with your speed sensor.

Well... I got your result right here.....

yaks are you using a kickr or stages?

ragot stopped shortly after you david, he was apparently having issues w/ his power meters dropping out (apparently he was using both a kickr and another power meter at the same time?)...although ancedotally i will add he only dropped out after i'd gapped him by a minute, and did not show any sign of dropping out when he had a 30 second gap on me

the zwift racing is interesting but i'm with mr nelson, completely different than a real race.  it's really hard to get a feel for how to close a gap without passing the person, and also how to feel out when someone is temporarily pulling away and when they're going to stay away.  you're just not as connected to the road and the riders around you, but i guess that unavoidable...

the ending was weird.  there's no finish line, it's just distance traveled within the one hour. so i sprinted-ish the last 30 seconds and then sat up. everyone started passing me and i wondered if i'd done something wrong.

now to figure out how to find results

I'm using a computrainer.  I weigh 160 but set my weight on the game to 130 to compensate for the computrainer reporting power #'s that are 30 watts lower than the stages meter.  I'm told by JP that this is about right. My avg heart rate for that hour was 176...which is definitely race pace.
My power numbers indoors are way lower than an actual race #'s but this morning effort felt like a team time trial rather than a bike race.  It was a slow burn.  When I look at my graphs they are pretty much flat...not spikey at all.  

my HR was high and my perceived exertion was much higher than my power output zone-wise.  i think i'm sick.  i also think that indoors, the same power just feels harder than when you're out on the road watching everything whiz by

power meter variation is interesting. maybe next week i'll put my commuter (which has a quarq) onto the kickr and track power with both?

it seems like zwift rewards a TTT approach. also it's eays to just sit there and keep at a certain w/Kg because...it tells you what you're doing, unlike a race.

I've been sick but wanted to get in on the start so I could be in the running to win the Kickr drawing. I rode the hour but not at race pace.

Lots of results here:

http://www.zwiftpower.com/ and here http://www.zwiftnation.com/

Zwift has said they are working on official results functionality as well.

Over 3000 riders on course this morning. Most I've ever seen.

I tend to watch other riders power to weight in the window to see what kind of effort they are maintaining.  If I'm trying to bridge or if someone is coming up behind me I'll use their numbers to adjust my effort...so that is something you'll never use in a real race.

Agree that these "virtual" races don't feel like races and more like TTs.  I hate threshold workouts and realize that these are the only times I actually do them.

Great times this morning, I can't hardly walk right now but that's besides the point.

So taking in the comments from Brendan and Yackalack, I'm considering changing the Saturday race from timed (1 hour) to laps.  I think if we stay on the London course, 2 laps is something like 40 minutes of racing?  What do you think?

Or 3 laps for 60 minutes....

Sure.  I was factoring in +5 mins for neutral start and +5-10 minutes of cool down which would leave us with enough time for 2 laps without going over an hour.  But I am cool with 3!

For the Saturday race scenario I think warm up and cool down should be on our own time. Wednesday group ride can/should include both.

Cool, agreed.  I've got some questions out to Charlie and the Zwift folk and will have them update as needed.

Alert: new to zwift questions. Apologies if these have been answered up above. Do you all Ant+ dongle or do you bluetooth light or bluetooth zwift mobile link?

new kickr snap acquisition thanks to accumulated family holiday gift cards.

Started with the 7 day zwift trial. 2010 imac does have a big screen but doesn't have the right bluetooth. I've been zwift mobile linking via bluetooth with the zwift iphone app and monitoring ANT+ cadence and hr on the garmin. Sketchy irregular connectivity results b/w kickr and zwift. Sometimes zwift sees the kickr and sometimes it just keeps searching ugh.  Kickr firmware is updated. Followed all the guides and FAQs out there via zwift and wahoo and still have issues every time. Usually just reboot zwift and cross fingers it sees the kickr next time. Also finding it very hard to discern resistance increases with grade change, etc. (ERG mode is off).

Any tips to get consistent connectivity without the extra 40 buck spend or have you all already learned this lesson and are all just dongling? Does ANT+ solve all these issues? If so, seems very silly that it doesn't ship in the $600+ box.

Also how do I find you all in this thing?

If I understand, your Kickr and iMac don't communicate great(?)

If so, buy an ANT+ dongle for your iMac:
https://www.amazon.com/Anself-Compatible-Garmin-Forerunner-011-02209-00/dp/B00KNQG7RQ/

Also get a USB extension so you can get the ANT+ dongle closer to the Kickr:
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Extension-Cable-Male-Female/dp/B00NH12O5I/

All together about $25. Unless something else is happening, this should probably resolve most communication issues.

Good luck.

Thanks @eloy !

BTW "finding" anyone on Zwift is tricky.  So far the only way I've been able to do it is via the zwift mobile app while in close proximity with the person I want to follow.

I've posted details about the Kissena ride on Wed mornings and race on Saturday mornings.  Best time to find a bunch of us on there!

Good times on the training ride this morn.  Stages decided to crap out on me 15 minutes in but seems like everyone stayed on course and kept up the steady z3-z4 pace through the end.  I ended up z4-z5 to catch up but the 3 minute gap was too much to overcome.

Bruce, curious what your actual watts are when you're doing 3.5w/kg?  For a 150lbs rider like me that's only about 220 watts so I'm apologetic if my z3 is like a z5 for you or something.

Bruce, curious what your actual watts are when you're doing 3.5w/kg?  For a 150lbs rider like me that's only about 220 watts so I'm apologetic if my z3 is like a z5 for you or something.

I think your math is a bit off. 150lbs is 68kg making 3.5w/kg closer to 240.

I know cause when we ramp up to 3.5 - 4 w/kg and I am doing about 260 just to keep up it makes me cry a little bit (I'm also at about 150lbs). 

You're right I'm thinking of 3 w/kg @ 220.  250-270 actual watts is when it gets tough so that must be around 3.5-4 w/kg.

When we ramped up, I was between 300 - 320 for the 5 minutes.  I did not like that.  I had to use sponges to mop the mat after the ride.  
When your power cut out, it was the first, and probably the last time I was ever able to pass you.  I missed a full cadence cycle I was so surprised.  I don't know that there's a way to train for races that involves everyone around me getting a mechanical.

Good to see you guys this morning.  Jim you had a nice, steady pace out there.  I was never able to catch up, but it gave me motivation to keep going.  Though I think just getting on the trainer for 5:45am in January is kudos enough.

300-320 watts for 5 minutes??  And I'm asking you to do that every other 5 minutes???  You're a good sport, Bruce.  Damn.

Anybody interested in a mid morning zwift ride hit me up. I'm on Central time so 4:45am ain't gonna work...

Kissena race tomorrow at 9:15 AM

i'm going to try to do my workout tomorrow in the outdoors, but i will see you all sunday!

I'll be there.  Gonna try to mix it up so it's not just an hour of threshold, but we'll see!