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Cheers Robbo and sound advice too haha
Ah thanks. It seems a long while ago that I read the rules/scoring system.
So... all I need to do then is sit on the wheel of the fella who thinks a five minute suicide bridge for about 11 secs on the GC is a good idea:) See you later @itsonlymelee.
Hopefully won't sit in the pens for over 5mins tonight with pairing issues! 😆
Stupidly I did my best 2min effort since 22nd September just before dinner last night, at the very end of TDZ stage 8 having been doing a very steady z2 ride until that point, for nothing more than the hell of it. Admittedly I'd been at work earlier that day, but my god, I really was like death warmed up all evening and today's day off work has been a complete write-off besides a pootle for some groceries.
Absolutely no idea what to expect from myself later, really wish it wasn't going to be a ~75min race!
So… all I need to do then is sit on the wheel of the fella who thinks a five minute suicide bridge for about 11 secs on the GC is a good idea:) See you later @itsonlymelee.
You're not the only one thinking that... though my legs don't feel like they'll be anything like fit for trying to keep up with @itsonlymelee.
arh..it's kicked me out and won't let me join the race..
help..
DrP
EDIT..phew...back in..
Zwift is very jerky today.
That was crazy at the front. Literally!
That was awful.
Bloody good work there though Harry, I'm impressed you made the bridge to the front group, let alone then not only holding them but actually taking the win.
And by hell on your numbers! Did you buy DrP's old pm?!? 😅
Plan A(stay with A/B group for more than 5 mins): failed
Plan B(split C group at underpass): failed
Plan C(try not to lose too much time up hill):jury is out...
That hurt, got 3 whole extra watts on my ftp though 😉
Edit: as always massive thanks to Rob for organising this. It really is the highlight of my lockdown week. Enjoyed it so much I might even enter a crit 🙂
3 watt gain here too, 221 to 224 . I felt it as well! Pleased with that though, 34th is my best finish yet. Really good group with Jimdoubleyou and pals.
That was equally terrible and enjoyable.
Had issues with my trainer early on, was stuck on a certain watt output no matter what I did. Plugged in an ant+ stick and it sprung in to life. Had lost the group by then though.
Picked up some others and then had an enjoyable ride with about 10-15 others around 35th onwards, picking riders on the way.
Actually put some effort in the sprint for the first time ever, racing with @straightliner to the line. I may even have picked up points!
The rest seemed to go on forever and then put what effort I could up the hill.
Thanks all for a great series and to Robbo for organising. Not sure what I’ll do next Tuesday evening.
What a disappointment - turns out my mouth was making promises my old body couldn't live up to!
It all started OK, and I had a few digs off the front as advertised, then I followed @nixie on the sprint thinking we might push on a bit from there, and suddenly I get a really sharp pain in my right calf - so sharp I early fall off! A few minutes gentle pedalling and it eased a bit, but just couldn't put any real pressure through my right pedal - what a rubbish end to the series.
Ice and elevation on the sofa now - along with a real petulant sulk!!!
Loved it. First race that I have not been dropped in the first km and then managed to hang with the Euain, robbo, chipps and many others group all the way to the hill although it basically killed me.
And a 1 watt ftp increase!
Robbo you’re a very bad man! That was horrible!
Thanks to everyone in the big group ~36-50th to keep it all moving along through London otherwise I think I may have given up on the first lap.
P. Liddington you’re also a bad man for drafting me on the sprint 😜
Quite enjoyed that. Went backwards on the hill due to being a fat git but was ok til then. I think the Robbo group thought they were going to tootle along to Keith Hill and because I knew I had no chance on that I felt obliged to make them chase a couple of times. Sorry lads. 🙂
Ouch!
Struggled to keep with Pewsey on the flat, we got caught by a juggernaut just before Keith Hill and part way up my cadence and power went into freefall. Seeing Robbo's golden beacon getting closer rallied my legs for a final ~1.5Km effort, not that it gained me any positions but I was worried about those just behind including Bailey.
Thanks for series organising Robbo and thanks to those who pushed me to my limits!
Nearly missed start, joined pen and caught my ant+ cable dongle, losing all pairings... Quit and rejoined with countdown on 15secs. Didn't even risk bringing mobile to pain cave after last week, hence no chat etc from me in race.
