Tour of New York

 No I didn't win. I struggled with those climbs on Saturday. But, I did the whole event of three back to back stages. I'm currently in third. I was in sixth place after round two but it looks like a couple of people did not ride all three stages. I expected to finish in fourth. This was some real good training and I finished my 199, 200, and 201 races. That is fairly good for less than four years, about one per week. I did my first race March 9 2017. I'm just using this to train for the real Tour, Tour de Zwift 2021. It's two weeks from now. Of course, there is one day of a big climb too. It's the epic for the short races so it won't be too rough. We will give it our very best. See you there.

Edit to come: Official results: https://zwiftpower.com/league.php?id=586

Wagner 86:23

Dorota 90:40

Kryder 94:12

Nationals Switzerland Win

 Just finished the race.....ouch that long distance is hard. I went out with the lead group and had to do the first hill the reverse, very hard. I managed it in just 4:00 minutes but really felt it when we approached the second climb of the four (two laps of Figure Eight Reverse). I only felt good when I looked at the results. lol. I was dying for the last half hour. At least I was able to push hard on the final climb where they put the early finish line at the kom forward. I knew I was in the lead from watching the kom times. It was a hard fought battle nonetheless. I was surprised more entrants did not show up for these nationals. I think more than ten days notice would have gone a long way too. Zwift continues to submit last minute races for the masses. We've been waiting since February of 2019 for these events.

I'm also sad that the Suisse have no women in the world championships and only one man. (If he has the best time next week then will he become champion?) Below are the winners and podium for the Swiss Nationals. That hard start with the top riders was worth all the pain now.

Results and Sunday's Results

1. Fabian Geyer      1:09.42                          Lars Foster 1:05.34 (not in ZP official results)

1. Zee Kryder        1:16.29

2. Lukas Eugster     1:09.43

2. Lisa Lutteneggor 1:18.02

3. Pascal Sechaud   1:09.46

3. Kate Lane           1:19.12

It's a long list but I will edit in all of the winners:

Austria Kathi Machner 1:14.19

Spain Cristina Torres 1:16.43

Ireland Suzy Johnston 1:19.59

Winners pending World's Final:

New Zealand Celia Secret 1:17.23      Ella Harris 1:15.11

Australia Heidi Hunt 1:18.12              Sarah Gigante 1:13.27

South Africa Cmon Raoch 1:23.02 /  Moolman Pasio 1:13.27

Japan Shoko Kashiki 1:08.33

Belgium Wendy Mathie 1:13.25 

Columbia (pending worlds)           Natalia Franco 1:15.36

Denmark Fie Osteby 1:13.31         Annika Langvad 1:13.28

Germany Julia Decker 1:10.33

France   Courtney Nelson 1:07.54

Italy Francesca Ravazzolo  1:12.14

Norway Borghild Lovset 1:10.39

Netherlands Hanneke van der Plas 1:29.33 / Anna van der Breggen 1:15.15

Portugal  Ana Santos 1:17.14

Poland    Aurela Nerlo 1:13.20

Sweden   Corneli Engstrom 1:08.32

England  Alice Lethbridge 1:07.12

Canada  Courtney Nelson 1:07.43

USA    Kristen Kulchinsky 1:08.44   ( note: DQ False data Antonia Reznikov)

Congrats to all.

What's Next?

So, I didn't reach my goal of A rider this year either. But, I did grab a whole bunch of personal bests, all the short efforts except the one minute which was an out of the park home run two years ago. I came close, 11 watts off.  I recently finished the Zwift Tri bike workouts and they were great. I should revisit them and go a bit harder. I still need a goal. 

Can't wait for the WC's on December 9.(EDIT: Goody, Zwift added a Nationals on the weekend of December 5 and 6! The bad news is 50 km long. Its almost been two years since the last Nationals at 60 km. So, we will give it a shot. I have a chance at least) I have found my niche with the 30 second to 2 minute efforts. Do I want to improve there? or add that talent to short races. (Wah! I love Bologna but never get a chance to race it) I discovered too in training I don't do that well with five minute interval workouts. But, do laps of Volcano circuit and I punch them out one at a time lap after lap. It's a visual thing. Same thing with 8 minute intervals. Poorly done until I ride Volcano climb three times. 

