The Mythical Alp

 The best riders come out on top in this climb. As a fairly good time trialist, I wanted to give it a shot after getting in peak condition for the Academy finals. Having won the sprint competition, I began to focus on training for the Alp. 

 The Alp is beautiful, with 22 turns. I can usually guess my time by how well I am doing at the half way point (turn ten). In training, I rode my goal pace past the half-way point, under twenty minutes. The goal was under forty minutes.

Under forty minutes requires a lot of power, steady grinding power. I have been taught to race in a smaller gear but time trial in the big gear. I trained in the big gear, but on race day, I went half way before going big. I just felt the big gear might be too big and I would tire out before the finish. This day, I got it just about perfect. My holo pacer did not work (?), but I was just glassy-eyed and focused on my watts. Be consistent or waste energy and lose time. 

 The leaders are first and foremost, Ille Gardner at 38:21 at 265 watts. Lucy Barkley has the most power at 301 watts. Etienne and Gigante have gone under forty as well. Gigante had a fantastic climb, but her power meter had a twenty watts error. (that is easily two minutes here). Kulchensky is under the forty mark as well. 

 For me, I broke the 48 minute mark in the first week and basically similar times recently. I'm not the skinny climbing specialist for sure. But if I was, I could match the best of them in power. I think races based on watts would be very exciting. After all, cda is purely guesswork on Zwift. 

I was very steady and calm, keeping my watts around 240 for the first half. I must have pushed good on the second half, bringing up my power and heart to top off at 245 watts at...drumroll....38:47. When the board came up near the finish, it read 38:58. I was so happy, I just kept focused on bringing the time down, I pulled up and had a good finish to trim ten more seconds off. 

 Would I do this again? I really planned on this being my last hurrah. I've already trained a long season, expecting this academy in September, not December. I really need a break from being sore, tired, or just firing myself up for a heavy training session or race. What remains ahead, I'm not sure. I want to focus on fun. I have plenty of great moments and memories. I am amazed how a few older gals have kept at the top of their field. Mary Wilkenson is a legend. Ditto for Rachael Elliot and a few I don't know their age but i know they aren't the new young generation of Zwift racers, like Langham and Guerra. I've grabbed a few Q's this fall. That was some great challenges. I even achieved some real brilliance in the ZA workouts, hitting nearly top watts and %'s. (Gabby smashed the 20 minute mark.) 

 Thanks Zwift. I will always love you. Can I buy a home in Richmond?

Serious Competition

Thanks for reading my cycling dribble. Sorry, this page is a little bit messy with updates.

Zwift Academy Sprint Champion - Richmond 23 Street Climb

1. Zee Kryder 23.902 @698 watts 10.7 w/kg

2. S Etienne 26.62 @ 426 watts 8.8w/kg

3. G. Guerra 26.70 @476 watts 8.4 w/kg

*As you may or may not know, this is what I was training for, this segment for the Academy sprint title. I went so strong here I put myself in the top ten of all time. My all time record on Strava is 22.63.

Zwift Academy Segment - Richmond Libby Hill

1. K. Fuhrer 1:09 (7.7w/kg)

2. Z. Kryder 1:13 (7.4w/kg) * Very happy to take second here. Congrats to Fuhrer.

3. E. Wiseman 1:13 (7.0w/kg)

4. E. Dyrhovden 1:13 (6.2 w/kg)

Zwift Academy Segment- Scotland Breakaway Brie (this is really a drafting segment)

1. M. Wilkinson 44.18 

2. I Alton 46.34

3. M DeBoer 47.41

*I was 15th place at 49.90

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Below are my notes from the start of ZA:

So, I plan to go for all three segments that the coaches are marking. There's one in Scotland and two in Richmond.

Libby Hill: (Nov 20) I'm an unlikely candidate on this one. I didn't even try for this today. I was concentrating on the other hill.

(Nov 26) Raced for finish 36/101 1:34 @313 watts was good for first lap.

I see K. Fuhrer is in lead at 1:09 457 watts (my new goal but almost out of reach. wow.)

(Nov 28) Hit it just about right. 1:13.8 @ 478 is probably my full max. Almost hit my best minute for this year.

I'm in second place here, tied with two others but ahead in w/kg. This is a brutal climb.

Breakaway Brae: (Nov 20 ) I went hard but with limited results as the race start was very hard, over 200 in this first event of the ZA race series. I had a 49.822 at 407 watts. It was a little slow as I was out of the draft for the last 15 or 20 seconds.

