Fall Training and Racing?

 I enjoyed the sprint competition so much that the racing bug has been returning, even though I upgraded to an A due to some very hard but short efforts. I don't mind except in some races I know I will get dropped from the gun with two choices, either finish last and turn my score down, or drop out to avoid a long solo ride to the finish. Boring or stupid...hmm. Race score seems very random, with many B riders having a higher score than me? Weird, right? 

New York racing three stages over one week. Sounds great, IF there are time slots that work for me. A few series are set an hour too early or four hours too late with nothing in the middle. That makes getting a Wednesday race nearly impossible. But we will see how it shapes up. November 24-30. Got it.

Started with New York Highline Reverse. The start line is wrong and starts about 100 meters before the start line. Since I started at 90 meters to go, my time said 20 minutes. I was saying, What? I was pushing the whole time. So, I had to create a private segment at the proper line which shows my time at 15:07, a second best effort ever! I will attempt again for the official record book, but I will have to start my sprint way before the line. Eric, you goofed this one up a bit. We will see if I can better this time, at least under 15 minutes.

I did Muir Mountain, taking a 2 minute break before the radio tower and 13 minutes at the bottom of the hill. My moving time was just at an hour. I am riding to upgrade a few other bikes but only as I have the money over 50 million. I just upped my Canyon. I am also on my Diamondback tt (because of the colors) The Canyon has the Academy pink design. I also have my Gravel Crux waiting. (for a race that may never happen) I like my Pinnerelo time trial bike also and may spend money on it. This way I have a reason to ride Ventoux for a 100,000 effort. All others only get 50,000.

Monday starts Camp Baseline which I don't need to do other than new shoes and a few points. We will see what they offer. I hope for a portal climb also before the New York expansion. 

I was tired but grabbed my bike and hit the Alp. I only went hard for the first half (20:39). I plan another ride for only the top half soon. If I have good power, I will ride the Highline again. But today, I was still a bit sore from the last workout.

Watts Next?

 four weeks to this schedule: Vo2 workout, ftp and other tests, short and long workout (short climb followed by long threshold climb). That is a three day workout schedule for now. It might get tweaked later. I'm just trying to train up for the fall season. I doubt that this Academy will be anything worth fighting for. Last year was the worst one yet. It was all tests, no comparisons, no true rewards. I did some of it but passed on committing to the whole routine.

It is a great idea to do some tests (even though races are much better). Only, Zwift needs to put up the results. It isn't fair that some of the entrants were hand-picked. The last two years have seen riders without the Zwift credentials getting selected into the finals. There is no transparency. And the finals were so boring. Will Zwift listen and up their game? Highly doubtful. It has become an advertising ploy.

My first workout went good, It was a few 4 minute intervals, starting hard for 30 seconds and ending hard with 30 seconds. Watts were 277, 285, 293, 291 = 286 average. I also did a step test which showed a 258 ftp with a 272 20 minute rate. I think the next workout is a series or 2 minute intervals with various resting phase and a scary crazy workout. I'm doing the grade with the extended goal of 20 minutes. I have done the Grade under 12 minutes. How to make this a true 20 minute test? Add a lot of weight. It will be done at 90 kilograms, I think. Maybe it is better if I don't know. We are calling it The Cheesecake Ride.

I felt really good today, and jumped on the Alp...not a great power but the first half was cracking under 18 and the top went pretty good under 21 to finish at 38:47! Wow. My Aethos 5 certainly helped. But it was old-fashioned gutting it out on the climb. I feel really happy with this effort. It shows I'm not at my all time finest. But, I am in a pretty good condition considering I have done a lot of sprinting last month. Great day. A top ten finish for me.

Jumped into a standard Zwift races. I lasted the first 20 minutes, then eased up and finished a lap. I had a great 15 minutes at high watts. The pack was very on and off, which is a bit silly, but okay. I set a pr on Brae at 49.79 as I finished with 30 seconds at 600 watts after using a draft. That part felt great. I had a difficult start but fortunately, no one went hard in the first few minutes. I think I just needed the old race stimuli for today as I didn't really have a training plan for this week. I may do another race Friday or Saturday. Or just another long climb in the big gear. I feel like I need a bit more muscle.

Ending August with a return to Tiny Races (So tough, even a top ten is a victory). I'm doing the A race where it is impossible to keep with the lead group. But, I did it! I did for the first race, at least. I finished 17 out of 42. I had to average 350 on any climb pieces, including the finish. I out-sprinted a few guys at the line. Some were upset at the start of the second race that they got chicked. Too bad Tilly or Fuhrer were not there. I still hope to line up with them some day.

July and the Tour and the Infamous POGGIO QOM

 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 Reverse 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. EDIT: I dropped out, no time.

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).

