Herd Time Trial Series

 A series of eight short time trials on seven different worlds. How could I resist? However, Herd wanted a simple (dumb idea) points race. That will not work over six different time zones. So I am keeping the results myself.

I rode the first race a little bit slow, probably 30 seconds too slow for me. Week 2 and 3 were good efforts although I am still fighting for my spot. I went from 15th place to ninth and now sit in 5th by one second. "I'll get you BetteMidler!" It's a four way battle for fourth and tenth places. A few top twenty gals did not race all three events. You gotta do them all to count in this series. See you soon.

Week 3 Totals:                     Week 5                             Week 8

1 Lois Brewer         64:56         Irish         111:49           Irish  185:09

2 Tennile Irish         65:05        Brewer      112:07          Macrae 194:43

3 Angela Macrae     67:15        Kryder      118:13          KC        197:57

4 Katie C                 68:58        Macrae      119:02          Meskova  198:29

5 Zee Kryder           68:59        Katie         119:17          Akerblum  201:57

6 E. Akerblum         69:06        Meskova   120:42          Chalfont    202:04

7 F Vidler                 69:12        Leung       123:04          Leung      203:19

8 Zuzka Muskova     70:53        Quapp      123:26          Carden     204:56

9 Kate Lascelles       71:15        Akerblum  123:52          Scharf     206:43

10 Clare Spencer      72:11        Chalfont    124:09

11 Georgia Chalfont 72:20        Carden      124:58

12 Vicky Leung         72:23       Scharf       125:36

13 Susan Scharf        72:41

Week 4 saw three dropouts and one poor performance (moving from 6th to 10th). I put in the third best time and moved from fifth to fourth, More importantly, I am only 16 seconds off the third spot instead of nearly two minutes. There's a great battle for first place with Irish at 88:09 and Brewer at 89:26. Irish has a 314 ftp.

Week 5 had me pushing hard on those hills of Yorkshire for the third best time among quite a few in the 25-26 minute range. Irish beat Brewer by one second and it seemed the two dueled and sprinted for the line ahead of me (lol by over a minute) I moved into third place but victory is out of reach. I will still compete for the podium spot. But the big dream of winning is definitely over. 

Week 6 Myself and two others, Brewer and Quapp, bailed out on the series. I needed to take a day off and while I hate to quit. It just wasn't there and I didn't want to ride a survival race. There were other factors too. Oh well, just a race.

Week 8 Congratulations to the survivors. It was quite long. I did the eigth race and only lost a few seconds to my rivals but I was noticeably slower than average. Just a bit tired and undertrained. Time to tackle the Tour du Bore and fight for my second local legend, the very hard Libby Hill. 

Zwift World Championships

 The E-Sports finals will be in February 2022, a 50 km course. While it's a dream for all of us on Zwift, I just have to accept that I can not race a full 50 km. I am best at the 16 km mark or even shorter. Yes, I probably could qualify in a short 2 laps of London course or three laps of Watopia, But, overall, I can not make the full course. So I have decided to focus on the Tour of Britannia time trial race. I will probably be drawn to the world's qualifier anyways. I will do some of the Tri Academy workouts when I finish my planned week off after peaking for the Academy finals. I am more in time trial mode than that off and on race mode. But I am sad that I am a sprinter pure and simple and not a long endurance racer. 

I have some great Zwift memories. But, I still want more after proving that I can train and peak close to my previous best. I hit over 700 points this year. I tied my best ten seconds. I just need more short races to prove my finishing moves are world class. (It's the 48 km between the first and the last km that I am terrible at, lol.) Not many of us are still sprinting strong at 48 but I just can not retire just yet. I have the heart of a 35 year old. I still can beat the guys in some races. I still am a national champion. I still hold the Zwift time trial title. I still have that fire burning. Give me a race that suits me and I will be there. Look out gals (and guys), I am not finished yet.

Edit note: Back in the saddle and I did two workouts with sprints to take the Legend status on France Pave Sprint. Now, how high do I want to go? Maybe I will try the overall leader. I won't go slow. Was encouraged by a private email from Zwift that said I took the sprint title in this year's Academy. I had to say that was surprising and amazing. It gave me a huge boost emotionally. (Edit: I had the highest wattage on Titan's reverse but came in 7th overall.)

