April 2017

April was a great month for me with the start of racing on Zwift
I have 5 wins, a 2nd, and a third.
Overall for 13 races, 56 total or an average of 4th place.

Heres my Zwift Power Profile: ZwiftPowerRaces

And Cycligent Race Profile: Cycligent

I think Zwift Power upgrades Mon May 1 and Cycligent May 7.
That dropout really hurt with losing 93 points.
It shouldn't count against me, but it is just virtual world anyway.

What's up in May? don't really know.
I hope to do more track and outdoor workouts.
I'm getting a Powertap power meter wheel...however,
I can't easily switch it from outdoor to Zwift as I would have to keep changing the tire.
Time will tell. I need it more for Zwift as I get no points for a win on the Kinetic.
Again, unfair. It isn't a magnetic trainer. It doesn't flatten out like mag units.
And it doesn't adjust to cheat (using level 2 instead of 4, etc.)
They say, Kinetic is almost spot on in watts, so why am I so apprehensive to ride my new wheel?

Love you all for your support, esp. my Strava followers and Kudo supporters. thanks.
Sorry, I was pretty un-humble about winning over the guys the other day.
I was just so psyched, hyper, and exhilarated. I didn't expect to win.
I've really worked on my "Z" Sprint, ever since I set the QOM on 23rd St.
Except now everyone knows on Watopia, that I start my sprint with 700 to go.
I plan a workout for the full kilo sprint. It's a painful one.
You'll see it soon. It's like the 4/25 finish just more of the sprint death at the end. Grrrr!

KISS Ladies Only win 4-27

Great race. Most of first lap was with two B girls. Eventually, I just went at my own pace, partially to see if the two of them would work together to chase me. But, they didn't, so I pressed on waiting for the KISS A guys (Allonby and Cartright) to catch me as I started 5 minutes before them.

Here's the Kiss race: KISS 4-27 race
Look for me in the bright blue kit at the 34 minute mark. I hooked onto the guys tail end and held on for dear life to the finish line, while they had another lap to do.

PS I bought a power meter....a Powertap wheel so I can avoid these Z power zero point wins.

WBR win #2 4-25

Dying all the way. Went so hard to start, sprinted the hump and every dirt section, drafted everywhere else. Used a draft to hang on as we entered the sprint section, drafted the fastest guys on the hill, caught and lost wheel again and again, just got on with 1 K to go, started real early, they all passed me. I started to give up but had another spurt, almost finished third but somehow inched ahead right before the line. Unbelievable! It was intense!. 4.6 w/kg
Can't believe I even hung on.( Only on these flat laps and one lap only.)
How they take 13:46 at 314 watts and post it as 14:01 is always strange. My file is only 13:50 long.

The "Z" sprint.

4-23 OTR Mountain 8 Race

Uh, fast first 20 seconds or so. there was about 8 of us going into the tunnel, two took off in the dirt. I could have caught them but I knew that would make me pop during the climb. When we got to the moountain, I was quickly in about sixth to eigth place. There was one guy who just stayed ahead of me and one I see-sawed with. By the top of the Epic, I was sitting in sixth about 15 seconds either way. It quickly turned into almost a minute ahead of me and a minute behind. In the end, I was 33 seconds behind fifth place. a good pace, I think, for me 58:37.

272 watts on the climb 26:43. I figured out to be under 30 minutes at 260. So happy with that.
301 to the climb 2 6:57, 19:16 to the turn, 6:51 to tower, 1:19 down and 0:20 to banner. after the descent 10:42, it was 13:12.7 2 @ 257 watts (253 + 307 last minute).
Overall average, not counting downhill was 47 @272 which is exactly my FTP. Yeah. I would have liked to finish stronger, but I was only pulling a few seconds back on the rider ahead of me. If I had gained from 4-2 km to go, I would have given more to catch him. But mostly, his w/kg stayed at mine or above. I did gain about 10 seconds from the base of Epic. Overall, a good race for one that is totally against my grain as a short TT specialist. Good result for 6th place.

