Amazing. I managed to not screw this one up today.
Which is to say I got in a gentle warm up, then managed to switch over to the correct event with time to spare.
And I had all my kit ready, the window open, and even had a plan.
A plan? I hear you ask. Yes. The plan today was to ride at endurance pace. In other words, use this ride as an alternative to riding for 60 minutes with Coco.
Let’s see how that went, shall we?
Makuri Islands is, by and large, new territory for me.
Whilst I’ve explored most of Zwift’s other worlds in extensive depth, I ended up largely heading outdoors for most of last year and this, and so haven’t really found time or reason to explore computerised Japan.
Also, when Makuri did come out, a good chunk of it seemed to be off road / gravel type stuff, which whilst looking pretty, did not draw me in.
So a good chunk of the route today (Chasing the Sun) was unexplored territory.
This route covered both town and countryside – in that order.
Visually my favourite part of this route came early on. With the bright lights of Neokyo a very inviting scene, we were then taken up on to the roof tops featuring some serious drops, often without any safety railings.
Some of the coolest views were from being up high and seeing groups of riders down below. This might have been missed if I were up front, but being way back in the pack taking it easy, there were plenty of riders all around to show me the way forward.
As far as being a replacement for riding with Coco around Watopia Waistband or whatever, I’d have to see there was more climbing in this one. At least it certainly felt that way.
The initial climb came via The Rooftop KOM. I really took it easy on this one, determined to keep my pace down and just sit in with a bunch around the 2.8w/kg mark.
So far, so good.
After that we left the rooftops, descending through the arcade (one of the locations I do know well), into a tunnel (one that I’ve now seen on several routes), and out into rural Japanese countryside.
Along the way, someone asked if there was any climbing in the ride today.
I waited for a reply, but saw only one sarcastic comment about Mt. Fuji, so I figured we were good.
Of course I’d done no recon riding, nor reading.
As such after the farmland flats I was caught completely off guard by the arrival of the Temple KOM.
Well, I went hard.
There were two reasons for this:
- I didn’t spot it was 2.5km;
- And I felt overly itchy, having sat in for ~35 minutes + my warm up at somewhere hovering between recovery and endurance.
Once I’d started I felt like I just wanted the damned climb to be over with. But on it went. On, and on.
Looking up I finally spotted that it was 2.5km long, and looking at the little gradient in the top right I saw I was only 50% of the way up.
Oof.
By the time I’d reached the top I would have been kicking myself, were it not for the fact my feet are clipped in to my pedals. Probably for the best.
It’s a shame in a way as I actually really liked the visuals of the Temple KOM, particularly the tall bamboo tree lined paths. If I hadn’t been gunning it with my head down half the time I might have seen even more of it.
After that, the whole ride changed.
On the way down from the KOM a small group shot passed me. I figured why not stick with them, rather than sitting isolated.
Only, their pace was quite a lot faster than what I’d been riding at up till then.
I sat with them for the whole rest of the ride, trying to remember to pace myself. But in the end I pushed way harder than I ought to have, coming off the back of yesterday’s race.
The ride ended up resembling a long ramp effort. Considering where I’d started with the Pacer Bots, I ended up pushing all the way to the line with 5 or 6 of the riders I was with going for the sprint finish.
Personally I’d had my fair share of that yesterday.
Overall then a fun route and a good workout. I’m glad I’ve gotten to do both the Race and the Group Ride elements.
I definitely am feeling the need for tomorrow’s rest day, and I really must take Tuesday as an endurance ERG ride. But still, a great start to the Tour of Makuri Islands.