Tour Of BRitannia REsults

1. (at a record 4.9 w/kg and 300 ftp) Ria Mobbs 16:45

Zee Kryder                                                            17:47

Anne Nevin                                                           17:55

Good effort with just an impossible time to beat. Best of the rest, so they say.

Zwift Academy 2021

 Started with a Bang, did the sprint in 10.947 on my second attempt. (11.50 first attempt.) Take notice. I am a sprinter. My Titan's Grove Climb was 1:52, a personal best but not an all out attack. I will try that at some point. Second time hit it at 1:41 a good improvement. There's so much to do at this point. 7 workouts, a time trial up the Alp, 2 social waste of time rides, and are there races? I just want to show off my strengths. The pro workout is a 5 minute max effort. I want to show off my one minute results. I won that category two years ago and last year as well. I just haven't been training for it lately. I have been focused on short races and sprint finishes. In other words, my Alp time will be more like 58 minutes than 49. Edit: Nope 51:29 with an all out beast of a climb for me.) My 20 minute effort was 265 for a race but lately 250 has been the ceiling. But I did do 248 for the entire Alp, a great effort at real FTP. My 20 minute finishing climb up the Epic is coming. Did 22:13, not too bad. I've broken 20 in top shape. Looking for a 21 in a few weeks.

I appreciate the opportunity to show off. I stopped going to the gym since Covid started and I think that has trimmed my power down a bit. Maybe I could regain that if I had some weights. Thanks to Dig Deep coaching for giving me some encouragement despite my low endurance numbers. I would like to show off my long sprint skills by trying the other baseline sprint. But I don't want to confuse the judges either. On we go to workout #1 and another Titans attempt. Thanks for reading, love you all.

I just hit the half way point. Although I've done 3 recovery rides and only got credit for the second one. LOL. Did #3 workout in good form. I will do 4 and 5, then finishing climb before 6. Then it is back to five minute max pro workout and rehit Titan's grove climb. I doubt I can put in another 10 second sprint without a power up as they have been nerfed now. I'm just totally enjoying the Academy but I do miss having races for side by side competition. Looks like no Worlds are scheduled next week. I guess I will retain my 2019 title forever? That was my best ever 40 minute effort. Time Trials require near perfect pacing, especially with two climbs that were in it. Maybe my greatest win despite a lack of depth in the field. I just knew I had to hit it out of the park, so to speak (baseball metiphor). 

I am coming into great form. Look out. Hit 985 watts peak.

Time to conclude or at least graduate. I'm looking forward to the last Titan's climb as I am feeling ready for it now. Today I did a 332 watt five minute effort at 5 w/kg! and added a peak ten second sprint at 882. I still hope to hit that 1000 watt effort even if it is just for one last time. Tuesday will be the reverse kom where I will focus on my 20 minute power, probably hit hard after the first minute of climbing. My legs felt really good after today's workout, the way it should always be, lol.

Today was a finish ride hitting a great ftp effort and climbing the hill in 19:45. Could barely sprint at the end from holding a high level, averaging around 165 166 the first 18 minutes. My fastest was 19:43 so this was me in great form today. I held my wattage up a little past the finish but not that much more to squeeze out. I had expected to do a 21 minute effort, but under 20 is pro level baby. Yeah that felt good. I will redo this ride next week and hit Titan's climb as hard as I can. Sunday will be my first chance to do a graduating recovery ride to finish the Academy. I think I can hit near 1:30 for the climb. Rode the Aethos bike today on the Epic climb. Also hit 988 watts. Will still try to hit that magic number 1000. I think I've done it twice before 1004 or 1012 I think. Thanks for reading and all the ride ons I got in a solo ride today. This was what the Academy is all about, reaching to hit your peak at just the right time. This ride will be remembered. 

