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 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.