December Madness

It is a bit crazy, mad, to be cranking out maximum watts on every climb portal. I have done almost all of the short ones. I rode Willunga Hill today, smashing the best time by almost a minute. My former time was 11:19 and today at full power, 292 watts, I put in a 10:31. I rode the last 7 minutes at 300 watts.  

Next, an attack on Beleach or whatever it is called. I only know two things, only a few have cracked the thirty minute mark and foremost, that I'm just chasing Gardner. Illi is at 24, Asa at 26, Jenny at 29. I'm aiming at 26 with hopes of 25. If I finish at one minute or less from Illi's time, it will be a victory. I have a few Q's indeed. But, none of those climbs were held by Illi. There is one climb held by Verharen, also out of reach. We'll see how close I can get tomorrow. It is a climb with a fiendish finish. We need a few feathers.

Bealach na Ba is a very tough climb with a bunch of steep pitches. My eta timer was not working on this climb. I had a great start, strong and fast. But, then it got to be a struggle as the red segments loomed up ahead. I tried my best. My power was virtually 250 watts with a little respite here and there. But, I couldn't recoup my power in the final four sections where I really wanted to shine. At least I gave it a good shot, finishing in third overall. However, I trailed Asa by almost three minutes and Gardner by almost five. So then, third place is not too comforting. 28:57 

Honda is the last of the under 20 climbs. I had a real battle to keep it under 18, despite a fairly good start. The climb is almost all orange. I was going under 17 when I really hit the wall and had to recoup before the line. I did a fairly good 17:05. Second place is at 17:04 (Really?) I rode at 263 watts, just good enough, but below my great day potential. Illi has the bar set pretty high at 15:19. Her times are real but super human. I could do better, maybe even hit 16, but 15 seems out of reach. All part of the game and part of the hunt, right?

Today, I took a break from long climbs to do some testing. My 10 second sprint was 823. Anything over 800 is great for me. I ran a one minute, three times. The second attempt stopped with 15 seconds to go. My legs were shot from the first effort....482 followed by a 501 minute! I'm back, like my 504 that I ran in August for the Academy pro workout. That's pretty sharp. I may give it one more attack, just not sure when. Then on another day, my ten minute power was 282 (for me about average). I just felt weak instead of strong. I didn't eat most today, just so busy. I paid the price. I can get close to 300. It just wasn't to be today. I did 289 for the first five minutes. Sad emoji.😞😞😞😞😞😞😞 

Next is the 20-30 minute climbs. I'm missing the Platz. The Ordino was not full gas, Negra was done after a race, and Peyresourdes should be better wattage than 245.But, I went for the combo Turbie and Eze, doint the Turbie in 22:34 at 253 watts. Then onto the Eze at 268 watts in 5:18. The total ride at 35:01 was a great time as I would have been happy at 36 flat. I hit the finish hard barely finishing in a heap at  and the Q! Hopefully, Illi won't ride this anytime soon. She probably would cut it down under 33. She's just that darn good.

Did a one x 19 effort, aiming at 293 (10 minute pace) and higher. I averaged 318 (310 with two strong efforts to finish). I also want to do some sprint repeats at 500 watts and work toward 520 goal.

Eight Year Anniversary on Zwift

 From humble beginnings to high level racer and back. It has been quite the ride. Leading group workouts, winning a few titles, working a bit for Zwift, beating some of the best, over-training, super early racing, it has all been some of the best times. Right now, I'm still working out vigorously but without a clear goal. I have done about all I can on the Alp. The truth is, it is just a bit too long for me. On a great day, yes, I can race the Alp with the best of them. I reached my goal. Really, I was thrilled by Illi's stomp on the Alp. Anyone that can beat her time is probably tricking their ride. Zwift has exposed a few riders over the years. I can't reveal their names, one has a jacked meter, we know that for a fact. There are so many people with wattage data infractions, just totally impossible wattage. Strava doesn't seem to care.(Honestly, why should they worry about virtual worlds.) But, it is sometimes frustrating when you should be Qom or at least top three.