S. Etienne at 47.95 358 watts and 6 racers over 400 watts. Her w/kg are crazy numbers, such a pro effort.

M Wilkinson smashed it with 44.18 @ 497 watts

(Nov 28) 49.798 @ 516 watts puts me about 6th place. I got into the wind too early.

23rd St: (Nov 20) I was anxious to do really great on my first day. I had a fast first climb and an even faster second effort. Ready for it? Z Kryder 25.439 at 651 watts. That effort puts me third on the all time list behind Verhaaren and Elise Murray. 10 w/kg is nearly pro level, I think. (for a road rider, they say track sprinters are way beyond 10w/kg)

(Nov 26) 37.98 @390 watts was going smooth on first lap.

(Nov 28) Z Kryder  23.902 @698 watts. I'm trying to put this one out of reach. This is my only strength. I'm not winning any races any more. I just can't go fast for very long. 

I'm in the lead!

My Last Academy

 It's finally time to bring in the show. I expected this in September. Now it is November 6 - December 17. Six weeks to do some hard efforts: 30 seconds, two minutes, 5 minutes, 8 minutes, and a full 20 minute effort. Plus races. My first goal will be to try to stay on top of my 30 seconds and two minutes. I have a powerful kick to the line that I hope to bring to the battle. However, I'm not sure if Zwift will provide the list of top riders this year. If not, then that's okay. I'll have to drive some races really hard. I definitely will train Richmond before the big races begin. I already know the Scotland course pretty well. Richmond has those three hills back to back that can ruin your race. A point series would have been better for me or even a time trial. 

Here are my current numbers going in to the big show: current max - academy results below

30-648             short at 643  $$$$$ 10 w/kg

one- 488          long at 461  $$$$ 7w/kg (really want to try for 8 if I have time), 491 on Libby Hill!

two-401 (11/3)  short at 364  $$$ (will try again soon) and 403! $$$$$(378 avg) 6.2 w/kg

five-317           short at 325 a perfect 5 w/kg $$$$$ and long at 312 scores 96% 

eight-298     Short effort at 293 $$$$$, long effort at 282 scores 96% 

twenty-263   short effort at 262 $$$$ 4w/kg (fairly average but good for a sprinter)

I will write about the workouts soon. But there are two things. 

One: How good can one do fatigued compared to max? compared to long test? (for us mere mortals)

Two: How good are you at measuring your effort/power left at end of race? My example is my final 8 minutes effort. While I averaged 293 vs. 298 (I have broken into 301), the focus is not on average power. The coaches are looking more towards a great finish. So I averaged 277 for 7 minutes with the last 30-40 seconds at 450 roughly. The 7 w/kg finish counts more than the previous 7 minutes. If you start fast for 20 seconds and fade in the last minute, then that's a poor race finish even if you were to average more watts than me (like 325 average with only 275 for the last dying minute). This is just what I have been told. I hope to ask the coaches directly soon. I just did a two minute effort fatigued at 100% with 450 the last minute...sign me up (lol). I'm crushing these, unexpectedly. I may have a very difficult time trying to retire.

ZADA power test

Before the Academy, I was required to do a full 20 minute ftp test and a zada power test.

Here's my zada test: https://www.strava.com/activities/10006461262 

My numbers were wonderful, especially looking over the past year.

Here are the results: 15sec=753    ( way better than 700 goal) needed 600+

                                 60 sec=481   ( better than 450 goal) needed 400

                                 4 min=327     (better than 300 goal) needed 280

                                 7 min= 297    (better than 280 goal) needed 260

                                 12= 272         (better than 260 goal) needed 245

This was awesome! (if I may say so)

Larson had a 760 to my 753

Again, I have the best minute out there. (that is last 90 days on ZwiftPower)

Asa Fast B. had a 343 four minute, a 302 7 minute, and a 298 12 minute. That's insane.

I will retest my 4, 7, and 12. The 12 seems out of reach, but you never know some days what you can do.

FTP Test: I came in at 263 (262 on ZP) . I used a new workout to ride this. It is a bit of a work around since my twenty minute endurance is a bit down from riding so much in short intervals and sprints. It was basically ten minutes at a hard pace, right at ftp pace. Then five minutes of threshold power 235-240. Finishing with five minutes all out 280-300 watts. Coaching brilliance. I may try again before the Academy.

The only trouble with lifting your ftp by sprinting the finish is that your workout intervals can become artificially high. I think on my best day, I could top out at about 270. Soon maybe.