For training, I have a few time trials, a few workouts, and I can throw in a few races (I did terrible in my first post academy race, going out too hard and crawling along to the finish from 20-40 minutes.lol)  I wonder what Zwift has in store next? I need something new soon. It was such a disappointment when they cancelled Switzerland. I couldn't wait to see if some of my additions were included. I still hope, even with just a glimmer of hope, that it will come back. How can Zwift trash all that hard work?

Academy Finish and Segment #2 Winners

     It's Segment #2 the final of two segments and two races finished. I already graduated and 'won' the 30 second title. (Someone posted an unworldly 889 today which is 200 watts over top pro level and I will not believe this new number isn't a powerful glitch.) I'm headed back into more serious training although I would love another attack on the one minute effort...the only effort I need to beat my 2018 academy numbers.

     My goal today was to hit the hill hard and not worry about the full two minute effort. I ran a 1:46.85! and I did set a personal best at two minutes by over 13 watts. With a power-up I could have hit 1:45 no doubt. It felt great. My lungs were heaving and my legs were pumped. I beat my previous best of 1:54. But, I'm not the fastest (top ten...hell yes). Here's what I found: I'll have to edit in the late Sunday times.

Forward Hill:

A. Lethbridge/ J. Godbe, K. Curi, K. McCarthy @1:43

Greenwood, Bauerfiend, Coates, Hering              @1:44

Conyers, Clutterbuck                                             @1:45

Kryder, Nata                                                            @1:46

Vine, Wayland, Nyguen                                          @1:47

(see also https://www.zwiftpower.com/segments.php?id=6 )

Below is my original list

Kate McCarthy 1:43 (https://www.strava.com/athletes/32063689)

E. Herring / Bauernfeind / Trommer / Greenwood 1:44

Kryder / MacRustie 1:46

EDIT: Just got this from Zwift:

Epic Times:

Hering 21:39

Webb 21:49 

Sydlik 22:00

Moakley 22:04

Bullock 22:06

Kagstrom 22:11

Pennington 22:19

Top times for the Volcano:

McCarthy 6:57

Bullock 6:59

Sydlik / Greenwood 7:05

Moakley 7:06

 

Zwift Academy Week 3

     The Academy is going fairly well. I did the Segment Test on Innsbruck and had an 18.50 and an 18.000 in the two sprints. I saw someone beat my wattage for the 20 second effort but I didn't see anyone beat 19 seconds. So, I call that a win. My 20 minute ftp was only off by 3 watts doing 249 out of a 252 threshold. The second time, I sprinted and rode hard the last 10 minutes or so on the climb. As a result I have a 723 in the 30 second sprint leading second place at 695 watts. 

      Somebody beat my one minute and two minutes. I am currently in third place in both of those times. I also scored a 705 PI as a result of my two minute practice. ( I don't know exactly what that means but I am told 700 is pretty good.) I had a 440 on the kom forward climb. I beat my best time by 5 seconds, just under 1:54. Yes, only two minutes can tire out your legs. Segment 2 will be a two minute assault followed by the epic climb. I am currently waiting until Saturday for race #2 up Mt. Ventoux. As a sprinter, I hate this long test but we will give it a go.

     I have fallen behind on my artwork being busy with chasing my best efforts. There's still a long way to go until the Academy officially ends. But, I think I am performing much better than expected. Sprinting is taking away from my long efforts. But, at least I am still at the top in the long sprint efforts. I fear I won't hold onto the sprint wattage win in the 30 since the one minute is so huge now. For now, my average is higher than second place at almost 700. Maybe I have another chance. But this 30 and 120 are my best ever beating my 2018 times when I did manage a top finish. If I get beaten by a finalist, at least I won't get beaten by very much. Some numbers just seem unreliable, especially the 1500 watt sprints sound like a trainer glitch. But we will wait and see what the finalists can do.

     Here are some numbers from a website for what would be a top pro levels, measured as 100%:

5 second 1200 watts (78%)

15 seconds 900 watts (I did 94%)

30 seconds 722 (I hit 723!)

60 seconds 574 (I did 93%)

4 minutes 424 (82%)

I'm still trying to go a little higher in the one minute effort. The numbers above are for my weight. Still shows that some Zwift best efforts could be off a little. My power meter is very accurate. I think I can retire some day and look back and feel good about that effort. It is going on the wall, so to speak. 

   

Race #1 Win!

