My Return to Zwift (Official date)

 I'm coming back.

Rouvy is ending October 4th. Perhaps, I will write a bit on that later. I don't have much to recommend or much excitement to tell about. It has very limited Strava segments. My Whoosh and IndiVelo have zero.

I have returned to Zwift, despite the high cost. I'll take a few months off each year and save my money to pay for 9 months. I rode the Madone Wednesday and will either ride a portal or the Alp Friday. I may do a Academy race of two. I'm not sure yet. I should focus on some workouts, with a few time trials or climbs as my goal. I would reconsider the Alp with a new lighter bike. I'm sure it will only get a few seconds faster. lol.

Friday: A massive attack on Chinilion Portal with some of my best power in two years or so. I was cruising at 260 instead of 240 on this shortish 20 minute climb. I had the goal of breaking 19 minutes. I tried not to look, but I was hitting it hard at the start to aim at 18 minutes (in case I started to fade toward the end) But I actually had a powerful finish at 290 for the final six minutes dipping down to under 17:30. I finished at 277 watts (PR is 282 years ago when I almost made it to finals) with a time of 17:21.

What lies ahead? 

Zwift Academy 2024 To be or not to be?

 I really expected the Academy to be a late in the year, do a bit of training and maybe a few races to enjoy the Academy. I have raced and competed all out the last few years and while it was very rewarding (almost making the final selection), it was tough as anything. I trained heavily before the Academy in order to score well. Pretty much, I peaked and had the top spot or two in sprint and long sprints. There are a few that are hard or nearly impossible to beat. Guerra, Verharen, Van Howeling, Fuhrer, KK, Asa B, and Etienne, plus a few pros who drop in for fun. Actually, they are eligible if they cancel their 2025 contract. (although not fair to allow in semi-pro competition.)

So, I had a great minute effort today. I'm going to practice it a few more times before Day 1. It is hard to step down. I may go down fighting. I lost the longer segment, over a minute sprint to Fuhrer last year but won the short sprint over GG and KF. ( I had higher watts but a slower time on Libby Hill. Lot of drafting on Richmond's Libby Hill.) I really shine in a 25 second sprint. So, I have a 480 and a 500 in the bag, which is good enough but I know GG can top that if she trained for it. When you train to do a two hour race, your sprint and one minute power will suffer. Fortunately, I never have to worry about an hour race. Lol, the Alp is as long as I dare to race now and even that is a long stretch.

The Academy workouts are just timed tests and will not improve anyone's fitness. I'm not inclined to do all of them. Also, a time trial of 30 minutes on Ventoux sounds pretty boring. I may do it. But, I could just do it solo since it is a time trial anyway. Why bother?

I'm still on Rouvy, joined a 21 stage Vuelta 2024 challenge. A little boring but a lot of climbing to do including three two hour stages. Can I do it? I barely have enough days to finish. I already have a fast bike. But, it is hard to turn down a real challenge after doing Zwift challenges. I'm just not sure about those three two hour stages. Seriously?

Update: Put in a 489 watt one minute effort, followed by 606 meter climbed on Ventoux in 30 minutes. I'm satisfied with the 600 club. I really had to sprint that last minute to hit that target. Maybe, I will try another stab at it in October. I still want to hit my 500. I know on good legs, I can top it.

Finally, had a good run at the one minute power. I just sailed along and saw 497 as the time counted down. I hit 500 with just a little to go and then the power started to go and I had the fight to keep up the power. I just made the minute mark to complete 504!

In the Vuelta, I'm still going strong. 13 done and 8 to go. Three more weeks to finish. I did two of the long stages now. I had to do one twice because nearing the finish on the final climb, the power when out and in Rouvy, you can rejoin an incomplete ride...but it doesn't count toward Strava or Rouvy. So I reran it and went harder on the first big climb, shaving off five minutes, 20 minutes through the valley and then another big climb.

I can't wait to ride the Alp again. Seems like a long time ago. ( I forgot that I did grab the Rouvy title by breaking the 44 minute barrier.) I would rather do it on Zwift which is shorter and faster)

Tomorrow is the 51 km stage with a short 10-12 minute climb. But after an hour of riding comes a 15 km mountain with 748 meters of climbing. The Qom is the last half of the climb looking to get under 25 minutes. Then, die, I mean dive into an ice bath. Then a few more climbing stages and onto the grand finale. I can't wait to finish the Rouvy Vuelta. Diablo is the right title.