Finally - QOM Makuri Island World

 Why this one? I choose it for two reasons...It is a short effort under ten minutes and also that the record holder was an obvious fake. I have done a few 'beat the cheat' efforts. There are several efforts that no human could ever beat. I didn't really think this was possible at first. On my first effort I did an 8:23 to a 8:18 effort. I thought that I could just up my effort a bit and take it. But it proved to be very difficult. I did a third attempt with a great climb, super fast. But I was slow towards the end and I saw my pr holo pass me. After that I just let off the gas and cruised across the finish. I had done a stupendous 5 minute trial but a lousy one minute effort to close.

I was amazed.This time, I went out about 5 watts less and did not sprint all out at the top of the climb. Instead, I caught my breath and was ready to go hard for 1:18 at 375 watts. (I wanted to hit 400 but I was a bit afraid to go too early.) 

This was as hard as New York and Richmond. That makes up the Holy Trinity of races.                                  Bridges and Boardwalks at 8:12 Richmond Reverse Hilly at 12:31 and Reverse Grand Central at 10:00

30:43 total. All of them are challenging climby routes. Now, back to Academy training.

Queen of the Downhill

 I have already gotten caught up in past hunts for 60 second power, 20 minute power, most repeated efforts on Richmond and Yorkshire (nobody even cares about local legends on Zwift.) and less we not forget the hunt for ten orange jerseys. Why? I don't really know. Why was I obsessed about each Alp section for two or three months? Why did I train for an all out session on Ventoux? Because I need goals. 

So why in the world would I want to climb twelve stupid red, yellow, and blue mountains when I hate climbing? Answer, to race down as fast as I can. Why do I try to shave off two or three seconds on a downhill of ten minutes? I recently rode on Watopia for a short warmup. I sprinted down the hill, taking the virtual qom on the descent. I have all of the France descents. (not that anyone should care about their best time on a virtual downhill anyway.) I don't want to start on Watopia, so I decided to let someone else have the Watopia crown. (I beat them by 3 seconds) She will never know. And when I looked at her ride, she tried really hard to get her time down. But, the sprinter in me just takes it from the very start. It was the same way I beat LVH in last year's sprint by half a second. She put in a huge sprint. But I had so much speed going into the sprint that I didn't need to hit 12 or 13 w/kg to win. I admit, it took me about seven attempts to beat her. My first attempt put me in second place by only 0.02 if I remember correctly. But I threw everything aside to beat her. Training and racing that same sprint until I got it just right. My time in practice before the Academy was under 22 seconds! But breaking 23 that month was a huge, huge task.

There are three new climbs coming to France and the Madone is rumored to be coming but only in Watopia I'm told. While the Alp and Ventoux are sort of manly macho climbs, the French view the Madone as a weaker climb. I'm not sure if I can explain it. I guess it is just softer, less steep. Ille Gardner ripped the throat out on her ride this year, demolishing the former times. Maybe it is in the name. Maybe it's because it has never been included in the Tour. All of its rides are pure time trial performances. It is a climb for purists, a virgin climb. It is a bit too long for me to perform well. I hated training on Ventoux. But if your coach was an hour specialist on the track, sooner or later you get forced to make a long attempt. Riding an hour at full intensity is so exhausting physically and mentally. 

I love sprint training and racing. It has taken Zwift years to finally start real sprint races. I won two of them! Scotland was by far the hardest because it included two climbs up the Sgurr with three sprints. I won all five that race. I took six or seven sprints in a Richmond race, skipping the first of two climbs to save my strength for the sprints. I wish we had this years ago. I could use a race like that now. But they are very rare.

In between now and the Academy, I will be doing some pointed workouts and probably another attempt on the Makuri route. I will probably do the Madone even though it is 3 km longer than in real life and it will take over an hour. I think both Ventoux and the Tourmelet sit at 62 and 61 minutes for me, and no I will probably never break the hour on either of them. 

I'm excited for the last Academy in November. I hope the races will be good for a sprinter to win. See ya!

September

Looking forward to the next two months. Zwift will announce the Zwift Academy very soon. It will be my last hurrah, my seventh and final academy ( I believe ). It just feels like the time is right. After a few bad months, I've trained and fought my way back into top condition. No, I'm not going to beat any all time records. I can't even get close to my top one minute, perhaps my best effort ever in the Academy.