Did it! I hit 1019 watts and did a 1:31 on Titan's Grove! Follow that with a good sprint on my final recovery ride and then it is all over. Graduation paint job (sorry ugly work there) in hand. My PI number broke the 700 barrier today as well, which is great for an amateur. My numbers are great all across the board, nearly matching my previous bests. Not bad for a gal closing out her forties. I wish I was turning 28 but there was no Zwift then. I'm glad to have been on the ground floor, engaging in some of the early women's races and being part of its development. My work for Zwift has not been unnoticed. I fondly remember CC, Rachael, Casey, Beth, and some who rose for just short periods of time. Time to officially hand the baton over to the new Zwift generation. I hope there are a few like me that maybe can't win the long races against the top competitors but can be satisfied with their adventures and dominate in some fashion, such as my long sprint. (still standing at over 10 w/kg for 30 seconds.) Thanks Zwift for some fantastic memories.

Late addititon just did a finishing ride up the volcano at a great 7:41 time at 301 watts. Really hit hard from the middle where the flat section starts and just kept it rolling over at the higher pace. It was super tough for the last minute but I managed to survive and even press on during the last thirty seconds or so. Totally spent but worth it. Now what's left? Only thing I am missing is a full out minute. Dare I?

Well, the minute went very so so, just not sharp enough at the start. I did a good time trial on Bologna at 17:30.9. My ten and fifteen numbers were really good. To gather a few more Z points (for racing) I'm going to ride Titan's Forward hill. Then I should break into the top 1000. Lol, I was top 100 before so many riders joined in (and good ones at that). I plan on joining the Zipp sprint ride. All I have left is to do the Tri Academy baseline before my fall break. It has been a long summer. 

EDIT: I got an invitation to World's! Guess who had the fastest sprint and Titan's Climb? This Gal! I was shocked to be told that I hit the top spot for both segments. Even the sprint was tough, just ten seconds of hitting it hard. Had a rough week when this news came in. I'm very happy with my Academy now. 

Racing for Fun

 I've cut back a bit on training as I was working too much and feeling very tired. I've gotten back into my rhythym lately. I actually won another race, although there were only five of us. I won the sprint pretty handidly. Yeah. I was quite surprised. I also had a women's race win when there were only three of us. I went out hard with the second rider, when the third rider opted out being left behind. It was a tight event for the two of us but I surged up the hill with a good lead. I extended it over the rest of the lap stretching my lead to about a minute. I was exhausted and had hoped to scale back and try to keep the gap at that minute mark. Honestly, I was pretty spent with one more lap to go. Surprise, the other rider dropped out. She may have caught me if she soldiered on but that's why I went harder than I could maintain. Winner.

I missed the first Off the Mapp race but entered the second, third, and fourth. (There will be a make-up for the first stage I may enter). I took third, second, and third again. Bazinga! I was on fire and it seemed like we were all mostly B racers. I couldn't believe how good I had finished. The second stage, I nearly dropped out but I kept pushing to survive. It wore on my sprint. I didn't have an aero for any of these sprints. I tried but failed to win. Still, I did pretty good against some tough guys to beat. Edit: Took a great sprint recently for second place in Crit City. It was a banger for sure.

Looking forward to the Academy. Only, I haven't trained for it. Just a bit too busy and I have lost a bit of speed and endurance the past few months. I haven't retired though. I still plan to defend my Time Trial title from 2019 if Zwift gives us a chance this year. Last year's cancellation in Switzerland left a huge hole in Zwift's plans to parellel the World Championships. Let's see how they do this year. 

Fourth Mixed Win

 My 250th race turned out to be a ring dinger. I picked it because it was a very short race of two laps of Laguardia New York. I hung in with a hard start. Five of us had a gap and extended it while dropping one rider as well. That left four of us to sprint it out and I had an aero power up. I was excited. Determined to start at 250, I hit it hard and popped my power up. I took off and got a gap with an 800 watts burst of max wattage. For me, that is pretty good lately. The pace had been fast but within my zone except for short bursts on the two risers on the course. I was able to catch my breath right before the sprint.

I think knowing it was race # 250 motivated me and helped me fear losing after fighting hard to stay with the leaders. All four mixed wins have come in this year, I think right? Wow, that felt good. I've been a little down that my 45-60 minute power has tailed off lately. Today was just the right level of sprint and the power up (what I needed in my last race lol where I almost won but then finished 6th , all of us within 0.5 seconds at the line)

Thanks for reading and hopefully more races to come.

What's Up Lately?