Winner-Stage 12 Manzeneda! I planned to ride a modest pace and draft the first hour before hitting the long climb. But, I started going deep on all the uphill parts. I was up by 1:23 then only about 12 seconds but blasted the last part of the climb to finish 51 seconds ahead. I put in a long hard five minutes to finish. I just couldn't believe how smooth the climb was going, There was a false flat section that I could rest for over a minute, then try to lift the pace to the max (well, after an hour and twenty minutes a deep five was at 265 watts instead of 280 but that's how it goes) Call it 3:30 to finish on top. It has been a great week. Now, I have three stages plus the bumpy final stage. With my overall time, I can afford not too worry about how I will finish. But, I am planning to do it just like today. Hit hard when it goes steep and stay in the draft on the flats. I will update before the finale.

Getting near the end of the Vuelta Challenge and all is going as planned. I am hoping to finish in the top ten. But, I'm sure many people have not finished all stages yet. So far, 90 have finished out of 10,000. How many can get it done, even with extending the deadline two more weeks? Update: 11,000 people have joined with 260 finishers. I have only the last stage to finish. I think two of the last four stages, I am in the top ten overall. How is that possible? (Not a lot of depth in the field really) I know some are putting in a fury of effort. But, a good number of the top finishers are pretty old (and unlikely to ride at 6 w/kg even downhill,) It isn't a real competition, just fun for sure. But, it feels good to come from Zwift as a former champion to Rouvy to challenge even the overall leaders. There's a few gals I would like to ride with, but that isn't an option on Rouvy. It is what it is, pedaling to the sight of a recorded video.

Vuelta Final Stage! I finished in 7th overall! (probably shouldn't count first place- unrealistic wattage) 19:32:29 Hurray!

Zee's Bucket List

 I really don't know too much about mountains. As I sprinter, I don't like them at all, but they are beautiful. And since I'm at Rouvy for a free ten weeks, I thought I should travel the world and pick my bucket list. Except, nobody would care to read about the rides I really love. My sweet spot is anywhere from eight to sixteen minutes. Even Alp d' Huez is too long for me to enjoy. I rode it yesterday and feel like I can take the current record easily, but not the all time Strava. (too many cheats to sort through really.) I don't think I would do these on Zwift climb portal either.

I have done Zwift Alp Huez and one of the favored few to ride the Stelvio. I do want to compare them. Mostly, more fun on Zwift and probably faster too. So, the Alp, Stelvio, and Rouvy offers the Galibier and the Tourmalet. The goal will be all four (five if you count the Telegraph lead-in to the Galibier) in six hours. The Tourmalet is just over an hour, the Alp just under an hour, and the Stelvio and Galibier are each at an estimated two hours each. EDIT: I decided not to do the Galibier. It isn't exciting and the Zwift version is only half the reality. So, I couldn't compare the Rouvy edition. I can find another climb. Maybe, the Madone. Yes, the Madone is a bit too long but Lance and Illi have done the last 9.77 km of the climb under thirty minutes. That will be the goal!

I can not believe I was able to go fairly hard all the way today on the Tourmalet. My mind was blown away to reach the summit in.....59:57 !!! I really was feeling like I was fading at 20 minutes, but I kicked again until the 30 minute mark. After a short respite, I launch full steam ahead to the finish. I am ready for my Alp Huez full effort. Last week, I did it at 90 to 95% and had a time of 48:10 (best alp climb on Rouvy. This is fourth counting full-gaz and bkool. I need to beat 44 minutes. Goal. Probably not on my next ride, but you know I will attack it every two weeks or so until I max out my effort. Going fast for 40 minutes is much better than my best watts for 50 minutes. It just takes training and commitment...and intensity.