I think I've furbarred my quad muscle...I am having problems with stairs.
That was horrid...so fast through london I gave it everything I had to keep with the group and even bridge gaps at times. By the time I hit tower bridge I was failing and went off the back...I wasn't hopeful for the hill.
Hit the hill and I got a dropout, everyone disappeared and I had to jump off to reset the wifi on the laptop. That lost me at least 30 seconds.
Jumped back on with Robbo and Andeh 45 seconds ahead...I used Robbo's beacon as a target and went for it, also watching the big group behind as they closed in fast. That gave me extra incentive to keep them at bay and by the time I hit the flat I was 17 seconds back on Robbo. Not enough tho but didn't get caught either.
By god that hurt...couldn't have done more. Well done all.
That was brutal but great fun. Dropped from the front group fairly quickly and stuck in no mans land for a while before being caught by the Chipps, Robbo et all group. Knew I just had to stick with the group and reign in anyone who attacked off the front until the hill where being light would help... made up about 3 places on the climb to 14th overall.
Strange race. I felt pretty good through London, drafting in the front group trying my best to follow Kirky and Southside, anticipated most sprints and surges, was feeling confident until going through the tube section where I had nothing. Moved to plan B which was hold on for dear life. I expected to ride the 13 min climb at a fairly steady 290 to 300 watts (over ftp but achievable), struggled to hold 260, so was doing 10 seconds stood up 20 seconds seated, power was all over the place, stood for most of the really steep sections. Kirky and DrP disappeared into the distance and I tried to match their w/kg but no chance. Fortunately Adam started to come back to me, his power looked similar to mine, 3.5/6 w/kg for a bit then a surge to mid 4’s for about 10 seconds. I used Adam as my motivation and mirrored his surges.
That was really awesome!!!
I honestly thought I was hoping to die tonight, and nearly bailed for lasagne at the OH’s!!
Thankfully did a good structured warm up for 40 odd minutes, but even there was struggling putting out over 250w..
However, there really is something about the ‘race scene’ that just pushes aside pain and discomfort, and really makes you go for it!
Was really pleased the front bunch seemed happy to cruise around at a decent pace..yeah..Nixie and Savoyad made the odd charge, but didn’t amount to much..
So sorry Nixie and Phil blew up/injuries after the sprint...
Bravo to CrazyHarry for the break and sustained charge (but only if your turbo IS legit!!!)..
There was a large push group of us heading over the bridge, into the subway, then it fractured a bit early on in the climb.... About halfway up Benman gently pulled away... leaving myself, Kirky, and Savoyad to battle it out...
Kirky and myself pulled away ahead, teasing each other with a. Little charge..rest..charge..rest...
We basically leapfrogged to the top, then as soon as the flat crest came, we both charged (judging by the power in the right column) but i was a few meters ahead, and stayed there....
I’m sat here rewatching my YT feed (and drinking rum) as it’s actually v close and fast paced racing!!!
Cheers again Robbo for such an amazing series....
Not sure if I’ll be around for the next one..Tuesdays is my ride IRL day, and am missing shredding the gnar!!!
DrP
Well that was the first race for some time where my avatar hasn't stopped for a break. Power was all over the place, no actual drop outs but lots of sudden drops, nice to be part of a big group for a change!
That properly hurt!
Did my usual getting dropped at the start then thought I'd found a small group to go with through London but the pace was too low for what I wanted. Realised too late so had to do a 10 minute TT to grab onto the next group up the road around 45-50th and then keep up just below threshold to gain loads of time from the draft. Gained me well over 5 mins over the original group I was with so definitely worth the effort!
Hit the bottom of the hill feeling good but my legs were rather burning by then so the climbers just buggered off into the distance with me basically spinning up at just below FTP, about 20-30w below where I wanted to be but there was a big gap to the next rider so it wasn't losing me anything except time. Was really struggling as my Prodigy playlist ended with 1km to go but Spotify automatically queued up Mescaline which isn't my favourite track of theirs but the tempo and energy boosted me across the line.
I am now a sweaty wreck and don't want to look at the turbo trainer ever again! Robbo, you are evil.
