How sad do you have to be ...
... to fucking cheat on an exercycle in the comfort of your own home?
The mind absolutely boggles.
Come to think of it, how sad do you have to be to subscribe to a service to pedal an exercycle in the first place?
Virtual cycling service bans riders for doping – doping their data, that is
Virtual cycling company Zwift has banned two riders for fiddling with data they uploaded to the service, and which helped them to do better in races. Zwift allows cyclists to race each other in a virtual world – after first bolting their bikes to a static trainer that allows them to pedal without going anywhere while measuring …
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 08:36 GMT Joe W
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
Well, since there are currently no group rides and no races it is for some a good way to get some social contacts. The other thing is that just sitting on the bike in your room and pushing the pedals is dull (in my opinion), just as running on a treadmill is mind numbingly dull. Having others in similar situation could make this more enjoyable.
I personally prefer riding outside, even in inclement weather and alone, but I also do miss the group rides.
Cheating at sports: as soon as there is something to gain from it, people will cheat, whether it is as kids with snakes and ladders (or whatever), or adults with their tax declarations, or athletes at sports, at any level. You did not lose to your little brother at Monopoly, you get some "free" money from the gubmint, you are the first crossing the line and everybody cheers for you, you get a certain standing as an athelete in your club, people admire you. So yes, there is a motivation for cheating, and I think it is inherent in human behaviour.
What makes me really sad is age groupers ("amateurs", non-professionals, though some do train almost like pros) doping. This is a hobby you should enjoy, and you don't even get a great purse from the race, nor do you attract sponsors like crazy, it's just not worth wrecking your body even more. Plus I do not want those back in any competition. Ever. (though there is something like atonement...), half a year ban is just nothing (and I deleted the rest).
Don't get me started on cheating pro athletes, I deleted a whole paragraph (again).
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 13:43 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: it is for some a good way to get some social contacts
"It's the whole point of Zwift.
Tim: "Hey Bobby!"
Bobby: "What's Up Tim!!"
Tim: "Look'n gooood!!!"
Bobby: "So's that new coffee pot baby!"
Tim: "You know it! Love those new curtains!!"
Bobby: "We're looking pretty good!!!"
Tim: "Good job!!!"
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Wednesday 3rd February 2021 01:05 GMT jake
Re: it is for some a good way to get some social contacts
"And how much social contact do you have riding your bike in your living room (garage/whatever) ?"
Absolutely none. And when I was rehabbing my knees, I liked it that way. Got a lot of coding and reading done without being bothered by a bunch of over-excited, easily amused wierdos who somehow think they can mimic riding through the Alps when they are actually in their basement.
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Wednesday 3rd February 2021 13:57 GMT jdiebdhidbsusbvwbsidnsoskebid
Re: it is for some a good way to get some social contacts
"And how much social contact do you have riding your bike in your living room (garage/whatever) ?"
Right now in lockdown? About the most social contact you're allowed to have. In lockdown, zwift and so forth are to cycling what zoom parties are to going down the pub with friends - no replacement but for now it'll do.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 10:58 GMT Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
I play COD quite a lot and I don't understand people who cheat. It makes no sense to me.
Where's the fun if the computer points the gun and pulls the trigger for you. Where's the fun if you can see all your enemies through walls.
I accept it might be novel and perhaps even funny at first, but that's got to wear off pretty quickly.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 08:15 GMT A Non e-mouse
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
Come to think of it, how sad do you have to be to subscribe to a service to pedal an exercycle in the first place?
Some people like to exercise solo. Some like to exercise in groups. Zwift (et al) allows people who like group exercise to get their hiit during lockdown.
Just 'cause you don't use/like a service doesn't mean it's a waste of time & money.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 08:54 GMT Jay 2
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
The mind does indeed boggle at people who are willing to cheat at such things. This article covers some of the more high-end/tech related type things that people do. But even at the lower end of the scale it's just as easy to misrepresent your weight, which would influence your power to weight ratio and therefore which racing category you should be in. I've done the odd low-level race for fun and it can be somewhat annoying when the "winner" of your category seems to have been producing a lot more w/Kg than should be allowed.
Each to their own at to what they spend their time/money on, but in most cases people are using their own bikes on static trainers and pay a subscription to use the service, which in some cases makes it no different to having a gym membership or a premium Spotify account etc. As it's currently winter in the Northern hemisphere then riding a bike outside may not be as much fun, plus there's currently all the lockdown stuff. Platforms like Zwift allow you to ride/race/train without having to worry about things like the weather, the state of the roads and other road users. It's never going to be a full-on substitute for going outside, but it's a nice addition to have if you feel like it. Personally I use it over the winter months to keep the fitness levels up and get ready for when it's nice and sunny outside where the hard work will pay off (or at least things may not hurt as much).
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 11:41 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
>But even at the lower end of the scale it's just as easy to misrepresent...
There is a lot of low level 'adjustment' going on.
We see it a lot in youth races where we have real-world data comparing riders - and with some of these riders racing at the national level, we are continuing to get real-world data with which to compare Zwift data.
Even after allowing for the simple fact that some riders don't get on with static riding(*) and some are early(or late) developers, some of the results are still surprising - suggesting some low-level tinkering, probably aided-and-abetted by parents...
(*) It is well known that riders such as Mark Cavendish unperformed in the lab and would not have been selected for TeamGB, if they had only used this data...
