July and the Tour

 Possible goals for the month...Sisu Tour de France Sprint Jersey (not all races are good times for me but I think I can do well even if KM joins in. I would love to take on the world's best.) Also, the July Time Trial Series (because several races are short at 4km, 9 km, 10 km, 13 km, plus a 33 km endurance test). There is a quick three portal climb challenge to get the devil jersey. Plus, I should be able to find a good time to try to take the Poggio. Illi at 7:59.5 with 251 watts and Hayashi at 8:00 287 watts. I will need about 300 watts to beat them both. When I get caught up on all of that, I have a custom workout called Hic-cups.

TT Club: Mech Isle: 6:00.362 A very good start 298 watts np=311. Could have been a touch better. But, I am happy with result and it was good training looking toward the Poggio. Also, I think I will get the QOM on Redoute as the clock ticks down to midnight.

Poggio: Oh so close but hurting in the middle doing 270 instead of 280 and I lost the time I needed to win. I finished at 8:06 which is second place (actually third counting Illi on Watopia.)  I will return on a better day. I'm so aggravated that I should have gotten this.

Sisu Tour Stage 1: Going for sprinter points with three sections on this stage. With three laps, I need to do one each lap. But which one first? Maybe the first long one but then no power-up on the first time through. Tough call. Better to be patient and grab it on the second lap.

I thought I did great, but more mediocre than I would like. Too early on one, too late on another, too slow at the bottom, and one just right (but solo). Overall, I did great for me with a time total of 1:59.959 for four sprints. I was thinking of another attempt but I felt too tired to push so hard after a long day. It gave me a great workout but there was almost nobody at my time (and close to 100 in the next event when I couldn't be home) Looks like I'm going to be the red lantern. 

Stage 1 Second Attempt: Did much better 15.232, 22.115, and an amazing 55.491 for a new total of 112.794 which surpasses the top two B racers in the men's division at 113.792. The Dos Ane sprint is also the current record! (yes, it is a very new segment but it will take a full-on elite race to beat that as I topped 500 watts (no power-up). I knew I could beat the one minute mark!

Redoute Best time of 4:55.4 over 5:13 with both of us tied at the four minute mark before my powerful finishing kick right at 400 watts. It was enough to win by a good margin. But now that my time is out there, I expect someone to try to snipe it. (Some day I will explain that whole conundrum.)

TT Club Insbrukring is going to be an 'also ran' effort. I just don't have the energy to race this week because of the Sisu series that I really want to fight on. Sure, I'm going to win the green jersey. But I want to see how well I can do. I might just coast this one. However, there are only a few time slots and none of them are good. I may just skip it. There's no prizes and hardly any competition. Sad.

Queen Stage 3 of SISU Tour de France: I think I did great on my sprints. I had hoped to do a 59 on the final sprint but I had a 1:00.33. My total was nice at 144.741 (or possibly 144.311) for a new total of 257.535. We won't get the full results until Monday, which is stage 4 time. Stage 5 is Ventoux ten kilometers which I will rest as there are no sprints. Then just two stages with only one short sprint each. (which is why points would be better than time).

June....Summer, Summer, Summer Time

 Well, June is off to a good start. First thing after a ten day break was to climb Hautacam as a long workout. Then onto a full hour workout (actually two done back to back) Then I did a fairly brisk run on a short climb at six minutes. I full out rode Redoute, amazingly breaking the five minute barrier at 325 watts. Bang. I took this rested form two days later to attack the Madeleine. I was pointing to 52 minutes from the start. But, I started fairly hard for a long climb, looking at a 50 minute pace. I held that for the first thirty minutes before fading slightly. I was down almost a minute. I'm going to break 52, I kept thinking. Finally near the top, I gave it everything and came buzzing up to the final gate. 50:07! I can only see three people who could legitimately beat that time. Guerra and McCarthy (who almost never rides portals) and Illi (eye-lee), the queen of the mountains, will probably hit 48 minutes but maybe in France instead of Watopia. (You never know). Illi holds the real-life record of 52 minutes. But please note, she had to climb 10 km before that starting line, use some fairly rough roadways, breath at altitude, carry a waterbottle, and work with whatever bike she had. (probably not a fully outed premium climbing bike.)

What's next? I will take on Ettiene in a time trial next week (which is a bit longer than I like but it is flat which suits me better than trying to out-climb a 48 kg speedster.( She had to cancel, riding an outdoor event) I also want to retry a few portals with my level 5 Aethos where I only had the level 1 a few months ago. After Bretagne, I will have all of the short portals done at 100%. Look out!, Here I come.

