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.