     Week one is over and I'm leading in the 30 and 60 seconds. I'm not far behind in 10 second, 20 second, and 2 minutes. Will try them all again soon, or should I say 'zoon'?

      Today's race was three laps of Richmond UCI. It is a tough course and I have never done three laps as much as I can remember. 22 entries led to a pack of ten at the front. I was determined to be in that group until I died. The first lap got really hard at the hills. I had to really dig in. We wound up with a group of 5 that would stick together until the final approach in lap 3. 

     On the downhill in lap 3, I opened up a gap and one rider came with me. We shared the front and kept 8 seconds or so ahead of the other three until the hill. From there, we extended the gap a bit, hitting both hills hard. The three behind us split up, which was the plan. Third place caught us on the last hill near the base. I was in the red as the other two riders opened a small gap and held it until the hill starts to level near the finish.

     I was determined not to let them go. I held my ground at 3 seconds back. As soon as I hit the level, I gave it a burst, then thirty seconds from the finish I started my sprint. It wasn't too strong but I built a lot of speed as I caught them at 200 to go. I flew by and knew I had it with 100 to go. It was getting blurry right as I caught them. Don't think they were focused on me but rather were looking at each other. It was almost the best way to dump the sprinter. They just didn't gain enough ground as I had saved my aero power-up from the very first banner.

     I only took two fourth place finishes last year. This felt really good, better than the two wins I got in the open races in Crit City this summer. This race was hard fought, even with going a bit slow on the flats. I thought I would have to settle for third place. So this win was a shocker, especially being over an hour long at 75 minutes. 

Zwift Academy Four

     My Zwift Academy is off to a great start. I've been lax on my sprint training but focused on my longer efforts. the goal was mainly for the time trial competition that never materialized. No biggie. My new focus is the long sprint, a full minute. This is usually where I can outshine. I won the one minute title in 2018. I go by total watts as anyone could potentially alter their weight in the w/kg chart. 

     I started with workout number 4 and laid down a good one minute effort of 531 watts. On day 2 I did some sprints after the eight minute maximum test. I did it twice. Once for a full six minutes (which is on the chart) and a second workout to do a more tired eight minute effort after a 3 second and 30 second sprint. The results put me in the lead from 3 seconds to 60 seconds! Now I've got a target on my back as top riders will see my numbers and try to beat them. But for now, I'm going to bask in my accomplishment. I will redo the one minute effort soon. I still have to do the four minute max test.

     Here's what the chart looks like:

     On the left, my efforts are in blue above the Zwift Academy Best orange line. I know the top contenders haven't done their one minute efforts yet. It is just to prove my thunder thighs can still rumble. After these first week efforts, I will finish the workouts but start to focus on the late October Events which are daunting. One ride will be the KOM forward, the Epic KOM at almost FTP and the max effort on the Volcano. The other ride is the Innsbruck sprint followed by a race up the mountain. (A little easier.)I'm trying to do my best as my age is getting up there. This year is already better than 2019. So, I'm almost in 2018 shape. Probably less distractions during the last six months of Covid.

     The four minute test went well at 349 watts, doing the reverse hill on Watopia in 4:12. All was going good, coasting down the hill after finishing the hill. Then, the lights and power went out. My Zwift! When everything came back on, I scurried to get the file on Strava...and the file included the whole climb. 349 watts worth. I uploaded to Today's plan. All was good. I didn't get the top four minute but I came close. (The 359 was top honors...so close). I'm hoping the week ends soon so I can lock a few numbers in. I currently have 10, 20, 30 and 60 seconds and almost the 5 sec and 2 minute times.

     

 

The History of Zee

      Today is September 19 2020. I am preparing for the Zwift Academy. I missed the 2016 Academy but I have done fairly well in the last three years. I was preparing for the Zwift Time Trial World Championship, which is now cancelled.(I was last year's winner) I just did my best hour power riding up Ventoux today.

     I've done some work behind the scenes for Zwift. Here's some of my work that has come to fruition: Designed the Highline in New York, the Speed Wheel in time trials, the Invisible Power-up and a little more. I got the T-Rex thrown in Titan's Grove by talking directly with Eric Min. Still trying to get Campy wheels, Ventum paint special, and a Greek Marathon Running course.

