“eBike ride” by Alastair Smith is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
An article by Lloyd Alter of Treehugger speaks to the growing popularity of ebikes in the wake of COVID. Many finding it a healthier alternative to public transportation.
Category: Cycling
Ebike Intrest Spikes
People are finally starting to get interested in ebikes and electric bikes according to google trends and this article from bikebiz.
This is very encouraging. With more people on bikes that means less people in cars, which in turn equals better air quality and health for everyone!
Live Streaming Zwift
Shane did a great job going over how to live stream zwift below. I’d really like to do this someday. I really should not have gotten rid of all my podcasting gear, it would come in handy for this. Cycling desks are sold out on Amazon, I need a laptop and a microphone to make this set up work. The green screen would be really cool too.
Zwift Parlee Speed Mission
That’s right she is a beauty, isn’t she! Hidden cabling, full-carbon, and SRAM Red eTap AXS. This amazing bike comes in at just under $13,000. Ouch! Not something I could ever afford. But this month, I (or you) could win this superlight, amazingly fast bike on Zwift. But like everything on Zwift, you have to work for it. In order to be eligible for the sweepstakes, you need to enter the mission on the site and also complete 250km (155 miles) before 4/16.
In addition, to be entered to win the bike you will also get 100,000 drops. You can use the drops to help you buy the in-game version of the Parlee R27 or anything else you want from the drop shop. I’ll be focusing on getting this bike this week and of course, riding the Cervélo Gravel Rush Series which will have ride 3 on Thursday. Good luck and ride on!
Zwifting with Tony Kanaan
How the Race was Lost | Crit City Race
I have a few goals for fitness that are monthly:
- 1 Race
- 1 Alp Du Zwift Climb
- 170 miles
Today was race day. It was my first race in Crit City. I did the Bell Lap. It was fairly flat but had short hills up to 9% incline, that you had to power up when you are already pushing as hard as you can. A very difficult route!
I entered division D, which is 1-2.4 w/kg. My average according to Zwift Power was 2.2. So pretty good, but it only got me 28th.
I think I pushed pretty hard, at least for me. I ended up increasing my FTP to 171, not necessarily what I wanted to do because now I have to keep up with that during workouts!
In the Zwift Power results, you can see a few sandbaggers or folks that should probably be in a division C race. If we take out those who had power over 2.4, I would have finished second!
Sandbagging describes someone who underperforms (usually deliberately) in an event.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbagging_(racing)
All in all, I’m pretty happy with these results. Ride on!
Cervélo Gravel Rush Series – Week 2
Today’s workout was part of the Cervélo Gravel Rush Series. Week 2, in fact. I did the week 1 ride last Thursday. Week 1 was the Road to Ruins Route (18.4 miles, 905 ft. elevation climb). It was a tiring ride. Not to mention the fact that even though these are “rides” and not races, everyone treats them as races, even Zwift.
They list your position in the group, which of course brings out the competitive side of all these type A people (I include myself in there). As you can see, I am as slow as molasses. This is the last lap and I’m about to finish in the image above.
During week 1 we rode the gravel bike Cervélo Áspero and on Week two we rode it again, but on the Jungle Route (13.3 miles, 542 ft. elevation climb).
Week 3 will be the Road to Ruins route again, but on the Cervélo R5, a road bike. That ride will be 18.4 miles and 905 ft. elevation climb, just like week 1. Then on week 4 we get to choose what we want to ride and that will be Road to Ruins again.
I’m doing this series for the kit, I like to collect the kit in the game, but mostly for the chance to win a real Cervélo Áspero bike. Everyone who finishes al four events (each week) will be entered to win this sweet gravel ride. It’s a beautiful bike!
Two more weeks to go. Today after finishing week 2 I got the kit. Now, I just need to get the bike! I love that Zwift is doing these series and running sweepstakes for the bikes. But you have to earn it. See you on the virtual trail! Ride on!
1st Meetup in Zwift
Today I tried my first meetup in Zwift. Here is a how-to from Zwift Insider if you want to try it out too. A couple of things I learned, if your friends are late even 1 second after start time, they will miss the ride. Also, I did our ride on a route that I had not yet gotten a badge for to see if I could do the ride and get credit for the route. The answer there is no. The route you choose on the meetup, you will not get a badge for. For visual learners here is a great how-to from the Lama:
Tour of Watopia | Stage 4 – Shorter Ride
Stage 4 of Watopia started yesterday. This ride is the shorter one at 18 miles. Some good elevation here that helped me towards my tron bike. My progress towards that bike has been and continues to be very slow. I’m just not a climber. According to the simple trendline added here, it looks like June or July before I get the tron bike.
This was a fun ride but a little too similar to the Absa Cape Epic Race that I did just two days ago which was two laps around the jungle. Today was 3 laps. Both on mountain bikes. Today I was forced onto one with the race started which is fine, thats the best bike on this route anyway.
I listened to the Zwiftcast that was recorded on 3/19 on this ride. It was just long enough as I’m a very slow rider.
Return to Earth
Here is a great short travel mountain biking movie on Amazon Prime. Something to watch during our increased time at home. It’s called Return to Earth.