In August, I searched through a lot of routes looking to get or regain some QOM's. They have never been too important. But the efforts really boost my power and condition. I fought and fought for my forward Richmond hilly route back in the day. But with the pack dynamic super blobs, a good number of racers put in times even a time trial bike couldn't match. Then there were a good number of 'glitches' where riders were able to do 46 kph steady, even uphills at only 100 watts. Add banded cheat rides on the Alp and you have a sort of wild west theme on Strava segments. Strava refuses to police records for bots, weight doping, and other forms of cheating in virtual cycling. They use to in the beginning, but I think it just got progressively harder to filter results. So Strava is sort of anything goes, even e-bikes are popular now.

I have two Q's on Watopia from the old days, my FloJo efforts with zpower. I regained two of my London laps, one last year and one recently, which was very hard. I trained and captured one in New York (super hard), Richmond (very hard), and added Scotland (hard) and Innsbruck (not as hard as I expected). I may need to do another Innsbruck or two in case some others come to hunt my times. As for my downhill efforts, it started when someone at Zwift said the Alp will have auto braking soon. So I went all out a few times. Then, it just seemed fun to do it on the portals. 

I am going to follow some coaching tips from Nathan Guerra to see if I can sharpen my sprinting. I've mostly worked on one to ten minutes. FTP test is coming too. 

I have two attempts coming up. One is a France route that may be achievable. This is because the pack in the race did not go very hard on the flat section. The climb on the petite however, was first class. I'll have to ride my best the last five minutes. Then we have a 'beat the cheat' effort. This one seems out of reach but I will run some test efforts. I will have to 'bomb' the downhill to strive to get ahead. The time trial bike will have an advantage in this section. My husband crunched the numbers I need for the uphill: 313 for the first part and 461 for the last part. That will be 387 average. In this lap, the dq 'winner' beat the men in the race by 14 seconds. I'll see if I can even get close to this one, over 50 kph. (nope, this one seems impossible. I was 16 seconds too slow. I can't see a way of gaining this much time.)

ADD: I ran the Rebel route on France today. I got the Q by 6 seconds. It was a hard session. It was another case of tt bike versus a pack of riders. In the compare efforts on Strava, we went a bit back and forth. I got the 6 seconds in the last 30 or 40 seconds with a hard charge to the line. One thing to reflect on: I was doing an all out effort for one lap. Maddy had the previous best time in a fondo with 100 km to go. In that perspective, that was one fast effort in a 100 mile event. NP was 260. I had 20 extra watts with a faster bike and ran the same exact speed on the flat sections, and I was pushing harder everytime there was a small incline. This kind of racing is really hard, really challenging, and really rewarding.

Another QOM

 I got a new Q on New York. I was racing against a time of 10:19. The reason I was so persistent is that the record was a 300 watt bot. 300 watts from start to finish, even the downhill with a hr of only 100. I found one of their other rides of 1:40 at 1000 watts, followed by 22 minutes at 360 watts. Hmmm. Obviously a faker. Time for her to go down. I ran a practice effort but I was a bit slow from the start line to the climb. But I was right on the cusp. I can recover a bit on the downhill and be able to sprint the last 30 seconds.

Coffee high and away I went. It was much harder on the climb having gone so fast for the first three minutes. But I held on, chasing my holo and finishing just a tenth of a second behind on the climb. I knew I was close, maybe even ahead, sprinting to the finish. I rushed to Strava and there it was, an even ten minutes. Yes. I was pretty tired out but happy. 

I have my eyes set on a few more possibilities, coming soon.

I had three attempts on Richmond. In the first attempt, I was behind at the climbs but caught up on the flat section. I lost too much time on the last climb despite finishing well. I knew I had to go a bit faster on the flat section and harder on that last climb. On a second effort, I went too slow in the beginning but had a great finish. Now, if I could just do the hard start and the hard finish. (Why didn't I think of that before?) Somehow, my holo didn't start. (When it does start, it is late. I guess it starts at the pen rather than the banner?) 

I went for the reverse climbs route because the record was 12:32, The forward was an unrealistic 11:55. I have a 12:38 on the forward, and that was without the New Cadex frame with a disc wheel. I thought 12:30 was possible in a time trial, if I could average close to 300 watts. I made sure I was going hard on the start, just not so hard that I was spent. I had to stay under 400 watts. (It's only like a minute and I'm dying. Hard to believe some of the men can do 400 watts for an hour.) I was about even with my hard start, maybe 2 or 3 seconds up and I needed 13 seconds better. I felt I could get those seconds if I stayed strong on those flats, at least 20 or 30 watts more than before. I was panicking as I put my head down and tried to hold 300 for the entire hill which is over two minutes. I imagined the finish line at the top of the hill. In reality, it is maybe a minute to the finish. I was now in the big gear and barely able to lift my watts. I did a few power bursts and barely made it to the line. I felt I was just a second or two slower than planned. In the record ride, Liz got up to 60 kph in a pack sprint finish. I got up to 50 and tried to hold it there. I hit 52 but averaged the 50 we said I needed.

