Great job! Anyone that says zwift wont make you a great cyclist, hasn’t used zwift enough. Obviously there are road specific skills that you cant learn on zwift, but overall its huge.
zwift runner only now and as a retired overweight former elite runner training at home these days, it does work as I too improved from my retired weight and my running power which then translated to my vets 10k runs. zwift works great for those who like a focal rival to set training and racing like myself. running outside is great but without training partners and rivals it can make you slack. before zwift I would go out on same 10k run at same pace, while now my pace on zwift runs are subject to session and partners.
The commentary is hilarious. "I can't kick him out till he's 18. The laws in this country are a joke." You take the haters comments with much aplomb. Kudos on the race!
Congratulations on this fantastic ride Mark! We love to see this analysis and it's great that your Zwifting transitioned into a great IRL performance! We look forward to seeing how you go next time. Ride On!
To the haters, I would point out that I don’t recall you ever being anything but perfectly honest about your cycling ability. That being said, I don’t know if the purist in me can allow you to call that two-wheel Batmobile you’re kicking around on a bicycle. 😉 Jokes aside, great to see you enjoying your bike!
@@MarkLewisfitness First, just strip the paint and leave the raw carbon fiber showing. Second, I don't know about over there but US Triathlon rules prohibit drafting, so anyone saying that isn't a "real bike race" should say that after doing an Ironman.
Just a tip, coming to the end of the bike, for the last 2km raise your cadence. Above 90. You cadence on a run is significantly higher than cycling, so by raising your cadence it helps te alleviate that heavy feel in your legs with the run post cycle.
Well done, entertaining as ever. I am in the camp that Zwift supplements my riding and allows me do training when the weather is crap or can’t always get out. I did a 70 mile sportive last week in Surrey/Kent. Did really welly smashed all the climbs and really think all of my Zwift riding helped over the last 18 months. Noticed the same with my mountain bike, love riding outdoors still but feel that Zwift has toughened me up a lot
Find your local cycling club, enter some time trials and make the club ‘10’ your go to session for the week. It will make you a better rider for little outlay or effort. Then run off the back of them. Full beast mode.
Most def - they're addictive. Though if you're like me, after a few weeks envying other rider's setups, your bank account may be lighter to the tune of a disk wheel, pointy helmet, ribbed body stocking, ...
TTs are not the same as road racing or even riding in a fast club ride. When tactics are involved and you have racers fighting for position, using tactics....and then it all becomes incredibly real the first time you go through a corner at full tilt and you have riders on your left and/or right, front and rear. Your nerves are instant undone and you want nothing else but to slow down.e
Zwift vs a spin bike is a completely different experience. My wife did peloton for quite some time and has done quite a few triathlons using it as her indoor trainer. When we upgraded to Zwift for her indoor training she immediately saw a huge improvement in cycle times. The Peloton just doesnt correlate to actual bike position for outdoor road racing.
I'm not even into cycling (more into running) but this video is a prime example of why I love this channel. It's clever and I love the side comments (rude mum commenting, kid laws in the UK, etc). Keep it up!
Hah great race report! As a more experienced triathlete, I can give you a few surefire tips - with just more run practice, you'll run really well both before and after the bike. And transitions will improve from 2 minutes to
I my defence, I was a very avid cyclist for many years until about 2016 where I changed over to ultra marathons (100 miler runs etc). My cycling went down to maybe 10 rides a year for the last 5 years. In July 2021, I joined a coach who put me on Zwift for the first time in my life. I rode Zwift maybe 3 or 4 times a week using structured workouts, and did ONE outdoor 95km cycle. Two months pass... I line up at a MTB race (which I have won in the past a few times dating back to 2010), and pulled out a podium in 3rd place from a field stacked with guys in their early 20s (I'm 42) and haven't done a MTB race in years. So yeah, Zwift CAN indeed get you into good cycling shape. Love the content Mark, I relate to lots of your vids.
@@MarkLewisfitness Now, it's time to get better with my bike. Unfortunatly though, in Portugal, there aren't many races I can enter besides just running.
@@MICROVOLTS43ver you have a few awesome granfondos to do on the bike, there are also some triathlons and biathlons, not much obviously but still some that could help you having quite a nice season
Haters will always be haters. They’re just mad cause they’ve been riding for 10+ years and have half your FTP. They’re the folks who label their weekend strava group rides “easy ride” while actually trying to race everyone in the group and have no idea what an actual zone 2 ride is. Keep smashing it man!
Fantastic effort Mark, I’ve been riding the bike for over 40 years and doubt that I’ve ever got anywhere near that average speed when riding solo. Hope your next event is even better.
Zwift is an incredible training tool not only because you have all the numbers and stats in front of you but also because it pushes you way harder that when you're riding outside. I am 100% sure that any cyclist can only improve when alternating between training indoors and outdoors.
Loved, the humour and humility - great work bud. I have been an outdoor gravel type track rider for 10 years but my riding buddy has moved to Tasmania. So I got the Kickr and Zwift and have been riding hard. The buddy came back for a week and we did our normal rude. Real world riding felt easier than zwift lol. Granted the buddy had not ridden since he left but I felt so much stronger with more power than in previous sessions. Love Zwift. Love the outdoors also.
My friend put this bike together for his son and before I knew it he was done ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L When the son came to put it together he was surprised to see it was already done. All he had to do was take the bike to get air and be on his way. My friend did not have any major problems putting this bike together; small issue was putting one of the brakes on straight; however when the son got home he was able to fix it. The bike rides well gears move correctly; good bike for the price. Wrote review after the son took the bike. Sorry.
Nice work! One suggestion for run off the bike: for the last couple of mins on the bike keep your cadence at ~100RPM. Using higher turnover it will feel easier for the legs. Exxited for the next race in November!
