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Updated
August 16, 2024
| By Bob Fugett
Zwift and my World Record 1-hr Time Trial
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Zwift, c'est le pire outil d'entraînement de précision mais le meilleur d'outil de
motivation.
zɥift se lə pi ʁu.ti
dɑ̃.tʁɛn.mɑ̃ də pʁe.si.zjɔ̃
me lə mɛ.jœʁ du.ti də mɔ.ti.va.sjɔ̃
Zwift is the worst precision training tool but the best motivational tool. - Bob
Fugett
Zwift Sucks
Zwift sucks as a training tool but shines as a motivational
tool.
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My Goal
World Record
steady state 465 watts
for 1 hour
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My Notes
B SLINGSHOT (on Zwift)
- IMPORTANT MESSAGE -
#####################################
# prioritize the maintenance of #
# position discipline #
#####################################
############
Ben
Williams ###########
#####################################
Unique Character of the World Record 1-hr TT
 
The World Record 1-hr Time
Trial in cycling has an extremely unique character.
For the world record deadlift
shown above, the weight is 1,104.52 pounds which is double the weight of the
piano shown beside.
Imagine replacing the barbell
plates with two pianos.
The average untrained
individual could not even begin to budge that weight.
Most sports records hold that
same level of inaccessibility for the typical person.
Now imagine replacing the
plates with two cycling water bottles such as the one shown mounted on the
bicycle above but each full of sports drink.
The amount of force required on the
pedals for the 1-hr record is equal to what is required snatching two
full water bottles off the floor and placing them on a table.
Virtually anybody can produce
such power pedaling a bicycle, easily, even without training.
Of course, there is the little
matter of holding that effort smooth, steady, and perfectly circular for one hour straight.
So that is what I am working on
here: a steady state 465 watts for one hour.
Nothin'to it!
Bad, Garmin... bad!
Just a quick word about problems beyond Zwift.
Primarily Zwift falls short as a repeatable, reliable,
precision training tool due to its: 1) lack of data persistence, 2) latency
in data transfer, 3) poor granularity in timeline reports.
Beyond the app's inherent imprecision, the tools we are using to
measure performance can exhibit similar problems themselves, adding to the
confusion with no clear
path to resolve the issue because manufacturers do not publish actual
specs.
The most fundamental problem we do know about is that all current measuring devices
have pitifully low sampling rates.
For example, I have my Garmin set to record my power output every second
(the fastest rate offered), people take it for granted but that is insanely
slow!
Even a lowly MP3 file can have a sampling rate of 24 kHz (24 thousand
samples per second), so a higher rate for power meters and head units
is not outside the realm of possibility.
Think about it, only 1 single reading per second vs
24,000... not to mention a careful listener can easily hear the difference
between a 24 kHz MP3 and a standard 44.1 kHz music CD, so power meters offer
only a beginner's guide toward full use of one's
haptic sense and
proprioceptors.
No wonder the "dead spot" myth persists.
And no wonder my Garmin easily misses data points, dropping
them out of the already wild and various algorithmic reports given by Zwift's delayed
take on the matter.
If automobile ABS braking systems tracked so poorly,
everyone would spend the first 3 hours of each morning reading about all of last night's deadly car crashes.
Thank goodness for floor exercises and my legacy Saris PowerAgent software.
| Torque:
--- Watts:
--- Speed:
--- Heart Rate:
---
Cadence: --- |
The front rider in the final ¼ mile of a competitive
club ride
shown holding Watts = 44.6 × Torque
Click for larger image
(Thanks to Kevin Haley for sending his ride file)
Trouble right here in River City
The video linked below uses another arcade game to provide a perfect glimpse at: 1) how Zwift works,
2) why it sucks as a precision training tool, 3) and why it shines as the
perfect motivational tool.
Here is the Zwift timeline report showing that I learned from my
first two failed attempts, set up perfectly for the third, called my shot
and took the game:
Click for larger
12/10/2021
Obviously Zwift caught the moment arm of my crank a half
second or so earlier than Garmin, but it could have just as easily gone the other way
and often does.
Neither Garmin nor Zwift have adequately high sampling
rates, so some data will always slip through the cracks.
But if you finished the video above, about the scam arcade
game, you may have noticed the kids don't give a shit about accuracy and
only want to keep playing.
Same for typical users of Zwift and power meters.
Fortunately for you, it is always possible to compare Zwift
and Garmin as part of your own precise
notes
just like I did.
