Episode 23

Simon, Shane and Nathan are back together to discuss all the latest happenings in Zwift. The trio kick off with a discussion about Nathan’s recent visit to Zwift HQ. Whilst he can’t be specific, Nathan reveals his excitement at upcoming developments by responding to Simon’s quiz questions. Next is a feature with Frank Garcia, the veteran Zwifter and architect of the Cycligent ranking system, who talks candidly about his bid to “own” e-sports on Zwift. Fresh from a test event in the USA, where top Zwifters raced each other in front of a live audience, Frank is now taking the idea of live, validated, certified racing in front of a live and online global audience, to the next level with a big event in Las Vegas. The Zwiftcast trio chew over the implications of this – and Shane talks about his hopes as a competitor in Vegas. Monica Schlange has written movingly on ZwiftBlog about her battle with depression and how her efforts to conquer the illness with cycling seem somehow tied to the Zwift Mountain and Monica’s ambition of getting to the top. The Zwift community has pitched in to help her with a group ride to get Monica to the summit. Monica talks about cycling, the illness and what the community means to her. The FTP test is now a familiar fitness tool to many Zwifters – but is the protocol used in game to assess fitness the correct and most suitable one for beginner or casual cyclists? Dr Alex Mitchell isn’t convinced - and he comes on the Zwiftcast to explain why and talk about his fitness tool which can provide an FTP figure using a much shorter test duration than the arduous 20 minute period used by the established test. Simon, Shane and Nathan discuss Dr Mitchell’s findings. The boys finish with another brief discussion about the promise of Frank Garcia’s event in Vegas – and whether Britney Spears might be acting as Shane’s soigneur!