Don’t let people take you down. Those complainers or haters were probably the ones who never out on a bike in the first place. When I did Zwift I improved my time. In the real world I improved time technique and stopped having cramps on long uphills. Good on y’a mate.
First time viewer. Great content and you are an amazing story teller! I have a spin bike and road bike. It was 3:30 AM when I finished my spin this morning. Your video came up below the spin routine I follow on UA-cam. Glad it did! You're awesome!
Thanks for this video. I was thinking about signing up for a duathlon next year. I am primarily a cyclist and so I have been trying to run more (outside and on Zwift).
Thanks for your informative videos I find them entertaining as well as inspiring. At the age of 66 I am setting up my Zwift account and starting to train to be "better than average" in my age group. I plan to use training and the attrition of men my age to create a winning statistic . Mostly training
Some people will always find something to blab about. Please, keep doing what you are doing. You are actually an inspiration to many people out here, including me. Thank you, Mark! 👍
Having done duathlons, I will say that going from running to cycling is a great way to understand how far you have come with your cycling development especially in regards to your pedal stroke (Good = legs feel strong, quads don't blow up, Bad= there's a new clip of you falling off your bike) #spinclasswarrior. Your description of the 1st K after the cycling is SOOOOO accurate #drunktoddlerrunning . Good stuff
Great video Mark , good to see all the Zwift training paying off ! I think you have nailed the right balance of funny , entertaining and informative to get a huge following !
Congratulations Mark. A lot of the top time trialists do the bulk of their work indoors on the turbo these days and you are obviously on the right track. You probably just need one ride outside per week so that you feel more comfortable and get better used to your position on the bike (and your perfect your ability to actually see here you are going!) I too recommend finding a local cycling club that runs weekly time trials through the summer and hitting those 10’s, by doing this regularly my speed has increased significantly. Good luck on the 13th.
Nicely done, especially the cycling. You’ve already identified the areas for improvement. Zwift is excellent for improving your cycling because it allows you to be consistent year round and you can do interval training safely.
Love it and I can't wait to see your Super Sprint. I always thought because I do longer distances that I could crush a sprint, but I'm nervous a sprint might crush me, as I feel I'd try to push a pace I just can't sustain. I'll let your race be my test case :)
Proving the haters wrong about your outdoor bike skills is only important if you value their opinions to begin with. Do what you enjoy doing, whatever that may be!
I would get a gravel bike for the winter. The trails you run on are perfect & will give you a big amount of confidence in bike handling, whilst getting off the roads. Also lovely rides in nature. See you in Hamburg next year 😉
Almost the weekend, new video drop and its an unexpected bonus seeing it as some actual outside cycling - nice change of pace on the content, and great commentary - thanks!
Helpful and had me laughing! That was a great bit. Congrats on a good ride. FWIW...I trained exclusively indoors for my first 2 years of triathlon because of our work schedules and being home to take care of 4 kids while my wife worked nights as a nurse. All of those rides ending at midnight beat the heck out of not riding at all!!
When you can, try a road race! You'll find it enormous fun. No transitions. But you have to watch yourself, and all the other people around you! Well done on the TT part.
How are there 25 people that didn't like this? It's obvious they take themselves too seriously or have never participated in endurance sports. Well done sir. I do most of my bike training indoors as well I am terrified of motorists on the road. I do triathlon and I love it. Keep the strength. Carry on.
I don't do Swift but I do spend most of my cycling time these days on my turbo doing GCN sessions. This year I have cycled 7,000 kilometres of which 5,000 have been on the turbo & 2,000 on the road including an 800 km 6 day ride across Italy. My road bike is now hanging up on the wall until the end of March 2022 when it will be coming down to prepare for a 6 day tour of the Sierras in Spain! Great video and happy turboing on Swift or otherwise! 😊
Well done Mark, I'm a firm believer that zwift makes a huge difference to bike fitness, I did the majority of my riding in the run up to IM Wales online, I do think that the best option is a mix of the two given the bike handling skill you don't get sat in a pain cave. The jelly legs will be sorted if you do a 5 minute brick run once a week or so. Grrat video as always.
@@Monkey_slapping_keys a brick session is where you combine two sports, so a bike then do a short run, or for duathlon you could do a run then a short ride. The first element is always the main focus of the workout, the second element about training your body to switch between muscle requirements effectively.
The thing is Mark, it doesn't matter what other people think. You're doing far more than the average negative commenter, pluralism is good but most of the negative comments are from armchair generals who watch the tour and critique pro riders without having ever ridden a fair distance themselves. I tell people i do 95% of my distance indoor and all my structured training on zwift and they look at me like I'm a clown but when i make top 5 on a segment and they are way down the list or i produce exceptional power on road rides outdoors and I tell them its strava power not an uncalibrated power meter all of a sudden I don't get invited on group rides anymore. They don't understand what zwift really is and what you can achieve when you know how to make the most of it. Zwift is a great tool, because it offers repeatable training conditions with great measurement and data precision in a safe environment. I ride by myself outdoor mostly because no one wants to ride with me anymore and thats ok, i'm a MTB'er anyway and there aren't many people who want to ride 80km + offroad to begin with which is fair enough, i wouldn't want to be in the company of anybody who wasn't up tobthe challenge of testing themselves anyway. Don't let anyone ever cast doubt on your achievements and your ability. You're a savage and multi talented individual.
Tip my hat to you! Like the way you are open and honest about what you are doing. Your analysis relating to flat vs hills is spot on. You are too big to climb hills quickly but powerful enough to to do it well enough to enjoy. The point is always to enjoy what you do, ignore the critics, what do they know? Doubt any single one of them has put in 500 days of concentrated effort into anything. Enjoy your competitions, enjoy your riding, stay safe.