To give a quick update, I'm currently riding the ten world orange jersey laps, trying to keep my time roughly around the same as last year. With four events done, I'm only 17 seconds behind schedule. However, I have to redo Innsbruck as I had a bad day when trying to time trial the course last week. It made me depressed, even though I hate the course. It is way too long, even just the climb itself is an entire ftp test and then some. But, I'll try it when I'm feeling good and in the mood for a 45 minute ride. In between the time trials, I am doing a few races for the variety of it. 

Down the road? Still looking for WC's in September (and fearful of the 30 km distance in the time trial) I just want to do my best to defend my title. I need an occasional event to gear up for and lately the races have been either missing entirely or scheduled just out of my time table for races. Find something..... 

Makuri so far is pretty but not suited for great challenges yet. Maybe as it expands, it will improve. But for now, it is as weak as New York for me. The temple kom is ridiculous. The only real climb is on dirt which I hate. That leaves the boredom of the flat course for the orange jersey. 

  

All Nine World Courses - One Day

 I got it this time and it is all on Strava. I started with Paris, since it has a lead in about 3 km or so to the start line. Next was Watopia since it takes good speed to get the actual orange jersey. Next, Innsbruck as I had an hour to get to the start in Crit City. Orange. Crit City, quit and time trialed to another jersey. I had to push on Yorkshire since it too was on the daily worlds. finally, New York, then a planned break. 

Rested, showered, and dry bibs, onto London. I felt so refreshed that I went too hard. Thus, when I got to the start of a Bologna race, I felt a bit tired. I was slow on the flat but got some power back up for the climb. Finished the course but missed out on the orange jersey. Richmond was the ninth of all the courses. I hoped to take it a bit slower then finish hard on the climbs. I didn't have too much power on the climbs but took the orange jersey, my eighth of the day. 

How long did the courses take? 3 hours 19 minutes 56.37 seconds (with photos taken of every timed finish.) No drafting just long endurance power (at least what I could muster). So the challenge is up and running now. Are you up to it?

I Won! Wyn Time Trial Series - Race #6

 This was a long six week hard-fought series.

 I was nervous, unsure if anything would go wrong like a broken gear or a flat tire. I was racing in the afternoon rather than the evening, so I saw the second overall had a pretty good day at 10:56. I would need an 11:32 to win the overall. I had previously raced a 10:59 on this course but 30 seconds isn't a lot to play with.

I was feeling great in the warm-up despite a bit of sunburn I got yesterday. I had really planned out every bit of this course. I rode super strong and had planned to ride close to 400 rather than 340 on the climb with a long more even effort at the finish. I managed 382 for over a minute on the hill before the turn. Then I rode 386 in the last minute which gave me a 297 normalized power which is awesome for me. I shaved off 15 seconds to stop the clock at 10:44! Woo Hoo. 

The desire to win the six week course was really strong. I wanted a title for this year, especially since the Tour of Zwift and Tour of Watopia were devalued from races to rides. So this has been huge for me. I've been down a bit before this made-to-measure short tt race series. Ten minutes is my prime right now. Maybe this year I will get to defend my 2019 Time Trial title in Belgium if they have a World's time trial event this year. Hopefully, a lot of people skip it. LOL. I'll start training for it in July. Until then, I just have my Nine World Challenge to complete in a day.

Race #6

Kryder 10:44//Bergkamp 10:56//Williams 11:04//White 11:32

Overall for the Series:

1. Zee Kryder                 70:08

2. J Bergkamp                70:57

3. Claire Williams          71:46

4. Kristin White             72:36

Win Mini-Crit WKG

 While this was my third mixed win, it was my first overall win over a few A riders! Even though I theoretically finished second, I had a heart monitor and took the win. I was 0.04 seconds behind. I never won over anything but the B cat. I'm going to savor this one. But for now, the focus is just on keeping ready for the final in the Wyn series Monday.

I have a 20 minute race friday around the volcano. Saturday, a race up the volcano. Monday, the final time trial which should be around eleven minutes again. This is the second time we've run this course. Working on a 36 second buffer. Just need the bike to hold up. I feel primed and ready to go. I averaged 267 in this race and felt the early pace was comfortable. The effort on the hill was severe. I got gapped just a hair and found myself back by two or three seconds to the lead three. I put in a short ten second burst and caught them in the sprint wiondow. I held on for dear life and started my sprint about 400 meters out hoping to burn them off my wheel with a feather as I didn't have an aero. 

