The club currently runs rides on Zwift and races on RGT for members.
WESTERLEY VIRTUAL RACING: The regular online racing on RGT is proving extremely popular and Westerley CC have a league structure based upon earned in all races (WESTONIA LEAGUE), We run open events as a Wednesday evening series (WESTERLEY VR RACES) attracting riders from around the world in very competitive races. Westerley riders positions count towards our Westonia competition as well as the VR series.
WESTERLEY VIRTUAL TIME TRIALS At the time of writing RGT are testing ‘no draft’ events so that effective time trials may be run in future onthe RGT platform.
As a variant, we have previously run some meet ups on Zwift without the no drop function and insisting on Time Trial Bikes only. On Time Trial bikes Zwift does not facilitate or allow drafting, so although riders will start together, so long as they are on Time Trial Bikes it will effectively be a Time Trial. Dave Morrison will send out invitations on Zwift for these before the event so you will need to follow him on Zwift. If you are new you may wish to contact Dave via the Contact Us page on this website so he is aware that you want an invite. He will, tend to send out invitations to all regular participants.
TO SWITCH TO A TIME TRIAL BIKE IN ZWIFT: In Game (so you will have chosen a route and world to ride in already and clicked RIDE), click MENU (bottom left) ; On the right of the pop up, choose GARAGE ; from the next set of options choose FRAME ; scroll down the options and choose a TT bike ; remember to switch back after the event if appropriate.
VIRTUAL CLUB RIDES: These may occasionally take place on a Sunday 8.00am on Zwift lasting exactly 30 minutes or 1 hour. First run during the Coronavirus lockdown only – they ceased when real rides became permissible again. They may be occasionally run during bad weather so keep an eye out for the latest news. To participate, please follow Dave Morrison on Zwift and he will send you invitations to the rides each week. The rides are set up as NO DROP rides which means that the quicker riders’ are held back although they can still put in full power. Meanwhile, the people further back are given a boost in speed. This means everyone can ride to their own ability whilst staying together. However, within the group it is possible to jockey for position and take turns on the front etc. It is also possible to chat during the ride on our Discord group. You can join the Westerley Discord Group HERE
WESTERLEY VIRTUAL HILL CLIMBS will be run on RGT on the same basis as races.
FOR UPCOMING EVENTS AND ENTRY DETAILS CLICK HERE
SPEC DETAILS:
For RGT you will need either a smart trainer or a power meter with a normal turbo trainer. Just download the two free apps from RGT CYCLING . Details of upcoming races with links to entry are constantly announced on this website. Basic RGT is free of charge.
For Zwift you will need either a smart trainer, a power meter with a normal turbo trainer or speed sensors with a normal turbo trainer. Zwift costs £12.99 per month. ZWIFT
There are other options such as Rouvy and Full Gaz but, at the time of writing, these do not appear to suit being used as platforms for organising Westerley events.
WESTERLEY CC RACING LEAGUES
For the VR Series, the winner of each race gets awarded 50 points, down to one point for every finisher from 50th onwards.
The highest finishing Westerley CC rider in each race is awarded 10 points, 9 points for second down to 3 points for 8th place. All other finishers will receive two points for participating regardless of their position. Points earned in all races go towards the WESTONIA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP The current league positions are regularly published alongside the latest race results on this website. Westerley VR Races start at 7.30pm on certain Wednesday evenings, check this website for dates.
VOCABULARY*
a doorbell – forced to momentarily get off the bike to deal with a domestic issue. This has its origins in a classic moment when Ian Nguru jumped off his bike to answer the front door and then climbed back on and still won the race!
e-punctures – a loss of connection during a race causing a rider to stop momentarily or abandon
Pasquale Pass – a late start ending up in a podium finish. Named after Pasquale Chionochio who started 2 minutes late in a 16km race, passed almost everyone and finished 3rd, narrowly, in April 2020!
Pharoah – A long breakaway solo win, because the winner will have to go at a ‘Pharoahld Speed‘ to win!
Techanical – software issues causing a stop or abandonment
v-crash – hardware issue causing a system crash and abandonment.
Water Cooler Moment – a moment when optimum output and productivity is put on hold due to of the distraction of drinking from a water bottle, or maybe choking on the water as swallowed etc,
Westonia – many of the race routes are devised based on real local roads in the Westerley CC area (West London and Chilterns) and these are transformed into on screen RGT races with fictional scenery. Whereas Zwift has Watopia, we like to think of our local e-routes as occurring in our very own fictional land of Westonia. Coincidentally a number of Westerley CC committee meetings happen to have been held at a house named Westonia, which made it even more fitting, we thought! Where else could you enjoy our Ronde Van Ruislip or All Quiet on the Western Avenue?
A Wormhole – a routing or software error that catapults riders to a future point on the course, as experienced in April 2020. Less common is a reverse wormhole, where the rider gets sent back the way they just came momentarily. NOTE: Wormholes are most likely in ‘unsmoothed’ route files and happened on occasions in the early days of Westerley e-racing. Since new software has been employed to deal with the irregularities it is not anticipated in future events.
* From the University of Westonia Concise Cycling Dictionary
TIPS, POINTERS AND ADVICE
Zwift is the well established market leading app that has a lot of features and is, in relative terms, is set up for a gaming and riding experience. Meanwhile RGT is a more recent product with an aim of recreating a more realistic experience. RGT, being newer, offers less and inevitably has a few bugs from time to time but it has features that we believe make it far more suitable to racing.
Whilst Zwift, being more developed seems to be more robust at the time of writing, RGT may have issues with older phones and too many Bluetooth devices switched on nearby. RGT is operated from your phone so this is vital. Also, to make it more realistic, RGT does not allow cycling around tight corners at full wattage (unlike Zwift) so you risk wasting energy by cycling too hard around them, so there is some learning needed, but we think this makes it more fun/challenging. Remember, basic RGT is free, whereas Zwift requires a £12.99 per month subscription.
Ideally, you’ll have a good smart trainer and/or a power meter to supply the app with your speed and power, If you haven’t, then it is possible to join Zwift using a speed sensor, but not RGT. You can set both Zwift and RGT to automatically upload rides to Strava. Be aware that the various set ups may produce slightly different data for the same ride!
Each set up combination, trainer, power meter, sensors, internet connection, phone connection etc will be different and there is no simple explanation we are able to give. Some people prefer to connect via Ethernet rather than WiFi to avoid e-punctures. Similarly, Bluetooth can suffer from interference, so try and avoid other devices using Bluetooth in the vicinity. Similarly, if your smart trainer facilitates Bluetooth and Ant+ connections, it may be advisable to plug an Ant+ Dongle into your laptop to reduce over reliance on Bluetooth.
Also, remember to join races early, because if you have trouble logging in or the route download is slow you may miss the start!.
THE STORY SO FAR:
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