Thanks for postin this inspirational video. I'm a "returning" rider who was a runner but who now has tricky knees that make running a day-to-day crap shoot. Next month I'll be 62. I am just getting my Zwift setup completed, but my road bikes are up and running. All I want to do is increase my fitness level, drop a few lbs, and have fun. Zwift will not be my primary means of accomplishing that; it's bad weather fallback that I will do because I can.
I subbed. Love that you are human and make mistakes and are proud to show us the bloopers as highlights and dont leave anything out to try and keep a clean perfect image. Keep em comin! More power.
Hey, Mark, I’ve been riding and racing at different levels since I was 11 or 12 and I’m 45 now. Zwift is an amazing tool and there’s a reason so many bike racers use it, power is power. Fun channel you’ve got here. One thing Zwift is totally useless for is getting a feel for the wind and how a course actually rolls. In racing on the road and tt’s, even rolling stretches on marathon MTB races, you learn to tweak position to cheat the wind. Head discipline with an aero helmet is also important. I don’t know what your work-life balance and time commitment is, but it might be worth spending some time just on a drop bar road bike to get a clearer idea of handling and wind. Multi sport athletes have super high crash rates not because they’re bad handlers, but because they learn that handling in the least stable position on a bike. Congrats on a solid ride!
One advice I could give to you that is based on the gopro footage. Take your knees in for more aerodynamic benefits to kick in. I could see your knees spread out in the shadows. I'm a tall guy myself aswell and got told the same many times in the beginning
Signed up for my first triathalon this year! Never been a bike rider before (or a swimmer, or a runner) but pleased to know I can get some indoor practice ahead of september!
Thanks for posting this inspirational video. I'm a "returning" rider who was a runner but who now has tricky knees that make running a day-to-day crap shoot. Next month I'll be 62. I am just getting my Zwift setup completed, but my road bikes are up and running. All I want to do is increase my fitness level, drop a few lbs, and have fun. Zwift will not be my primary means of accomplishing that; it's bad weather fallback that I will do because I can.
I spent years with a monkey on my back... Never a dog though! Lol I love your content man! Truly inspirational! Subscribed and can't wait to see you progression. I just started 2 months ago and it's motivational seeing your process and results!
As someone who has raced for over 20yrs I think you did an awesome job and like anything the more you do the better you'll get and as you do get slicker races can be lost in transition but great job
Another great video Mark, you're smashing it! The bike/run feeling is also due to the cadence of your legs. When you start to run it feels slow because your cadence is slow, but when you look at your watch you usually realise you're going faster than you should be! The feeling will definitely improve the more you do it. Keep up the great work.
As someone who is new to cycling both indoor and outdoor, as I'm looking to do my first Triathlon when Covid allows. This video is really helpful and highlights areas that I need to practice. Thanks
Just found this channel browsing for F7/Epix comparisons and I just wanted to tell you that your videos are really quite terrific. Laughed out loud a couple of times. Good job!
Oh man, I just stumbled across this video. As a long time road biker, and a spin-class hater, I gotta say you're great. Your comment about Nature ripping off Zwift put me on the floor. And you got a great lesson out of it too! Keep going outside and try out drafting with a group. It's like a ballet with gears. And as big as you are EVERYBODY is gonna want to ride with you on windy days. Cheers!!
Hi mark just stumbled on this channel while having bottle of wine and many smokes , i can feel the inspiration, so the walk with my lady's chihuahua is going to be a bit more brisk (im 60 but not to shabby ) but you are giving people a lot of fun encouragement, im in france im thinking of getting a velo good work and yes very funny.
I find your videos incredibly inspirational. I’m pretty sure you don’t give a stuff about the negative comments! Almost all of them will be nowhere near as fit as you! Keep the excellent content coming!
Negative comments are actually useful! a) it's always worth hearing them in case they have a point and b) when they are rubbish I get to make a video off the back of them 😆
Great content! As a beginner I found it helpful volunteering for these events and watching everyone has helped me gain insight on how I can do things on race day.
Been considering getting a wahoo kickr as its not always easy to get on the bike in daylight hours with family commitments etc - this has pretty much convinced me that its a good idea. Thanks!
the quality of this video is insane, from the great commentary to the detail of putting conversion of units. You make me wanna get back into cycling and triathlons haha. Cheers!