Beautiful race. Very happy and thankful.

Strava

Wyn Time Trial #5 of 6

Today's challenge is Lutece Express, the Champs Elisse in reverse with a long lead-in. It is about a fifteen minute jaunt, so it won't be easy. But, it could build a buffer to insure the win overall. If I can just hit my racing stride. I'll be going all out in this one. This is more like the Queen stage as next week will be shorter and affect the standings a bit less. Let's hope I can get a minute up on the competition. I am psyched right now just before the event. 

I got off to a great start but then three of my competitors busted out up the road. After the lead in, I kept them from gaining more ground. Wow, I can't believe how hard they hit me. i got worried I would lose ground the whole way. I almost caught Lee at the finish line. But, she kept just out of reach. Overall, I am happy with my wattage at just a watt over 4.0. Hopefully my lead of 37 seconds overall will hold up through next week's final. I just have to prevent any disasters. I felt really good today. It was a toughie.

Today: Bergkamp 15:12/ Lee 15:21//Kryder 15:22//Williams 15:32//White 15:49

Overall 5/6

Kryder       59:24

Bergkamp 60:01

Williams    60:42

Lee           60:43

White        61:04

Wyn Time Trial Series Week 4

The competition came out swinging with over 50 watts higher than ever. Perhaps the Tacx bug or a simple miscalibration. So, I got beat badly today. I did good for my numbers, just couldn't match those super human ones at almost 7 w/kg for over a minute as I watched my competition open up a 15 second gap and hold it the rest of the way. 

The course was so short, I never really caught my breath from the opening gun. It was still fun. I just couldn't understand how I was left behind in the dust. I only regained one second with a good sprint finish.

Lee 11:01//Kryder 11:15//Bergkamp 11:34//Williams 11:34//White 11:39

1. Kryder       44:02

2  Bergkamp  44:49

3 Williams     45:10

4 White          45:15

5 Lee              45:22

 Gianni           53:54

Saxoni            57:11

Wyn time Trial Series Week 3 (3/6)

This was a tough little short race with part of the reverse climb in the Two Bridges Loop. I rode it twice to get familiar with the layout. Pretty simple if you know the reverse hilly loop. I went out hard again to get up to speed quickly. then the entire A men's group passed me and one gal who was in the men's B division. So I just kept pumping hard up the climb and into a 500 meter sprint to finish at 11:00.00 on screen with a 10:59 on ZP. Great to nudge under that perfect 11.  I just barely beat some of the competition to get a 5 and 30 second bonus. Trying to hang onto that podium spot. 

EDIT: Looks like a few people missed stage 3. I'm on top but we are only at the middle. I find I do better on hilly than flat time trials. Will fight to the end, that's a promise. 

Best times of the day...

Kryder 10:59///Bergkamp 11:05//Williams 11:15//Lee 11:27//White 11:29 

OVERALL STAGE 3

1. Kryder        32:47

2. Bergkamp   33:15

3.White           33:36

4. Williams     33:36

5. Lee             34:21

6. Martinson   36:46

7. Gianni        40:17

8. Saxoni        42:50

Wyn Time Trial Series Week # Two

 A tough race to build time over the competitors in the series. The Bell Lap course times three laps was so short. I tried to hit it hard, especially the hill climb. I did pretty good the first two laps being about the same. Then I hit the last lap pretty hard averaging over 300 with the final sprint included. I went from around 80th place to 57th with my finishing minute effort.

I won my heat! Last week's winner didn't show up. So unless she races in the next two heats, I should move up from fifth to fourth overall. 

Spicer 8:23//Kiely 8:29//Deubel 8:35//Kryder 8:37//Bergkamp 8:39//Williams 8:43//Whte 8:53

(Brewer raced an 8:28 but in the men's A division. This may exclude her from future results)

Overall: 

1 Brewer       xx:xx

2 Spicer        21:18

3 Kiely          21:37

4 Kryder       21:48

5 Deubel       22:03

6 White         22:07

7 Bergkamp  22:10

8 Williams     22:21

9 Lee              22:54

10 Bohn         24:07

ALL NINE ORANGE JERSEY COURSES

It all starts with, 'I had this idea.' which grows into, 'Why not?' and continues to evolve into a full blown race scenario. The idea? Nine time trials in a row, one for every world on Zwift. The real reason for the course is not to win the jersey but to get an official time stamp. Only one course on Richmond, on Crit City, in Paris, in New York, on Bologna, on Yorkshire, on London, and Innsbruck will do that. For Watopia, the orange jersey is for the Hilly Route. (Volcano circuit and Jungle circuit will also get a time stamp. But we all know, the orange jersey is where its at.)