What was the result? 12:31....one second faster. On Strava it shows I was up by four seconds at the top of the hill and lost 3 seconds on the run to the line. I guess I was slower than usual because I went so hard for over 11 minutes. I had confidence from my New York effort but this was 2 minutes longer. 

Now I am really ready for the Academy! I need to tune up my short sprint. It has been a few months while I focused on these longer efforts. Hopefully my base is strong and I won't over train in the next few weeks.

What is planned? Sprint work, FTP effort, and a longer route on Innsbruck ( rumored to be this year's start/finish ride )

Edit (September 2023)

So, the Academy is only starting in November. But, that's okay because I had a few days off the bike sick. I'm still in good form but I will need a lot of work to catch back up. I've ridden the Innsbruck UCI reverse a few times and today chalked up a new record on the course. I went hard on the start but flailed a bit on the climb. I just couldn't get the watts up where they should be. I know I should be able to run the mountain in about 20 minutes. I think I once broke 19 minutes. Still, with a fairly good downhill and run to the finish, I managed to be ahead at the finish. I honestly couldn't remember the time I needed to beat. This course is rarely raced and few people will choose this for a time trial. I think the race course is not included either because you don't cross the start line when exiting the pens. So, this one may stick for a little while. On a better day, I can shave off at least a minute. 

All total, I now have two in Watopia, two in London, one in Richmond, one in New York, One in Scotland, and now one in Innsbruck. Eight in total! I've looked at France, Yorkshire, and Makuri. I haven't found any that look achievable. There's a lot of inhuman records. I would really like one in Yorkshire. An expansion for France would be nice. I think I should just be satisfied with what I have. Several of them will stand for a long time, I hope.

Route Attack

What's left to do? Maybe repeat Domancy and Pike before August. 

But instead, I looked at some old routes and rode the London Loop Reverse. I had the second fastest effort for a long time. Let's do it today. I smashed the first half, just absolutely rode like the finish line was at the top of Fox Hill. Then I tried to just not die on the finish. My legs were about to quit. I could not believe the finish time at 22:11. I was one second faster! I'm still in shock. I thought I was too slow to make it. I just couldn't recover fully on the descent. I averaged 160 heart rate for most of the effort. 

Just now, I ran the clock for myself versus V. Whitelaw. Despite my super effort, Vickie was still ahead by 20 seconds at the top of Fox Hill. Wow. She is really good. Going into the finish, she was still up by 13 seconds. But, as a short puncher, I pulled up even at 21:42 and up by one second at 21:52. I just barely held on to finish up by one second. I averaged about 300 watts for the finale of the race. I went from back a second to ahead one second with a 10 second sprint over the top of that last incline. One or two pedal strokes at 550 and that's all I had left to give. I was completely spent and just coasted on the last downhill meters to the finish line.

It all comes down to, I sprinted early at the top of the crest out of the tunnel and she sprinted the last 300 meters. With her speed in the last 100 meters, she almost beats me. It's amazing. I think I would have lost the battle had we raced side by side. Even her holo replay would have defeated me mentally. Of course, I was on a time trial bike and she may well have drafted a good bit. My bike was a good bit slower on the climb but I knew I needed the disc wheel for the last half. 

One thing I almost forgot, she did three laps. I only raced a single all-out lap. She had one more lap to go. It is apples to oranges a bit. In the end, it is all challenging fun. Pure and simple, the game of Zwift. And, lots of sweat. 

Zwift Climb Portal Assaults

 Well, if there is a 'mountain' someone will climb it. I have finished all 8 of the new French assortment. I had the most fun taming the three shortest climbs, Pike, Domancy, and Trebiac. On the Pike I took the Q for a few days but lost it to Bharead (she's definitely in the top ten women racers), On the Domancy I also took the Q but lost it a few days later to Asa Fast (she's a heavy hitter too). On the Trebiac I hit 10:00 flat going all out with great wattage and got the Q back from Asa Fast. I have been switching to my time trial set-up and sprinting the start of the downhill, taking all eight descents. I have the best time overall on two of them. Only today I lost the Domancy by 7 seconds. Do I want to try to get it back? Mmm, probably not.