When does sign-up start for the next series 🤣
I left a piece of my soul about 3/4 up Keith Hill if anyone found it just pop it in the post please 👍
@danielcbaron - I think my turbo hit that, at least I had a 10sec Bluetooth dropout...
I really wasn't looking forward to this one; maybe the banter was getting to me and I was fully expecting to be dropped in the middle of west London. But once it started it went about as well as I could have hoped. Being realistic I was never going to match @Kirky72 and @w00dster on Keith Hill, but I managed to hold onto the group through London even after a few surges like The Mall sprint and they kindly towed me round to the hill. I was very surprised to see @paino somehow hadn't made the cut.
Once there the A group disappeared pretty quick and I settled into reeling in @munkeymadness and pacing with him up the hill. I'm sorry to say that just like last week with @jonno, I had enough in reserve, and an Aero powerup, to drop him at the start of the sprint to the finish - it had to be done but I still feel quite bad about it Ian.
PS I was very impressed to see although I was somehow 90 seconds ahead of @nixie, just a few minutes later he'd reeled us in and shot up the hill so fast I felt I was going backwards.
Once again thank you to everyone. It's great riding against the same people every week and especially to @robbo1234biking for pulling it all together.
That was proper tough. The plan was to try and stay with Jack in as large a bunch as we could hang with. I got fractured off the bunch at 30th and ended up 48th. Felt like dropping out but backed off a bit qnd it came back, around the same time Jack died off. Did my best to keep the pace up. As a bunch of about 15 I tried to get a TTT line sink/sprint going but there were no takers, we could have been proper flying !. Slowly we hoovered up every straggler until the bottom of the hill and the front of the bunch was 30th I think as we hit the bottom.
Then it all went a bit black and the goats disappeared after fresh grass, and I slogged up as best I could followed by Ivan. P.aul went past at 4w/kg at some point - must have had a blowout somewhere. Bit worried that seemed to be stopped before the line when I got there, and was not in the results I saw - but was defo before me.
Thanks for all the fun Robbo, looking forward to the next ones ! (cough,wednesday,cough).
Ooof that hurt, as usual. But was great fun, as usual.
Quite the big group around Robbo's beacon thrashing round London with little let-up. Had a little go early on to see if it would be split but I don't think we lost anyone for quite a while, despite DazH's efforts going off the front.
The climbing was upon us quicker than I expected and got caught a bit. Fair play to @tomnavman and Mark Howlett for nailing the climb and getting clear. I had no oomph left really so was just trying to keep a good rhythm, managed to catch Trolo eventually but I could see D Drysdale just a few m behind me for a lot of it so was expecting him to cruise by. Emptied myself for the last K, chuffed to bits with 17th on the road.
As many others have said (and I have said many times) cheers Robbo for all the effort organising, a shining light in otherwise monotonous, repetitive weeks - a golden beacon you could say 😉
Now to catch up on the streams from the pointy end.
That was amazing. It was just such a good race to be part of.
I was gutted when @crazyharry said his numbers were wrong, because that's exactly the kind of racing I associate him with (he's the master of bridging between fast groups and somehow pushing on further) and I thought we were watching a proper return to form. What's the verdict @crazyharry?
I tried to cause some trouble from time to time (I went full on up Northumberland Ave and opened a comedy unsustainable gap, sprinted out of the subway, put in a a random surge on a corner somewhere), hoping it might at least split the group and set up a smaller battle on the final climb, but it's so hard to tail off anyone from that lot, @drp and @kirky72 sidle back up to you and then it all regroups.
The presence/absence of @nixie, @phil56 and @paino makes a noticeable difference to the dynamics of the group I think. The pace eased off a little when they dropped back (@phil56 I am very familiar with the experience of sofa-petulance after these races...!) which meant we could recharge a bit for the climb.
I just went all in on the climb - I resolved just to stay at the front (of our group; crazy harry was long gone) as long as I could, knowing full well that it was impossible to make it to the top with @benman. I managed for a while, we got a gap and I felt what it's like to be slowly pulling away from others on a longer climb. It went OK until it didn't basically - eventually I cracked, he scooted off over the horizon and I was grovelling when @kirky72 and @drp came back past me. That left me struggling to hold my gap over @w00dster so (Paul you got this the wrong way round haha!) I resolved to stay ahead by surging whenever he seemed to surge. If he had caught me, I'd have been seeing @j-r and @munkeymadness before long i knew it,.