AC because...
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Wednesday 3rd February 2021 01:08 GMT jake
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
"It' no different from cheating at online gaming and people have been doing that for as long as online gaming has existed."
People have been killed for cheating at games since time immemorial. Why is it that people think that cheating's OK all of a sudden, just because it's electronic?
My gut feeling is because there is no actual social connection. The social aspect is a figment of the imagination.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 12:08 GMT The Griff
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
It's worth bearing in mind that these riders are towards the elite end of the sport. So good performances on Zwift may result in sponsorship deals or even professional contracts. Not condoning the actions, but just pointing out there is a temptation there for those desperate to break into the professional ranks.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 16:03 GMT TonyJ
Re: How sad do you have to be ...
Funnily enough when my biddy and I dive, the talk is, as you'd expect about the dive we've planned (unless we're at somewhere we know for practice/skills reminders). But, shock, horror, we also chew the fat about other topics from work, the weather, kids, other halves, sport, science, IT - you name it we will chat about it.
We chat online the same. If we're planning a particularly challenging dive we plan it - gas mixes, planned deco, bailout regimes and so on.
I can only imagine that some of you commenting the way you have must lead very lonely lives.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 09:48 GMT trevorde
May the best cheat win
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/52776028
I also play a version of Solitaire which has a leader board for the least number of moves. Most scores are clustered around a minimum value, with only a spread of 2-3 moves covering the top 10. However, for some games, the lowest is 15 (!) lower than the next lowest. For one game, the lowest was 43 (!!) lower than the second score. If you have to cheat, at least make it believable.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 11:42 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: cycling news
Belgian cyclist Femke Van den Driessche was banned for motor-doping in the Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2016. Two amateurs have since been caught doing it in road-cycling. Professional cycling certainly has checks for the presence of motors as part of scrutineering.
If people start to take virtual-cycling seriously, then I'm sure someone will cheat with a motor here too.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 11:48 GMT Cuddles
Re: cycling news
"Is fitting an electric motor to your cycle a thing in this "sport" too?"
Absolutely. They've been doing it normal professional cycling for a while, leading to bikes having to be inspected and even x-rayed before big races. You'd have to be very optimistic about human nature to assume people aren't doing it under conditions where no-one else can actually see what you're doing. I suspect the tricky part would be getting the output low enough to be believable - if they're looking at your power output and heart rate, it's going to be very obvious things don't add up if you just stick a regular ebike on a stand. You'll want something that can be tuned to only put out 20W or so, so it's enough to get a significant boost in a race, but you'll still have to be working hard. I don't think many normal ebikes allow that kind of fine tuning, so it wouldn't be completely trivial for a random amateur doing it on the spur of the moment using off the shelf kit. Professionals who have turned to online racing during lockdown could, and almost certainly are.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 22:58 GMT Yet Another Anonymous coward
Re: cycling news
Apparently somebody measured it
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Wednesday 3rd February 2021 02:39 GMT jake
Re: cycling news
Our Rottie loves his exercise wheel ... Sadly, though, he doesn't quite develop enough power to run the Heidelberg Windmill. He does, however, however, manage to keep this thing fully charged, with the help of an automotive alternator & attendant wiring. I have no idea how much power he generates every day, all I know is the box is fully charged whenever I reach for it. (I didn't pay for it, they sent it to me to evaluate ... before this one, they sent me the 500W version. Long and short: They work. Spendy, yes, but they last rattling around here at the ranch.)
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 11:50 GMT Grease Monkey
Chilly Winter Months?
In the chilly winter months I riding is still just as possible.
Yes during the pandemic if you happen to be a competitive rider (I'm not) then it must be good to compete. But before the pandemic there was still plenty of competitive riding available - if all else fails get yourself a cyclocross bike.
But social riding in winter still exists and at least none of those fair weather riders turn out.
The real chore of riding in winter has always been the amount of cleaning you have to do. Which is why most all year riders have a winter bike so the salt doesn't destroy their pride and joy. And of course the proper winter riders probably own a fixed wheel bike which has a lot fewer moving parts to clean.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 14:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Chilly Winter Months?
>The real chore of riding in winter has always been the amount of cleaning you have to do.
The not excessively expensive Worx hydroshot helps with that (ie. makes it less of a chore) - it took over the CX pits in the 2019-2020 session, displacing many trusty petrol pressure washers...
>Which is why most all year riders have a winter bike so the salt doesn't destroy their pride and joy.
Many serious CX riders get new bikes every couple of years...
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Wednesday 3rd February 2021 01:12 GMT jake
Re: Chilly Winter Months?
I'm not really the one to talk to about bad weather ... I'm still picking tomatoes and summer squash from last summer. However, I rode my bicycle to highschool when I lived in Yorkshire, 7 miles each way, in all weathers[0]. Until I was old enough to get a motorcycle, of course ... But I wasn't interested in socializing during the ride, I was just getting from point A to point B.
[0] No, not uphill both ways ... stop it already.
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Tuesday 2nd February 2021 14:55 GMT Roland6
>get spotted with his police entourage cycling 7 miles from home
Makes you realise just how small London really is... and how your perception of the distance between Downing St and Stratford has been skewed by congestion and public transport.
My nearest supermarket is 8 miles away and I think of it as normal to cycle the 6 miles into my nearest town.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