A mountain that goes on forever. The Grand Stelvio. It is like doing two Alp Huez back to back. 48 turns, 24 km, and 1848 meters of elevation. Shut the door! I just forced myself to do this ride. What made me go full gas all the way was knowing if I was too slow, I would have to do this ride again. Anything but that! So, I clipped the Rouvy segment, and cut off the small downhill last section, and my time came out to be....exactly...1:30:00!!! 225 watts and just 90 minutes. Wow. What would Illi do? (probably 1:20) Anyway, it will be one of my great climbs ever. I only raced this long once before and that was one of the national races, I think at nearly two hours of pain. If only there was just a hint of flat or downhill. One section was 14-17%! I tried to push my wattage that whole segment. It was absolutely brutal, covered in sweat. I'm just so happy, I didn't break. Time for a drink and celebration. 1:29.36 is the virtual Stelvio segment time.

The Madone. This was an awesome challenge and I had great legs today. At times, I had to try to hold back as I was charging faster than I could maintain to the finish. I was watching my heart. At 160, it starts to get dicey. I either push super hard or I fade. Today, I tried to maintain, just down a notch to help recover, just stop my heart rate from climbing. I finished in 32:11. The record is 32:06. The mistake I made was starting a minute too early. I really thought I was only ten or fifteen seconds ahead, building speed. But, I went pretty hard for 30 seconds to start. Still a fantastic ride, going 258 watts over 30 minutes? I will take that any day. I really felt it at 2 km to go. I started spurts of effort, then pull back. I still had a great top half. My sprint was only 300 for the last minute. It felt like forever. I should have finished with 400, but I just had gone so deep for 30 minutes.

Total so far....59:57 + 1:29.36 + 32:11 = 3:01.44 with just the Alp Huez left.

Before the Alp, I was ready for a very hard but short effort: The GRADE on Zwift was the challenge, as some at Zwift missed me and wanted to see what I could do. I guessed around 12 to 13 minutes, if I could keep my power high, I went in feeling pretty strong today. The end seemed so far off when I was really hurting, trying to hit around 300 for the last 8 minutes. I actually did 299. I almost passed out crossing the finish line in 11:22. Turns out to be the fastest time yet, just edging out Guerra! Now, that is something. I watched her last month on this ride. Two ways that I beat her. First, she went with a medium effort on the first minute. Also, she started from the gate, while I built up speed before the line. I had an 18 second lead in the first minute and the rest of the race, she was 14 seconds faster. She didn't sprint the finish as long as I did. I held mine for 52 seconds, hers was 42 seconds. Side by side would be awesome. (I do recognize that she can beat me when she is at her best. ) Loved this challenge.

So today was Alp Huez...at nearly 250 watts, which was my goal. I just had a kink in the middle where I rode around 230 for a few minutes, then finished with a pretty good 20 minute run at 250 again. It feels like an hour effort with a fast start and a hard finish. I think I could do just a wee bit better. But for now, I feel content with this build-up and finish. Alp Huez at 43:45, which breaks the Strava best times (three gals at 44-45 minutes....darn fast).  Total Time for Bucket list = 3:47.29 

Indievelo and Rouvy - First impressions

 Indievelo:

Good Points:

Free

Talking humans (a very few)

Velodrome races

Bad Points:

98% of users are fake avatars or auto bots. Even races are 95% bots.

No Strava segments or auto uploads. No segments at all? Kidding me?

Rouvy

Good points:

Famous climbs and lots of routes

Ghost riders you can actually draft. Makes up for being an empty desert on every ride.

Real looking jerseys.

Lots of price options (1 day/2 day/3 day passes)

Bad Points:

No hair color??? just black?

No downhills, just climb up Alp Huez and stop.

Virtually no races, lol most 'races' have 2 people.

Avatars just float on top of 'google earth' style videos.

Many videos are simply poor quality. Are they official videos or user donated?

Camera view on turns is terrible. Pans super fast and rider disappears until after turn.

Cancelled my Zwift!

Yes, I did cancel with nearly tears. I am pained to leave, but I need to save $40 so I have enough money to hopefully come back. That $40 will go to paying the huge increase for the next eight months. I have always paid for my Zwift, even when I was writing articles for Zwift. I was happy to do it. I love Zwift.

So, why have they suddenly come to need funds? Pssttt! They spent the investora money on advertising and racing. They paid a lot of money to the UCi to have the E-sports title approved by UCI. Then they paid HUGE amounts to sponsor the women's Paris-Robaix and Women's Tour de France. They pay top riders money to be a spokesman for Zwift, often just to put a "Zwift" on their jersey. 