And I noticed @karnali putting in a good time on the climb leading a charge which almost brought (what remained of) our groups back together.
@robbo1234biking the series is a triumph. There's something really special about regularly riding amongst and against people whose style/strengths/preferences are becoming familiar, your race design is superb, there are so many competitions within the competition that everyone is always on their toes. Massive kudos to you.
Well that went better than expected, maybe even than hoped.
I managed to pootle out of the gate and camber up through the field early doors rather than disappearing off down the road in the first 5 seconds. Stayed with the front group until the first split. Unfortunately I was the wrong side of that when it went and the chase rapidly broke into two small groups.
Tried to make the jump to Harry's group but just got stuck in the middle, sat there for maybe a minute making tiny ground on the three riders about 10 seconds up front and staying similarly clear of the next 3 or 4 so fell back with them.
Not long after Harry made to catch the front group and after that my small bunch slowly reeled the other two in.
By the time we picked them up we were around 40 seconds down on the front group. We made a few pulls but I don't think there was the appetite and or legs for burying ourselves pulling it back, then they hit the sprint and the gap jumped.
I tried to pull Paino on for the sprint but he missed nixie anyhow.
Then something very very odd happened and the gap to Phil and nixie started to come down.
We eventually pulled them in they made a couple of short stabs off the front but got pegged back then put in a decent pull. I bridged on but no one else came with me, I thought about it for a few moments discovered the body was not willing and fell back to a less ambitious station. Luckily the gap between me and the chase was about the prefect size for me to cough up a lung and then start again without missing completely.
An uneventful ride out to Surrey then saw my earlier efforts take their toll as Martin and Paino (who actually vanished for a bit) gapped me fairly convincingly early on the climb. Snook followed at about half way, then tom Baker disappeared up the road like he was on a Sunday stroll.
I could see Mark closing in slowly and kept looking at the distance wondering if I could hold him off, I was glad to cross the line 6 or 7 seconds ahead.
All in all, pretty pleased with that. My best race in ages.
That run in to the climb went on forever and then I misjudged the climb, thought it went up pretty much straight after the tunnel so I let the group pull away thinking it was about to break up anyway and then everyone would settle in to their individual pace.
Anyway, it turns out that was bollocks and the group vanished up the road without me. Not that it made much difference in the end, I was struggling to keep it above 200w so cruised up what felt like the world longest hill and the summit couldn't come fast enough.
Got a new FTP on the run in though which probably explains the lack of power in the climb.
Although I hated every second of it, I also enjoyed it, or will think I enjoyed it later tonight anyway, so thanks all and esp Rob for the whole series.
Thanks everyone for joining in tonight. The final results of the Series and the crowning of the STW Race Series Champion!
Stats for the race series:
Average finishers: 55
Total distance travelled: 7,945.5km
Total metres climbed: 83,140m
These are provisional in case I have made any mistakes. Please let me know.
Cat A:
1. crazyharry
2. benman
3. DrP
Cat B:
1. kirky72
2. J-R
3. dangeourbrain
Cat C:
1. oopnorth
2. v7mfp
3. neilarn2
Cat D:
1. lewisdeacon
2. jmd12
Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. mjhes2
2. slowpuncheur
3. drew
Sprint
1. nixie
2. paino
3. funkybaj
4. Straightliner
5. kirky72
Green Jersey Race
1. nixie (42)
2. paino (36)
3. benman & straightliner(6)
Final standing for Repack Ridge:
1. slowpuncheur
2. driley
3. J-R
Series Top 3 (including sprint/fastest lap points) Best 5 points counts
1. w00dster
2. kirky72
3. J-R
well i enjoyed that more than i have anything else over the last few weeks, felt ok through London, missed the front group so tried to practice my rubbish drafting with the group i was with and for me I had to concetrate hard to stay with the group I was with. Felt ok on the climb, not 100% but best for a few weeks but was surprised I had been up a bit quicker in Oct. I'm hoping that this is start of getting back to 100%. I'll be there for the next series until lockdown is over at least, I may still have time to race but I have to do dads taxi to the track so my son can run on a tuesday, I tend to try and run as well, I'll see what happens.