The rules? Time trial bikes only. Forward or reverse...doesn't matter. In any order, on one day. Ride as fast as you can, it's a time trial remember. You will have to jump into an event for Bologna and Crit City. Plan them carefully. The rest, you can hack or plan a meet-up if you must.

Racing all Nine Worlds of Zwift on their respective 'Orange Jersey' Course is a challenge I was wary of. I'm not built for endurance somehow. Sprinting Crit City , easy. Innsbruck long climb, well that's what probably broke me.

I started on Bologna, fine. Then Paris squeezed in with a minute to spare to drop into Crit City. I raced Watopia's Hilly Route. Four laps, four jerseys. Innsbruck was a bear. I took a break after, changing into dry clothes. (I sweat, not pretty)Richmond was next, riding easy until the last three hills. London was 7 on the list with only New York and Yorkshire to finish. But after Fox Hill, my legs both cramped. Bad, hard cramps. It took me a few minutes just to get off my bike. 

It just wasn't worth the risk of trying to complete the London course or the other two courses. If I had skipped Innsbruck, I could have finished the other eight. But I wanted to knock out the longest before I was too tired.

I hope someone will try this and set the bar for others. It comes to about 100 km all totaled. I probably went too hard on the first four courses. But, I didn't want to simply cruise around for six hours either. It got me to do more than the two hour limit I seem to have. Hopefully, I'll recover and race hard Monday. 

PS I'm a bit more bummed than I expected to be. I was going so fast too. It's a shame I didn't finish but I just didn't have the time after I recovered.

EDIT: Please see a more recent post where I did complete all nine courses! 

Wyn Time Trial Series Week 1/6

Week one: I had a great start in the first position! After 30 seconds or so, the A guys did catch and pass. I wanted to hit it hard until the early downhill. It worked well. I had a competitor pass me on the end of the first lap going 5 w/kg. I did good at 275 watts, just a hair over the 272 I need to hit 4 w/kg. In the end, I lost by 11 seconds.Two girls broke 13 minutes on the Queen's Highway course of Yorkshire.

Brewer 12:46//Spicer 12:55//McIver 13:00//Kiely 13:08//Kryder 13:11 (fifth overall)//White 13:14

I'll be tracking the top 24, basically all between 13-15 minutes this week. One event done out of six total.

Dirt Race

 I tried a race today, the Libby Hill After Party is a good course for my legs, albeit a little long. I need a group that's not too fast. I struggled to keep with leaders. I always seem to fall back right after the sprint line. I had to drop back to the fourth group today to find an endurable pace. I hit the finishing hill with a group of 14 and finished third with another gal taking first. That was 77 and 79th place on screen, of 209. But overall, I rode terrible. My avatar is still not drafting for the first minute of the race and it tires me out. 

Why do I try to ride with the big boys (and a pro named Alice)? I just can't plod along too slowly or I will end up with a group that I can too easily outsprint. I want that shot at the title. A true B with the mind of an A racer. I'm still waiting to see if Zwift can fix me being put as an A instead of B racer. One big mistake and I'm stuck for now. Today's wattage was a bit low for me, 243 with a 1:32 time on Libby which is not too shabby. But, I expected better. Maybe I'll race again tomorrow.

And again the next day, 10 laps of Crit City with 260 watts the first 5 laps followed by 190. I cruised for one lap at 150 watts. No excuses, just didn't have it when I needed it. I'm thinking of working the 2020 Tri program of five workouts. I remember it was tough but not too hard. Races can wait for a bit until I recover some oomph.

