Saturday Morning Zwift Ride (2/20)

[Michael T. Bello]

On Saturday at 9 AM, I'm planning the “Achterbahn” route in Watopia (https://www.strava.com/segments/18398698). 

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 ride 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 had 16 riders on Discord this morning. The main group (Charlie, Chris, Dan, David, Joe, Justine, Kathryn, Melissa, Mike, Tim, and me) rode the Achterbahn route in Innsbruck. The second group (Dusty, Jonathan, Henry, and Kevin) was participating in a massive group ride on Watopia's Uber Pretzel route (Zwift Insider Badge Hunters). Zinj tried his luck once again for the Lightweight wheel on the Alpe du Zwift, but luck was not with him again today.

For those of us in the Achterbahn ride, we rode 31 miles with 3,281 feet of climbing. I was the last finisher with a time around 2 hours and 8 minutes.  Melissa earned another 2% on her quest for the Tron bike (only 7% to go).

Justine joined us for the first time today. She was with us on Discord and did the same route, but not officially in the meet up. She solved the challenging items, so next time she will be in the official peloton.

The conversation was lively this morning, although there were quiet periods as we ascended the big hills. We discussed the most recent snow and learned that Zinj "stored" an iPhone battery in his driveway that took him a while to find under the snow. 

Dusty earned his Tron bike last night (50k meters of climbing) and he celebrated by changing his Zwift screen name to "R O'Botron." Melissa and Kevin are inching closer to joining the Tron club. Today, there were at least six of us (Charlie, Dan, Dusty, Jonathan, Zinj, and me) on the Tron bike. Here is an article on multicolored Tron bikes: https://zwiftinsider.com/multicolored-tron-bike/.

During our descent on the KOM, the group all super tucked. It was very impressive (see photo).

We discussed movies and tv shows. Zinj is finishing up his Lord of the Rings movie marathon. I shared that the original Muppet Show is now on Disney+. My daughter has no idea who the guest stars, like Rita Moreno, are supposed to be.

We got on the topic of 80's bands and concerts. Chris revealed he was a DJ in the 80s. We asked to see photo proof. He turned his camera and showed us his DJ sign instead. Mike shared his Live Aide concert experience and I explained how my wife gave me tickets to see Colin Hay (Men at Work) a few years back.

As always, we discussed Thursday's hill climb. We also speculated, perhaps hoped, that Monday's race would be a little slower due to Jonathan's long ride today.

Charlie, Dan, David, Joe, Melissa, Mike, and Tim earned the Achterbahn route achievement, which doubled their XP points for the ride. Mike finished level 17 and earned his avatar the Classy Kit Pack (cufflinks not included). David is completing levels very fast. Today he finished level 11 and got the Basic Kit Pack 2. He also earned a new bike, the Trek Emonda, by cumulatively climbing the equivalent of Mt. Everest. Kathryn got new Zwift Black shoes by finishing level 4. Melissa is now on level 31 and needs to start wearing her new Zwift Retro 80's Glasses.

For those doing the Uber Pretzel, it is listed as 79.7 miles with 7,661 feet of climbing. Henry earned the Metric Century Kit and the 100 km achievement badge. Henry went 75.2 miles, Kevin went 89.3 miles, Dusty went 89.5 miles, and Jonathan went 104.1! Dusty, Jonathan, and Kevin earned the Uber Pretzel route achievement. They are a little bit crazy (but respected) for doing the route.  It looks like Jeremey, Lynda, and Sean may also have done the Uber Pretzel route this morning. 

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.

Check the calendar page at www.nohobikeclub.org for full details on all events.

[Jonathan O'Keeffe]

I got the wheels (again) atop the Alpe, so I now have a spare pair, in case Zinj would like to borrow them.

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