Nice effort, and a great intro to the world of duathalon…..seems a flat Dorney Lake could be a great place for beginners. I’m a 47min 10k runner, but don’t have a time machine for a bike….and it seems that’s where you crushed it 👍….I’ll start the zwift training plan and get ready for next year I think 👍🏃♂️💪
Great little vid mark, just come across you while looking at tri and cycle stuff on utube and great to see another person that does nearly all the training on zwift 😄 Going outdoors and picking a duathlon is a big well done over just a cycle race as there so tough on the legs if not adjusted to run off the bike, think most triathletes at the start have bad legs at start of final run and the transition is a big part of a good race day and love your honest approach to taking this on, brings back some great memories when I started tri and duathlon racing as a newbie, 10’years ago 🤩 The buzz of a race brings and the fun factor which comes over really well in your vid It just proves really if you do the training be indoors or outdoors will bring benefits for hobbies and fitness 🏊🏻♂️ 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️ 😁
Yes, both entertaining and informative! Thank you Mark. Not unlike you I am almost exclusively an indoor rider. And by that I mean over 90% of my riding (there, I said it roadies!) is in a spin class but one that utilises Stages' software. Most months sees me top or near to top of the 'Global Stages Leaderboard' in most metrics. Anyway, I often have the debate with my road going friends about the relative merits of indoor cycling vs. outdoor cycling. Let us be clear they are snobs about indoor cycling and very much look down their nose at it - probably not dissimilar to some of the commentators on your earlier vid. The main bone of contention is I absolutely smash them but somehow because it is indoors they denigrate it to the point of almost ignoring it. On the Coggans Watt/kg I hover around Cat.2 or Cat.1 for the 5s / 1m / 5m and FT. Basically my numbers are a little higher than yours but I am a little under 75kg so hope that the hills might not present so much of an issue (currently set my FTP to 350)... Where I am going with all this is surely indoor cycling is the most pure form of cycling? It is, after all, inherently a solo pursuit so I don't really see the attraction of all these fat MAMILs joining their nonsense clubs and stuffing their faces with a couple of '000 kcals of butter at the coffee shop stop then claiming it was a 'hard ride'. And presumably nothing can be purer than you versus the machine. Yes, I know I don't have to worry about tactics or headwinds or traffic or weather etc but neither am I able to take advantage of drafting or thin air or tailwinds? Similarly the bikes are exactly the same for each rider so it's a great leveller and the powermeters are accurate and regularly maintained. My argument is when all said and done indoor cycling offers consistency of result and is much harder, even down to the heat in the setting as you have no evaporative cooling to call on either. What is your view having effectively done both now...?
Awesome work. Well done Mark. With regards to proper tri shoes - they’re not for everyone. Having tried everything in the past, I’ve gone back to wearing my normal road shoes - just learnt to get them on and take them off quickly. Whilst there is time to be made up when getting off the bike doing a flying dismount with your feet out of the shoe, that time saved is easily lost fannying about for the first few minutes on the bike trying to get your feet into yours shoes properly whilst not running into anything - and I’m still well above average. Plus…..normal road shoes are just comfier and the straps seem to hold your feet much better than tri shoes. A lot of the pro’s wear normal road shoes for half and full Ironman as well these days. Other than that, loving your vids, story, journey and progression - keep it up!
Great effort Mark , and good results! In a future video It would also be interesting to see your normalized power compared to your average power and see how consistent you were in your effort.
Nice mate ! Keep on pushing on ! F* those negative comments. you’re an inspiration to us trying to achieve a better version of ourselves. All the best on your next race 💪🏻!
Nice one Mark. I usually complete one handicap road race per week (about 65km) and one Zwift race (minimum 30km prefer 40km) per week. My power numbers between the road and Zwift have been pretty much identical for years. Many of the tactics are also similar. The road race is a little harder because its longer and you usually need to dig a little deeper but Zwift races are excellent preparation.
Mark, regarding your question about time target for 100k... I was saying 3h sharp may be too hard, but looking into those numbers you generated here I'm starting to believe that it's possible. Good luck with that, and we are still waiting for that video! :)
Great video, very interesting to hear the viewpoint of someone riding outdoors after plenty of experience indoors. Keep up the great work. #bemorelikerob
Fair play Mark! The most important thing is that you enjoying it. Look like you have a lot of fun. You are very inspiring. Keep up the good work! 👍👍👍💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🥇🥇🥇🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
As a Zwift fan boy, it's nice to know I can pop outside and not fall off 🤣 Hope you enjoy this one 👍
Great job! Anyone that says zwift wont make you a great cyclist, hasn’t used zwift enough. Obviously there are road specific skills that you cant learn on zwift, but overall its huge.
Whatever the outcome (and I'm still watching) love your SOH
Haha isn't falling off what would happen in CX or a technical course
Oh I also ya can't phase through people. Be careful drafting
zwift runner only now and as a retired overweight former elite runner training at home these days, it does work as I too improved from my retired weight and my running power which then translated to my vets 10k runs.
zwift works great for those who like a focal rival to set training and racing like myself. running outside is great but without training partners and rivals it can make you slack. before zwift I would go out on same 10k run at same pace, while now my pace on zwift runs are subject to session and partners.
The commentary is hilarious. "I can't kick him out till he's 18. The laws in this country are a joke." You take the haters comments with much aplomb. Kudos on the race!
Yep! Me and the missus sat here smiling, brilliant entertainer👌🏽
Thatcher's Britain, mate!
here we are, two years later....just one year to go 💪
Congratulations on this fantastic ride Mark! We love to see this analysis and it's great that your Zwifting transitioned into a great IRL performance! We look forward to seeing how you go next time. Ride On!
Thanks Zwift. 😁
@@MarkLewisfitness i
To the haters, I would point out that I don’t recall you ever being anything but perfectly honest about your cycling ability. That being said, I don’t know if the purist in me can allow you to call that two-wheel Batmobile you’re kicking around on a bicycle. 😉 Jokes aside, great to see you enjoying your bike!
Now off to see if anyone sells a BatMan tri suit 😁
@@MarkLewisfitness Don't forget to repaint the frame in matt black!
@@triathlonsushi Don't tempt me with stuff like that. Winter evenings with nothing to do........🤣
@@MarkLewisfitness First, just strip the paint and leave the raw carbon fiber showing.
Second, I don't know about over there but US Triathlon rules prohibit drafting, so anyone saying that isn't a "real bike race" should say that after doing an Ironman.
@@MarkLewisfitness - don't get the cape with it - I tried it and it will only slow you down!
Just a tip, coming to the end of the bike, for the last 2km raise your cadence. Above 90. You cadence on a run is significantly higher than cycling, so by raising your cadence it helps te alleviate that heavy feel in your legs with the run post cycle.