     I've won a few titles. Several people will point out that the early days lacked a lot of competition, which is true. It was fun all the same. I won the Switzerland National Zwift Championship in 2018, the Zwift World Time Trial Race in 2019, and the Tour de Zwift in 2020. I've also finished top twenty in the CVR Race Series and I took fifth place in the KISS Europe Race Series. I entered and won one race in the KISS American Race Series beating Brit Mason by a hair (one of my most exciting finishes). (EDIT: I also finished first in the women's Swiss Nationals December 2020. Woo Hoo!)

     I interviewed for the Academy Semi-Finals but simply can't compete with the top amateurs. I don't have enough race experience. My goal this year will have to be the forward KOM. My 10 second sprint has diminished in the last year or so. My thirty second and one minute power are still pretty sharp. After five minutes, I slow again. We will give it a go. Maintaining top form is a difficult task. (EDIT: I finished about tenth or so. Some of the competition was wicked fast from 1:43 to my 1:46.)

     Some of this blog was to record what I was doing, more for myself than the readers. I appreciate you few readers and all those who follow and encourage me with ride-ons. I only wish I had Zwift when I was younger.  

End of August

   Well, here we are at the end of August. I've finished my Tough it Out workout series. I still have two rides to do, a long time trial and a 30/30 FTP test. Yesterday was one of the hardest ones the 2016 Zwift Academy #23 Over Unders. I do a 20 minute set (of 22) twice. I finished both sets with all stars, yeah! I think in the past, I was aiming just a bit too high and couldn't make the second set. Instead of averaging 260 and then 230 or something, I did 248 and 252. Consistent is better. Also, finished Ventoux 9th time and put myself at 49 of 50 on the all-time Zwift climbing list! 

   What's up in September? I have plans to peak for a parallel time trial championship but it looks like it may be cancelled. Waiting for official word. Tomorrow we're back on the TT bike around the volcano. Should be a blast. Maybe Zwift will announce Nationals or Academy and that may be worked into my schedule.Maybe we will still have Switzerland open. But otherwise, it looks like Zwift will hold Championship races in early December. I'll have to attempt that of course if they have a time trial. I can't beat Chloe or come anywhere near the top pros, but I will just look to top the amateur list. Staying in top form for the next three months will require some inventive coaching. For now, I'm in maintain top form mode. I get a rest day every other Thursday, lol.

   

   

Nine Jersey Quest

Below are the time trials I have done from July 24 through August 9.

They're all on my Strava and generally pictured.

This was a fun project and upped my fitness along with a few Ventoux and an Alp.

Now it's back to workouts and even longer time trials.

1.Paris
Lap time 9:41 watts 285
A solid effort on the time trial bike.
A fun tt course but a bore for racing really

2. New York
Lap time 14:30 watts 275
A personal best but I don't think I have tt'd it as a primary target before.
Course is a bit of a slugfest with not many visual ques.

3.Innsbruck
Lap time 44:29 watts 247 (255 np)
The long and often dreaded course.
will repeat at some point with climbing bike.

4. Crit City
Lap time 2:32 watts 362 (yes really)
Perfect course for my legs. Hit the hill at about 380 watts.
I have fallen in love with this course. My only two wins were here.

5. Bologna
Lap time 18:45 watts 260
Used the Felt Ar. Maybe repeat with Tron bike
I am just glad it finished at the top. Good climb today.
Clock stopped so no screen shot. (bummer was at 18:44)

6. London

Lap time 24:17 watts 264 (np 271)
A course from the old days.This was super hard effort.
I like the Classique and this course.
Reminds me of my big win here from CVR days.

7.Yorkshire

Ripped this one 21:55.271 watts (np 278)
Like this course for the little downhill rests.
Won the WC time trial title in 2019 on Yorkshire's Pump 8 course.

8. Watopia

Lap time: 13:26.73 watts 285 (np 291)

Pushed hard and felt really good today, better watts than Paris.
What if there only was the old Watopia Island?
Owned the QOM for this course for a short time

9. Richmond

Lap time 24:31.33 watts 265 (np 273)

Really good until 23rd street, felt little slow on last climb.
Those steep climbs are feared but a great challenge too.
I like the shorter Hilly Lap but this is alright too.

TOTAL TIME: 2:54.0895 

Well under my three hour goal.

This would make a great one day challenge.

I'm not happy with Bologna, will redo at some point.

