Several club activities require the set-up of an indoor trainer (aka wind trainer, ergo) at your home.
To do this you will need the following:
- A bike
- A trainer
- A way to measure power/cadence/heart rate
- A computer/smart phone/tablet
- An internet connection
- A Zwift account
There are a number of different types of indoor trainers. All indoor trainers allow a road bike to be set-up on the trainer, either with the back wheel taken off (direct drive) or with the back wheel rolling on a resistance wheel (fluid or magentic drive).
At the higher price points ($700 to $1900) “smart trainers” have the ability to adjust the resistance (how hard you need to push on the pedals) via two-way bluetooth connection with your computer/phone/tablet. This allows cyclist to ride ‘up hills’ or put in more or lesser effort in response to the online training that they are doing.
At the lower price points ($200 to $700) “dumb trainers” do not have this feedback. To use Zwift with these trainers you will need a cadence and speed sensors (approx $100) that will send data via bluetooth to the computer/phone/tablet.
QuadC Group activities are held on the Zwift Virtual Riding platform.
If your child is under 16, their Zwift account will be free until they are 16 years old. After they turn 16—you’ll have to pay the regular monthly membership fee for them to continue using Zwift. When you’re ready to set up an account for your child—follow these steps:
- Select this link.
- Fill out the form when it loads.
If you need help or have questions, Zwift Admin will help you out.
Once you have registered for Zwift upload the Zwift Companion App and request to follow cyclist called “Carnegie Caulfield CC”. After you have done this you will receive invitations to QuadC training sessions.
Follow instructions for linking the bluetooth training devices (smart trainer or speed/cadence sensors) to Zwift and you’ll be ready to ride!
YouTube Instructions for setting up on Zwift can be found here: Zwift a Set-Up for All Budgets
Finalise Zwift Set-Up – Setting Power Parameters
Zwift will set power targets for users according to their personalised strength profile. To assess this you wil lneed to perform a version of a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test. Roughly speaking the FTP number (expressed in ‘Watts’) is the amount of power or strength that a rider can hold in ideal circumstances for 60 minutes.
This number goes up the stronger you get. Younger kids will often have a number between 40W and 90W, U17s start getting twoards 150W and the professionals get north of 380W!
This can be tested within Zwift by doing either the FTP Test or the Ramp Test (to find this in App, select Menu, Ride Type/Training, FTP Tests).
It is important to get this measure and routinely we will suggest that children repeat thsi test at the start of every school term. Please let the coaches knwo your new FTP by recording it in Training Peaks.
Here are some more instructions on how to do an FTP Test in Zwift.
How to join a QuadC Zwift Session
QuadC will run weekly trainins sessions on the Indoor Trainer. These are scheduled for Tuesday nights at 5.30pm. When poor weather impacts Packer Park training we will also choose Zwift replacement sessions.
Please note that it takes at least 5 minutes to set-up for Zwift so always be sitting on the bike ready to roll at least minutes prior to start time.
- Each week we will publish the Zwift Workout on our communcation channels (e.g. WhatsApp)
- Make sure that you have sent a friend request to Carnegie Caulfield CC in Zwift Compnaion App. This wil be accepted for QuadC families, and only needs to be done once, but shoudl be done at least several days prior to the first session.
- All QuadC Zwifters will be sent a Meet Up request from Carnegie Caulfield CC. You will need to accept this request, and it will automatically create the Meet Up reminder within Zwift for you.
- At least 10 minutes before the session (i.e. before 5.20pm) jump on Zwift to make sure that you are set up.
- Join the Meet Up in Zwift (select the option in the top right hand screen or the reminder as it appears in the lower left screen). It is best to do this more than 5 minutes prior to start time.
- Once you are in the Meet Up, select ‘Menu’ and then ‘Ride Type/Training’
- You will see a list of Training Programs. At this stage you MUST select the Zwift Workout that we have previously communicated (see 1 above). The selected Workout will start at 5.30pm exactly – so please make sure that all of the above steps needs to be completed piror to 5.30pm
NB All riders will ride together regardless of strength, fitness or age. Zwift will set power that is appropriate to your strength level (which shoudl be set by doing an FTP test within Zwift).
NB If you are late to the Meet-Up things wont work so well, but you can still join only your Zwift Workout will be out of synch with the ride leader.