I did the Alp Everest, rested almost a week, then returned with some crazy ideas. I am crazy.
Four Horsemen: Beating the 2:37 best time!
This is a very tough challenging climb. But, I can take it because it isn't just up like the Alp or Ventoux (which has one little dip for 30 seconds or so). I ran this the other day and recorded all of the sections that were 10 % or higher. There's quite a bit. There's about 6 sprints at the lower half, then another in the middle, On the upper half there's a series of steps that take about three minutes with a very short respite of 4% before the final sprint. The scattered flat spots are my reprieve, where I can rest a bit.
As a background, I put in a solo effort to take this title. I did some great wattage at a steady 15 minute effort with a few power strokes and a final kick to the line. It was a level zero Aethos. But the time was 15:39. Now, I wanted to try again, but a bit smarter, harder on the steep parts.
15:39 Level one Aethos on June 3 2024. Level 5 Aethos November 26 2025....15:13 (beating Julia's remarkable 15:17 by 4 seconds!) Naturally, I had an aero power-up to seal the deal, saving it for my final attack to the line. It was fast, it was perfect. It was much harder than I expected. But, I stuck to the plan and went as hard as I could in the red sections.
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Start.. 30 seconds sprint, 44 seconds, 35 seconds, 33 seconds, a long 60 seconds, 45 seconds. A bit of breathing and another 60 seconds, then the preparation for the final set of steep inclines: 24 seconds, 31 seconds, 104 seconds of endurance followed by two 20 second sprints. A lone 41 second sprint to the line. I wanted to start it sooner but I was on the verge of collapsing in pain. I saw 5:17, then 5:15. One more push to sprint harder and I came over the line at 15:13!!!
I noticed on the boards that Julia has the fastest time before my record. However, she finished in 6th place! So how did she end up in the number one slot? Hmm, someone flagged the top five times after their effort? How crass! Some of the people don't get notifications or know how to deal with flagging harassment. (and yes, some of the times were absurd but there's always a few 'flyers' just slow pedaling, sight-seeing at 402 watts average with 110 heart rate)
In the long run, this ride only matters to me. I don't really care about being faster or pacing better than anyone else. It's the goal and then reaching it. Someone will come along eventually and either beat it or cheat it. That's what happened in Makuri, after I worked so hard, so many times until I got it just perfect. Even with a level 5 Cadex, it seems impossible to beat. I am obsessive some times and I may just get it stuck in my head again. I would have to train precisely to do a seven minute all out effort, followed by 30 seconds rest, followed by 30 seconds do or die sprint. I don't know if anyone can legitimately beat the current time. Possibly drafting in a tiny race, possibly in a level 5 Tron, possibly with cheetah leg muscle implants.
This gave me a bit of training and racing stimuli. It's very important to work to some goals. I was very sore the next day, and still too tired the second day to ride. Tomorrow starts anew.
I didn't want to write about it until after I finished it. I was going to do it next week but I decided rather last minute to jump in and give it a go. I had planned to go up twice in a row (which is usually my breaking/cramping point), then take a break, relax, change clothes, eat, jump back on hours later. I even thought of doing two assaults, sleep, and do two in the morning, two in the evening, sleep, two in the morning. I know that goes against the "official" rules. But, I'm a sprinter. My legs are not built for nine hours of endurance full-gas efforts. If I am doing this, I am doing this my way. (I can do an official one some other day when I feel insane)
I will add a bunch of details. But, when I asked Emma Pouley about it, she told me, "It was the worst decision that I ever made." I basically agree. I sprained my right ankle getting off the bike after the second Alp. It only hurt when I walked on it. Yet, on the bike, it was fine. I used every single outfit I have, including one that is very tight and has an annoying seam. I got a pimple. I had bike problems, butt soreness/numbness issues. I had moments of greatness and moments when I had to just try to focus. Having a long ten minute downhill is great. I would never want to do the radio tower or the grade. You need the time to recharge a bit physically and mentally.
I rode the full Alp six times. Two times, one and a half, two times, one and almost two full times. Eight and a half in total for 8901meters uphill. I felt the best on the fourth climb. I felt strong and the power just felt easy. I finished two minutes ahead of my Holo. The fourth was way slower and the final one, I had very sore legs. I should have been in an easy gear but I kept it in the main gear I use as it seemed faster? I was afraid that once I used the small gear, that my power would evaporate. It was a bit dismal in the end. But by then, all I wanted to do was to finish. I did pedal just enough to take the 8849 to 8900 before cruising down to the start line. And no crash, no dropouts, no failing batteries. Yeah! I can't believe that I didn't give up.