The 100th Alp

Was excited for this when I finished my 50th within the first year. But, I got distracted at times with Academy, World's, and other goals. I even went a whole month without a climb! Now, this is not too monumental. A few guys have 200 and even 300. I'm not on a smart trainer either, so I'm not using tiny gears the whole way up. What really took the cake was about a week ago, I saw a 78 year old man does this route every day as his exercise. Daily!

I thought about a super light weight ride up the Alp but then it would be on private and I want others to see that this is something they can do too. I think I will tire of Ventoux soon. On the Alp, I always check my time at the turn at 10. That's the half-way point in time roughly. I judge my time based on that. With Ventoux, it's the time to the 9km stone or about half the time to the Reynard arch.

I've done a lot of workouts on the Alp. It means I'm in for over an hour and I won't back down. Only once recently, I remember being too tired to go past the first ten minutes. I actually felt guilt for turning around and quitting. But, I have had over-training issues before, so I have to let my body be the boss sometimes.

I rode the Alp at least 20 times picking one section to race all out. A lot of them were before the Tarmac bike too. I still hold a bunch of them. Dare I check? It just isn't my goal right now. For a time of several months, I held every single section record (because who else would be crazy enough to sprint each section one by one?)

Today is August 5th 2020. The Alp was released on March 29 2018. So. that's not even once a week but I made it. There will never be a Ventoux 100 or even 50 in my thinking. Officially, Ventoux will be released on August 10 but I have 5 already and probably a sixth this Sunday. 

For not being a climber, I have fallen in love with the Alp scenery and its 21 turns. Thanks Zwift and everyone who has followed my saga for a while. What's next? World's prep mostly. Less than 50 days to go. Serious training starts four weeks out. But doing a short time trial and then the Alp today are all part of the road to defend the title. Dig, dig, dig. Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

QOM Paris Champs Elysees

I can't resist the temptation to grab a queen on a new route. So I jumped onto Paris through an event, quit and rode on my time trial bike. I did a fairly long warm up and aimed around a holdable 4 w/kg. I did a sprint on the mini climb and kept energy in reserve for the grind and the approach to the line. I finished with a 4.2 average for 9:41. Strava data

Now, I know a few things. 1 Very few people have aimed for this and 2, nobody with A cat wattage has attempted this yet. (I've never hit A cat wattage for 20 minutes though two years ago I came within a few watts) But, a win is a win. Sure somebody will beat this but not for a few weeks maybe. I just hope I pass the queen to a real top rider like a pro or something rather than a weight doper doing a speedy workout. But, that's Strava. For now, it will hold  and be part of my accolades.

So, for my next challenge, I'm thinking all ten worlds time trial. It might take a while to hit them all, especially Bologna with so few races. And I hate Innsbruck being so long. I don't even know what course is the orange jersey for France? I've only ridden Ventoux, skipped the other events. I will start where I left off in March with most already finished. I just need Crit City and France time trialed.

Dirt Stage 5 and 6

Stage 5 went pretty good. I was at the front for all of 8 laps and fell off for 9. I only lost a minute riding the last two laps solo. It was a fun race but having just won my first mixed race (well, I won a time trial but it had different start times so it isn't like winning a sprint). I sat in 5th place overall.

Stage 6 would see me start horribly, climb the volcano with a good time 8:30 and then basically just dead, like 180 watts instead of 230 watts. Legs were just useless as I climbed the reverse epic hill in a sprint to stay under 30 at 29:55. The finish line was just before the tower turn. Overall, I lost two places having lost 6 minutes and finishing dead last for the day. I finished 7th of 9 riders in the overall for all six weeks. I do not count the winner as he has had 4 races at the A level although technically, he qualified as a B with only one A performance and ZP rules are three. But, really once you qualify for A, switch. Officially, I was listed in 9th place which is good for as many people signed up for the first race. GC 6 Stages

But, I feel a bit burned out since last week. I really felt great week one. I think what was hard was mixing in short races with a much longer endurance race. Maybe old age is just getting me or the fact that I quit the gym permanently.(My husband is a high-risk for covid so I don't want to risk exposing myself and bring it it home.)

Looking forward to France this Saturday. I think I will quit the race and either just do a lap or if I feel my legs, I will climb Mont Ventoux all the way. I need to finish my Alp d' Huez. I'm at 94 ascents right now.

First Win!