Robbo many thanks for organising a great series.
If there is an issue with crazyharrys numbers it wont affect the top 3 as they all finished above him in the points this week.
So that was odd for me - and really at a loss to explain what happened but looking at the data I think it is only fair that I volunteer for a DSQ. I am not going to lie - it is frustrating as overall I felt strong and had a strong race but there was a bit in last half - pretty much from the PRL Arch (after Trafalgar Square) to the bottom of the climb (basically where I had my breakaway from the lead group) where initially I thought I felt phenomenally strong and found a good rythym but the longer it went on the more I thought... "this can't be right" - I was knocking out 5W/kg and barely breaking a sweat. Looking at the data for a 5 mile strech I was averaging 330W+ and a 140HR. The first part of the race - up to the sprint - and the last climb was definitely all me. The climb was back to normal - Still averaging 330W but 163HR which seems much more realistic.
After the race I dropped in to NYC to test it and it all seemed to be working okay... so cannot explain what was going on.
Having said all that - and to make a case for the defence - I have been very hit and miss in this series mainly because in parallel I have been following Zwift's Active Off-Season training plan. Don't know if any of you have tried this, but it is a 12 week training plan and has 5-7 sessions a week, at least 2 of which are usually over 3 hours long. I had been sticking to it religiously so had been coming into these races fatigued. Last week was a prime example - had a great start, felt strong and then basically blew the proverbial gasket and faded badly from lap 2 to the end. Last week I remembered that a/ I was not a full time pro and b/ I am not 25 years old so a training plan without room for recovery was probably not a great strategy. Also conscious that I made great improvements last summer riding 2-3 times in the week and 1-2 days at the weekend, I decided to knock the plan on the head and ride when my body felt like it. As a result I did come into this race feeling in a better condition than I have ever - really well rested - but 330W/140HR good? I doubt it!
Well raced @benman - you still nearly caught me even with my dodgy data.
What a great end to a great series. Our big group (widely known as the Robbo group despite him yo-yoing off the back a bit!;)) worked really well and reeled in @chipps and @tomnavman largely thanks to the restless @itsonlymelee who, true to form, attacked us about 75 times. I knew I had my work cut out when he attacked the group after about 8km! It felt like a proper race today. I attempted a couple of counter attacks up the rises but with such a big group they were never going to stick. I thought they might at least tire Lee out but sadly not. He shot off like a rat up a drainpipe once Keith Hill started to bite whilst I passed @danielcbaron and his soul half way up and rolled in behind @trolo1234 who also flew up the hill. A tough finish. The results will be interesting...
@crazyharry Meh..keep the victory dude...
you’re a strong rider and made a legit breakaway... looking at your figures you seemed to be pushing 4.4w/kg for several minutes to make the gap....
Not beyond the realms of man...
It’s not like my 1500w surges my old crank PM used to make (ah, my sprinting hey day...!)
Despite a ruddy early start tomorrow am, I’m sat here all warm, drinking by myself...
I really feel happy and that celebration is in order!
Something about STW/Zwift/this race series.... I’d echo the sentiments that it’s brought us together to chat..race... socialise....
I really never realised the importance of all that, especially during this ****ing hard lockdown times...
Yeah, I’ve probably spent close to £2k on my zwift setup!!! But it’s worth every penny!!!!!
DrP
Forgot to say, there was some great banter about snapping stems along the way. Made me chuckle.
As usual that was tough and felt like I could get spat out near the start then the legs loosened up a bit. I really needed to shake off Woodster and try and put a big gap between us. So I tried early in to fracture the group by hitting the first mini climb hard but only Savo came through with me and I figured with a group still containing Ben, nixie, Phil and DrP amongst others we would soon get caught so eased off and concentrated on rejoining the chasing group.
I convinced myself again that Nixie would go for the max sprint points then keep the hammer down along with whoever followed him to form a break so I tried to make sure I was up there. I may have grabbed second behind Nixie but depends if a later group went through faster.
I think the tactic may have worked but Gary powered through as well and may have grabbed a few with him, from there he never stopped and opened up a gap that our group as strong as it was couldn’t reduce, in fact he expanded his lead until the climb.