I have been going great with this added incentive. I have done a short climb followed by a longer climb a few times and built some solid endurance. I'm not sure what comes next. Should be a few workouts. I did an impossible 24 times 300 watts on a one minute on, one minute off. I totally kicked it. I can't believe I held on and finished strong.

Zwift Inaugural Climb Series 2nd Place!

No, I have not become a great climber.

But, I do well in the powerful short efforts.

Top 3 : Race #1 Watopia Hill:

1. Jade Hall      1:58                  1. Benny Axt         1:30

2. Zee Kryder   2:01                2. Dennis Vorhees 1:31

3. Jenn Moroz   2:02                 3. John Kerr          1:32

Top 3: Race #2 Sgurr North Climb 

1. Zee Kryder   3:19                 1. L. Vujasin            2:35

2. H. Tamminen 3:28                 2. M. Melville          2:50

3. J. Moroz         3:32                 3. T. Melville           2:54

Top 3: Race #3 Volcano Climb  

                                                    

1. Jade Hall        7:14                     1 Kirkwood           6:30

2. Lois Brewer   7:28                     2 (dq w/kg)            6:32

3. Z Kryder       7:30                    3 Askew                6:33

Overall looks like Jade at 12:48 and Kryder at 12:50 

Top 3: Race 4 Watopia Epic  (yeah I was good but not great)

1. J. Ek        21:38                            1. C. O'connor       20:01

2. J. Hall      22:22                            2. M. Mezville       20:05 

3. J. Moroz    22:51                          3. K. Poole            20:10

4. Z. Kryder  23:58                         

Overall is now   Hall 35:10 , Moroz 36:20, and Kryder 36:48  (well, I'm trying my best)

Top riders for Race 5 on the Alp

J. Hall            50:33

Z. Kryder      52:22

S. Wilson       53:17

Overall:  (men's tbd)

1. Jade Hall 1:25:43 (what a grand series)

2.  Zee Kryder 1:29:10,

3.  Shirley Wilson 1:31:20

The best of zwift academy workouts

The 2016 and 2017 women's zwift academy's had real training blocks. The past few years are basically just all out efforts for 5, 30, 60 seconds, 4 minutes, 8, 12 and 20 minutes. That is testing, not training.

I will update as done:

2016 #3 Cadence: These were done hard in increasing gears. I found gear 8 was tough. I plan to revisit shorter segments in this gear. PS I call it 8 gear as first gear is the easiest. My husband says that is backwards but I don't care. So it is a 50 by 13. It makes fifth gear feel easy by comparison.

2016 #8 Over under. This was two 12 minute efforts. I strove for about 230 in-between efforts at 270-275 watts for 30 seconds. The second effort felt much harder but I never doubted I could see it through. A good workout.

2016 #18 Threshold Pulling. I did 4 x 4 at 268 avg...261, 266, 270, 277

2016 #26 Capacity Pyramid. A scale up and down 1,2,3,4,5,(4), 3, 2, 1 I bailed on second 4

               298,282,277,264,259 all to plan then 3-272, 2-299, 1-368

               I like this as it prepares me for the huge threshold pulling semi-final workout.

2016 Map 30/30 and second set at 10/45 avg 300 watts for 30 seconds and 546 for 10 seconds.

                Interesting 10 seconds at 546 averaged 300 watts for 30 second time. cool.

Break" Long effort on Alp at 235 watts. Pretty much my ftp right now. But I bet I can hit 260 rather than                      247 for 20 minute effort. Coming soon.

2 X 12 I did 251 and 263 = 257. I need to repeat and do 260 the first time and see if I can do the second one                   over 250.

Threshold Intervals - done in the three biggest gears. 

Over Under for twenty minutes at 2 minutes of 235 and 30 seconds at 270. It went great finishing strong for                   257 average and ftp of 245.

Threshold Intervals made as hard as possible. A 4, 3, 2, 1 with a total of 30 minutes average of 275.

Extra Extra over unders: Done in 3 minute intervals for 254 over 20 minutes. Very hard. I was really                               suffering the last five minutes or so, but finished.

I did a ramp test after finishing all assigned workouts. The 285 result indicates I should aim at around 260. I                   will do a full ftp soon.

                                  

Zwift Women's Series Final Results

 Below is my own version of the points race series on Zwift:

I made top ten! Very hard series.

