Right then. What the heck was this all about? Call me late to the party, if you will (I’ve been called far worse), but this wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
Now, I should preface this post with a huge disclaimer: as I write this, I am really quite drunk. Apologies for the typos and missing words and mistakes.
For whatever reason, I thought this would be a ‘guided ride’. The typical Zwift fair, the sort where various messages pop up during the ride, telling you what’s coming, when to push, when to ease off, that sort of thing.
Alas, no.
This was just a free form ride, do whatever you please, go as fast or as slow as you like. Which in a way, was quite nice. But I think I’d have preferred a little more structure… maybe I ask too much.
The route for this one was called “Climber’s Gambit”, and honestly, I think this was not only a great name, but a really well thought out circuit. I’ll explain more on why I think that towards the end of this post.
I had read the little preview text prior to taking on this ride and knew I would be heading through the reverse bridge sprint, then to Titan’s Grove reverse KOM, and the Epic KOM Reverse. I quite like the Epic KOM Reverse as it’s one of the least used routes on Zwift – up until quite recently it was a difficult route to actually ride from the menus.
So yeah, first up we hit the reverse bridge sprint – excuse me if that’s not the correct name. I gave this a solid shot, what with my sprinting practice lately. But I will never be a sprinter. It’s just not where I’m best. And lets be real: I’m not best anywhere.
No great screenshots here as I was flat out. According to Strava that’s my third ever best effort. Not sure what my first and second are, sadly.
Legs suitably smashed, what I wasn’t prepped for was the little jolly up the harsh first corner of the Watopia Hilly KOM reverse. But that was a good indicator of what was to come… not that I realised that at the time.
After that first corner we turned off, which I think is a route I’ve done once before but I can’t remember when. That’s definitely a new thing this year, that turn off.
From there it was through the reverse of Titan’s Grove we went. I made a few mistakes here, struggling with gearing and also poor pacing in parts. However, on the KOM segment it gave it my best shot and found myself distanced from both the closest person in front and the nearest person behind.
Not great, as I was isolated and solo, which in some ways was the point of the ride – and no bad thing from a personal fitness point of view – but it hardly kept me fresh and in the draft for the next effort ahead.
And that next effort came fairly quickly after the first. The Reverse Epic KOM, all ~6.2km / 365m of climbing fun.
I struggled with this today.
My plan was to hit it at 3.7w/kg, or in other words, threshold.
Alas, no. I managed about 3.2w/kg average, maybe 3.4w/kg in parts. I’d maybe gone a little too hard on the previous climbs, or maybe I just wasn’t pushing myself hard enough to really excel on this climb.
But lets be realistic here.
I was never going to be in contention for any kind of Zwift Academy winner, or anything like that. No. Heck no, even. But even so it sucked to get reeled in and then passed by at least three or four people behind me.
Boo. Boo I say.
Anyway, I was very happy to see the top.
But that wasn’t the end of the ride. No. Trickery.
I thought this one ended at the top of the KOM but it still had ~2km left at that point.
Now, mostly this was downhill, but I think this is where the name of the route, Climbers Gambit, comes in to play. It’s a fairly tactical route. The sprint, the little corner tease at the start, and then into the Epic KOM Reverse… all fairly obvious. But this last little push, it gets you. In fact, it got a few people behind me.
Smashing themselves on that final push, I managed to pass a few people on the way to the true finish line, thanks to a deceptive last little push after they’d spanked themselves on the KOM.
But ultimately, whatever, right?
It doesn’t mean anything at my level. It’s just a good work out. A genuinely good one. Pushing me very much out of my comfort zone.
As ever with these Zwift structured rides there is no way I would do things like this if I wasn’t ‘forced’.
But I do feel all the better for it.
Depending on where you read, I either did just over or just under 1000 calories, which for a Friday afternoon is decent for me. Sadly I think I destroyed all that with half a bottle of wine and several beers thereafter.
But hey, it’s my last weekday holiday…
