Much like when I did the Bologna Time Trial the other evening, I had no intention of doing a race for today’s ride until about 5 minutes before the event was due to start.
Day 1 of my holiday and I’m already feeling a bit bored. Self imposed computer exile is not something that sits well with me. I needed to get on the bike and do something.
I knew I wanted to get out with my kids as soon as they finished school duties, so figuring that I could either do a structured workout, a free-ride, or have a look at the live events and maybe get a group ride if possible, I hastily opted for a race as it was starting ~5 mins from my current time, and should last about 30 minutes based on previous laps of Richmond.
It should be said that Richmond hasn’t been good to me.
Early days on Zwift I hated the map for the aggressive cobbles – simulated all too evilly by the Tacx Neo 2.
Later, after learning how to turn the cobble intensity to a much less backside hating 1/2 power, I ended up destroying my legs going far too hard up the climbs.
I figured what the heck. Let’s try a proper race. I’d join Category D and see how I got on.
At worst, I would get a solid ~30 minutes workout. Even if I came last, it would be good experience in Zwift racing.
I’ve watched and read up on Zwift racing and am well aware the vast majority of people start hard. And this was no exception.
The bulk of the riders – 30+ of them – went hard, early doors.
I had a plan. Stick to my FTP – 196w – and see how I got on.
From previous Zwift races / events, I know about 50% of the riders who bolt out of the gate at warp 10 suddenly find that pace hugely unsustainable, and drop back. That’s when I pass them. The tortoise and the hare, and all that.
Ok, so pro-tip:
When racing the sprints and KOMs boards are for your category only!
I had no idea. It did not register with me until I looked back at the results after the event.
Mr C. Keen up there on the board – he thrashed us all.
As I’d pushed hard early on, I needed to recover at around the 8km mark.
Noticing that a few riders in the small pack I was with were spinning their virtual legs vastly faster than me, I dropped a few gears and fell back. Higher cadence, less resistance, let the pack keep me sweet.
This worked surprisingly well.
Fortunately previous experience with Richmond told me to hold something back for the three brutal climbs laying in wait up ahead.
Looking back, the pace here was amongst the hardest / fastest I’ve ever ridden on Zwift. I’m not sure exactly how quickly we passed 10km, but it could have been under 16 seconds. That’s mega for me. I know that Richmond has a nice down hill segment so it’s not a truly fair comparison to previous attempts at 10km in 20 minutes, but it’s a fast pace all the same.
A couple of bad bits about the KOMs:
- I got very few screenshots
- I had ballsed up my chain / gearing big time before the ride
I am bad for tinkering with my setup. That much should be obvious by now.
I’ve had issues lately getting from the little ring back to the big ring. I figured (wrongly) this was related to the two screws on the front derailleur.
I’ve now determined it’s down to (incorrect) cable tension in the cable that controls all that jazz.
Anyway, on this ride when I went into the little ring, in the hardest gear, there was just the most ridiculous clicking sounds as the chain scraped against metal.
I didn’t let it stop me, but it definitely didn’t help me.
My plan to get up the KOM was simple: stick to my FTP.
I went above it, but not by much. And the steady pace helped me jump ahead of almost all the other category D riders around me.
I wasn’t aware, at this point, that C. Keen was also in category D and was vastly further ahead of me.
After the first KOM, the second one comes quickly.
Again, I opted for the same strategy: keep the cadence as high as possible (little ring), and keep as best as possible to my FTP.
I started – briefly – out of the saddle, and as I’d just come down the descent, was in the big ring. I tried my best to get a good setup before the bottom of the climb. I don’t remember much of the first 2/3rds, but do know I struggled with the final 1/3rd.
That said, I managed to come out of the climb ahead of P. Liu, my nearest rival.
I mentally resolved to keep grinding – and grinding was a very accurate term given the noises coming from my chain.
I didn’t really have the time to screenshot. It sucks that I now use the iPad on the window ledge to screenshot, rather than how I used to have it with my phone mounted to my bars. So screenshotting is currently much more difficult under more taxing conditions.
The final push to the line was an absolute grueling slog. I had to push as hard as I could just to get some speed up.
If it had come to a sprint finish I think there is very little chance I would have been able to push against another rider.
All said and done, I feel I did well on this one. 7 minutes of the category winner. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say C. Keen should consider category C.
The rest of us were more evenly matched. I was essentially 1 minute 30 seconds off the rider in last place in category C, so I don’t think I’m C category standard yet?
I am a little concious that other riders in D might have thought I was outside the expected ranges for a D rider, and if so, well… I don’t consider myself ready for C category yet.
Unfortunately as I was essentially dead at the finish line, I mucked up and didn’t get the ride stats. So here they are from the app instead.
194w average is, I think, my strongest Zwift performance. Yet no FTP boost.
Strava has me down at 198w weighted average power also, which I’m almost certain is my strongest ever performance.
All that said, I still haven’t cracked the 200w+ weighted average power. To the very best of my knowledge.
To the inuniniated, my heart rate must look extremely high.
However, it’s actually lower than normal for me. So again, improvements shining through.
The one concerning thought for me is I have another race tomorrow morning at 10am. And maybe I’ve gone a bit too hard in this one.
Anyway, I’ll turn up, show my face, see what I can do.
All in all, this race was great. I really enjoyed it, even if it was last minute / unplanned.