Our ability to be fast in racing, whether it is cycling or running, is limited by an almost magic upper ceiling. Right below this ceiling, we are able to push ourselves for a long time at a comfortable heart rate, as the body is able to bring fuel to the muscles and recycle toxins. But push above this ceiling, and things quickly fall apart. This limit is our lactate threshold, and although it is mainly determined by genetic factors and it can only be determined exactly in the lab, it is possible to train the body to raise this threshold. Training for threshold will allow sustaining more power for longer periods of time, and at a slightly higher heart rate that will then feel more comfortable.
In Real Life (IRL) cycling, the laws of physics apply and determine how fast we go. Do the same laws apply on Zwift, so that lighter riders go faster on the climbs on Zwift?
It has been over 22 years since I started using Linux as my main operating system. Back in 1994, I started with Slackware 2.1, and kept using Linux as my desktop at school, for research, and even at work on a dual boot environment. I spent countless hours then configuring the kernel, X11 and what not to make things work. I went through distribution after distribution, till 2005, when our eldest daughter was born, that I got tired of compiling Gentoo packages and dealing with all the Linux issues. I had no time for it any longer.
This Sunday I raced my first Olympic (international) distance triathlon at Hever Castle. Hever’s triathlon is part of the Castle Triathlon Series that have been happening for few years now on the highly charismatic grounds of castles across the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. Hever’s is the UK’s second largest triathlon, and the largest for children (in fact, our two daughters also competed this weekend, and I am a very proud dad).
I have been rowing with the WaterRower indoor erg for a while, a good quality home rower overall, but notoriously known for its complete lack of software support. It is hard to get data out of it, it’s hard to make it interface with … anything, and it is mentally exhausting. A bit like indoor cycling with a turbo trainer was before Zwift. On the other hand, I have really enjoyed riding indoors on Zwift almost daily for the past year. As I took back rowing to work on my core, the itch became how to interface the WaterRower so that I could row on Zwift using the power readings from the WaterRower S4 computer.