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Thanks, sir! I have some testing to do ;-)

The bike was made my Nordstar in the north of France, they had a big factory rolling out steel bikes for whoever wanted them. Supermarkets etc. The aim is to keep it running as is, except I'll need to replace the tyres and innertubes.

Whoops, Starnord, not Nordstar. After the northern star. Company was run by Bernard Dangre.

Including me 🤣

Agreed. Basically, what I did was a 'first operation' was: Remove and degrease / clean the chain. Remove and service the bottom bracket. Disassemble the rear mech rollers and degrease and clean/grease/lubricate as appropriate. Adjust and regrease the wheel bearings. Next step is to ride the bike for a while and check exactly what needs extra work. The brakes and pedals feel OK, and have been lubricated. I'll need to replace the tyres as they are old and won't last much longer. Originally my intention to leave the rims and aluminium parts 'as is', but I've been cleaning and polishing in my spare moments 😉

I don't know which is worst: my PC or my legs 😂

Donc ce sera tes devoirs en Anglais pour ce weekend ;-)

@@themusette5894 vas-y 🤣🤣

I'm still up and down with my form, this one of 'those' days, but I'm figuring out where I went wrong.

In between battling with Zwift and struggling with the video software, I don't have the strength to open a beer ;-)

Thanks it was cool to race together and great to see you back.

Thanks David, I was convinced that I was never going to have that level of effort, but it happened, and I was overjoyed, believe me. I now need top lose 6kg if I want to do that again ;-)

Thanks, after a three months enforced layoff (knee injury), I started from a true zero on 1 jan, so what I've learnt so far is cardio respiratory is fairly quick to build up, but muscle strength is quite slow. Good thing is I feel or 'see' improvements almost weekly. But I really did enjoy this ride.

Definitely not my sort of circuit but I survived. Stage 2 should be better, but it wont be the same participants.

I didn't think the second group would bridge, but this series is going to be hotly contested. I was too concerned with letting Oscar get away early. He could have won this if he'd saved his attack for the second time up the hilly kom.

Thanks, I was waiting for that attack, but it came from really far out.

Thanks, I'll change the title. Not looking forward to next week - Richmond Rollercoaster.

Thanks Simon, doing a bit better than expected, but I was toast at the end. Completely forgotten about how to sprint at the end. Too far back at 600m to go.

Hi, thanks. I think you're referring to the inserts ? Yep should really redo the comparison. Parameters from both events would have been interesting.

Hi there, thanks for the feedback. I'm currently 65, but only weeks away from my next birthday. Max HR is probably just under 165 as I'm coming back from 3 months total inactivity. I'd hope to see it up to 170-172 later in the year (gone are the days of 190). Three months total rest due to a knee issue leaves me unfit in all senses, no muscle definition, and definitely overweight (Zwift weight up to date). That's like a triple penalty. But I'm getting back into it.

@@themusette5894 the reason I asked is I thought you were doing quite well for someone your age. I'm 60 and have just begun zwifting a week ago and am not happy at all with my level of fitness. I thought I had a decent baseline coming into this but I'm completely struggling. My ftp was initially measured at 149 and zwift upgraded it to 154 the other day. I guess I'm worse off than I thought, lol. I really enjoy zwift though and plan to continue with it. I've used it 7 straight days now and really love it. I just wish my ass didn't hurt so much though. 😆 Ride on!

Well done on the recovery! Its actually reassuring to see Cat A and B racers suffering just like me. It's all relative in a roundabout way. It's all about fitness and fun (and trying). Cheers!

Thanks, I was a bit dubious about publishing full length as it's quite long. Doing this again tomorrow on the Concept, and should publish a comparison between Tron and Steel shortly afterwards.

@@themusette5894It's a shame we cannot see your HR in the stream as your video is over it.

@@MunkiiYebee I absolutely agree, I accidentally placed the video insert too high. When I checked the final video I realised my error, however, it took 35 minutes to generate, so I decided to suck up to it. Lesson learnt. I just looked: Out of the start: 134, after getting dropped and chasing 153 then settling in around 144. After the aqueduct, it got harder HR: 156, 164 at about 20k, then 148 - 152 as I tried to recover

I was saying to myself it was too late too. I didn't anticipate, but all of a sudden - never stop believing 😉

Thanks, that Petit KoM right at the start was tough, I saw 10 kph on the hill and didn't realise it was actually that hard. I thought I had a technical issue.

The train was leaving without the passengers 🤣

Thanks! Just trying to have fun and not be a zero 😉

Yep, currently 88kg, so a short steady climb is very important in order to hit the 'gas' hard on the way down.

Yes, that's the classic way, but there's a lot of climbing required first. Hauling 88Kg up there isn't much fun. 😉

Thanks, you could try Tour de Zwift route C. Although it's not billed as a race many (most) people treat it as such. You'll get lots of participants and slip into a group you can stay with. They usually work well together (since it's not an out and out race) and it's a great experience. I'm coming back from an enforced break and am very unfit and 65, it's not an issue I know lots of people over 60 who build up a very good level of fitness. Try the Tour de Zwift GROUP rides (some weekend ones are actual races)

Thanks, Not being fit, I couldn't contribute much, and I felt the other rider wanted to do all the work. I knew he would accept help at the end, so a smooth acceleration rather than a hard acceleration helps. There was no communication,, usually people understand what's going on.

I also have a small thermos flask that is perfect for sipping and Zwifting without drinking cold coffee

No 😞, they fixed the bug, it was only for stage 1 anyway, where the powerup was a 250XP bonus. Watch 'Don't Get Dropped Cycling's video from the weekend where he did it.

@@themusette5894 cheers mate anyway

Sometimes you make it, sometimes you don't

Good luck, the difficulty with the climb portal is that there are no visual cues like trees or houses, but basically accellerate from the top and be read to accellerate again. Fastest bit is about 400m from the top arch, if I remember correctly.

I sure did, suffered for it though, as I had bronchitis on Christmas day and took 2hrs 15 minutes to get from bottom to top 🤢🤢 Good luck!

Not the best of ideas, I injured my knee, won't be riding again before December methinks.

@@themusette5894 Oh no! Not again. Sorry. I sympathise, because I've done something to myself too. Completed FRR Tour France and have felt bad with no power on every ride since, even zone 2, like overtraining. Staying completely away from bike for a while.

The distribution of power ups has been changed about a month after this video, the frequency of the 250XP bonuses has been lowered.

@@themusette5894 Yh SAW ty

@@themusette5894 I did experiment ride today in this video: 5 laps (50 arches) Feather 28%, 10XP 60%, 250xp 12%. I would assume it may be 30%/60%/10%... th-cam.com/video/0_5B62wjaIg/w-d-xo.html

Thanks, I'll have to look into that, another upgrade on the horizon ;-)

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