Short work done. How to evaluate them, I wonder? Well, coach's problem.

I felt good on Bretagne, putting out just over 300 watts. Then, onto Trebiac where I did my red sections at 340 instead of 320. My average watts was almost the same, but my time was 9:53 (better than 10:00!)

I really want the Poggio now. There's someone at 8:00 and Illi has a 7:59. I think I can just eek out one second better with my Aethos 5. I need to be on a great leg day and get a few key power ups. It is a few seconds for each one gained. I wish I knew exactly how much. I have a better chance than regaining my Makuri qom that got stolen by someone that is a little hard to believe. (we know they're cheating but can't do anything about it.)

I am preparing for the July Time Trial competition. I want to see how I can do against the B squad (but Zwift messed up the A and the B so it is incredibly easy to change your grade. If I enter a big race as an A and tank it finishing last, I will likely become a B.) There are also two Tour de France options. I would like to chase the green jersey but the schedule is really hard for me. We'll see.

I did not only an entire tough workout, but I added an extra set. I'm so proud. 15 times 30 seconds hard red zone with 15 seconds rest. Three sets or 45 intervals total with an average of 283. I never finished this workout years ago. In fact, I think I said it was impossible. Now I have one more tough workout and a unique Watopia challenge to attempt.

I rode all four Watopia Laps, Jungle, Hilly, Jarvis, and Volcano. It was a blast. The last one hurt pretty much. But I raced them all with good times. 

Jungle 12:32.77 (gravel bike but not too hard)

Hilly 13:16.65 (forgot tt bike and used Dogma)

Jarvis Classic 6:30.84 (very good)

Volcano 5:27.05

Last workout was 6 x 6 at 30 red/ 5 yellow/ 30 red

My average was 310/233/335 for 248 average for 36 minutes up Ventoux.

Short and Sweet - The Elite Eight

Oude Kwaremont (Watopia Climb Portal)

350 watts 2:53.6

 Cauberg (France)

384 watts 1:58.8

Redoute (France)

325 watts 4:55.4

Bretagne(France)

307 watts 5:14.5

Côte des Forche(Watopia)

302 watts  6:47.5

Cote de Pike (Watopia)

298 watts 7:16.1

Poggio (Watopia)

298 watts 8:05.0

Cote de Domancy (Watopia)

285 watts 9:15.8

Trebiac (Watopia)

289 watts 9:53.4

May Flowers

 What's up this month?

Aethos level 5 achieved! So, I tried Ventoux and I was fast. But, after the half-way mark, I tired out and just couldn't hold my power for more than 30 minutes. I just kept seeing how much pain would await me in the second half. More a mental challenge possibly. It is very hard for a short distance power gal to suddenly leap into hour power. My best a few years ago has long been behind me.

However, I did set a pr on the lower half and actually have a better time than the current Q. I just don't want the attention right now. For me, it is just another climb (climb segment) that I don't really need. I prefer to know I have the best time, than to post it and then have that target out in the public where someone is willing to do shady things to beat my record. I don't like that routine. I actually have a few best times that are not published. It is enough for myself to know I beat the current time. I don't need to show off any more. It was mainly validation as a racer and maybe a bit to intimidate my rivals. But now, to me, it is all in fun. If I beat anyone now, it is probably due to them only going out medium hard.

I do think my best showing off rides are on the very short portals. I'm still a bit obsessed that I have an 8:05 that Illi beat with a 7:59 (she did have a draft on part of the climb which is perfectly legal but much harder to beat.) I'm more confident with my short rides. There is one more coming this week in the planning for the next update. I am almost at the end of this spring's program.

I need to summarize my short climbs, train, and reride them all. Good luck, legs.

Also, entered Zwift 2025 time trial series. Race #1 was very short just over three minutes where I put out almost 360 watts to take the win. I actually came in 47 overall of 119 men. Not bad, eh? I had an awesome day on race #2. I tied with S. Etianne...but I got the tiebreaker by having a faster time in both sprints and a better lap time. (someone at ZP proved my time was 0.097 seconds faster. wow)This is what running a negative split is all about. Etianne came out with a bang. She was fading a bit at the end but really maintaining power. I started just below what I needed (265 watts) then upped it to 285 for 12 minutes plus a sprint at about 400 watts over the last minute. Bam! There's a win! 

[I don't think I will ride the other three time trials as they are much longer and I am the only rider left in the A cat, plus no prize for winning.] Instead, if my legs feel good, I may launch into the Madeleine, trying to take it under an hour. I also want to redo the Redoute and Bretagne climbs. Also Hardknot, which is almost all red zone and takes intense concentration of effort. I just discovered that I did not ride Sa Calobra many months ago, and must have misplaced my invitation. I'm not sure why it was pulled out, so possibly it may malfunction. So, I will test it next week or in June. It's about a 30 minute climb.

