Zwift Academy 2021

 Started with a Bang, did the sprint in 10.947 on my second attempt. (11.50 first attempt.) Take notice. I am a sprinter. My Titan's Grove Climb was 1:52, a personal best but not an all out attack. I will try that at some point. Second time hit it at 1:41 a good improvement. There's so much to do at this point. 7 workouts, a time trial up the Alp, 2 social waste of time rides, and are there races? I just want to show off my strengths. The pro workout is a 5 minute max effort. I want to show off my one minute results. I won that category two years ago and last year as well. I just haven't been training for it lately. I have been focused on short races and sprint finishes. In other words, my Alp time will be more like 58 minutes than 49. Edit: Nope 51:29 with an all out beast of a climb for me.) My 20 minute effort was 265 for a race but lately 250 has been the ceiling. But I did do 248 for the entire Alp, a great effort at real FTP. My 20 minute finishing climb up the Epic is coming. Did 22:13, not too bad. I've broken 20 in top shape. Looking for a 21 in a few weeks.

I appreciate the opportunity to show off. I stopped going to the gym since Covid started and I think that has trimmed my power down a bit. Maybe I could regain that if I had some weights. Thanks to Dig Deep coaching for giving me some encouragement despite my low endurance numbers. I would like to show off my long sprint skills by trying the other baseline sprint. But I don't want to confuse the judges either. On we go to workout #1 and another Titans attempt. Thanks for reading, love you all.

I just hit the half way point. Although I've done 3 recovery rides and only got credit for the second one. LOL. Did #3 workout in good form. I will do 4 and 5, then finishing climb before 6. Then it is back to five minute max pro workout and rehit Titan's grove climb. I doubt I can put in another 10 second sprint without a power up as they have been nerfed now. I'm just totally enjoying the Academy but I do miss having races for side by side competition. Looks like no Worlds are scheduled next week. I guess I will retain my 2019 title forever? That was my best ever 40 minute effort. Time Trials require near perfect pacing, especially with two climbs that were in it. Maybe my greatest win despite a lack of depth in the field. I just knew I had to hit it out of the park, so to speak (baseball metiphor). 

I am coming into great form. Look out. Hit 985 watts peak.

Time to conclude or at least graduate. I'm looking forward to the last Titan's climb as I am feeling ready for it now. Today I did a 332 watt five minute effort at 5 w/kg! and added a peak ten second sprint at 882. I still hope to hit that 1000 watt effort even if it is just for one last time. Tuesday will be the reverse kom where I will focus on my 20 minute power, probably hit hard after the first minute of climbing. My legs felt really good after today's workout, the way it should always be, lol.

Today was a finish ride hitting a great ftp effort and climbing the hill in 19:45. Could barely sprint at the end from holding a high level, averaging around 165 166 the first 18 minutes. My fastest was 19:43 so this was me in great form today. I held my wattage up a little past the finish but not that much more to squeeze out. I had expected to do a 21 minute effort, but under 20 is pro level baby. Yeah that felt good. I will redo this ride next week and hit Titan's climb as hard as I can. Sunday will be my first chance to do a graduating recovery ride to finish the Academy. I think I can hit near 1:30 for the climb. Rode the Aethos bike today on the Epic climb. Also hit 988 watts. Will still try to hit that magic number 1000. I think I've done it twice before 1004 or 1012 I think. Thanks for reading and all the ride ons I got in a solo ride today. This was what the Academy is all about, reaching to hit your peak at just the right time. This ride will be remembered. 

Did it! I hit 1019 watts and did a 1:31 on Titan's Grove! Follow that with a good sprint on my final recovery ride and then it is all over. Graduation paint job (sorry ugly work there) in hand. My PI number broke the 700 barrier today as well, which is great for an amateur. My numbers are great all across the board, nearly matching my previous bests. Not bad for a gal closing out her forties. I wish I was turning 28 but there was no Zwift then. I'm glad to have been on the ground floor, engaging in some of the early women's races and being part of its development. My work for Zwift has not been unnoticed. I fondly remember CC, Rachael, Casey, Beth, and some who rose for just short periods of time. Time to officially hand the baton over to the new Zwift generation. I hope there are a few like me that maybe can't win the long races against the top competitors but can be satisfied with their adventures and dominate in some fashion, such as my long sprint. (still standing at over 10 w/kg for 30 seconds.) Thanks Zwift for some fantastic memories.