(Track style point system over all 6 races)

(edit...apologies lara meyer stats added)

1. Kristen Kulchinsky   17 points

2. Josie Rawes (zone 1) 21 points

3. Gabriella Guerra        24 points

4. Cassandra Rush         25 points

5. Liz Van Houweling    29 points

6. Johanna Tidholm        32 points

7. Zee Kryder (zone 3)    34 points

8. Kristen White (zone 3) 35 points

9. Tiffany Penner (zone 3) 39 points

10. Asa Fast-Berglund    56 points

11. Heather Shanks         63 points

12. Amanda Wendorff     66 points

13. Signe Klinting           67 points

14. Lara Meyer                71 points

15. Louise Gamst            74 points

16. Maria Marb               79 points

17. Heather Tamminen    84 points

I am still fighting Women's Six Race Series

Well, it is time for another challenge. A new women's series of races. I was all set to do all of the races. I really only wanted to try some point races. But, why not do them all. I only realized last minute that it was impossible for me to run the first race. Solution? I did the time trial later (not in the AE event).

Round #1 Bologna Time Trial

Kulchensky....15:13 (how is that possible?)

Kryder ...........18:55 (overall 39th of 45 and 5 of 6 in AE)

I don't think there is a fair way to access 45 riders over 4 time zones. CVR tried it and it was a failure. The problem is numbers. 7 in first division, then 29 in Europe, 6 in AE, and 3 in AW (3? We know the podium already?)  A lot of riders in division 2 will be lucky to score any points.In 4, I could probably win or take second, if I were to race really really late at night.

If we go by race times and fastest through segments, division 2 will probably have the advantage. But, here goes nothing as I will try to do my best.

Round # 2 Innsbruck Short Race - Scratch

I did really great here, taking second but first among contenders.

Very hard climb with just enough energy to keep up in a group of three. 

Had a pretty good sprint, losing by 0.1 seconds. Next time!

Round # 3. I know I am not a climber. I got under 26 for the epic, which was a great workout for me.

It would have been great if I could keep up with the three leaders. But they were tearing it up. Congrats.

Round #4

I passed on the first long hill of Richmond reverse. Won the 23rd Hill easily, then took all five sprints from a fairly strong field. I took second overall but more importantly, finished ahead of my two rivals Penner and White. I just felt that hitting the first hill hard would ruin the next climb anyway. 1:13 over 1:17-1:22. I did 1:15 in practice. 430 watts. Most of my sprints were done at 600 watts, reaching 10 w/kg.

There are only twenty riders left now. With a win, I am sitting at 11th place of twenty. The next two races are tough, one is 16 laps and the other is a lot of climbs. But I am fighting for my spot. I want to be top ten. The top 8 are way ahead of me.

Round #5

The race didn't go as planned. I stuck with the group for 8 of 16 laps. I lost four of them to KW and TP, which was terrible for me. I was not getting a power up on a lot of laps. I won a few sprints. In the second part of the race, I also won several sprints, but I was pretty tired and I passed on 2 or 3 laps, saving my energy for the following time up. I was most disappointed on the first prime that I came in third, as it looked like I won but took third by a fraction of a second on time. So, good but disappointed.

Overall, there are just 18 people doing all of the races. I will post my version of the overall points after tomorrow's races. I have myself at about the middle overall. I basically need to outright win this last race, which means I will have to contest the dreaded North Sgurr. It will definitely sap my strength for the three remaining sprints. But, the way the points are set up and no points for the last sprint, means I will need to win all six efforts. The Sgurr will be my win or lose scenario.

Round # 6

Hit out hard and just barely won the first sprint. Then, I lost contact well before I planned to split the group. I ran the Brae reverse hard and won by a good margin. I was hurting now but knew I needed the North if I was going to win. I hit out harder than practice, aiming at 320 watts which wavered a little. I was dying at the finish and barely able to lift my watts toward the end. I pushed so hard just to keep steady with over a minute to go. Bam! I had it with a few seconds to spare. The Brae went well too. The South was looming ahead. I just kept it over 300. My legs were tying up with 30 seconds to go. I almost quit a hundred meters from the line, but again, I had it. ( 1:43 to two minutes, wow) Only the Clyde remained. I had to climb off the bike to prevent my legs from cramping. I got back on to face the last sprint. Again, I hit it very hard at the start. My wattage was suffering but my speed held up. I had all six sprints. I couldn't do the math. I had to wait until the next morning to find out that I had won this race. I paid the price for all my efforts, not the next day but after the workout, I was so depleted that I passed out for a few seconds onto the floor.

I need a break from racing to go into a training block or so. I haven't done any workouts probably since the Academy. Lol. It is going to hurt.