I hit the start of the climb hard and then realised it wasn’t the start proper and was followed by a flat/downhill section which allowed the group to come back together. More wasted energy.
Then on the climb proper myself Ben, DrP, Savo and Woodster played leap frog for a while before things settled down and Ben got away followed by Savomy. DrP and myself gradually caught and passed Savo and I tried my best to open up a gap on Woodster was for a while tantalisingly stuck at 10 seconds. I was struggling with headache and near vomiting and unable to stick to a steady power output so just surged when I could on and off, DrP was doing the same so we just kept passing each other. He timed a surge better just before the gradient dropped off and popped past me, I tried to chase him down as we squeezed out our final bits of energy on the long drag to the KOM banner. I couldn’t get quite close enough to benefit from any draft so missed out by a second or so. If I couldn’t do it after he’s everested two days ago I’m not sure when I will.
Really pleased with the series regardless of the final results whatever they may, been typing this for so long I haven’t seen robbos leaderboards. Never would have thought I would trouble the top bunch on the road results without what used to be my helpful handicap. So to finish the series with consistent top 5 on the road finished in 4 or 5 of the races is something I wouldn’t have thought possible in the first series.
congrats robbo for coming up with a format that has enthused so many of us and made for some friendly but competitive races during these boring times.
Ride on.
Amen DrP...amen!
Really helped this year getting to virtually know many of you...STW zwift rides in whatever form have been a major light in a dark year...thanks all and especially Robbo for his great contribution!
Tonight was horrid, I presumed everyone was cruising with me just clinging on until I saw Robbo say "This is relentless"....which was a small comfort. Felt a bit pants again and nearly sacked it off a couple of times just because I felt empty. Ended up on the climb yo-yoing with Robbo who put in a solid push with about 300m to go, but I just didn't have anything to give.
Robbo, as always this has been so good. Been feeling proper crap since Christmas but having this to drag my ass off the sofa on a Tuesday has kept me going and motivated. It's a big old job to keep it going, so thanks.
And I’m glad they got that avalanche cleared.
Well, thanks Robbo for organising, but I had no idea what happened tonight...
Got on the turbo with plenty of time to warm up & had no energy - even during the warm up. I felt quite light headed. Ended up running into the house & grabbing a packet of Clif Bloks and ate the whole lot. I don't think it made much difference, but perhaps a psychological boost.
Off the start I couldn't get any power through my legs & was spat out the back in seconds.
I couldn't get my heart rate up - normally I average about HR 163-166 but I was struggling to get it much above 150. Average HR ended up being 153 and I just couldn't generate any power. The graph along the bottom ended up mainly blues & greens, when normally it would be a lot more yellow/orange.
Weird. Maybe I am just tired??
Bit of a damp squib from me tonight. Body/brain feels a bit ruined after the last few days of non stop battling with the kids. Can always tell from the warm up how I’m going to race...was struggling even to put out 250W. Didn’t bode well.
Stuck the plan of going for the sprint, forget about the rest of the race. Wasn’t too bothered in missing out on the lead group, given the warm up I just found myself trying to find my legs with @dangeourbrain and others. Gave it everything for the sprint, with only a poxy feather for help. Smashed my knee on my bars to start, but found myself over 1000W for 5 secs so thought I stood a good chance, alas, @Nixie put in a strong sprint, pipping me by a fair chunk, so cap doffed. Well done on the green!
Very surprised to reel in Phil & Nixie. Hope the calf heals @phil56. Thought I’d give it a bash up the hill. Got passed by Martin but the time to @J-R & @munkeymadness was coming down rapidly. Maybe another 100m vertical and would of made the catch!
Anyway, another awesome series. Thanks Robbo, hopefully by feb I’ll have knocked off a couple of kilos. Just need to put the biscuits down.
Echoing many others, thanks to @Robbo1234biking for organising and to everyone involved for making it competitive and fun wherever you are on the road. The fact we can chat about it on here in the run up and post-event is brilliant and has added fun to the Zwifting experience.
Sorry to hear that @stumpy01, maybe you just need a rest as you have been pushing it recently with the workouts etc.
Dont forget this is our workout recovery week (yeah that's going well Robbo after tonight!) So take advantage and have a few days rest...see how you are after that.