Now, onto division rating tomorrow, I think.

Waiting for Rankings

I don't really care what division I land in, as it is sort of meaningless. I made it to A level, which is hard because I am low level A and most races are virtually all men. There aren't very many Ladies only races. But, I want to be officially ranked out of the Rookie level. I've done all three qualifying races, London Loop 2 laps, Watopia Hilly 3 laps, and Watopia Figure 8. Then I can compare myself to the big girls here on Zwift, like Baldie, Elliot, etc.

Then, the next step is power meter. I understand why other racers want it. Part of me dreads finding out that Zpower could be off for the Kinetic, although most Zwifters say its very close. I just don't know if I put it on my Zbike, will I have to keep switching it to my time trial bike? I really want to find out what the Zwift Academy competition will be like. I've done most of the workouts already. I need to repeat one or two but I've gotten so hooked on racing lately. Can't stop to train properly. I'm going to have to put racing on Zwift to once a week. It's more like intervals really, unless it's a time trial. But, I like the free speed when drafting, when I can hang in. Yesterdays pace was perfect. One other was all the top guys...never again. those 5.0 guys in the elite division should be a separate category, A+

WBR 1 lap Classique Race

Outright win! This is my second mixed win. I started to let the other rider win but I tried to stay ahead of third and pinched him by 0.2 seconds at the line. So what. I decided it is silly to deliberately come in second. although I disagree with the policy that you finish second, your second. You finish first, your out of results. why not bump me into second? It's unfair because I don't have a cheap mag unit, its kinetic fluid. it is accurate and can not be adjusted like magnetic unit.

PB in classic lap, last K, and sprinted under 11 seconds with aero pu. After this, I went to cool down on Richmond but sprinted Libby Hill at 1:14.67 I was near locking up with 10 seconds to go and same with last 300 sprint. but I'm learning what I can do and how early I can open it up. (depends if finish is uphill, flat, or slightly down like Classic finish line.

Great workout day. 15 minutes at 312 and Libby Hill at 482 watts.

Kiss pedal power TT

I did pretty good today. I upped my FTP to 281 with a 296 20. (a little while ago, I did 300 for 16 minutes (because I started to die during the 20 minute segment). I sprinted but not 100% because I was too far back from the rider ahead of me who was always 10-16 seconds ahead.

ZHR Contre le Montre TT

Finished in 5th place (7th behind 2 5+ w/kg). Live results were a huge jumble. Hope they get it straightened out. I think my 2nd lap was recording wrong. I felt I was riding 20 watts too high. I'll have to recheck everything. On my screen, it read 280 on flat part of 2nd lap, but it recorded as 300 watts. And I climbed slower on second lap, but it says I was 3 seconds faster. I finished fairly strong.

Kiss Race 4/13/17

Such a small field, but a win in the 6 lap volcano crit. Last time was absolute mayhem, where I put in 2 early and 2 late vicious attacks. I actually thought of quitting half-way through. This time, I just rode an easy pace with a B rider for almost 5 laps, then I upped the speed and finished the last lap up by a minute. ZwiftRaces was down the entire time, so no posted results and no points. I lost 93 points in the Kiss europe race when zwift abandoned me after 10 km. I have a ticket but they seem clueless as to what went wrong. It was def them and not my side of things. Frustrating.

EDIT: Yep, my win was not credited because of not having a power meter. It took 2 days but they did finally get the results up.

After the race, I got back on my bike and burned up the volcano. I broke the 7 minute barrier. The eta was between 7 and 7:02 but I finished in 6:52 because I sprinted like mad when it went up 2 seconds. Somehow, the volcano seems harder than box hill.

Next on my to do list....I'm going to try to train for team pursuit. There's a spot open for a team who needs a fourth by next season. I'll be getting a zwift workout for some tests as well, so you'll see that soon.