 I was working on my portals, even though nobody else is doing that. So, it is just me trying to see which ones I can put under 20, under 30, and under 60 minutes. When I get a faster bike, maybe I will try the Epic to go under 20 or my Makuri Q that got stolen by a cheat. I know I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. I worked extremely hard on that one just to reclaim it from a different cheater. They just coast along at either 35 kg's or push at 399 watts steady uphill and down. Of course, Zwift can put up that "Oh no, you must have missed your calling" warning and keep that person off the leaderboards or give that little triangle cone. But, guess what? It still counts as 'legit' on Strava. At least, Rouvy has implemented a good solution. (Occasionally, a ride slips through the crack but that happens on Zwift portal 50 percent climbs as well.)

I'm at 984,000 meters climbing (plus 50,000 Rouvy), so I will hit the zwift million soon. I am just catching up on my portal climbs. I skipped a few and I did some just at tempo to race the descent (Hey, it's a thing in some areas, lol.) But, you can not race down if you put in a pr on the climb. Why? Because if you go too fast on the downhill, Strava computers will track your speed and flag your ride. I hit 111 kph by sprinting down a steep section and that's what happens. So, lesson learned. 

Today was great. I was just a half second slower than the leader on Domancy portal. Thrilled. Too bad I didn't get one more feather. I also did a 786 for ten second sprint but my file didn't save? I still got a picture. But, I may go again. I ran my 7 or 8 gear, that's 50 x 14 I think. So cool. One more ride to close out the month. I still need Honda, Crow and maybe Willamunga to bring down my times.

Finally got the Mary climb under thirty minutes. It seemed so long at the half-way point. Then, the final section was all red. I just kept hoping the peak was closer, but I made it, just barely. I was really our of gas, just a few seconds burst before fading. I don't really want to do this one again, ever. But, maybe that is why I should. It is a half hour time trial for me. Good enough. November is finished. Eight years of pain and joy.

Love you all.

Zee takes on Xert

 Let's see what this AI training tool can do.

At first it is telling me to try my six minute max to top 296. That sounds hard. I have a new workout to try (if it loads to Zwift as promised). 

I've noticed that the daily recommended ride can be strange, often not working toward my goals. I did manage to find a good workout or two, but you must schedule when to do that ride. If you look for it the next day, it will have disappeared and you will have to search for it, then reschedule that for that day. In other words, a pain in the tushie.

Some workouts seem too easy (way too low) and some seem way too hard (too many repetitions at a high level). Either it thinks I am super human with instant recovery or it is , like others, suggesting rides that healthy young men can do.

I did have a great ride on a short climb and took second place. 275 for 12 minutes is pretty good for me.

I still have a few more weeks, but I don't think I would pay for an Ai library of workouts. Just upload and review your best ride of every month. That should do it.

Another day...and the wrong workout was there. I scheduled a workout but it never appeared, even though the app said it was ready and there on Zwift. So, I did my own version of it mentally, without Xert. It was more of my own that their workout. Now, I'm taking this work into the Galibier. (but Zwift has the South road when the North road is where all of the excitement is. On Rouvy, I grabbed second place behind of course, Illi Gardner. To me, that's a big victory. (there is a very limited amount of people on Rouvy) But, I will be ready for this. Then, I plan to attempt an all out six minute climb because Xert says I am one of the best in this field. (What would I have to do in a minute to impress them? I'm still a great minute rider and can pretty much win this as an event. (Except the holy trinity of McCarthy, Fuhrer, and Guerra)

Yesterday I had a great ride and Xert said so, but didn't say why? Was it my sprint or my 20 minute effort to finish the Galibier with a Qom? Doesn't say. But, I averaged 260 for 24 minutes. I could have done a bit more if I had more power boosts or red zones. It was mostly orange with just a few short yellow and blue sections. I have ridden most of the climbs. However, I rode some at threshold just to race the down climb. (Crazy, I know). Partly, the reason is if I race to the top, then race to the bottom, a flag for going too fast on the downhill will also flag your entire ride. (Supposedly, you can cut the ride in half and resubmit the climb only part, but that sounds a bit too much. The one time, I just resolved to wait a week and redo that climb.

Now, looking over my climb history, I have a lot of hills to ride at full effort. I have three short climbs, 5 middle climbs and 5 big climbs. I'll never get done. I won't hit my million meters this year because I spent 3 months on Rouvy. Otherwise I would be well over my goal this year. I think I did close to 50K on Rouvy climbing all of the Vuelta climbs.

