The longer rides on the Tour de Zwift 2023 are absolutely brutal. I’ve not even dared look at what’s in store for Stage 4, because thoughts ahead of Stage 3 were all consuming.
La Reine.
A route no one rides through choice.
The last time I took this on was in 2020 and honestly, it still felt too soon to be heading back.
For those unfamiliar, La Reine is about 85% of the full Ventop route, one I’ve also only ever completed once (again back in 2020).
It’s a hardcore climb, harder than Alpe de Zwift and, I think, the second hardest in the game currently. The hardest being basically Ventop, which is exactly the same route but you keep going all the way to the top.
The challenge with Mount Ventoux in Zwift is that it’s relentlessly dull.
It’s actually a fairly pretty route – but only on the way down. Heading up, there’s just… nothing to see.
About the only things of interest come every 1km, being the marker stones on the side of the road. To me they remind me of tomb stones, which I think is really fitting because the mind goes to some dark places on these sorts of rides.
I guess it’s a realistic interpretation of a real life route. But so is Alpe du Zwift, and that one is so much more visually interesting. With the corner markers, extra special metrics, the Yeti, all that jazz. By comparison this one is dead. Just kilometre after kilometre of bland, boring greenery.
Shame really.
My plan today was to head out at ~3.3w/kg, and stay there.
If I found a group at that pace, awesome.
If not, no worries, groups don’t do a huge amount on the climbs from previous experience.
The main thing was not to blow up. Partly because I wanted to finish the ride, and partly because I do also want to race this week AND will have to do Stage 4 this week also… whatever that is.
But I definitely went too hard, too early.
In the first couple of kilometres of the climb I was around the high 3.x w/kgs, and was struggling.
Seeing sense, I reined it in, dropping down to 3.3-3.5w/kg, with a view to doing almost an SST-esque session. I’d aim for 5 minutes at threshold, and then drop to ~210w for 5 minutes and recover.
The reasoning behind this, as the numbers are lower than a true short SST session, is that I’d have to go longer. I was anticipating a 1h 20m time up the hill, so needed to last longer than the usual 40 minute of graft in that workout.
After initially going too hard I did manage to find a more established rhythm, albeit in isolation.
Unfortunately things kinda blew up for me today.
Technically my heart rate strap just failed me. It was reporting super low numbers, so I ditched it. I mentioned this a while back. The strap is falling to bits, but at the moment it’s not a good time to replace it. Once I’m back working it’s one of the first things I will fix.
Beyond that, it was during Stage 1, on the steepest part of the final climb, that I twinged my left knee whilst out of the saddle.
I didn’t think too much of it at the time. It hurt, but it wasn’t a show stopper. I knew something had happened though.
Turns out if you put an hour or more’s worth of pressure on an already dicey knee joint, it’s going to give.
With around 2.8km to go I was in so much pain today, directly on the right side of the left knee, that I was close to tears. I probably shouldn’t have continued on, but I was so far up the climb that giving up was harder than pushing through.
Mercifully the climb does slightly ease off – down from the 10’s, 11’s, and 12’s a few kilometres early, into the 9’s and 10’s towards the end. Combining that with putting all the work through my right leg, basically giving my left leg a free ride, and I was able to see it through.
I am very much hoping I haven’t done myself some serious damage though.
With that in mind, my time to complete this ride was sadly compromised. It was never going to be a world beater, but it definitely could have been better. Still, I did complete it, which is something.
I’m really concerned though now. I have Stage 4 ahead in probably 3 or 4 days, and also a race to do.
If something has to give then it has to give. And I’d rather that be a Zwift event than my ability to walk.
Disappointing though.
This was about as hard as I was expecting really. Before the knee pain it was just a gruelling slog. After, it was much, much harder.
Cracking effort! Especially considering your knee was stuffed! You could always leave stage 4 for the make up week at the end?
Jeez, after doing stage 3… even more kudos for finishing it. I was regretting my 28t cassette life choices on those seemly neverending 13% gradients. Almost felt like downhill on the 7% sections.
Ahh, that answers the Q in my other comment 🙂 Congrats on getting that one done. I can handle the idea of 1h 25m or whatever going up hill, I just wish it was visually more interesting. They really missed a trick.
I was in the very easiest gear most of the time – not entirely sure what that is, but isn’t mine an 11-32t? so I guess that gives me two extra easier gears than what you have available? Ouch.
Always fun though when 7% stuff feels practically flat. You know you’ve been working. My mind kept saying things like, oh, just another Innsbruck KOM to go now, only 300m? That’s just twice up Box Hill and then a bit more. Damn you brain!
Thanks Phil. I think that’s what I’m going to do. Going to rest up today, see how I feel tomorrow with the aim of doing max a Zone 2 ride. I knew I’d been pushing my luck trying to do racing + the group rides. Hopefully with a bit of recovery time it eases off enough for stage 5. Sucks though.
Are you taking on all the longer ones? I wish I’d thought to line up some TV shows or something for that climb. I hadn’t planned on riding at 11am, but some real life circumstances changed my availability at the last minute. By the time I got on I only had 24 seconds before it set off. I could say it might have been a lack of proper warm up that did the damage, but I really think it all happened on that 18% gradient in Yorkshire, and I’ve been aggravating it since. There’s a reason I avoid all these horrible routes 😀
Yeah I’m planning on doing all the longer rides, barring work or life getting in the way. Seems the worst of it is out the way now! Legs are a but wrecked today so might be Z1/Z2 ride to spin out the legs today.
Yeah I think your Allez is 11-32t. My on road cassette is 11-30t but I was too cheap to buy a matching cassette for the trainer. I probably could swap them over as I haven’t ridden that bike on road for nearly a year now, usually ride the gravel bike with road wheelset instead.
That 18% on Yorkshire really got me good! Missus messaged me saying she was coming home from work sick, I was reading that and boom, I’m at the bottom of the 18% in the big ring and small cog at the back. I pretty much ground to a halt and got dropped by the group.
I find even with my cassette being identical on the road wheel, and the turbo, I still suffer from all kinds of phantom shifting and other annoyances at the far ends of the range.
I know the feels re: getting dropped when not paying attention. Nothing worse than cockily alt+tabbing out to Youtube to find a new song and then when I go back in I see the “catch up” dialog and I have to put in a sprint. Stopped doing that now in fast groups, I’m just not good enough to be mucking around 🙂
I’m hoping the knee is fine enough to ride Stage 4 over the weekend. The plan is to do a Zone 2 ride tomorrow and feel it out. Looking at Stage 4 Longer, it’s Surrey Hills. So another brutaliser. I’m kinda more annoyed at missing out on the Flat is Fast race honestly. If push comes to shove, and I think I can get away with it, I’m going to risk a ~25 minute race vs 1h+ on the hills, and just go for the medium or shorter Stage 4, and make it up at the end like you said earlier.
Anyway, enjoy Stage 4 😀 Always good to hear from you.