Toying with Retirement

 After the Tour de Zwift, I am left a little bit weak and tired. I've actually thought of retirement. I expect at my age to go down a bit every year and it is hard to accept mentally. I love racing. Recently, an error in my race weight has me stuck as an A racer for the next three months. LOL, I always said I wanted to be an A cat and now I am complaining. I set my weight but somehow it didn't set and I didn't notice my weight was way off. Zwift won't correct this. It is just my burden to bear or so they say. 

Maybe I should go back and re-ride all of my Alp sections. I do love sprinting each section (although Strava does not record every section). I still own a dozen or so sections. There's a few that keep getting taken away by 'fliers' that are in a group banded ride. They can get a slingshot at 40 kph. There's just too many to delete them all would be a waste of time. I like training at 400-500 watts, pure sprinter's delight. 

I don't see much on the horizon except a new Tokyo course to attack in July and Belgium in September. I'm sure this is a training lull that I will get out of. Right now, it feels quite sluggish in training. Got any ideas? 

EDIT: I did a race today, fell back from the lead group very early and just stuck with a small group. It went fairly well. Our group swelled to about 13 as the laps went on. Three of us took off on the final hill before the sprint in NY. I caught the draft, passed and then surged into the lead and won the group sprint. Doh! I wore but forgot to pair my HR. Still a decent race for  riding just under 250 watts when I use to race at 260 or 270. I have to keep my hope alive. 

Who is Zee Kryder

  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. Trike bikes for para-cyclists is on my radar also. I started the social group ZwiftOff, a group that use Zwift for weight loss and hope for official recognition some day. 

     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 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. Some of the competition was wicked fast, 1:40 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.  

     Edit: Feb 2 20121, I'm riding the Tour de Zwift but there is no GC compilation. I'm just doing it although. It used to be a race. I'm very disappointed in Zwift for this failure. They have left me down a lot this past year, from the Nationals (moved from Feb. to Dec.) to letting the Time Trial World Championship go, I've trained hard for nearly nothing. The Moviestar race is tomorrow, but I'm skipping it ( I think) because I don't have much of a chance of surviving the first lap and I don't want to skip dinner with my hubby just to burst into the race for 15 minutes all for nothing. I would like to say I finished in the top 20 or so. But, I don't think it matters unless I can compete for the win. If it was a flat course or just one lap, then maybe I would have a chance. 

     I'll find some goal soon, then we'll be at it again. Until then....

Tour de Zwift 2021

 I will add each stage as raced.

STAGE 1: Awesome. I had a time of 27:29 (27:49 on ZP) I started out of the draft again with a glitch but caught the front group and held the a group for about a lap and a half. There was some traffic and the lead ten got broken up with four escaping out the front. I just didn't have the extra power to catch them so I stuck with the other six in the now second group. I hung with them and sprinted way too early. I didn't have a power-up so it seemed smart but painful. I did twenty seconds at ten watts per kilogram. I got passed by someone but I managed to snip him right at the line. I finished sixth (but I think fifth place was a two lap rider error). I lost a lot of time to the front four. I had a great first race just like last year. Score some big points and put me on top of the leader board because that was some fast flying. It was really exciting. I hung in there despite feeling like I would break at any moment, especially that ten percent rise. Race number one is in the bag. Whoopee! Score 17 points (but I don't think the points system is working correctly)

STAGE 2: A pretty good ride. I was in the lead group hitting the hill I went from 20 to 70th place but I maintained a firm power on the pedals. I got in a group of six or so riders going down the hill. I turned up the heat on the Kleiner Hill and lost them all. It was just a steady push to the line at 4/kg or a bit higher. Didn't really sprint, just powered to the line for time. 43:42 was my time. I think that is faster than what I would do on the Harrogate circuit but I may ride that on Monday or so...for fun. Total time is now 71:31. Zwift has no leader board or total time so I'm just riding for the sake of competing. 

I did a second race on the C course and got 8th place. That's 14 points. Did a super hard first lap and then let it go. I didn't think I could pull out a second fast lap to beat my previous time. Good training.