My final vote on Xert? Needs to be a whole lot better. AI can not do what a real life coach can do. The designers have not polished their product before release and have added nothing to warant a huge price increase. Sorry. This isn't half as good as Training Plans was. Training Plans seemed to die because they refused to lower their price which could have grown their customer base ten fold. They were stuck on this, "We need to make this much profit from the number of current subscribers." Well, now you know.

My Return to Zwift October 10

 I'm coming back.

Rouvy is ending October 4th. Perhaps, I will write a bit on that later. I don't have much to recommend or much excitement to tell about. It has very limited Strava segments. My Whoosh and IndiVelo have zero.

I have returned to Zwift, despite the high cost. I'll take a few months off each year and save my money to pay for 9 months. I rode the Madone Wednesday and will either ride a portal or the Alp Friday. I may do a Academy race of two. I'm not sure yet. I should focus on some workouts, with a few time trials or climbs as my goal. I would reconsider the Alp with a new lighter bike. I'm sure it will only get a few seconds faster. lol.

Friday: A massive attack on Chinilion Portal with some of my best power in two years or so. I was cruising at 260 instead of 240 on this shortish 20 minute climb. I had the goal of breaking 19 minutes. I tried not to look, but I was hitting it hard at the start to aim at 18 minutes (in case I started to fade toward the end) But I actually had a powerful finish at 290 for the final six minutes dipping down to under 17:30. I finished at 277 watts (PR is 282 years ago when I almost made it to finals) with a time of 17:21.

I have two rides on Belle Filles at 25 minutes and one just under 24 (I think I had 7 power-ups which saved about a minute). I just set a pr on the Perysourdes too, at 26:25 for a new Q.

What lies ahead? 

Zwift Academy 2024 To be or not to be?

 I really expected the Academy to be a late in the year, do a bit of training and maybe a few races to enjoy the Academy. I have raced and competed all out the last few years and while it was very rewarding (almost making the final selection), it was tough as anything. I trained heavily before the Academy in order to score well. Pretty much, I peaked and had the top spot or two in sprint and long sprints. There are a few that are hard or nearly impossible to beat. Guerra, Verharen, Van Howeling, Fuhrer, KK, Asa B, and Etienne, plus a few pros who drop in for fun. Actually, they are eligible if they cancel their 2025 contract. (although not fair to allow in semi-pro competition.)

So, I had a great minute effort today. I'm going to practice it a few more times before Day 1. It is hard to step down. I may go down fighting. I lost the longer segment, over a minute sprint to Fuhrer last year but won the short sprint over GG and KF. ( I had higher watts but a slower time on Libby Hill. Lot of drafting on Richmond's Libby Hill.) I really shine in a 25 second sprint. So, I have a 480 and a 500 in the bag, which is good enough but I know GG can top that if she trained for it. When you train to do a two hour race, your sprint and one minute power will suffer. Fortunately, I never have to worry about an hour race. Lol, the Alp is as long as I dare to race now and even that is a long stretch.

The Academy workouts are just timed tests and will not improve anyone's fitness. I'm not inclined to do all of them. Also, a time trial of 30 minutes on Ventoux sounds pretty boring. I may do it. But, I could just do it solo since it is a time trial anyway. Why bother?

I'm still on Rouvy, joined a 21 stage Vuelta 2024 challenge. A little boring but a lot of climbing to do including three two hour stages. Can I do it? I barely have enough days to finish. I already have a fast bike. But, it is hard to turn down a real challenge after doing Zwift challenges. I'm just not sure about those three two hour stages. Seriously?

Update: Put in a 489 watt one minute effort, followed by 606 meter climbed on Ventoux in 30 minutes. I'm satisfied with the 600 club. I really had to sprint that last minute to hit that target. Maybe, I will try another stab at it in October. I still want to hit my 500. I know on good legs, I can top it.

Finally, had a good run at the one minute power. I just sailed along and saw 497 as the time counted down. I hit 500 with just a little to go and then the power started to go and I had the fight to keep up the power. I just made the minute mark to complete 504!