Zwift should be trying to capture the Peloton dissatisfied crowd. (by that I mean the ones who can't afford $40 a month to watch some recorded 'live' trainers.) Let's get the people who ride bikes at Planet Fitness, but don't realize they will get hit for a 40 or $50 annual fee when they least expect it. 

This year's Academy was a bit of a joke. The men's winner only ever had one or two rides on Zwift. His race files 'could not be found' because they didn't exist (according to ZwiftPower management.) The top women's rider Liz Howeling did not enter. The best participant, Gabbi Guerra was better than all three picks. (Zwift could not find five decent picks, so they changed the program to include only three riders.)

What is best about Zwift?

Alp d Huez and I do still love the Volcano.

Richmond (Yes, really.)

What else would I keep? Definitely not the current draft. It never seems to work for me. I would lose half my bike, wheels, and 190 of my 200 jerseys. I only need my triathlete, my red, my black, and my elite title jersey. I was so happy in 2018 when I got it. Then, in 2020 when I had a chance to reclaim it. (the black version). I think the gal who won in 2019 still has her white jersey. I hardly ever see anybody else with their jerseys. I loved the Tron, until they slowed it down. They should never allowed super fast pack speeds. (senseless). It meant personal kom's disappeared forever. And then , there's the cheaters. I don't think Zwift can afford the time of money to handle the problem. But, it is frustrating to the few people like myself, that have had their best times stolen by someone barely sweating at 401 watts for an hour straight. (not happening)

Well, rant over. Time for IndieVelo and TrinerRoad, and Sufferfest. Maybe Racx will give me another free month. Once I have a few dollars saved up, I will be back.

It was better when there was just Watopia, Richmond and a small London. Now, there's just too much fluff. And there are people who want new roads every month! "All flat", "30 mile climbs" that no one will ride ever. 

Stelvio A Closer Look

Now I have the CR and QOM on both Stelvio, (Watopia and France). Of course, I'm virtually the only one to have ridden it so far. (Zwift benefits)

Wow, is this climb hard. Going fast as I can, 67 minutes and 18 back down. First time I did just under 70 minutes and 19 back down. Going up, I go super hard on the red segments. Going down, hard on the blue (flat to uphill) sections. 

I discovered some sections are definitely leg-sapping efforts to keep your speed, going up to twenty percent. I love this climb as it pushes you to do some natural intervals when the road goes red, and then you get a few sections of respite when it gets level or even a little downhills. These 'teeth' make the climb memorable, rather than boring. Which is why I have been hailing the Ski Lift climb for some time now. I don't know why they haven't ever released it to the community. It is the best ever, and hardest. In a test ride, I finished the climb on a 200% basis. That puts you into some 30-50% peaks! It was absolute chaos. I barely made it.

The Stelvio was going to be the climb of the month for May, but it still hasn't been repaired. The climb finishes at 1616 elevation. The screen says 1668. Strava says 1598. The top will not let you turn right down the mountain. You must make a u-turn and then go left. There's no excuse for not fixing this in time for the Giro's race on the Stelvio in the real life Italia race.

For those, including myself, asking for Mt. Fuji, this climb on Stelvio is worth fleshing out into a real climb. I would sooner add this to Italy than put a real Fuji onto Makuri. Fuji is long like Ventoux, but only about 6%. It just doesn't have any excitement, any reason to ride this instead of the Alp Huez. I would only want the Stelvio and Huez. 

I'm excited to see its release. I would love to actually see a few people stream themselves riding it for the first time. I know I was like, "Oh no, not another peak." About a dozen or more of them. As soon as you recover, another one pops up.

Happy hunting, my friends.

Level 99 to 100

 Here we go with 10000 points to reach the top level. I wanted to hit 99 before the May 1 update in case Zwift enforced the new points requirements. I have come from 84 to 99 in 30 days with about 16 ride days. 

Level 99 is a lousy ugly helmet. Blech, never wear it. I just want to be in the 100 club, I would say I earned it for the time I put in to go from 50-60...a whole year! Now, I could do 50-60 in about two weeks. Especially fast because I had extra credit and I rode the crazy points give-a-way climb on Easy Rider Portal. It is a very short and flat road which gives out about 300 points every five minutes of effort on avarage.