And hopefully you will avoid letting such devices and
processes
sucker you into showing up in our nation's capital (more specifically at our
nation's capitol) and
wrecking
havoc.
In any case, all you really need is truthful feedback from correct
bodyweight floor
exercises... and to stop eating so fucking much!
Otherwise
Despite all the problems described above with Zwift, Garmin, and Power
pedals, it is possible to cobble together enough reliable,
repeatable data to be useful... if you look closely enough.
Below are screenshots of my Zwift workouts of 08/27/22 and
08/28/22.
They show averaged cadence intervals using a known gear
against a uniform and repeatable resistance.
Externally one more rpm in a given time frame is an improvement while internally a smoother graph is also an improvement.
These images are of four two-minute intervals, and they
define my program for the foreseeable future.
Image 1
Click for larger
08/27/22
Image 2
Click for larger
08/28/22
Image 3
Click for larger
08/28/22
Image 4
Click for larger
08/28/22
Note that Image 2 shows a marked improvement
in spin smoothness compared to Image 1 from the day
before.
The focus, however, is on the first minute of Image 3
(enlarged in Image 4), and it illustrates my goal for
the World Record 1-hr Time Trial.
That extra smoothness gave
me one extra Watt of power for one less rpm in cadence.
I will smooth my spin
until it is consistent throughout all intervals then
increase the interval times while decreasing the rests between until I
finally reach multiple 15 minute controlled intervals ─ eventually assembling them into a single 1-hour 110 rpm 465 Watt steady state
performance.
At this moment the power shown is
quite modest, but if I tried to increase power before correct smoothness is ingrained into muscle
memory, it would be irretrievably counter productive... see:
Impulse and Strength.
Below is a Poweragent graph of the smooth first 53 seconds
discussed above,
and it shows plenty of room for improvement:
| Torque:
--- Watts:
--- Speed:
--- Heart Rate:
---
Cadence: --- |
Image 5
Click for larger
08/28/22
Like I said, one has to carefully compare and contrast data
from both Garmin and Zwift (along with one's own haptic sense) to really see what is happening.
My process is to perform intervals with a known gearing
against a known resistance in the Zwift Velodrome... a route
that doesn't exist (yet), but I am a genius so devised my own.
I wish we had better tools for observation, but we have what
we have; plus most of the work can easily be accomplished with
floor exercises.
Musicians will recognize that what I have just described
is just exactly
this:
Major 6th set
click for video
Major 6th grab
click for video
CADENCE BASED GOALS AND RIDE CONTROL
09/05/22
The recent move to ride control via cadence in a known gear against a known
resistance has reliably proven that correct smooth pedal engagement at any
given cadence does in fact have a positive impact on power; such as results of today's ride
showing that a series of 2m 80c ints achieved in summary:
82c=151w, 149w, 146w
125h, 130h, 134h
then
81c=143w, 142w
140h, 143h
...with rising max watts due to struggle trying to hold cadence.
The efforts were not very hard physically but extremely hard mentally as in,
"OMG, another 10 minutes of this shit left? another 8, 6, 4, 2,
1... 30 seconds? Fuck!"
All were completed with mild breathing.
In order to formalize a training concept, I have coined a new use for the
following two terms:
external: the raw average cadence numbers for a given interval
internal: observable graphed pedal smoothness within interval
It has become quite obvious that for any given external average
(raw cadence), a smoother internal performance increases p/c
(power per cadence).
Power meters do not do a great job of reporting this truth, so I always
track my progress by observing both external and internal performance to
confirm improvement.
Below are my intervals abstracted by hand from a soft-pedal workout dated
09/07/22 in
my notes
(and Poweragent) but 09/08/22 on Zwift:
nt00: 2:03@ 68w[127] 44c[66] 95h[
97]
nt01: 2:01@107w[151] 61c[70] 106h[111]
nt02: 2:02@151w[200] 82c[85] 124h[131]
nt03: 2:02@110w[179] 64c[77] 126h[131]
nt04: 2:02@149w[217] 82c[95] 131h[138]
nt05: 2:01@105w[133] 63c[70] 131h[138]
nt06: 2:02@144w[203] 81c[88] 134h[139]
nt07: 2:02@104w[133] 63c[74] 134h[140]
nt08: 2:02@142w[201] 80c[85] 137h[143]
nt09: 2:02@103w[130] 62c[72] 136h[144]
nt10: 2:01@144w[194] 81c[91] 141h[147]
nt11: 8:47@ 95w[121] 58c[69] 129h[147]
Zwift actually can help make sense of these numbers but will not give
them to you on its own. See above:
Otherwise.