In the Vuelta, I'm still going strong. 13 done and 8 to go. Three more weeks to finish. I did two of the long stages now. I had to do one twice because nearing the finish on the final climb, the power when out and in Rouvy, you can rejoin an incomplete ride...but it doesn't count toward Strava or Rouvy. So I reran it and went harder on the first big climb, shaving off five minutes, 20 minutes through the valley and then another big climb.

I can't wait to ride the Alp again. Seems like a long time ago. ( I forgot that I did grab the Rouvy title by breaking the 44 minute barrier.) I would rather do it on Zwift which is shorter and faster)

Tomorrow is the 51 km stage with a short 10-12 minute climb. But after an hour of riding comes a 15 km mountain with 748 meters of climbing. The Qom is the last half of the climb looking to get under 25 minutes. Then, die, I mean dive into an ice bath. Then a few more climbing stages and onto the grand finale. I can't wait to finish the Rouvy Vuelta. Diablo is the right title.

Winner-Stage 12 Manzeneda! I planned to ride a modest pace and draft the first hour before hitting the long climb. But, I started going deep on all the uphill parts. I was up by 1:23 then only about 12 seconds but blasted the last part of the climb to finish 51 seconds ahead. I put in a long hard five minutes to finish. I just couldn't believe how smooth the climb was going, There was a false flat section that I could rest for over a minute, then try to lift the pace to the max (well, after an hour and twenty minutes a deep five was at 265 watts instead of 280 but that's how it goes) Call it 3:30 to finish on top. It has been a great week. Now, I have three stages plus the bumpy final stage. With my overall time, I can afford not too worry about how I will finish. But, I am planning to do it just like today. Hit hard when it goes steep and stay in the draft on the flats. I will update before the finale.

Getting near the end of the Vuelta Challenge and all is going as planned. I am hoping to finish in the top ten. But, I'm sure many people have not finished all stages yet. So far, 90 have finished out of 10,000. How many can get it done, even with extending the deadline two more weeks? Update: 11,000 people have joined with 260 finishers. I have only the last stage to finish. I think two of the last four stages, I am in the top ten overall. How is that possible? (Not a lot of depth in the field really) I know some are putting in a fury of effort. But, a good number of the top finishers are pretty old (and unlikely to ride at 6 w/kg even downhill,) It isn't a real competition, just fun for sure. But, it feels good to come from Zwift as a former champion to Rouvy to challenge even the overall leaders. There's a few gals I would like to ride with, but that isn't an option on Rouvy. It is what it is, pedaling to the sight of a recorded video.

Vuelta Final Stage! I finished in 7th overall! (probably shouldn't count first place- unrealistic wattage) 19:32:29 Hurray!

Zee's Bucket List

 I really don't know too much about mountains. As I sprinter, I don't like them at all, but they are beautiful. And since I'm at Rouvy for a free ten weeks, I thought I should travel the world and pick my bucket list. Except, nobody would care to read about the rides I really love. My sweet spot is anywhere from eight to sixteen minutes. Even Alp d' Huez is too long for me to enjoy. I rode it yesterday and feel like I can take the current record easily, but not the all time Strava. (too many cheats to sort through really.) I don't think I would do these on Zwift climb portal either.

I have done Zwift Alp Huez and one of the favored few to ride the Stelvio. I do want to compare them. Mostly, more fun on Zwift and probably faster too. So, the Alp, Stelvio, and Rouvy offers the Galibier and the Tourmalet. The goal will be all four (five if you count the Telegraph lead-in to the Galibier) in six hours. The Tourmalet is just over an hour, the Alp just under an hour, and the Stelvio and Galibier are each at an estimated two hours each. EDIT: I decided not to do the Galibier. It isn't exciting and the Zwift version is only half the reality. So, I couldn't compare the Rouvy edition. I can find another climb. Maybe, the Madone. Yes, the Madone is a bit too long but Lance and Illi have done the last 9.77 km of the climb under thirty minutes. That will be the goal!

I can not believe I was able to go fairly hard all the way today on the Tourmalet. My mind was blown away to reach the summit in.....59:57 !!! I really was feeling like I was fading at 20 minutes, but I kicked again until the 30 minute mark. After a short respite, I launch full steam ahead to the finish. I am ready for my Alp Huez full effort. Last week, I did it at 90 to 95% and had a time of 48:10 (best alp climb on Rouvy. This is fourth counting full-gaz and bkool. I need to beat 44 minutes. Goal. Probably not on my next ride, but you know I will attack it every two weeks or so until I max out my effort. Going fast for 40 minutes is much better than my best watts for 50 minutes. It just takes training and commitment...and intensity.