Good tip-going to use this in the future
Well done, entertaining as ever. I am in the camp that Zwift supplements my riding and allows me do training when the weather is crap or can’t always get out. I did a 70 mile sportive last week in Surrey/Kent. Did really welly smashed all the climbs and really think all of my Zwift riding helped over the last 18 months. Noticed the same with my mountain bike, love riding outdoors still but feel that Zwift has toughened me up a lot
Was that the 170km one?
The erg prescribed training programs are top shelf except for the “erg death spiral”!
Find your local cycling club, enter some time trials and make the club ‘10’ your go to session for the week. It will make you a better rider for little outlay or effort. Then run off the back of them. Full beast mode.
Yep - I found one! Although noting till spring now ☹️
True dat. Good comment
I concur, you should enter some TT races, I think you will be competitive.
Most def - they're addictive. Though if you're like me, after a few weeks envying other rider's setups, your bank account may be lighter to the tune of a disk wheel, pointy helmet, ribbed body stocking, ...
TTs are not the same as road racing or even riding in a fast club ride. When tactics are involved and you have racers fighting for position, using tactics....and then it all becomes incredibly real the first time you go through a corner at full tilt and you have riders on your left and/or right, front and rear. Your nerves are instant undone and you want nothing else but to slow down.e
Zwift vs a spin bike is a completely different experience. My wife did peloton for quite some time and has done quite a few triathlons using it as her indoor trainer. When we upgraded to Zwift for her indoor training she immediately saw a huge improvement in cycle times. The Peloton just doesnt correlate to actual bike position for outdoor road racing.
I'm not even into cycling (more into running) but this video is a prime example of why I love this channel. It's clever and I love the side comments (rude mum commenting, kid laws in the UK, etc). Keep it up!
Hah great race report! As a more experienced triathlete, I can give you a few surefire tips - with just more run practice, you'll run really well both before and after the bike. And transitions will improve from 2 minutes to
I my defence, I was a very avid cyclist for many years until about 2016 where I changed over to ultra marathons (100 miler runs etc). My cycling went down to maybe 10 rides a year for the last 5 years. In July 2021, I joined a coach who put me on Zwift for the first time in my life. I rode Zwift maybe 3 or 4 times a week using structured workouts, and did ONE outdoor 95km cycle. Two months pass... I line up at a MTB race (which I have won in the past a few times dating back to 2010), and pulled out a podium in 3rd place from a field stacked with guys in their early 20s (I'm 42) and haven't done a MTB race in years. So yeah, Zwift CAN indeed get you into good cycling shape. Love the content Mark, I relate to lots of your vids.
Great content Mark!
Thanks to you, I ran my first 10k without stopping, when like 2 months ago I could barely run 200 meters.
Awesome work! I love these stories! And once you can do 10k, how far you go next is up to you. After a while, it's all just "more running" 😁
@@MarkLewisfitness Now, it's time to get better with my bike.
Unfortunatly though, in Portugal, there aren't many races I can enter besides just running.
@@MICROVOLTS43ver you have a few awesome granfondos to do on the bike, there are also some triathlons and biathlons, not much obviously but still some that could help you having quite a nice season
@@ldduke aren't they mostly BTT?
Amazing achievement, keep at it, you can only get better!
Haters will always be haters. They’re just mad cause they’ve been riding for 10+ years and have half your FTP. They’re the folks who label their weekend strava group rides “easy ride” while actually trying to race everyone in the group and have no idea what an actual zone 2 ride is. Keep smashing it man!
Fantastic effort Mark, I’ve been riding the bike for over 40 years and doubt that I’ve ever got anywhere near that average speed when riding solo. Hope your next event is even better.
Zwift is an incredible training tool not only because you have all the numbers and stats in front of you but also because it pushes you way harder that when you're riding outside. I am 100% sure that any cyclist can only improve when alternating between training indoors and outdoors.
I just think the game looks fun because you race with ppl
Loved, the humour and humility - great work bud. I have been an outdoor gravel type track rider for 10 years but my riding buddy has moved to Tasmania. So I got the Kickr and Zwift and have been riding hard. The buddy came back for a week and we did our normal rude. Real world riding felt easier than zwift lol. Granted the buddy had not ridden since he left but I felt so much stronger with more power than in previous sessions. Love Zwift. Love the outdoors also.
My friend put this bike together for his son and before I knew it he was done ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxHL1v1R3NE5x4KiYfyt8dnQmyNYz7qi5L When the son came to put it together he was surprised to see it was already done. All he had to do was take the bike to get air and be on his way. My friend did not have any major problems putting this bike together; small issue was putting one of the brakes on straight; however when the son got home he was able to fix it. The bike rides well gears move correctly; good bike for the price. Wrote review after the son took the bike. Sorry.
Nice work! One suggestion for run off the bike: for the last couple of mins on the bike keep your cadence at ~100RPM. Using higher turnover it will feel easier for the legs. Exxited for the next race in November!
Noted 👍🏼
I don’t have any interest in bike races, but your entertaining presentations always have me captivated. Good job, Sir!
Don’t let people take you down. Those complainers or haters were probably the ones who never out on a bike in the first place. When I did Zwift I improved my time. In the real world I improved time technique and stopped having cramps on long uphills. Good on y’a mate.
First time viewer. Great content and you are an amazing story teller! I have a spin bike and road bike. It was 3:30 AM when I finished my spin this morning. Your video came up below the spin routine I follow on UA-cam. Glad it did! You're awesome!
Many thanks - I do try and make it watchable. No story to tell.....who's gonna stick around 👍👍
Thanks for this video. I was thinking about signing up for a duathlon next year. I am primarily a cyclist and so I have been trying to run more (outside and on Zwift).
Thanks for your informative videos I find them entertaining as well as inspiring. At the age of 66 I am setting up my Zwift account and starting to train to be "better than average" in my age group. I plan to use training and the attrition of men my age to create a winning statistic .
