Tuesday Night Zwift Ride (3/16)

[Michael T. Bello]

On Tuesday at 8 PM, I’m planning the Queen’s Highway route in Yorkshire (https://www.strava.com/segments/21748231). This will be a 60 minute ride.

If anyone is interested, just follow me on Zwift (Michael Bello - NCC) and I'll add you to the invite. If you follow me, please send me a note.

A few recommendations...

Zwift now allows late joiners to Meetups, but it does not always work. Give yourself a few extra minutes to join the ride anyway (on Zwift 5 minutes before the ride would be ideal).

Please wear the NCC jersey. This makes it easier to recognize who is in the group. On a computer, log into Zwift, once riding, press “P” on you keyboard and enter NCCMAKIT. After that, you can use the jersey on any device running Zwift (laptop, tablet, phone, etc.).

Our previous rides were enhanced with conversations on Discord. After installing Discord, ˙˙use the NCC invite to join the conversation: https://discordapp.com/invite/uXdHm7m. 

If you are new to Discord, I recommend this article on ZwiftInsider: https://zwiftinsider.com/using-discord/. Please pay particular attention to Step 4: "Discord automatically places you in the text chat channel, which isn’t where you want to be. Click the hamburger menu (3 lines at top-left) to view all the channels on the server. Click “General” under voice channels, then click “Connect to Voice” to join the general voice chat." 

I also recommend testing Discord out prior to the ride. Feel free to contact me if you want to test Discord.

[Michael T. Bello]

We travelled to England tonight and rode many laps of the Queen's Highway route in Yorkshire. 

There were ten participants this evening (Anne, Ari, Charlie, Chris, Henry, Mark, Melissa, Tim, Zinj, and me). In the 60 minutes, we covered approximately 20.2 miles with 1,462 feet of climbing.

My wife, Anne, was running the same course that we rode tonight. Many of us gave her thumbs up or waved as we rode by her. Since she is an NCC member, she gets credit for joining us. Speaking of memberships, don't forget to renew or join the club.

The Discord conversation was lively as always. We chatted about the upcoming Tuesday night outdoor time trial/hill climb. We also discussed keeping a midweek Zwift ride on the calendar, most likely for Thursdays starting in April.

The 2021 NCC Kit Store is open. The website has complete information.

The new Speedplay pedals were discussed. Zinj was not impressed, but Chris gave Speedplays in general a thumbs up.

The challenges of last night's Zwift race was mentioned by several of us. Zinj has his eyes on the podium for the series.

Charlie shared that he is looking forward to riding outside on his new gravel bike. He is hoping to take it out this weekend.

Charlie and Henry compared notes about trips to Japan. The Olympics in Tokyo start July 23rd.

Ari, Charlie, Henry, Mark, Melissa, Tim, and Zinj earned the Queen's Highway route achievement, which doubled their XP points for the first lap. Ari also completed level 7 and earned his avatar the Vintage Kit Pack.

Here is the NCC Zwift schedule:

- Mon afternoon - Road Race (times will vary between 5 PM and 7 PM EST)

- Tue 8:00 PM - Social Ride (invite required)

- Thu 5:30 PM - Time Trial / Hill Climb (solo effort, TT bike required) (invite required)

- Sat 9:00 AM - Social Ride (invite required)

Follow Michael Bello on Zwift for invites to the invite-only rides.