I rode Sa Calobra as my finale for this block. Yes, I did test it before. I didn't remember until the circle overpass. The top is broken and you just sail off into the sky. (eventually, you will get to the gate, lol. I made a u-turn at the top and rode down I hit 260 watts for the whole ride, thirty minutes. That was great and I felt awesome today. It happens every once in a while. Did the main climb under 28 minutes. It actually starts on a small downhill. Why? Because Zwift cyclists and Zwift programmers are never in the same room at Headquarters. Two ships that go by in the night. 

It has been a beautiful spring campaign and finish to my winter efforts, peaking and maintaining top form for most of it. I will start a training block in June, targeting a number of climbs.

Love ya all!

PS Returned from vacation well rested and rode Hautacam as a starter. I went hard for the first half at a record (possibly) pace but I couldn't keep the pace hard and I pretty much clawed my way up the rest of the way. I broke 48 but 45 was the real goal. I was at a 41 pace for the first half, if that tells you anything. As soon as I feel back to form, I will put in a full effort on two short hills and attempt the Madeleine under the hour. (me? crazy, right?).

April Showers

 It has been awhile, yes. We are into April. In Zwift, the new challenge is to upgrade our bike frames. I am working hard on three frontiers:

Time Trial Cadex....40 hours to hit level 5. Done and dusted.

Aethos Climbing Bike...15,000 meters almost at level 4 after two weeks.

New Dogma Racing Bike 1600 kilometers. (the Venge was a bit slower, so why make it faster. Spent a million.)

I started out at just over 50 million drops. Each level costs more drops. Overall, you will spend 2 million dollars to upgrade a one million dollar bike. Strange. I have managed to earn the drops since upgrading my time trial bike, which I use often. I have 48.5 million today and will spend over half a million tomorrow to upgrade the Dogma (1) and the Aethos (4). I need the full Aethos to try to match some of my older climbs (the Alp again, after I promised I was done racing it. It isn't the effort to go all out. It is the weeks of preparation it takes to be in top condition for that specific effort. Very hard for me. A sprint, I can do with very little prep.) Ventoux too, I suppose. I'm not sure what portals I would attempt. Maybe one or more of the steepest climbs. Madone? When will the Madeline be ready? Maybe the Tower and the Grade (lots of pain and suffering). 

I only really want one more Q back in Makuri. But, it is almost impossible. I did manage to get to the top of the climb in record time, but slipped behind schedule on the downhill and finish. I have a plan, actually two, and I don't know which one is better to break the record. Hmmm. It is still very hard also because the disc wheels are slower now. So usually, the 858's are 'faster' though slower than the old disc wheels. Conundrum.

Ventoux has been ridden a few times lately. One, because I need the altitude and the distance. But also (you can thank me for this), I talked them into putting a spinner on Ventoux. The surprise for me was the finish gives big drop rewards instead of xp. I got 25,000 dollars the first ride. With my level 3 Aethos, I have ridden the first half in 29:07. So a repeat of 60 minutes may be possible. It is just so much harder to do 60 than 64 minutes. It isn't the same for someone to go from 94 minutes to 90. It is sixty minutes of a twenty minute level. Mind-blowing. How did I get there the first time? (I think over a dozen runs with time markers every few minutes to keep on schedule.) 

I also started a few crit races. I do two laps on my Dogma. Then, one all out lap on the time trial bike. Maybe, I will do the reverse next time around. How much faster is this Cadex now? A minute per hour.

Socks are said to save 12 seconds per hour. That is one second every 5 minutes. Is it worth a whole year of cycling to get them? Probably not. But, eventually, I will get them.

See you soon.

Zee vs. Zwift Games

 The challenge? Ride both sprint races as a points race format. Total sprint time in two stages.

Makuri Madness has four sprint sections, all recorded by the 1000th of a second.

Scotland Smash has three sprints, short, medium, and long.

How is Zee doing in the standings?

Makuri.... First in three of the sprints and third in the boardwalk sprint. (behind a flying Bates and a hot Nyquist)

Scotland...(on neutralized bike) very close to my best time on Brae, a great sprint, and my best on Clyde ever (the third best of the year) It's some very tough segments. All of them are best in a draft. However, if you are outsprinting everyone else, then your nose is in the wind most of the time. I feel pretty good about my times here.