Mostly training
Some people will always find something to blab about. Please, keep doing what you are doing. You are actually an inspiration to many people out here, including me. Thank you, Mark! 👍
Having done duathlons, I will say that going from running to cycling is a great way to understand how far you have come with your cycling development especially in regards to your pedal stroke (Good = legs feel strong, quads don't blow up, Bad= there's a new clip of you falling off your bike) #spinclasswarrior. Your description of the 1st K after the cycling is SOOOOO accurate #drunktoddlerrunning . Good stuff
Great video Mark , good to see all the Zwift training paying off ! I think you have nailed the right balance of funny , entertaining and informative to get a huge following !
I appreciate the US conversions! I'm really enjoying poking around your channel, I'm surprised it took you this long to do a multi-sport!
that bike is the delorean of bikes!!! very futuristic. “where we’re going, we don’t need roads” -Doc
Congratulations Mark. A lot of the top time trialists do the bulk of their work indoors on the turbo these days and you are obviously on the right track. You probably just need one ride outside per week so that you feel more comfortable and get better used to your position on the bike (and your perfect your ability to actually see here you are going!) I too recommend finding a local cycling club that runs weekly time trials through the summer and hitting those 10’s, by doing this regularly my speed has increased significantly. Good luck on the 13th.
I keep hearing this-definitely going to check it out in the spring. It seems they don't do much over the winter, obviously.
Nicely done, especially the cycling. You’ve already identified the areas for improvement. Zwift is excellent for improving your cycling because it allows you to be consistent year round and you can do interval training safely.
Empty parking lots. Help mitigate the traffic risks for interval training. There are so many of those in America it’s crazy.
Love it and I can't wait to see your Super Sprint. I always thought because I do longer distances that I could crush a sprint, but I'm nervous a sprint might crush me, as I feel I'd try to push a pace I just can't sustain. I'll let your race be my test case :)
Proving the haters wrong about your outdoor bike skills is only important if you value their opinions to begin with. Do what you enjoy doing, whatever that may be!
Stumbled across this video looking for something else and I totally loved it. Honest and direct. Awesome!
I would get a gravel bike for the winter. The trails you run on are perfect & will give you a big amount of confidence in bike handling, whilst getting off the roads. Also lovely rides in nature. See you in Hamburg next year 😉
Almost the weekend, new video drop and its an unexpected bonus seeing it as some actual outside cycling - nice change of pace on the content, and great commentary - thanks!
Helpful and had me laughing! That was a great bit. Congrats on a good ride. FWIW...I trained exclusively indoors for my first 2 years of triathlon because of our work schedules and being home to take care of 4 kids while my wife worked nights as a nurse. All of those rides ending at midnight beat the heck out of not riding at all!!
Well done. Loved your mom's comment...
When you can, try a road race! You'll find it enormous fun. No transitions. But you have to watch yourself, and all the other people around you! Well done on the TT part.
How are there 25 people that didn't like this? It's obvious they take themselves too seriously or have never participated in endurance sports. Well done sir. I do most of my bike training indoors as well I am terrified of motorists on the road. I do triathlon and I love it. Keep the strength. Carry on.
shhhhh - It's now 30 people. You're upsetting them. 🤣
Great results and good to see the indoor bike training actually transfers very well! Funny vid too - nice one 👌
I don't do Swift but I do spend most of my cycling time these days on my turbo doing GCN sessions.
This year I have cycled 7,000 kilometres of which 5,000 have been on the turbo & 2,000 on the road including an 800 km 6 day ride across Italy.
My road bike is now hanging up on the wall until the end of March 2022 when it will be coming down to prepare for a 6 day tour of the Sierras in Spain!
Great video and happy turboing on Swift or otherwise! 😊
Well done Mark, I'm a firm believer that zwift makes a huge difference to bike fitness, I did the majority of my riding in the run up to IM Wales online, I do think that the best option is a mix of the two given the bike handling skill you don't get sat in a pain cave.
The jelly legs will be sorted if you do a 5 minute brick run once a week or so.
Grrat video as always.
5 minute brick?
@@Monkey_slapping_keys a brick session is where you combine two sports, so a bike then do a short run, or for duathlon you could do a run then a short ride. The first element is always the main focus of the workout, the second element about training your body to switch between muscle requirements effectively.
@@GogglesTyresandTrainers Cheers for the explanation.
The thing is Mark, it doesn't matter what other people think. You're doing far more than the average negative commenter, pluralism is good but most of the negative comments are from armchair generals who watch the tour and critique pro riders without having ever ridden a fair distance themselves.
I tell people i do 95% of my distance indoor and all my structured training on zwift and they look at me like I'm a clown but when i make top 5 on a segment and they are way down the list or i produce exceptional power on road rides outdoors and I tell them its strava power not an uncalibrated power meter all of a sudden I don't get invited on group rides anymore. They don't understand what zwift really is and what you can achieve when you know how to make the most of it.
Zwift is a great tool, because it offers repeatable training conditions with great measurement and data precision in a safe environment. I ride by myself outdoor mostly because no one wants to ride with me anymore and thats ok, i'm a MTB'er anyway and there aren't many people who want to ride 80km + offroad to begin with which is fair enough, i wouldn't want to be in the company of anybody who wasn't up tobthe challenge of testing themselves anyway.
Don't let anyone ever cast doubt on your achievements and your ability. You're a savage and multi talented individual.
Tip my hat to you! Like the way you are open and honest about what you are doing. Your analysis relating to flat vs hills is spot on. You are too big to climb hills quickly but powerful enough to to do it well enough to enjoy. The point is always to enjoy what you do, ignore the critics, what do they know? Doubt any single one of them has put in 500 days of concentrated effort into anything. Enjoy your competitions, enjoy your riding, stay safe.