I think when I hit 100, I will schedule a confetti ride, then never wear them again. Fire socks are too cool.

I am almost at 100 days of Zwift or 2400 hours and well on my way to hit one million meters climbed (at 951K today).

I need some goals or workouts for May. I hope to do the new climb in June. However, it isn't worth the effort to get the QOM because someone is sure to take it with either under 200 watts at 25 kg or over 400 watts at a 120 bpm heart-rate. Somebody just sniped one of my course records riding their entire ride over twenty minutes at 400 watts, even downhill was about 386 and that was coasting. Why can't those rides register as 'gamified' like 50% portals? I worked so hard for that record on Makuri with several attempts and specific workouts to beat the old record (which was a fake). I know it is Strava, not Zwift in a sense. But Zwift allows a lot of generic trainers that read 400 watts when lightly spinning. Why not fix or adjust that? The max should be 200 or 250 watts, not 400. 

May 8, I hit 100! Confetti socks are kind of a letdown. Only I see the confetti. It should be the rider receiving the ride-on, shouldn't it? I'm going back to fire socks...the only valuable unlock.

May 12, I hit level 101. How long until my next level? 12000 points (But I should be level 180)

Zee Rides Climbs (Alp update)

 I'm doing all the climbs this week, starting with Bel Filles, then Ski Lift, Hollywood Sign, and Easy Rider.

The Bel Filles climb was awesome. It has got some kick to it. It took me just over 25 minutes going very hard which got me to set a new ftp. I haven't done that in a while. It has a sharp pitch in the beginning and a real sting right at the finish.

The Ski Lift climb is sort of broken. You must choose 50% climb to do the actual full ride. Right now, the 100% selection gives you a 200% elevation and gradient. Since this climb has a lot, a whole lot of 10-15 % roads, you will be doing 20-30%, with one section at about 40% with a peak of 49%!!! I was sprinting to just keep moving. It has waves or levels, so I could go hard until the crest and rest for 30 seconds before tackling the next red zone. There was a lot of red zones. I should have just restarted at the lower level but something stubborn in me just let loose and I rode the whole thing at 200%. Don't tell me it can't be done. If you are super-man, try for the 125%, I'm sure that will kick your donkey.

Hollywood Sign climb: Yes, this is a good one and it is ready to release. It is the perfect 'sawtooth' profile I was asking for. Great job, Zwift gang! I was basically riding intervals on this one. It seemed more like small jagged ridges to climb, while the Ski Lift was massive peaks to power over. 20:28 was my time.

Easy Rider climb: This was just a quick ride on the first test model of climb portal. It is only two minutes long and almost all blue roads. I was a bit tired and just came to look at it. I thought it was much longer, like 12 km instead of 1.2.

Edit: As of April 2024, I have used this ride for maximum xp, gaining 11950 xp in one hour. I was going for ten thousand, including a 500 weekly bonus. Amazingly, I had 16 of the 250 xp bonuses. It is hard to get easy rider portal climb to ride, but it is the most points per mile easily. I'm trying to hit level 99 by the end of the month, from 84.

I will at some point ride the Ski Lift at 50% to do the official height, but after some more training. I just need to recover before I tackle another climb at full power.

Yes. The Ski lift at 50% is the real 100% and it was a great climb. You need to sprint to get over a peak, then rest very briefly before the next peak. There are probably a dozen on the way up. Here's my list of peaks and %....21, 24, 29, 17, 43, 15, 24, 15, 27, 17, 13. When I saw 35%, it really freaked me out.

Sli Lift climb time: 25:41. The caption on my Strava says "best portal ever."

The Stelvio is HERE!!! I got to test this one out on April 17 2024. It was plenty hard and has some bumps similar to Ski Lift climb. While the visual beauty of the Stelvio is missing, it is a real beast to be tamed. I started at a simple hour pace (85 minutes? Go faster.) Soon, I was going hard to see if I could get the eta under 60. (Yes, if I sprint for a minute or so.) I got it to sit around 70 after I started to race all of the red sections. I had no clue what was to come around the next corner. But, there was red everywhere. I really over-did-it on this ride. It kept reading 1700 total elevation but it finished at 1610. After going down, I was over 1700. Yes, for some strange reason, I sprinted the small flat and uphill sections on the descent, around 19 minutes. (20 minutes for you non-racers on the descent.)

