Stage 3 already, three weeks in. It can’t be?
Well, apparently it is.
So two big rides this week. I believe this is considered the Queen Stage, which I have learned means the hilliest stage. Not entirely sure how Queen + Hills relate, but I’m sure it makes sense in French.
I actually thought I had a day full of meetings tomorrow, so planned to get this one in today where my day is more in my own control. However, that’s not the case. I could have done this tomorrow.
That said, it was probably best to get this one out of the way on fresh (or fresher) legs, as it was a bit of a beast for an (early) lunchtime ride.
I was mistaken on this one. I thought it took in the Hilly KOM reverse, then the Titan’s Grove Forward KOM, and then finally the Epic KOM Reverse.
Alas, it does not contain the full Hilly KOM Reverse. Only a small part of it, actually. Just the steep corner after the bridge, then it ducked off early, heading down the Hilly KOM descent but cutting most of it out. Strange.
Then yes, another trip up Titan’s Grove KOM. Not one of my favourites, and one that I didn’t go too crazy on today. Unsurprisingly then, not a new PB.
As it was I had somewhat smashed myself early doors in this ride as I very nearly missed the start. By the time I got on the bike, and loaded up Zwift, I just saw the back of the bunch leave the start pens.
In my haste to dress, I badly ripped my already quite ripped bib shorts. I’m guessing they are now a write off. That’s a shame, they were one of my two expensive Mavic pairs. Yet the original Amazon cheapo pairs I bought 3 years back are still going… I won’t say still going strong, but they suffice. Typical.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yes, heading up the Epic KOM Reverse.
It’s a long while since I’ve made that climb, and I confess to forgetting just how steep the 10%+ stuff can feel for prolonged activity.
It took a concerted effort to find a rhythm and settle in. That’s actually pretty hard going on the Epic KOM in either direction, as it has a bit of a habit of either levelling off, or in the Epic KOM Reverse’s case, suddenly doing a wild descent. It really messes up the routine.
That said, I was quite grateful of the respite at the time.
About 8 or 9 minutes in, the first people hit the top. I think a 16 minute time was posted. I knew mine would be somewhere over 20, and that pretty much made it an FTP effort. Well, that’s where my head was at. Just knuckle down and keep the pedals turning.
According to Strava I managed 22:39, at an average of 234w.
I’ll take that. Big time.
With how my riding has been lately, that’s a really good and positive result. I doubt I will be able to manage 230w over the hour on the weekend’s forthcoming Alpe du Zwift, but I’m going to try and aim for between 220 and 240 on the way up.
Definitely a savage ride for a midweek lunch time effort. And as a start to the week goes, it took it out of me.
Tomorrow will be SST as usual, and it will be interesting to see how the legs feel. Probably not great. But hey ho, another Tour of Watopia ride in the bag. 3 down, 3 to go(?)