STAGE 3: Felt strong today as we took off on the Watopia Mountain route. My goal was to try to break an hour. 58:05!!! (71:31 +58:05 =129:36 total for three stages) I stayed up front before the climb. I was in about 15 and dropped to 30 but there were at least 20 late joiners that jumped in front even really late in the climb. Stupid group ride (races don't have late joins) Anyway, I passed a few people toward the finish, about the same number that passed me on the radio tower climb. LOL that was painfully slow. With a small group I could go much faster but everyone seemed to try to drop me along the climb. Score 5 points for a total of 36. NP says 242 which is near my hour power, so I did go pretty hard. I outsprinted someone at the very end but I just wanted to go hard and keep my time down. Feeling good after. I may race the Alp on Sunday but I doubt highly I could beat 58 minutes.

STAGE 4: London Greater Flat. Hard start. I had to sprint to catch the front four which turned out to be ten of us with a 3 second gap that stretched into almost a minute. Eventually, we lost some time and the second group was only down by 40 seconds. That is a buffer I need for Box Hill. I only let two people pass me by besides the leader (a 12 year old 40 kg rider who beat us all. He was flying up the hill. Congrats) I kept a firm pace , then tried to recover on the downhill. I put in a dig on the staircase and kept in front of my pursuers. Only four people ahead of me. 5th place is awesome result! A great result for me today. 33:31 in time plus 17 points for 53. I averaged 260 watts. I'm very happy...and tired. Total time is 163:07.

STAGE 5: I was doing great at 4 w/kg for the first ten minutes...then I jammed my chain and once the fast groups were past me, what's the point? I finished way back. The event was too full anyway and it was nearly impossible to navigate in the front group. I just wish I had had the chance to finish with a fast group. I guess we will retry on Tuesday. Again, no draft for the first 20 seconds which I had to put out 400 watts to keep up. Zwift, you are killing me with this windows bug!

Monday was take 2 finishing in 46:23. I fell off the A group where I needed to be timewise but I was a bit tired and just didn't push it to the max. I came in 21st position. So still only 54 points and total time is 209:30 for five events. Not bad but I should have been over a minute faster if I had stayed up. Small consolation prize was out-climbing the second group of 25 riders. Just nicked the three leaders with a few meters to go. Yeah, it happened boys. You got chicked!

STAGE 6: 35:16 17th place for 5 points. 59 points and 244:46. I took second in the second group's sprint. I was out front and got nipped by a fast dude with a power-up. I went out hard because of no power up. I was a bit tired, I stayed with the lead group for twenty five minutes before being tailed off at the turn into the snake roadway. I lost about a minute or more with that dump. Rats. I really wanted to contest for a win one of these days. It is a lot harder on the first day of a stage. By the fourth or fifth day, there are a lot more cruisers and riders. All the racers want to be in the biggest groups on the first day. I was mad enough that I did more than half of the next race, staying in the third group until we caught the second group. After twenty minutes, I had had enough torture and quit. Next is dirt race.

STAGE 7: 34:24 today in 11th place! Sounds good to me since I don't like the dirt or the mountain bike feature. Done and dusted. I hung with the lead group for 15 minutes but got tailed off at the end of the first lap. I dropped into a small group behind me and managed to hang in. It was tough on the climb but not too hard on the descent. I had a feather, so I jumped at 400 to go but a flying German zipped by me near the line. That's two pips in a row. Only one stage left now on Monday! 

total time is now: 279:20 with 70 points. 

STAGE 8:Finally done! I felt a little uncertain today how my legs were doing with only a short warm-up. I took off a little slow and hard pedaled when I got shut out of the early draft again (Arg, Zwift bugs!) I managed to stick with the front group of 25 for the whole first lap but it was a hard pace and down to about 16 when I fell off. Less than 10 would stay there. I was a little slow on the second lap waiting for the group behind to catch two or three of us stragglers. The third lap was a bit harder in one or two spots but we came up to the end with about 10 or 15 in the group. I sprinted a little late trying to draft a bit but the leader had a gap on me and I was catching him but not before the line came up. This is the third race in the series where I got second in the second group.9th place today. I better work on my sprint soon. Score 13 points and 32:33 time for a total of 83 points! (I don't like to consider make-up rides. Today was 780 in our race alone.) Total time 311:53 or 5:11:53 (avg 38:58?)

Except for the derailed chain and 21st place, I did really good, averaging 11th place in a field of 500-1000. Sure, the lead group almost always finished a minute or two up on me. But, I'm satisfied with what I was able to do. Now it is back to training and to see what a month or more of racing has brought and/or diminished. Love you all.