Thanks Malcolm. It’s always cool to get great feedback. 👍🏼
Thanks for postin this inspirational video. I'm a "returning" rider who was a runner but who now has tricky knees that make running a day-to-day crap shoot. Next month I'll be 62. I am just getting my Zwift setup completed, but my road bikes are up and running. All I want to do is increase my fitness level, drop a few lbs, and have fun. Zwift will not be my primary means of accomplishing that; it's bad weather fallback that I will do because I can.
I subbed. Love that you are human and make mistakes and are proud to show us the bloopers as highlights and dont leave anything out to try and keep a clean perfect image. Keep em comin! More power.
Very well done, looking forward to hearing how the 2nd race goes :)
love the honest. no bullshit commentry.liked and subscribed
Hey, Mark, I’ve been riding and racing at different levels since I was 11 or 12 and I’m 45 now. Zwift is an amazing tool and there’s a reason so many bike racers use it, power is power. Fun channel you’ve got here.
One thing Zwift is totally useless for is getting a feel for the wind and how a course actually rolls. In racing on the road and tt’s, even rolling stretches on marathon MTB races, you learn to tweak position to cheat the wind. Head discipline with an aero helmet is also important.
I don’t know what your work-life balance and time commitment is, but it might be worth spending some time just on a drop bar road bike to get a clearer idea of handling and wind. Multi sport athletes have super high crash rates not because they’re bad handlers, but because they learn that handling in the least stable position on a bike.
Congrats on a solid ride!
One advice I could give to you that is based on the gopro footage. Take your knees in for more aerodynamic benefits to kick in. I could see your knees spread out in the shadows. I'm a tall guy myself aswell and got told the same many times in the beginning
Seriously .. stand up is at a loss with you !! Love your videos
screw the negative comments; you crank that pedal indoor or outdoors, you deserve respect. Awesome effort, man!
Thanks!
Signed up for my first triathalon this year! Never been a bike rider before (or a swimmer, or a runner) but pleased to know I can get some indoor practice ahead of september!
Thanks for posting this inspirational video. I'm a "returning" rider who was a runner but who now has tricky knees that make running a day-to-day crap shoot. Next month I'll be 62. I am just getting my Zwift setup completed, but my road bikes are up and running. All I want to do is increase my fitness level, drop a few lbs, and have fun. Zwift will not be my primary means of accomplishing that; it's bad weather fallback that I will do because I can.
I spent years with a monkey on my back... Never a dog though! Lol I love your content man! Truly inspirational! Subscribed and can't wait to see you progression. I just started 2 months ago and it's motivational seeing your process and results!
As someone who has raced for over 20yrs I think you did an awesome job and like anything the more you do the better you'll get and as you do get slicker races can be lost in transition but great job
Another great video Mark, you're smashing it! The bike/run feeling is also due to the cadence of your legs. When you start to run it feels slow because your cadence is slow, but when you look at your watch you usually realise you're going faster than you should be! The feeling will definitely improve the more you do it. Keep up the great work.
Good on you for testing it out. Forget the haters. Bikes are fun even at 30W.
As someone who is new to cycling both indoor and outdoor, as I'm looking to do my first Triathlon when Covid allows. This video is really helpful and highlights areas that I need to practice. Thanks
I love this! Also in the states only time we hear your cool accent is a Guy Ritchie movie. Haha! Keep inspiring people!
Just found this channel browsing for F7/Epix comparisons and I just wanted to tell you that your videos are really quite terrific. Laughed out loud a couple of times. Good job!
Now I want to do a duathlon. No place to practice swimming, but this bit sounds fun! I will try one on Zwift this winter.
Mark, I love the fine humor in your videos!
Oh man, I just stumbled across this video. As a long time road biker, and a spin-class hater, I gotta say you're great. Your comment about Nature ripping off Zwift put me on the floor. And you got a great lesson out of it too! Keep going outside and try out drafting with a group. It's like a ballet with gears. And as big as you are EVERYBODY is gonna want to ride with you on windy days. Cheers!!
Hi mark just stumbled on this channel while having bottle of wine and many smokes , i can feel the inspiration, so the walk with my lady's chihuahua is going to be a bit more brisk (im 60 but not to shabby ) but you are giving people a lot of fun encouragement, im in france im thinking of getting a velo good work and yes very funny.
I find your videos incredibly inspirational. I’m pretty sure you don’t give a stuff about the negative comments! Almost all of them will be nowhere near as fit as you! Keep the excellent content coming!
Negative comments are actually useful! a) it's always worth hearing them in case they have a point and b) when they are rubbish I get to make a video off the back of them 😆
"Real life has done a pretty good job of ripping off Zwift" ... Hahaha. I love it!
Brilliant, the transition having only got into cycling last year and trying a duathlon is a lesson in itself!
Brilliant! "Oh they will catch me, my legs don't work". Been in exactly the same situation 🤣. Great job, well done. Try the velodrome next.
Love your videos, there's the transient comic humor about it but also really objective.
Good job.
Great job on the race and the content, enjoyed feeling your enthusiasm! Good luck on the Super Sprint in Beast Mode!
You had me at “this was me” love every video... regards Mark from Aus....🏋️♀️🚴♂️
Great storytelling, hats off for a great improvised race !
Thoroughly enjoyable video. Bike to run transition always reminds me of those thumb push puppets.
Love love LOVE the content; free flowing and no nonsense!
This was such an entertaining video. Your commentary alone made it worth watching and the stats were good too.
Great content! As a beginner I found it helpful volunteering for these events and watching everyone has helped me gain insight on how I can do things on race day.