4-11-17

I got dropped hard at the Kiss race, when the big boys showed up...Fordy, Webb, Purificatti, and two other 5.0's. So, I maxed out the kom reverse and finished 3:52 at 395 watts or 5.81 w/kg. I think 6.0 is pro level, although I know some will say I need a power meter. Anyone got a spare? I'm shopping and saving for a Powertap wheel, but it is still hard to find a bargain.

Anyways, I not only broke the 4 minute barrier but sprinted the last bit with an aero power-up. Then, I was dead and later my jelly legs couldn't climb the short kom under three minutes. I faded had before the mid-way flat. Pop! I just wanted to add to my palmeres. And that's all I got.

My climb followed by impressive Fordy at 3:32

4-10 ZHR time trial race

Well, this was an unusual race for several reasons.
First, I felt so weak yesterday that I just wanted to ride threshold and push Box Hill, recover and finish.
Before the race, I replaced my bottom bracket. the bearing was trashed. suddenly, I was back in my regular gear. So, it wasn't my legs yesterday.
So, I did Box Hill in 6:49.9. I just 0 watted the downhill and tried to recover. When I got to the bottom, it didn't seem like it was worth killing myself to try to catch the guy ahead of me. Maybe I could have, but I didn't start with that mindset. So, I just rode it out to the finish. A learning lesson for the next time. Next time, I'll do a full effort (be much slower on the hill) but overall finish faster.
I put B because I knew I wasn't up to an A level. And my last race was actually 3.995 (which they rounded to 4.00). As it turns out, this race has no A or B, just finish order.

I was third. The picture below shows fourth, but first is disqualified by being over 5 w/kg without validation.

4-7 TIGR Race

Well, I stuck with the lead group for two laps, but had to let go and mostly solo the last lap.
The eventual winner went gonzo from the opening and was up all the way.
I got with two other and we caught two others from a 12 second gap.
Going up the hill the third time, I let them go. It was the up and down pace that was hurting.
I would go from 230 up to 320 then 250...never a steady pace.
So, I'm content even if I was last among A group.
I got my FTP back up (286 x .95 = 272)
My first official >4 race. I feel like I'm ready for an A group race with the big girls (wattage wise)
Can't wait to see Sat's Vegas race. Wish I could get in on the action.

SZR 4-5-2017 Race

8th place of 13 in the A's and my first over 4.0 w/kg.(actually, it was 3.96)
I had great legs today, running the course at 277 watts.
I entered as an A because without power meter I can only finish 4th or lower and I would have won B.
I ran hard with the second group as 12 high level A's went off, leaving 12 of us in a B pack.
Over the long kom, there were 5 or 6 of us and five of us stayed together until the steep kom.
At the hill before the sprint bridge, we lost one more. It was three of us over the top of the Esses.
I was with the two guys fighting for the B win, so maybe they just watched each other.
But I opened my new long sprint (I call it Xtra Wicked), going at 700 m to go.
0:45 @ 549 watts left them 5 seconds behind.
Finished the race in 42:19 (But Zpower adds 30 seconds 42:49?)
Today, I turned senior, 23 now!

Update final standings:

Strava

ODZ 4-3-17

Strava Race

Kept up with most of B squad. There was six of us after Box Hill and three went off but I was slower than first effort. Then one there was 2 chasing 3. I lost the one at the elevator. and saw 2  were only 7 seconds ahead. I put in a long sprint and just nipped one of the two at the line.

I finished 12th in A group (I could have raced B for 5th but I was afraid I will go into A group and some races just DQ you if you leave your category but ODZ isn't one of them I see), First but only girl in A and B. Overall finishers 16th place. (3 DQ's above me)

my finishing sprint, last 40 seconds, you can see the pain, yes?

WBR 10K race

Rode at medium pace. Silly girl, did a sprint 30 seconds before event started.
Rode at 284 watts but ZP says 315? 4.2 w/kg and 15:17 instead of 14:31?
I could have won and be DQ for fluid trainer, so I coasted for 2nd. Good for winner, Barr.
Strava