A mountain that goes on forever. The Grand Stelvio. It is like doing two Alp Huez back to back. 48 turns, 24 km, and 1848 meters of elevation. Shut the door! I just forced myself to do this ride. What made me go full gas all the way was knowing if I was too slow, I would have to do this ride again. Anything but that! So, I clipped the Rouvy segment, and cut off the small downhill last section, and my time came out to be....exactly...1:30:00!!! 225 watts and just 90 minutes. Wow. What would Illi do? (probably 1:20) Anyway, it will be one of my great climbs ever. I only raced this long once before and that was one of the national races, I think at nearly two hours of pain. If only there was just a hint of flat or downhill. One section was 14-17%! I tried to push my wattage that whole segment. It was absolutely brutal, covered in sweat. I'm just so happy, I didn't break. Time for a drink and celebration. 1:29.36 is the virtual Stelvio segment time.

The Madone. This was an awesome challenge and I had great legs today. At times, I had to try to hold back as I was charging faster than I could maintain to the finish. I was watching my heart. At 160, it starts to get dicey. I either push super hard or I fade. Today, I tried to maintain, just down a notch to help recover, just stop my heart rate from climbing. I finished in 32:11. The record is 32:06. The mistake I made was starting a minute too early. I really thought I was only ten or fifteen seconds ahead, building speed. But, I went pretty hard for 30 seconds to start. Still a fantastic ride, going 258 watts over 30 minutes? I will take that any day. I really felt it at 2 km to go. I started spurts of effort, then pull back. I still had a great top half. My sprint was only 300 for the last minute. It felt like forever. I should have finished with 400, but I just had gone so deep for 30 minutes.

Total so far....59:57 + 1:29.36 + 32:11 = 3:01.44 with just the Alp Huez left.

Before the Alp, I was ready for a very hard but short effort: The GRADE on Zwift was the challenge, as some at Zwift missed me and wanted to see what I could do. I guessed around 12 to 13 minutes, if I could keep my power high, I went in feeling pretty strong today. The end seemed so far off when I was really hurting, trying to hit around 300 for the last 8 minutes. I actually did 299. I almost passed out crossing the finish line in 11:22. Turns out to be the fastest time yet, just edging out Guerra! Now, that is something. I watched her last month on this ride. Two ways that I beat her. First, she went with a medium effort on the first minute. Also, she started from the gate, while I built up speed before the line. I had an 18 second lead in the first minute and the rest of the race, she was 14 seconds faster. She didn't sprint the finish as long as I did. I held mine for 52 seconds, hers was 42 seconds. Side by side would be awesome. (I do recognize that she can beat me when she is at her best. ) Loved this challenge.

So today was Alp Huez...at nearly 250 watts, which was my goal. I just had a kink in the middle where I rode around 230 for a few minutes, then finished with a pretty good 20 minute run at 250 again. It feels like an hour effort with a fast start and a hard finish. I think I could do just a wee bit better. But for now, I feel content with this build-up and finish. Alp Huez at 43:45, which breaks the Strava best times (three gals at 44-45 minutes....darn fast).  Total Time for Bucket list = 3:47.29 

Indievelo and Rouvy - First impressions

 Indievelo:

Good Points:

Free

Talking humans (a very few)

Velodrome races

Bad Points:

98% of users are fake avatars or auto bots. Even races are 95% bots.

No Strava segments or auto uploads. No segments at all? Kidding me?

Rouvy

Good points:

Famous climbs and lots of routes

Ghost riders you can actually draft. Makes up for being an empty desert on every ride.

Real looking jerseys.

Lots of price options (1 day/2 day/3 day passes)

Bad Points:

No hair color??? just black?

No downhills, just climb up Alp Huez and stop.

Virtually no races, lol most 'races' have 2 people.

Avatars just float on top of 'google earth' style videos.

Many videos are simply poor quality. Are they official videos or user donated?

Camera view on turns is terrible. Pans super fast and rider disappears until after turn.