I actually won a race. Of course, I've won several other races, big ones included, but this was a mixed race, or rather, I was the only girl among the guys. I thought I would be super proud but I am more of a bit surprised. It still hasn't sunk in yet, winning out of a field of 23. Most of the race was spent worrying that I would get dropped. I barely stayed on the tail at the opening gun. The only place I did good was on the second half of the hill, I would surge to the front and cross the prime line first.

I also had a time trial win but you don't know until its over as it wasn't a side by side time trial. So, knowing there was a 'leader' named "age 6" was off the front at almost 6 w/kg meant that our pack of ten were fighting for the sprint win. I couldn't afford to wait too long. Someone jumped at 600 or 700 to go and I knew that was too early. They faded and I passed them with 200 to go. I kept my power over 600 until I hit the line. I didn't want to get sniped at the line by coasting too early. In fact, I did 10 w/kg for 15 seconds. That's good for end of twenty minutes of racing. The pace wasn't as bad as some other races, thanks to not having any A's in the mix. All I can say is "Finally". This was what we tried to do at Team Fearless when it first started. But, the administrators went a different direction.

Looking at Sunday's race (which this was suppose to be prep for) I don't worry about how I will finish. I got this in the bag and that's better than finishing 6th in a six week major event race. I'll still give it my best shot. But today was 8 laps of Crit City and that is just over the 20 minute mark. Perfect. I will always remember this win.

DIRT Stage 4

Long and hard with two climbs in the middle. I ran it hard for the first 10 minutes, first five really hard. I stayed with the first group almost to the climb, lost the second group and stuck with the third over the climb for a second time. From there we strung along for a bit. I can't remember too much but I found myself staying with three or four riders going up the last climbs. I hit it hard on the last little hill before the downhill finish and put about 20 seconds into them. Once I was over the hill with a good gap, all I had to do was just keep my speed up till it flattened out. I finished fast and had my second fastest time. That despite two slow climbs but I needed to conserve a bit more energy. Not in as good of shape lately for endurance racing.

Next week should be much better if I can stick with the lead group in Crit City.

Today on Strava: race on strava

Dirt Stage 3

This was a tough course even though it was shorter at 25 km. I stayed with the front group until the climb, but that left 10 minutes or so to flounder up the hill. I only got passed by a few people. Of them, I surged past them at the end except for one person. So I finished fairly well although bleeding time the entire hill, losing like two minutes. I still had a good last minute up the hill.

Overall, I went from 13th to ninth but that's mostly because a few riders dropped out and one did A level. Sorry, but I don't care to include B riders who can race with A power, even if just once or twice. Maybe I should be glad that I never hit A power in my best race. Because that would hang over my head for several months (lol, my best was about two years ago i would say.)

Sorry this is posted late and just brief but I wasn't really happy with my climb at all. This week's race,  Stage 4 is even harder at 28km of ups and downs but sometimes the downhills give me just enough rest to keep going. Pump 8 here I come. Anybody else want to drop out?

DIRT Stage 2

Well, it went good for the lead in, I was right there, sweating bullets. The pace was brutal as expected with 5 A riders, several riding at 5 w/kg. Lap one and two were fine, but very fast. Last race we did 7:20 lap times, today was 7:02 and 7:04. I started to survive half a lap by falling off the back and popping right back on. I couldn't sustain it for the whole lap. Off at 33rd place.

I had a minute and a half gap, too small against a pack of 20 or so riders. They caught me on Horse Hill and I kept it in the draft. It was hard work. I tried to calm down and I was anxious and rearing to sprint. I sped up at 500 meters, hit hard at 300 and drafted two leaders. I managed a spurt at 150 at 11 w/kg and by 50 had nosed ahead. I WON! and by the narrowest of margins once again. Same opponents from last week too. 0.1 and 0.2 last week, 0.2 and 0.5 this week. Whew. Actually I'm amazed as I can't remember beating the guys in a sprint before last week's race. Usually I go too early

In the league, I would have been 10th last week as half the field (22nd officially) didn't return. This week I lost three spots to 13th (not counting one rider who did 4.2 w/kg the whole race. Although I guess he's locked into B status to be fair. He did 4.2 w/kg last week also.) Next week will show my weakness, a long flat before the hills. We'll try but I don't expect much as to results. Don't give up though. There's only 28 of us left

Dirt Stage 1

Watopia figure 8 was on the menu which is a long ride for me. I needed a group to pace me or I would die on the flats. I went out hard but there were 7 riders with A cat power leading the group and so I had to let the split go right before the reverse kom when they dropped us. I sat now in 50th position and stayed near the front the whole way. We regrouped after the descent and there was a small group that split off. As we kept going on the flat, we picked up and dropped a bunch of riders who had stayed with the lead group too long. That use to be me, stay with the A's for as long as I could only to not be able to stick with the B's when they caught me. I got a little smarter, race savvy call it.

