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. 

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.