I don't think anyone can come close to my Mikuri total....81.782 (I could do a little better on the Alley. I started to give up, then finished with a time faster than I expected. My previous best had great watts but I started my sprint too late and was too slow at the start line.)

Scotland time (50, 24, 12.7) in total is 86.741 (only my final sprint could be better. Sunday race maybe) Edit: Yes, Sunday's time was 12.241, half a second faster. In doing so, I took the best time of the week. My previous time had me in fifth place after the Elite finals. So, I knew what I had to do, hit the start line at 60 kph, and I did. Smash!

My Zwift Games total (with a chance to do one more race on each course) is.....168.523! then: 168.018!

I can't wait to see how the elite racers do in the final. I'll be watching.

Wow, the Zwift Games Sprint was wild. Several riders making the basic mistakes, used their power-up at the wrong time, started their sprint too early and others, too late. Several big attacks that just wasted energy and cost them that precious match when they really needed it. I saw Lou Bates attack super hard and I just shouted, "No, way too early" She was hurting bad when the start line appeared and Kate tore up the sprint and got her right before the line. Lou did 10 (TEN, not a typo) w/kg for a minute, which would put her sprint in the top ten of the men's race. That effort would have won the final sprint. I was really rooting for her today. Some others were missing (Langham, Verharren, Gamst.)

I noticed a huge number of riders did not run in the practice races this week except for Bates and Van Houeling. No Fuhrer, Guerra, McCarthy. Gardner would have known that her attack would fail, she came in 42 or 43 place. Although, it worked in race two. You had to be in the top 10 to make the final. Kate came in tenth and only made the final because of bonus points for the early Mikuri sprint. (But that sprint probably took some teeth out of her Scotland finish) KK Kulchinsky was the sixth place finish (5th and seventh) who had to sit out the final sprint lap. Guerra also took a bonus on the brae climb.K Fuhrer took bonus also with only a ninth and fifth finish, yet made the final. Soderstrom had 7 and 2, while Holdcroft did best with a 3 and 4 finish. 

When the dust settled, I took a look at the "key segments"from the entire week of Zwift Games 2025.

1. Tide Pool Reverse:    my time (19.268)   McCarthy (19.032)  I placed second behind Kate

2. Boardwalk Sprint:     my time (14.937)   McCarthy(13.690)   I placed 24 place

Total                               Kryder (34.205)    McCarthy (32.722)

3. Brae Climb                my time (50.020)   McCarthy (50.768) I placed first, Kate was 6 place

4. Champion's Sprint      my time (12.241)  McCarthy (12.420) I placed first, Kate was 2 place

Total                                Kryder  (62.261)   McCarthy (63.188)

Sprint Total                      Kryder 96.466      McCarthy 95.910

I didn't know at the time, so I attacked them all and...

#1 time...Alley Sprint Reverse Zwift Games

#1 time...Tower Sprint Zwift Games

#1 time...Clyde Kicker Zwift Games (I had this one by a huge margin...3 seconds)

#1 time...Champions Sprint Zwift Games

#1 time...Brakeaway Brae Zwift Games solo effort at 499 watts and won over Fuhrer 0.13 seconds

#2 time Tidepool Sprint Zwift Games 19 seconds at 11 w/kg, my best effort of the week.

It felt like old times, like 2018 or so. Thanks all for making me go so hard. It was a great week!

This is (as expected) one of the times where I got beat by McCarthy (four sprints and only 0.546 second) But then, she beat all the top riders. 

And then, right before I went to bed, I thought about something.....make-up races in two weeks. I just need a number to beat on Boardwalk Sprint. And that magic number is 14.380.....And now, it's stuck in my head. Why not? One more chance at glory. One more chance to shine. One last sprint. 

...........to be continued!

 I got two QOM's this week. One was Scotland, just beating Etienne by a hair. We're the only two under 12 seconds at 11.2 and 11.4. But, after the Big Spin is a favorite of mine, Sasquath Sprint. I bettered my time by two seconds by sprinting full force before the line carrying a lot of speed. Boom 19 seconds. Only two guys have broken into 18. A lot of 19's. It was a blast and good for my ego, if I do decide to attack two more ZG25 sprints.

January 2025

 I'm still working on my Climb Portals. I hit over one million meters climbed on January 8 2025, I was once the leader in climbing, but I focused on sprinting for a while and fell behind with K Kulchinsky getting way ahead of me. Good for her. I have to do my thing and not worry what others are doing. It isn't a competition after all. I'm also happy for Cat in hitting 300,000 km of distance. I still have a long way to go to hit 100,000. (I;m only reaching 80K this month)