Edit: It took me a week to recover before I could get motivated once again. Then I did three hard climbs: I did the Ski Lift climb which was designed for torture. It is massively steep (forget the Angrilu and some others) Then I rode the Stelvio, which is longer and has no steady rhythm, just hard and harder. Then I dared to summit both sides of Ventoux. It took over three hours. It was mentally hard but also took a lot of strength. I nearly had a PR on the Petite. The rest was dosed to survive the physical difficulty of 3100 meters. But, it is long and boring and hardly anyone on the climb. At least the Alp has a good number of riders to keep you from getting lonely.)
Edit: I just added another long ride or two. I hope to reride one or two routes where I lost the top spot.
It just sort of happened. I was bored, so I jumped into a race on Bologna. Then, I signed up for Crit City the next morning. I kept picking up the rest of the leader's lap jersey, planning to do them all in a week. So far, I have all of them except Watopia, New York, and Yorkshire.
Did I do them all in one day? Yes, years ago. Was that insane for someone who can usually only take only an hour of racing? Hell yes. So this time, I'm not doing them all in one day. I will later fill in all of my rides. I will say, I am going full gas on all of them. (Crit City was a bit easy, I admit. I just wanted to check the box as I was in a hurry and didn't even put my shoes on.) 13 Jerseys! (They changed France Marina Sprint to forest green. France has no lap jersey unless you count Paris.
I'm just one short for my favorite...Yorkshire. I could have done it but it was getting late and I would rather do this as a full effort and not simply pedaling to get it done. I would love to do a double lap if the legs are good tomorrow. (just over 3 hours now.) Total time: 3 hours 26 minutes and 46 seconds.
Italy TT Course
Crit City Dolphin/Bell Lap
Watopia Hilly
Watopia Jarvis "Classic"
New York Central "Park Perimeter"
New York Prospect Park
London Loop
Richmond UCI World Course
Yorkshire UCI World Course
Innsbruck UCI World Course
Paris
Scotland Loch Loop
Makuri Flatland Loop
Tour de Zwift Fall 2025 (The Unlocked Tour)
Race 1 went pretty good. I did great for about 12th or 14 minutes, then fell back at the castle climb, losing about a minute, then doing a good two minute effort on the South climb. My time of 18:15 will probably hold me back but we shall see. I could do it again but is it worth it for me? I need a better time to race as there were only 25 people in this event. I just couldn't make the bigger race in time. At least I held on to a very high-powered group.
Wow, a lot of gals have clipped the 18 minute mark. And boy, have the cheaters come out to play. There's no referee, so anything goes apparently. It's back to being the Wild West that Zwift used to be before ZADA and Elite Zwift testing. I've done it twice (and a third time just for myself). There was an older test and then it changed a bit. Both times, I feel I did good, just always tire in the long test after a few super hard sprints and one and five minute turns.
Race 2 went good for only five minutes. I fell off a small group and didn't know why. It felt like the brakes were on. The next day, I felt terrible. I guess I was fighting a bug or something, and hungry, and tired. Wednesday, I did the long stage and felt pretty good. I don't know if I will do a late points race Friday or maybe do Stage 2 on Saturday or Sunday. Small groups are just much slower overall and there is no support when you fall back. Almost every rider dropped, drops out of the race. It's no big deal. I'm okay with knowing that I'm not going to win the overall.
Race 3 was not too good either. I did great for the first lap only, with three more to go plus the Sgurr North Face. I just rode it like a time trial with a time that proves I was not drafting, lol. I'm sure I could keep up in a B squad. Maybe tomorrow.
So the total women in Unlocked Tour was 30 in open with 6 returning in race 2. The Unlocked Advanced had 5 with only me in race 2. One was clearly extreme weight doping. Three riders are male accounts. Jamie, I do not know but 377 for twenty minutes and 744 for a minute (which would get a world record in women's kilo event and probably medal in the men's side too.) Come on. Where's the competition. I should have ridden in the B cat. My ego bit off more than I can chew. Maybe I could redo some races in Standard. But, with so few involved, it isn't much of a challenge. Nobody takes pride when they take third in a series with only six or seven in the mix.
Race four and five were about the same. I keep falling off on Brooklyn Bridge. I have lost my zeal for writing about this Tour. I am the only one to finish the Advanced Race series. There is a 60 year old male who looks about 90 kg racing at 60 kgs doing almost 6 w/kg who could potentially make-up the one stage he missed. He has since changed his picture from himself to a picture of a squirrel, but he still shows photos of himself working out at the gym. He's very muscular. LoL. She, to be politically correct.
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| Thank you South Park |
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.(21:13) If I have good power, I will ride the Highline again. But today, I was still a bit sore from the last workout.
Training/Testing Camp 5 @ 838 (very good) 1@ 501 (very high) 5@ 323 (good, maybe?) 20@ xxx Results by ZP 100%, 100%, 90%, and 70%
Highline Reverse np 291 avg power 268 and officially 2nd place after an almost unbeatable effort at first (a big Bravo, girl!)
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.