Filippo Ganna - 1 hour record 10/09/22
Quote regarding final 20
minutes of any given 1-hr attempt from video linked above:
"...prioritize the maintenance of position discipline." ─
Ben
Williams
WHY MY WORLD RECORD IS NOTHING LIKE GANNA'S
My 1-hr World Record TT is nothing like Filippo Ganna's shown in the
video linked immediately above; mine is better.
There is absolutely no way I could ever hope to compete
directly with Ganna.
First off, I will never come close to having enough money to
be given my own velodrome totally free of other riders for one
hour straight.
Even before considering the cost of custom lycra, aero-framed
wunderbikes, specially lubed chains, sweet wheels, extreme
helmets, support
teams, media production crews, officials and timers, I will
certainly never be mistaken for a member of the appropriate generationally wealthy status-group
in order to be given a chance to try.
It is unlikely I would even be allowed onto one of those board
tracks, given my obvious status as a homeless guy living under a
bridge where people are perennially afraid I will shake the
foundations.
That is not to say that I have put less than an embarrassing amount of money into my own basement pain-dungeon,
but all things considered it is still a pitifully tiny sum.
On the other hand my own setup is plenty good enough for my
own purposes because I have no interest in using my performance to
sell any other person's product.
I care not for the titanium skewer mongers and am interested
only in what I can achieve myself compared to a known reliable
and repeatable standard.
The UCI 1-hr record is nowhere near reliable, repeatable, nor
standard.
They wouldn't even let Ganna ride with an onboard power meter
in order
for him to check his performance in real-time and report those
facts worldwide, also in real-time.
My goal is merely to achieve a steady state 465 watts for one hour
straight, and my contention is that such a performance will
easily beat Filippo's TT effort.
The limits of human capacity for such a performance have long
since been settled science while the current record is based on
speed (as measured by wealth and equipment) not
power.
Comparing my own performance to Filippo's will always remain
an
impossibility, not to mention nobody (least of all me) has the
slightest interest in doing so.
I ride for myself, and that is all.
A comment in the video (26:10) referring to Ben Williams
statement, "In the final 20 minutes of any 1-hr attempt it is
crucial to prioritize the maintenance of position discipline,"
refers to something that has always been part
and parcel of my overall program.
But why should I wait for the final 20 minutes?
Holding one's form during the final quarter of a race was a
well known concept back when I ran the mile in high school (1960s), so my
1-hr program has always been based
on preparing for that final 20 minutes by means of a studied observation of
my every position throughout the day ─ every day.
Floor exercises, my friends, floor exercises.
********
08/15/24 emoB_M
subj: Zwift wins the coveted
Bob Fugett Nod for Persistent Data Award
txt:
Combined with my own memos I have used Zwift data to establish my next
goal which is to beat an all time Personal Record.
Shown below are my only two full Tempus Fugit loops, neither of which
documented a single unchanged gear.
I was monitoring watts.
I never document and give myself a PR for a Route unless it is a full loop
because such results would be too variable to be meaningful, so the
performances below are the best I have ever done.
However, the old rides below show that I am now within reach of completing a
full loop in my 6/11g@65c which will establish a new baseline for a little
more than 3/4 of my World Record 1-hr TT, and that will be an All
Time (not just recent) record.
You will notice my solidly improved performance in the three screenshots
below.
Please don't pop out an eyeball.
10/24/21
11/08/21
Now last night's 6/11g - 30m@65c:
O8/14/24
More to come lest I return to looking like this fella:
Never forget
from whence you've come.
Salvation Dungeon (The Zwift Velodrome)
Never forget from whence you've come, and never
go back.
Serotta Ottrott, Garmin 530, Powertap P2 pedals,
eTap shifters
e-Motion
Rollers, iPhone 11,
etc.
More of the pit
Dungeon photos by: Mary Endico, 12/14/2021
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- PROCESS SUMMARY - |
Fewer watts for every mph
Fewer newton's for every watt
Fewer bpm's for every newton
Less effort for every bpm
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"Your potential is never defined by any metric
other than the results of your own development
piloted by an
informed investigation of data
derived from a simple objective repeatable
reference." - Bob Fugett
Soon to be Famous Quotes
"B's command: don't train til you can win; train til you can't lose." —SlingShot
"For training: speed is incidental; power is the thing." —SlingShot
Bob preparing to return north from Florida spring training camp
03/21/09
photo by: Mary Endico
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