Green Jersey: It looks like I have moved from 7th overall, up to sixth overall. I was only looking at first to beat the men's B racers. Stage 4 will also have almost two minutes of sprints. Most of my time lost is in the Dos Ane where the men are much faster, even though I hold the current record.

SISU Stage 4: Launched my best minute in quite a few years. I took the QOM and the Zwift best time on Dos d'Ane Sprint with 51.048 (beating some real and some very fake times) Now, I own both of these long sprints, living up to my Zwift Academy efforts from my "almost selected' back to back years. Zwift recorded it as 552 watts! I am so...I can't even think of the word. Love it, love it, love it. I just fell into this challenge even though none of the elite gals joined in. Sounds kind of like my Elite Time Trial win a few years back. I will edit in a few days when the stage 4 results come in. I've got the times now: I'm in fourth place, just ahead of two riders. First is a bit of a debate at 340.7, then Second at 348.6, Third 355.4, Zee is at 361.1 (360.8 as my ride was 1:00 but was actually 1:00.3), Fifth 362.0, Sixth 364.0. I only have one second to either come in a provisional third or possibly fifth. However, I am one second ahead of the Men's B after stage 3 (257.5, 258.6, 260.0) Stage 4 Men's B 1@364.506, 2@371.289 I am up 3.7 seconds.

Poggio Qom Attempt: Feeling a little tired and having done so many sprints, that eight minutes seemed very long. I struggled from two minutes to go until the one minute to go section that I fell short by 3 seconds at 8:03.36. I'm getting so very close. I think I started just a bit too strong and then paid for it during the middle portion. Also, I didn't get more than one power up. Maybe that is what through me off getting near the top, that I got zero benefit from that power up dial. On another day, the odds may go well with me. Maybe I will try again in a week or two while I have a good bit of power in my legs. Stay tuned.

SISU Stage 6: I ran the sprints pretty good. I had a 12.86 followed by a 12.683. It seems like one rider dropped out, not riding stage 5. Therefor, I am looking to take third (but essentially second as first place seems to have a weight problem that will be up to the judges if they challenge anyone. It isn't life-changing to have someone beat you by weight loss beyond what is normal.) I expected the rider above me to keep his six second gap on me. He had a nice 12.560, so I only came behind by 0.123. Sharp. One more fairly tough sprint coming Friday. That sprint will be harder as it is uphill and drafting speed is the name of the game there. As long as I don't lose more than two seconds, I should beat the B cat and maybe stay ahead of the A rider behind me. It would be great to all be in the same race. But, it is very tight. I have 3.2 seconds over the top B cat sprinter. But now only 0.7 seconds over the third place in the A cat. I only lost a tenth of second or so. Very, very tight indeed.

SISU Stage 7: I started earlier than I planned, but I was bang on at the sprint line at 52 kph. I managed a 10.587 with a feather. (never an aero when you need it). I was trying to hit a good speed and I ran up a really good time. VanDenBrock ran a 10.048 to (in my reckoning) win the green jersey competition. His Strava profile is open and my coach says he looks legit. (While one candidate has not so great wattage but has incredible watts per kilogram...hmm. Another tell-tale sign is extreme weight loss over their career. One top rider went from 83 to 73 kilograms in a two month period. Wow, that was some great riding after that 'vacation'. You know it is a roulette wheel...and the winner is..) Okay, rant over, doesn't matter.

My total time should hold up to second overall!

T. VdB at 378.042

Zee Kryder 384.127 

Next contender needs a 9.5 tomorrow to beat me. Medg in at 385.538 (10.9 final sprint)

In the B cat the winner 'Brof" has an 388.768 (plus 4.6 seconds)

Second Place in SISU Sprinter (no sprinting on stage 2 and 5)

     Stage 1: (Placement) #1, #12, #7

     Stage 3: #5, #10, #11, #4, #63

     Stage 4: #5, #11, #69, #5, #3

     Stage 6: #6

     Stage 7: #6

Still a possibility for Poggio attempt....

POGGIO RECORD....July 30 2025

Zee Kryder  7:59.0  298 Watts

Illi Gardner  7:59.5  250 Watts

This may be the only time I have beaten Illi.

I am thrilled and exhausted. I've been training for this and attempting it since Illi got it March 21 2025.

Finished my season with Hardknot climb. I only raced it one time. Actually, three other times but that was in test mode and the climb was actually too short. The version that is out now is a brutal hard start. This is why people don't come back to this climb again and again. You learn to hate it. I thought, I better get this one right so I don't have to do it again for a long time. I almost quit half way again. I did the bottom part pretty hard and I suffered for about three minutes before finally opening up the last minute sprint. I felt in control the whole time but it felt like I was going to falter. I finished in 11:09 when I was hoping to go for 12 at the start. This is the first time with the Aethos 5 so it was a bit faster than the old bike and more watts 284. I also did Ventoux right after (for even more torture). I have the form for one more big effort.

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)

7/2025 298 watts 7:59.0

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.