will be there today from 9:30 to 10:30ish am. join me if you can.

Jim, I added Yacks as a friend on Zwift but forget how. Maybe after he gave me a "thumbs up" during a ride? So the last time I jumped on a ride and he was already on I was given the choice whether to join him or not. I tried that option but it didn't work maybe because he was already moving fast on another ride?

David Yang said:

Jim, I added Yacks as a friend on Zwift but forget how. Maybe after he gave me a "thumbs up" during a ride? So the last time I jumped on a ride and he was already on I was given the choice whether to join him or not. I tried that option but it didn't work maybe because he was already moving fast on another ride?

Use the app on your phone to "friend" people, need to find them while riding that is the tricky thing.

this is great resource 

http://www.titaniumgeek.com/cycling/zwift-user-manual-unofficial-running-updates/

Am I allowed to make jokes about the complexity of "friending" teammates on the Sunday GWB group ride on this thread? #showup

Seriously though, Zwift does seem like a pretty cool option for the time crunched. Back in the day, we'd bring our trainers and bikes to someone's basement, line 'em up, pop in a VHS of some World Cycling Productions wideo complete with terrible music and ride.

Vorsprung durch technik, Marc!

The joke is that everything is a beta release product and that you have paying customers do the QC and testing for you

David Yang said:

Vorsprung durch technik, Marc!

The joke is that everything is a beta release product and that you have paying customers do the QC and testing for you

Or in this case the product design

[spoiler]

H8rz gonna h8!

"Why do you keep going to that poker game and losing money when you know it's crooked?"

"Because its the only game in town!"

Yesterday I was cruising along for a while after my workout session and Greg Avon came rolling by. I asked him if he was planning on promoting some Zwift races but he wasn't having it.

Every time I've logged on in the past few weeks there have been at least 700 others and occasionally as many as 1100. How many paying members do we think there are? Assume an average of at least 500 riding at all hours of the day and assume each one rides for two hours = 6000 per day. If everyone rides every other day and my math is approximately correct then maybe 12,000 members. Even rounding down to 10,000 that seems high to me. But if its any lower than that I don't see how the business model works with only subscriptions. 

Out of those 10k, how many are actually paying vs free trials via Zwift or Strava?

As far as biz models go, they are tapping into a very specific demographic and once member/user count reaches critical mass they will be able to leverage it as an advertisement and brand or service platform with partners that cater to that demographic.

I think it is a ood idea with somewhat of a clumsy execution. I will be a paying customer after my Strava trial runs out for the rest of the winter months at least.

it'll be hard to know for a little while how succesful Zwift will be as a business. There are many details. Like any startup, they are burning money, will they be able to turn a profit, and how long will it take, remains to be seen.

But make no mistake, from a high level product perspective, they absolutely cracked it.

Zwift is a complete and absolute game changer. This is barely the beginning, but riding a trainer will never be the same.

In anticipation for this weekend's predicted SNOWMAGEDDON how about a Kissena group ride on Zwift?

I'm down for that.

BTW, I was just on and saw Charlie I in the group.

We should hold a virtual KCC championship in place of the one we didn't have for 2015.

UCI Women’s World Tour team Canyon-SRAM will partner with Zwift and use the social fitness platform to help pick a member of its squad in 2017.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/01/the-path-to-a-professional-cycling-contract-may-be-in-your-living-room-canyon-sram-and-zwift-launch-talent-identification-competition/

hunter on indoor vs outdoor power
https://youtu.be/wX8zhOrsOpg

Makes sense to me....I try and do 20 minute intervals at 270-280 watts indoors...my race watts are always higher....me's thinks the indoor stuff with resistance all the way around actually makes me stronger than just riding outside...sort of like riding a fixed gear...anyway I've always been my fittest after a winter of heavy indoor riding.

With the winter storm becoming more and more likely I propose meeting at the start line at 8am and rolling out at 8:05 as we would normally do from Brooklyn Bridge.

At the start of the race should be a list of riders you can ride with.  I'll try to be online early enough so that people can look for me (same name, under the Korean flag).  I've never tried the "chat" function, but if ya'll are into it, I'm happy to set up a Google Hangout and we can talk/vid conference that way.

twoyacks said:

Makes sense to me....I try and do 20 minute intervals at 270-280 watts indoors...my race watts are always higher....me's thinks the indoor stuff with resistance all the way around actually makes me stronger than just riding outside...sort of like riding a fixed gear...anyway I've always been my fittest after a winter of heavy indoor riding.

Yes, a thousand times yes. Other than short sprints, I despise doing all structured interval workouts outside. Back in the day, when I was training and racing in the Scottsdale, AZ "region;" they had miles and miles and miles of traffic light free 2-3% grade roads that were a reasonably good substitute for the precision of the trainer. But out here? Not so much.

David Yang said:

With the winter storm becoming more and more likely I propose meeting at the start line at 8am and rolling out at 8:05 as we would normally do from Brooklyn Bridge.

At the start of the race should be a list of riders you can ride with.  I'll try to be online early enough so that people can look for me (same name, under the Korean flag).  I've never tried the "chat" function, but if ya'll are into it, I'm happy to set up a Google Hangout and we can talk/vid conference that way.

I'm micro dosing the second I hit send...

I can't believe I called it "race". It's a RIDE.

Hey guys,
I want to try and get on Zwift, I have a Kickr, Stages, Garmin Edge and MAC laptop...is there something else I'm missing...what is a 'dongle' can I purchase that online or at Best Buy? Help...Im not the greatest when it comes to technology...

Hey Julie, This is what you need:

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-USB-Stick-Fitness-Devices/dp/B00CM381SQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453481847&sr=8-1&keywords=Garmin+USB+ANT+Stick+for+Garmin+Fitness+Devices

Use the Kickr and the MAC. You may want a USB extension cord to get the dongle closer to the Kickr.

Have fun.

I think if you download the app you can use it as a Bluetooth proxy for your power meters/trainers on Zwift (would also have to be connected to the same WiFi network

Julie,

Sounds like you have almost everything you would need. Here are the couple of bits missing:

• Download Zwift on your mac http://zwift.com/free-trial/
• you need a way for the data from the Kickr or stages to speak to the computer, as suggested simply get a ANT+ dongle: This one is cheaper and just as good as the Garmin suggested above
• Consider an USB extension cord -- not a requirement, but nice to have.

A couple of additional comments:

In theory, you can use both the stages and the kickr at the same time -- when setting up, use stages as your power meter, and the kickr as your smart trainer. They make it kinda easy to do manage this. In reality you only need one, the kickr is the better source, but not worries if you only get the stages to run.

I had the expensive ant+ garmin dongle, but it is so tiny I lost it. So got the cheaper one, which works great, I also got the USB extension cable as a way to make it bigger and easier to find.

So with the app do you still need a dongle?

Ok...awesome...thanks guys!

BTW I connect via a Suunto dongle - works fine and slightly cheaper than the Garmin one.  They're just little antenna dongles so there should be no real functional difference whichever one you get.

Hope it works out and we see you on Sunday! (or sooner, I'll be on tonight.)

gonna jump on at 8AM. Roll at 8:05 as @David Yang said.