We had a group of ten to twenty and I started feeling it. I put it in fairly hard on the forward kom and did very good, 2:20 when 2:30 is good for me. I barely stayed with a dozen or so riders, kicking it up to stay in the group. In the Esses, I was struggling a bit again. I made the lead 10 hanging on the back. With 1 km to go, I got dropped and hung one or two seconds back. I waited until 500 to go and the sprinted hard. I hit 60kph and caught them with about 200 to go. I had a small kick and stayed ahead by 0.1 second. I won the sprint and finished 31 on the boards. I was 40th with 1000 meters to go! My heart rate was 200! A new record for an old gal like me. I had a lot of caffeine as my heart rate should have been about 180. I averaged 160, a pb for me.

I'm just thankful I can join a race like this. I'm pleased with my condition and preparation. Officially, I seem to be in 51st place of 113 on ZP. There were 125 B's and over 50 A's. I'll take it. Being 51 of 100 who may race next week. Happy? You bet. (yes I guess officially I'm not eligible for a dirt race but they don't seem to mind. It isn't like the pros that could enter and win, lol. Thanks DIRT. Great start to a six week event.

Next is Classique. Love it.

Bored

Skipped the Fondo to do the Pretzel but wound up riding solo most of the way. Just woke up early and needed an event to ride a long distance. Now recovering and bored.

New coach announcement...

Best Coach Ever...lol

Tired of hearing about the virus already. Probably going to lose our vacation too. So bummed. As of March 17, I feel my legs are starting to come back. Second ride was terrible and weak but at least race was fairly good and had a sprint win at the end (win out of group that is).

Nationals 2020

Okay so I'm writing out of a bit of boredom and frustration. I have trained for a fictional event on a fictional island without knowing the course, the distance or the date. Hoping for an announcement of some sort tomorrow but I don't put much stock in rumors.

It's almost March and we have passed the former Feb 23rd race day. In fact, it has been two years since I took the national title for Switzerland. Since I haven't been able to get back, I can only compete in the USA race this year according to the rules. However, racing at that time may prove difficult. Last year I finished 18th best time. This year my only goal is to try to hang with the front group for as long as I can. With all sorts of pros added in now, it is super hard to stick with the leaders on the hill. When I do, I'm falling off after going over the crest.

I don't think the figure 8 course is right for Nationals. Richmond is the best or, if it has to be Watopia, then use Three Sisters course. It has to have a long climb to sift out the riders so as not to have two dozen riders fighting out for the sprint win. In that case, the best sprinter with an aero power-up will win. The rumor is that the UCI wants the race to be only an hour long. Last year's race was almost an hour and a half. (well, it was for me.) Cut the power-ups off already. For me, a sprint finish is great. For race coverage, it isn't a very interesting race to watch.

I'm hungry for a big race. I'm in peak shape. Just give me a date to focus on already.

EDIT: Nationals didn't get scheduled until December 5 with a slightly shorter course. They went by very relaxed rules this year so I was able to race for Switzerland and not have to do the USA event, where the pros took over. The announcement was late as usual but I carried over enough form from the Academy to hit a winning note.

Tour de Zwift GC Winners

Women's.........wait for it...........Zee Kryder  3:09.43 (it was actually 3:09.40)

Men's winner was.... Heiko Lehmann 2:52.31 (sorry fictional rider with no Strava did not qualify)

Women's only race....Shayne Vans 3:15.07 (second overall behind Zee Kryder)

Hell 2020 Haute route April

I think we need a new Training Camp Challenge, a weekend of Hell. I'm tired of hearing and seeing these Sufferlandria folks brag about their Tour and their suffering Knighthood. What I want is some people to put themselves through hell and then challenge others to do it.

The basic format would be a late Friday ride, a Saturday split session with a long coffee break in the middle (that's when you put on your "Halfway through Hell" shirt and go for a danish and coffee.), and a Sunday ride to finish it off.