I wore my off-the-map pink kit for the Giro theme. I think my time of 69:09 will prove tough to beat. When the eta started to climb back toward 80, I just said I don't have 90 minutes to spare. What a challenge. I'll be glad to do that little Alp of Huez instead. Riding this made me wish we added this to Bologna as a real visual treat. It's twice as long as the Alp. 

A little bonus at the top would be nice. Something like the Alp. Ventoux should have a bonus as well.

Addition May 25 2024

After a lot of training since my best Alp on March 19th, I started yet another Alp with fury. I have learned that I must ease into the ride, not starting with a very powerful punch and struggling to hang on for the final thirty minutes. I had a training run using my big gear (I think it is a 50 x 14). It builds up the strength I need to ride in the 50 x 15. Usually, I use the 16 and only the 17 for very long rides and light days and warm-ups.

So, I am watching a holo of myself where I had a decent first half but went weak on the second half. I was just keeping about even, then a little ahead. I decided that today was the day to go for it. Part of my just wanted to do a hard thirty minute effort. But, I didn't want to give up the attempt yet either. I strived to ride just above 250, knowing my first few minutes were under 250. Could I still finish hard?

I put in a few short spurts (15,37,33,29,33,17,15) seconds at 272. When you look later, it still averages about the same. I went from 249 to 253 overall. I knew when I hit the final turn, I could just about hit my 38 minute record. When I went into the final minute, I was cutting my time down to finish at 37:53. Anything under 38 was a victory. I didn't get one single power-up either. Four times with just a plus 10 points.

I got to the top and was not really winded. When I use the big gears, it is all strength and very little aerobic heavy breathing. I was shocked and exhilarated. I don't compare myself to Gardner. She is so very different, so light, so powerful with a much bigger gear. I said I would not do another pr attempt on the Alp. But, I love this climb despite being too long for my style. I have done it again. Forever?

My progression was 38:56, 38:47, 38:26, 38:00, and now 37:53. I think I had a 39:59 in there as well. It takes a special effort and a great day to break 40 minutes. I'm sure in a few months, 40 minutes will seem like a dream. But for today, I have conquered the Alp....242 times. Yet, I know I will be back in some fashion. I will hit my million meters of climbing here, possibly right at the top! (I'm at 963K right now.)

Crash and Conquer, the Untold Story

Two head-shaking rides, one off then two days after the Zwift Championships, a goal-reaching personal record. How? Stay tuned. 

So, when I planned to retire after the Academy, I had the idea of trying an all out watt bomb on the Alp. Stupid for a sprinter with not so great endurance. Usually, I can go in a big gear if it is a steady effort, definitely not in a race. The day came and I hit a beautiful ride (after much training) landing December 17 at the top of the Alp at 38:47, a monstrous effort. A lot of times, I don't ride with a heart monitor. Often, I hate the feel of it, hate the distraction of it, and sometimes worry when it is too low or seems too high. I know I am going hard as I can and using 100% real watts. My benchmarks were Illi Gardner at 38:21 and Sarah Gigantie at 38:34. So then, 38:47 is a perfect third place.

I considered the goal for 2024 of riding the Alp to hit one million meters having nearly 900,000. But as I started doing a lot of climbing, Zwift announced an elite race for the Alp. Oh, the juices started to flow. It would be live, so if I rode the course at the same time, I could use them as my competition, but I would not have any draft. I targeted Illi's time, hoping to shave off 30 seconds to beat her. (in my mind at least). Either way, I planned several weeks of training.

I realized that I can do some serious watts as intervals, even over-unders where the low is at ftp or if I just have 30 seconds of mild pedaling. In training on two good days, I had a 38:56 and finally a 38:26 leaping ahead into second overall. Surely, I thought, I'm ready for the Epic Zwift Games event, a historic first. Of course, there was a World's Championship in 2019. It was planned last minute (although I was part of planning it much earlier) and poorly addressed to Zwifter's. I skipped the long road rides (70+km women's and 97 km men's) and won the women's time trial. The up and down hilly course suited me perfectly. I rode way beyond what I thought I could do.