Late addititon just did a finishing ride up the volcano at a great 7:41 time at 301 watts. Really hit hard from the middle where the flat section starts and just kept it rolling over at the higher pace. It was super tough for the last minute but I managed to survive and even press on during the last thirty seconds or so. Totally spent but worth it. Now what's left? Only thing I am missing is a full out minute. Dare I?

Well, the minute went very so so, just not sharp enough at the start. I did a good time trial on Bologna at 17:30.9. My ten and fifteen numbers were really good. To gather a few more Z points (for racing) I'm going to ride Titan's Forward hill. Then I should break into the top 1000. Lol, I was top 100 before so many riders joined in (and good ones at that). I plan on joining the Zipp sprint ride. All I have left is to do the Tri Academy baseline before my fall break. It has been a long summer. 

EDIT: I got an invitation to World's! Guess who had the fastest sprint and Titan's Climb? This Gal! I was shocked to be told that I hit the top spot for both segments. Even the sprint was tough, just ten seconds of hitting it hard. Had a rough week when this news came in. I'm very happy with my Academy now. 

Racing for Fun

 I've cut back a bit on training as I was working too much and feeling very tired. I've gotten back into my rhythym lately. I actually won another race, although there were only five of us. I won the sprint pretty handidly. Yeah. I was quite surprised. I also had a women's race win when there were only three of us. I went out hard with the second rider, when the third rider opted out being left behind. It was a tight event for the two of us but I surged up the hill with a good lead. I extended it over the rest of the lap stretching my lead to about a minute. I was exhausted and had hoped to scale back and try to keep the gap at that minute mark. Honestly, I was pretty spent with one more lap to go. Surprise, the other rider dropped out. She may have caught me if she soldiered on but that's why I went harder than I could maintain. Winner.

I missed the first Off the Mapp race but entered the second, third, and fourth. (There will be a make-up for the first stage I may enter). I took third, second, and third again. Bazinga! I was on fire and it seemed like we were all mostly B racers. I couldn't believe how good I had finished. The second stage, I nearly dropped out but I kept pushing to survive. It wore on my sprint. I didn't have an aero for any of these sprints. I tried but failed to win. Still, I did pretty good against some tough guys to beat. Edit: Took a great sprint recently for second place in Crit City. It was a banger for sure.

Looking forward to the Academy. Only, I haven't trained for it. Just a bit too busy and I have lost a bit of speed and endurance the past few months. I haven't retired though. I still plan to defend my Time Trial title from 2019 if Zwift gives us a chance this year. Last year's cancellation in Switzerland left a huge hole in Zwift's plans to parellel the World Championships. Let's see how they do this year. 

Fourth Mixed Win

 My 250th race turned out to be a ring dinger. I picked it because it was a very short race of two laps of Laguardia New York. I hung in with a hard start. Five of us had a gap and extended it while dropping one rider as well. That left four of us to sprint it out and I had an aero power up. I was excited. Determined to start at 250, I hit it hard and popped my power up. I took off and got a gap with an 800 watts burst of max wattage. For me, that is pretty good lately. The pace had been fast but within my zone except for short bursts on the two risers on the course. I was able to catch my breath right before the sprint.

I think knowing it was race # 250 motivated me and helped me fear losing after fighting hard to stay with the leaders. All four mixed wins have come in this year, I think right? Wow, that felt good. I've been a little down that my 45-60 minute power has tailed off lately. Today was just the right level of sprint and the power up (what I needed in my last race lol where I almost won but then finished 6th , all of us within 0.5 seconds at the line)

Thanks for reading and hopefully more races to come.

What's Up Lately?

To give a quick update, I'm currently riding the ten world orange jersey laps, trying to keep my time roughly around the same as last year. With four events done, I'm only 17 seconds behind schedule. However, I have to redo Innsbruck as I had a bad day when trying to time trial the course last week. It made me depressed, even though I hate the course. It is way too long, even just the climb itself is an entire ftp test and then some. But, I'll try it when I'm feeling good and in the mood for a 45 minute ride. In between the time trials, I am doing a few races for the variety of it. 