But what is fun? What is hard? And what is too much? I like the idea of specific courses such as the Alp de Zwift on Friday but with intervals to make it hard. Saturday is Figure Eight course in a small gear for higher cadence followed by a climb up to the Radio Tower on the Epic climb in a low cadence big gear effort. Sunday is an Hour Power with increasing intensity. This suits me, I think. Others will probably want specific workouts to do. So...coach picked these out.

Friday: GCN Dan Lloyd Super Fast is 4 X 10 minutes with a fast interval finish. Hell indeed. Or opt for a beginner's Classic 2 X 20 minutes or the First Flash of Fast if your not up to intervals this point of time.
Super Fast , First Flash of Fast , Two By Twenty

Saturday Session 1 is a toughie to start: Coach's Challenge, the Minute Man will keep you jumping.

Then, at last, some rest and a little bragging. but not for long.

Saturday Session 2 is a long one that starts easy '60-90 Minutes: Mat Hayman's Paris Roubaix 1"
Miinute Man
Hayman's Parix-Roubaix

Sunday is the test of them all, the Hour. Dare to ride a solid hour time trial at your FTP level or use 'Time Trial- TT#1 The Polish' to train to improve your hour effort.
The Polish

Points Winner! Tour de Zwift 2020

Like my blog title suggests, I always thought of a stage race for Zwift and this year I have it scheduled out. Pity their isn't a time trial but rather we have double draft in every race. In other words, "Stay in the Draft!" I did that pretty well so far.

As of four stages including the rather long double climb of Bologna, I am leading in the B cat. I realize that a few A racers are chumming up the water but that's racing I guess. I get the benefit of the A racers when I can draft and the curse when their group drops me and continues to haul my B rivals over the hill. It's all for fun, but seriously, the rules will change zoon. I am robbed of points for every A racer in the B cat race that finishes before I do. I've been able to average 80 points per race. The only question is what the race is for Yorkshire Stage 7. If it is two laps, I'll struggle. If it's just one lap, then only stage four was a 45 minute event and I did pretty well by just hanging in the group for the flat parts. It may have even been a 45 minute avg record at 256 watts.

In my workouts, I've done intervals and time trials for training for this. I'm using the Tour to shape up for Nationals. I think it will be a long stage again. Yorkshire would be great, even two laps would be better than two laps of Watopia figure eight like last year. I've heard there may be no power-ups, which is what everyone seems to be asking for.

I'll edit this page after the tour. PS There is an A racer winning the C cat races that is ahead of me on points but I'm going to give her a big DQ for all points.

Update: I have more than 100 point lead which means I only need finish stage 7. I have 446 points. My competition can max at 384, 437, and 339. I'm not following the C and D cats yet. I can always try to redo New York if I need a few more points. But, I doubt I would care enough too. After stage 7, it is back to serious training.

Update: I just finished stage seven in good fashion. I made the front, lost touch on the climb but rallied from 32 to 24th place by the finish. Plus, there were 11 A cat riders that finished ahead of me. Oh brother. That was hard and fun at the same time.

Now, I'm just waiting to see how many points I scored. Then I will have to wait to see how many the C cat rider has. She has a 9 point lead going into the final stage. If I get beat, should I redo the New York stage, which was my lowest points? I don't think I care for this point system. I finished the last stage at just over 20 minutes. The pros did it over 19 minutes (they saved a minute on the climb over me for sure) Still I can in 26th place for stage 7 this week, counting all of the pros. So a good conclusion and I'm in great shape with a 4.03 ww/kg ride. Good for my FTP. I really needed a bit longer to warm up today but I got home late with nine minutes to go. Huff. Puff.

Looks to be a 2 way tie in the men's race:
Heiko Lehman and Stefan Kirchmair look to tie with 700 points.Yes, a tie.
There's some B and C riders I haven't looked at yet, will wait till Sunday's finish.
Three B riders: Choppa, Kevin Selker and Ian Upcott had 700 points
In women's :
Zee Kryder with xxx points 531
Shabbi Shabbi is C cat has No Strava but has  xxx points 526
Also, a D cat rider Alison Riley with 447
And Shayne Vans in the women's only event at 50+ years and 4.9 w/kg. (and you wonder why I prefer the mixed races.)

Final Results

My GC time was 3:09:40 but it seems the GC list is not a total function but is missing a lot of riders.It is only counting the group rides and excluding the group races in the results. Still not fixed glitch.I have made a new post with gc now that all stats are in.