So, here I am five years older trying to go against the top riders on Zwift. I know I have the watts. Race day and I have done all the race run-up and set-up. We hit the start of the Alp and I am just totally flat. Well tested? Yes. Well rested? Yes. Well caffeinated? Oh my, yes. My watts are 230 when I want 250 or even a little higher to start and nothing is going up. There's a small pack ahead of me and Illi is rocketing up the mountain. She is quickly out of sight, an entire turn ahead. Just gone. I didn't know her watts or estimated time, only where she was up the road. I get to the top just a second ahead of Lou Bates at 40:59 with Bates at 41:01. It is Gardner (37:16), Belforth (38:51), Guerra (40:08), Kryder (40:59), Bates (41:01). For me, I feel a failure. I still don't know what went wrong. Three minutes off my pace? Illi Gardner with an amazing time. She holds the real life outdoor best time on the Alp.

Tuesday, I'm determined to train some more until I can do another attempt on the Alp. As I start at nearly ftp, I crank it up, making myself suffer. Instead of a 30-60 second planned rest every ten minutes, I keep up the pace. Now I'm thinking to put in a hard thirty minutes and just pedal moderately up the rest. But, I press hard, riding as close to 250 as I can. I average around 248 and blitz the finishing minute at 370. I nearly didn't make the last 200 meters as I was at my limit in strength and speed. I saw the seconds go down from :03 to :00 to :59, then :01, but I hit the line at 38:00! 253 watts. That is just about what Illi was doing. She went super hard for seven and a half minutes, then maintained a hard effort the rest of the way. I can not do that without dying. We estimate that I lost about 40 seconds in that time. When looking at the top half of the Alp, I thought we were about even, but I was wrong. Actually, I was down 19 seconds at the last corner (59 seconds overall). I still had a good finishing kick and caught back 15 seconds, finishing 44 seconds behind. Of course, Illi didn't need to sprint at the end as she was 90 seconds ahead of her closest rival. She has well-earned the title Queen of the Alp. 

I'm ecstatic about hitting 38 flat. I could never get to 37:16. In fact, I could only hope to take off five or ten seconds at best, if ever. I am finally satisfied. I can easily settle for second best behind an absolute legend.

,

One Week Out

 I've been training anew for a month now, heading to my big race up the Alp. I had a stunning workout, finishing the Alp less than a minute of goal pace. Then, yesterday I rode a hard interval effort at one minute red, three minutes orange for 30 minutes. I was one minute ahead. Insane to stop at that point. But I was at 28 and felt disaster was near with a finishing ten minutes to go. (Maybe a timer would help from those climb portals.) I finished with a minute sprint. I started the Alp a slight bit on the sore side. With my schedule set, I can't reschedule. So it is blast of pass.

I have one tough workout ahead yet. A long workout, and a repeat of yesterday that we are dropping. I have the shape that I need. No reason to over do it so close to the day. I'm looking forward to concluding this epic journey. I hope is satisfies my relentless pursuit of what I can do. I'm more concerned with me beating me, a personal best, than I am about anyone else. It just provides a benchmark to beat, nothing more. Illi and Sarah, even Passio and Barkley are pros, no need to race against them.

Let the fun begin.

Ups and Downs

 I'm just trying to figure out where I am. I didn't ride too much in the last week. Then, I had an awesome ride in Innsbruck, on the reverse course. I soared somehow despite losing a lot of time to a bike switch. (somehow, I lost 30 seconds instead of ten or fifteen). I hammered the hill and added a great finish after the downhill. 

Sunday, my legs felt a bit fried. I rode the first five minutes at a great pace, up the petite. Then my heart rate flopped and hovered at 140 instead of 150. My legs felt a bit sore/weak. I just kept going, grinding out baby watts. I started at 241 only to see 217,210,202,211 for my next intervals. I refused to quit though. 

I started last week to ride all ten orange jersey laps. I did Watopia, Scotland, Paris, (and France sprint). That left six to do. Innsbruck is by far the longest, the only one over thirty minutes. I have done it under 45 and struck out to break forty (in my wildest dreams). This time, I was still riding strong when I got to the climb. I was two minutes faster than my goal of 42 minutes. And only a minute or so off my pr on the climb. 