Down the road? Still looking for WC's in September (and fearful of the 30 km distance in the time trial) I just want to do my best to defend my title. I need an occasional event to gear up for and lately the races have been either missing entirely or scheduled just out of my time table for races. Find something..... 

Makuri so far is pretty but not suited for great challenges yet. Maybe as it expands, it will improve. But for now, it is as weak as New York for me. The temple kom is ridiculous. The only real climb is on dirt which I hate. That leaves the boredom of the flat course for the orange jersey. 

  

All Nine World Courses - One Day

 I got it this time and it is all on Strava. I started with Paris, since it has a lead in about 3 km or so to the start line. Next was Watopia since it takes good speed to get the actual orange jersey. Next, Innsbruck as I had an hour to get to the start in Crit City. Orange. Crit City, quit and time trialed to another jersey. I had to push on Yorkshire since it too was on the daily worlds. finally, New York, then a planned break. 

Rested, showered, and dry bibs, onto London. I felt so refreshed that I went too hard. Thus, when I got to the start of a Bologna race, I felt a bit tired. I was slow on the flat but got some power back up for the climb. Finished the course but missed out on the orange jersey. Richmond was the ninth of all the courses. I hoped to take it a bit slower then finish hard on the climbs. I didn't have too much power on the climbs but took the orange jersey, my eighth of the day. 

How long did the courses take? 3 hours 19 minutes 56.37 seconds (with photos taken of every timed finish.) No drafting just long endurance power (at least what I could muster). So the challenge is up and running now. Are you up to it?

I Won! Wyn Time Trial Series - Race #6

 This was a long six week hard-fought series.

 I was nervous, unsure if anything would go wrong like a broken gear or a flat tire. I was racing in the afternoon rather than the evening, so I saw the second overall had a pretty good day at 10:56. I would need an 11:32 to win the overall. I had previously raced a 10:59 on this course but 30 seconds isn't a lot to play with.

I was feeling great in the warm-up despite a bit of sunburn I got yesterday. I had really planned out every bit of this course. I rode super strong and had planned to ride close to 400 rather than 340 on the climb with a long more even effort at the finish. I managed 382 for over a minute on the hill before the turn. Then I rode 386 in the last minute which gave me a 297 normalized power which is awesome for me. I shaved off 15 seconds to stop the clock at 10:44! Woo Hoo. 

The desire to win the six week course was really strong. I wanted a title for this year, especially since the Tour of Zwift and Tour of Watopia were devalued from races to rides. So this has been huge for me. I've been down a bit before this made-to-measure short tt race series. Ten minutes is my prime right now. Maybe this year I will get to defend my 2019 Time Trial title in Belgium if they have a World's time trial event this year. Hopefully, a lot of people skip it. LOL. I'll start training for it in July. Until then, I just have my Nine World Challenge to complete in a day.

Race #6

Kryder 10:44//Bergkamp 10:56//Williams 11:04//White 11:32

Overall for the Series:

1. Zee Kryder                 70:08

2. J Bergkamp                70:57

3. Claire Williams          71:46

4. Kristin White             72:36

Win Mini-Crit WKG

 While this was my third mixed win, it was my first overall win over a few A riders! Even though I theoretically finished second, I had a heart monitor and took the win. I was 0.04 seconds behind. I never won over anything but the B cat. I'm going to savor this one. But for now, the focus is just on keeping ready for the final in the Wyn series Monday.

I have a 20 minute race friday around the volcano. Saturday, a race up the volcano. Monday, the final time trial which should be around eleven minutes again. This is the second time we've run this course. Working on a 36 second buffer. Just need the bike to hold up. I feel primed and ready to go. I averaged 267 in this race and felt the early pace was comfortable. The effort on the hill was severe. I got gapped just a hair and found myself back by two or three seconds to the lead three. I put in a short ten second burst and caught them in the sprint wiondow. I held on for dear life and started my sprint about 400 meters out hoping to burn them off my wheel with a feather as I didn't have an aero. 

Beautiful race. Very happy and thankful.

Strava