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....