So today, I opted for Ventoux instead of running two orange laps. And why, you ask? Because I am stupid enough to start training for a repeat of my Alp legendary climb. The one so fast, I am afraid of trying to repeat it. I recently raced just the top half and only was four seconds faster than that monster effort. I did a full week of training, followed by my love's race prep protocol. Running that day compared to my best effort is a three minute difference. Three minutes? That seems impossible. It was a true training peak that is just not possible to repeat without an entire buildup over a few weeks. It takes time trial, intervals, and an intense focus that can only be reserved for major goals. It was an unforgettable experience where everything felt and went perfectly. And now I want to repeat it on the day of the epic Zwift climb. I must be dreaming.

Well, we'll see how training goes. If I have a decent shot at the title, I will give it a go. But, I have to feel content with what I've already done, my glorious retirement race up the Alp. This may be my only chance to ever beat that time. It is a Rocky scenario. Beating the top two climbers of all time, that isn't possible for a short power specialist. My power slides quite a bit after 16 minutes. That means, I have to race controlled for 22 minutes before I up the tempo to my breaking point.

I will not be racing the full Road to Sky, only the Alp itself. This gives me the opportunity to focus on a somewhat achievable goal. First, I need to work on strength and aerobic together for four weeks. Then, one week to prep for the big race. I'm crazy. I'm retired for a reason. It takes so much more effort now than it did a few years ago. It's that darn holo, taunting me every time I start the Alp. There she is, my past me. Hey, get back here. She goes so fast the first 30 seconds, that I usually am just trying to match that after pace, staying 30 seconds behind the entire first half. I'll need a few power ups to have a good shot at it. 10 point bonuses will crush me. In a race, you have drafting and guaranteed power ups. I will just be suffering the whole way.

I have a few new friends cheering me on. Why not try? It's not that crazy, is it?

One Month of Retirement

 I took off a week to start January. But, I haven't really rested on any rides yet. I did a full on Ventoux, which went nearly perfectly until two kilometers to go when my legs began to give out. I slowed, recovered, and finished fast in just over sixty minutes! I was beyond shocked. I've taken third place on the hardest of endurance climbs. I actually hit the Q on the last section (until a cheater posted a time riding seven watts per kilo at, get this, 25 kilos weight. A full grown 35 year old woman with low power and only weighs sixty pounds. Come on, don't ruin everyone's fun. It broke the record by one or two minutes? Yeah right.)

I then decided that I might do a year of climbing, similar to my training a few years ago when I rode the Alp at least once a week. I even did another double Alp, smashing my old record ( I changed bikes twice) I don't know where this is taking me. But, I am keeping some good fitness. I had a great 12 and 15 minute runs on back to back days. I also attempted a full scale attack on Watopia Hilly and got a PR. But I was almost 30 seconds slower with not much room for me to improve. The leading time is just too far out of reach. 

I'm hoping for some interesting portal climbs to come. Zwift hasn't updated me on what lies ahead. Lol, I can't keep a secret anyway. 

Love you all. 

2023 Wrap-up

 It's 2024 already. Maybe it is time to have some goals, right? Can I really do this retirement? I'm skipping a race this weekend. I just didn't find time to plan anything yet.

Just today, I decided not to race the Tour de Zwift. The stages are just too long. Stage 1 isn't that bad. But some of the next ones are long and then there's another Alp on the list. Two laps of RGV (I hate that lap)

But, mostly I started stage one and saw that hideous hat. Nope. Sorry. I refuse such offensive fashion. It isn't the first outfit I have rejected either. 

I had the idea of doing 100,000 meters of elevation this year. That is how many Alps? 95 Wow. That would be quite a hard year. I forgot to mention, I did an all out attack on Vontoux. I came as close to the goal as possible, landing at 60 minutes and 14 seconds. That's the fastest time of the year and only QOM Gardner and the Gigante are under that. I would be insane to try to do any better. Although I have one hell of a holo if I want to give it a go. However, I managed to finish the beast by setting a new time for the last section of it. I think it would be more fun to try to break only that section. Otherwise, I will race a whole hour just to fall behind in the last few minutes. That would be sad indeed. 

Some day this year I still would like to do all 11 leader jerseys on the same day. I would need an entire day literally. When, when, when? 

Stay tuned. You never know what's next.