Been considering getting a wahoo kickr as its not always easy to get on the bike in daylight hours with family commitments etc - this has pretty much convinced me that its a good idea. Thanks!
Mark, I'm really glad I found your channel. You are very funny and informative. Thanks for the information and content. (from across the pond).
the quality of this video is insane, from the great commentary to the detail of putting conversion of units. You make me wanna get back into cycling and triathlons haha. Cheers!
Nice effort, and a great intro to the world of duathalon…..seems a flat Dorney Lake could be a great place for beginners. I’m a 47min 10k runner, but don’t have a time machine for a bike….and it seems that’s where you crushed it 👍….I’ll start the zwift training plan and get ready for next year I think 👍🏃♂️💪
Great little vid mark, just come across you while looking at tri and cycle stuff on utube and great to see another person that does nearly all the training on zwift 😄
Going outdoors and picking a duathlon is a big well done over just a cycle race as there so tough on the legs if not adjusted to run off the bike, think most triathletes at the start have bad legs at start of final run and the transition is a big part of a good race day and love your honest approach to taking this on, brings back some great memories when I started tri and duathlon racing as a newbie, 10’years ago 🤩
The buzz of a race brings and the fun factor which comes over really well in your vid
It just proves really if you do the training be indoors or outdoors will bring benefits for hobbies and fitness 🏊🏻♂️ 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️ 😁
Yes, both entertaining and informative! Thank you Mark.
Not unlike you I am almost exclusively an indoor rider. And by that I mean over 90% of my riding (there, I said it roadies!) is in a spin class but one that utilises Stages' software. Most months sees me top or near to top of the 'Global Stages Leaderboard' in most metrics. Anyway, I often have the debate with my road going friends about the relative merits of indoor cycling vs. outdoor cycling. Let us be clear they are snobs about indoor cycling and very much look down their nose at it - probably not dissimilar to some of the commentators on your earlier vid.
The main bone of contention is I absolutely smash them but somehow because it is indoors they denigrate it to the point of almost ignoring it. On the Coggans Watt/kg I hover around Cat.2 or Cat.1 for the 5s / 1m / 5m and FT. Basically my numbers are a little higher than yours but I am a little under 75kg so hope that the hills might not present so much of an issue (currently set my FTP to 350)...
Where I am going with all this is surely indoor cycling is the most pure form of cycling? It is, after all, inherently a solo pursuit so I don't really see the attraction of all these fat MAMILs joining their nonsense clubs and stuffing their faces with a couple of '000 kcals of butter at the coffee shop stop then claiming it was a 'hard ride'. And presumably nothing can be purer than you versus the machine. Yes, I know I don't have to worry about tactics or headwinds or traffic or weather etc but neither am I able to take advantage of drafting or thin air or tailwinds? Similarly the bikes are exactly the same for each rider so it's a great leveller and the powermeters are accurate and regularly maintained.
My argument is when all said and done indoor cycling offers consistency of result and is much harder, even down to the heat in the setting as you have no evaporative cooling to call on either. What is your view having effectively done both now...?
Hey I appreciate your ride. Nice job. I even more appreciate your humor. I'm lol ing all the way through this thing. Thanks for the fun.
Awesome work. Well done Mark. With regards to proper tri shoes - they’re not for everyone. Having tried everything in the past, I’ve gone back to wearing my normal road shoes - just learnt to get them on and take them off quickly. Whilst there is time to be made up when getting off the bike doing a flying dismount with your feet out of the shoe, that time saved is easily lost fannying about for the first few minutes on the bike trying to get your feet into yours shoes properly whilst not running into anything - and I’m still well above average. Plus…..normal road shoes are just comfier and the straps seem to hold your feet much better than tri shoes. A lot of the pro’s wear normal road shoes for half and full Ironman as well these days. Other than that, loving your vids, story, journey and progression - keep it up!
Dry joke delivery was magnificent.
It’s cyclocross season at the moment. Wessex CX league is really welcoming to new riders - and you get to run and get muddy too!
Great effort Mark , and good results! In a future video It would also be interesting to see your normalized power compared to your average power and see how consistent you were in your effort.
Love the filter on the footage. Nice sunny day
Nice mate ! Keep on pushing on ! F* those negative comments. you’re an inspiration to us trying to achieve a better version of ourselves. All the best on your next race 💪🏻!
Nice video, I like your dry humour and clean cut presentation and story telling 👍🏻
first video I've watched of yours, instant subscribe and like. Congrats on the race Mark.
Nice one Mark. I usually complete one handicap road race per week (about 65km) and one Zwift race (minimum 30km prefer 40km) per week.
My power numbers between the road and Zwift have been pretty much identical for years.
Many of the tactics are also similar.
The road race is a little harder because its longer and you usually need to dig a little deeper but Zwift races are excellent preparation.
Mark, regarding your question about time target for 100k... I was saying 3h sharp may be too hard, but looking into those numbers you generated here I'm starting to believe that it's possible. Good luck with that, and we are still waiting for that video! :)
Brilliant video Mark! One of my favourites!! 💪🏼💪🏼
First video of yours I have seen and I love it! Hilarious, humble and hardcore - not a mix you come across often! Awesome
Thanks!
Great video, very interesting to hear the viewpoint of someone riding outdoors after plenty of experience indoors. Keep up the great work. #bemorelikerob
Fair play Mark! The most important thing is that you enjoying it. Look like you have a lot of fun. You are very inspiring. Keep up the good work! 👍👍👍💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🥇🥇🥇🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Would love to see you kick into a Crit next year. Really channel your inner zwift avatar.
This was a really really good race review video. Your getting me want to get a new bike again.