I would like to know how the Community feels possible fliers should be flagged for higher level review. I looked on my desktop on the companion app, and do not see the “flag a flier” button that was once there.
What disturbs me is when I see the top female time be something astonishing, like 20:07 for the new Innsbruck Worlds QOM. I watched her put in exactly 261watts, matched to 5.2W/kg, all the way up the new KOM/QOM. Now, I do believe that professional pure climber woman can put in a 20 minute effort like that, but having the watts stay at 261 the whole time was weirdly mechanical.
Could this lack of even small variation in wattage be a function of the trainer she is on? Is this an appropriate moment to flag a rider for administrator level consideration? All in all, being a 50-something in age, I am realistic about the fact that I will only snag a jersey when riding a course on off hours or when only a few women are riding, but it would be a shame if a younger, more talented non-flier with a top time didn’t get what she had earned.
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Madeleine, I don’t know if this pertains to the specific case you described, but I often do my TrainerRoad workouts on Zwift. During those workouts on a Wahoo Kickr smart trainer, my power output follows the workout-demanded power and will be exactly constant for however long each specific interval lasts. The power level corresponds to what is being demanded by the workout and does not respond to the Zwift terrain. (The speed in Zwift will be correct since I am putting out the indicated power, and the speed will match the power and terrain.)
Don, that might be it - my impression of weirdly mechanical is correct, but it simply reflects the underlying technology. ! I use a CycleOps that doesn’t have that smart feature, so I’ve never experienced it myself. Thanks for the insight - it puts my mind more at ease.
Well lets say you’re riding in erg mode, not even sure if its still available on Zwift, i haven’t seen it anymore but to be honest i haven’t been riding any training plans. However, I do also agree with Madeleine. Putting out the exact same wattage the entire ride is for me impossible. Now lets say you are in erg mode, and you pedal slow the resistance rises but i do not feel the change will adopt that fast for the wattage to stay constant. Riding without ERG it is impossible because nobody can maintain a steady pace like that. Now that said, Madeleine, best thing is not to care about things like that, do your thing and be proud of it. I know, i know, its absolutely frustrating if you’ve been putting out big watts just to see you’re down by seconds or minutes at the top but at least it was your true effort and you can build on that. All the super humans are nowhere to be seen on the real roads. So Ride on and have fun!
Well, as i said, I do ride erg mode, and on the Wahoo Kickr, which smooths out the power output (if power smoothing is enabled), the power is indeed absolutely smooth for as long as you can keep pedaling. Cadence does not matter – it will vary the resistance inversely with the cadence to keep the same wattage. If you were to look at the output of a power meter, the wattage would jump around a bit as the trainer adjusts resistance, but the wattage output from the Kickr with power smoothing enabled is rock steady. And as long as you pick a power that you can maintain for however long your chosen interval is, anybody can do it – hold the exact same power level with not even a one watt variation during the entire interval.
Erg mode is meant for structured training - where you are riding specific power levels for specific periods of time. It is not meant to simulate “real world” riding.