Pardon the Interruption.
The other day I got on Zwift to see Joey had just started as well. I was in the mood to have my clock thoroughly cleaned, so I clicked and magically transported to his location. He was putting out a steady 3.3 w/kg, which for him is 240w. For me? About 280w. Still, I tried to jump on and hang. I got dropped. I pedaled harder. I got dropped faster. I pedaled harder, and nearly came to a stop. Each time Joey did a u-turn and came back, then blew by like I was standing still.
Hmmm...
I was killing myself and the Zwift display only read 250w at best. I knew I was dead, but a relatively short duration effort like that should not be that bad. Something was very, very wrong.
Then I glanced down at my Garmin, which was set for a 30 second average. 320w. Not an astronomical number, even by my weak-sauce standards, but a couple zones higher than Zwift was reporting. Since Zwift estimates speed by w/kg, there was a reason I was dying to go backwards.
I changed my battery in my Quarq, but I was still having issues. I tried a different bike with a different Quarq- same problem. Then my Garmin's readings started drifting up and down. I removed it from the bar mount and suddenly it stabilized.
Hmmm again.
Two different displays having issues reading the ANT+ signal from two different power meters. Maybe it was something in the air.
My first inclination was to blame my neighbor's dope-smoking kid, but I realized that was just me looking for an excuse. I've ridden in more interference-rich environments with no issues, and having a couple walls and some space between me and Captain Puffs-A-Lot and whatever he does in his garage apartment all day probably is sufficient shielding. Besides, it was 5:00 AM and I doubt he would be awake.
Looking around, my eyes settled on the large subwoofer sitting right in front of my bike's front tire. I unplugged it and moved it to the back of the room. I unplugged my surround sound system and moved it as well. I unplugged the wireless XBox controller from my computer which I've never used but had a comforting blue light.
I got on the bike. No dropouts.
I'm not saying it's fixed, because I need to have several workouts before I start adding the pieces back in to isolate the cause.
I got a ride in where my exertion level was recorded somewhat accurately. My heart rate was way too high, confirming that yes, I'm cooked.
Still, it's nice to be making progress.
Hmmm...
I was killing myself and the Zwift display only read 250w at best. I knew I was dead, but a relatively short duration effort like that should not be that bad. Something was very, very wrong.
Then I glanced down at my Garmin, which was set for a 30 second average. 320w. Not an astronomical number, even by my weak-sauce standards, but a couple zones higher than Zwift was reporting. Since Zwift estimates speed by w/kg, there was a reason I was dying to go backwards.
I changed my battery in my Quarq, but I was still having issues. I tried a different bike with a different Quarq- same problem. Then my Garmin's readings started drifting up and down. I removed it from the bar mount and suddenly it stabilized.
Hmmm again.
Two different displays having issues reading the ANT+ signal from two different power meters. Maybe it was something in the air.
My first inclination was to blame my neighbor's dope-smoking kid, but I realized that was just me looking for an excuse. I've ridden in more interference-rich environments with no issues, and having a couple walls and some space between me and Captain Puffs-A-Lot and whatever he does in his garage apartment all day probably is sufficient shielding. Besides, it was 5:00 AM and I doubt he would be awake.
Looking around, my eyes settled on the large subwoofer sitting right in front of my bike's front tire. I unplugged it and moved it to the back of the room. I unplugged my surround sound system and moved it as well. I unplugged the wireless XBox controller from my computer which I've never used but had a comforting blue light.
I got on the bike. No dropouts.
I'm not saying it's fixed, because I need to have several workouts before I start adding the pieces back in to isolate the cause.
I got a ride in where my exertion level was recorded somewhat accurately. My heart rate was way too high, confirming that yes, I'm cooked.
Still, it's nice to be making progress.
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