2023 World Championship

 First, a precursor. I saw the World's three courses the weekend before the championships race and it was laden with heavy hitters. I knew I couldn't keep up, so I just raced the first part of the second race up to the top of the Sgurr. I was drafting the elite men, used an anvil on the uphill to get to the front again. (The anvil will work on the two negative stretches if you time it right.) I lost the draft then attempted to sprint to the line. I passed Ed Laverick and finished in 9th place. (I watched it on his youtube channel). I did enter the third race but was too tired, I decided to just have fun and run the sprint through the pack. I got the QOM for the Champions Sprint. It wasn't a great sprint and I slowed before the line and no power up. But I hit the start line at a very fast speed and it carried me through. Pack dynamics 4 should make this much slower. 

 I watched part of the men's races on replay. The first two were sprint finishes. The third race saw the winner shoot clear of the pack, come back to within one second, then extended to about 15 seconds. (Sorry, but I like Crit City better.)

 The women's races were pretty good. The first race was mostly a sprint finish. The secret? You have to stay in the draft. Hit the front and the pack will fly past you. It is similar with the second race. You need the draft to keep your speed up. On the first climb, Tanya Erath lost the draft and tried to regain the pack with a short sprint but she missed and gave in. More on her ride later. The anvils were a factor. You must use it to keep up with the others or you will fall off. Brooke put in a sprint toward the bottom. Godbe had to sprint to latch back onto the leaders. As the line approached, there were 14 riders shooting for the ten spots open. Van Houling beat Brooke for the tenth spot. I kind of trust the final numbers, but it gets confusing when you watch the timer in slow motion.

LVH  1.45   1.68  1.74  1.72  1.74  1.74 F

LB     1.52   1.65   NA   NA   1.73  1.77 F

These are the numbers shown in a two second window of time. Brooke is in the lead by 0.03 then not on the board at all, then ahead by 0.01 but finally off by 0.03. This seems confusing as all of these numbers are shown on the board after they cross the line. Why did Brooke's number change? I realize there are 30 racers all sending data from all around the world. But it seems like something that is too fast for anyone to double check. "You have to trust the computer." I don't. 

Here's one more reason. Watching Tanya's finish, she hit the finish line, the segment timer popped up and showed her finish Sgurr segment at 399.06. How did her finish line come before the end of the Sgurr? I saw several others finish and that did not happen to them. The Sgurr timer finished before or at the same time as they crossed the finish line. I had a race in New York that ended at the sprint line. I had a great sprint time but it didn't show on Zwiftpower. Why? Because the finish line came a fraction of a second before the end of the sprint segment. Is this something similar. How accurate is the actual finish line? Does the end of the segment and the finish line match exactly? Is it exactly the same for each individual?

On to race three. What happened now? In the beginning of the race, Lou Bates is in the pack and suddenly disappears. I thought Zwift was at fault. What really happened was Lou's heart monitor was not getting picked up by Zwift (an Ant signal). They tried to restore the signal and the officials waited a short while. At the point she disappears from the screen, the officials pulled her out of the race. It was sad but accurate in accord with the rules. As soon as she is removed, her on screen wattage reads zero, just like the elimination races in the Crit City qualifiers. 

Here's another glitch. When Godbe crosses the line, it tells her she finished in second place. But then Zoe's finish time comes in a moment later, and Zoe's time is less. So Zoe takes second and Godbe's screen changes to third place. It has happened to me and others. It just takes a few moments for another rider's data to register. The times are accurate, they just don't get processed at the exact same millisecond. Godbe has the screenshot showing her second but Zoe's finish hasn't come through yet. The new screenshot auto took the photo. But then I think Godbe knew she was in third. 

Overall, the course was interesting and fun. But it never separated the riders as the reverse Innsbruck climb did in qualifiers. I understand that is not as exciting to many others. But watch Bates take control in that race. I was amazed at her long power.

It's Been a Long Time

...since I rocked the bike. Sorry I haven't been keeping up. There hasn't been much to write about. I won one week of the ZI Tiny Race series. ( I don't count any races unopposed as wins). I just fall apart after the first race it seems. I did the new time trial series and came in 11th place after three A's. Next time I will just be the slowest in the A cat. But, It is a five week commitment and time and training is precious. I just can't skip the Tour de Zwift, even without a working gc chart. The tiny races are short and fun, so I will probably keep doing them too.

What else can I say? I'm getting older and slower. It's a bit depressing. I wanted to ride the ten world challenge before Scotland is released. But I am very busy lately. Who knows, some day. Let's hope Scotland is fun.