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Urgh definitely left my legs at work today. Really bad day today felt weak just warming up. Not the course to be on when not at the races.
Last lap was hanging on for dear life just to finish the race
Well done everyone
Entered the pen to see everyone pulling away... oops. Mad sprint off the line to catch up and by then the front group(s) had already gone. Quite pleased to see @Robbo1234biking drop back as well as our group hoover up the smaller groups including @Paul-S.
Hanging on was about all I could manage. Nothing left at the end as others just pulled away up the last 2 hills.
Christmas, Covid and a new baby might require an FTP reset! Good racing, I think I enjoyed it. That feeling you get in your stomach that just wants to come out - that's what fun feels like right?
Tough one tonight, was hanging on right from the off. Lost the lead group on the first climb despite a couple of efforts to try and get back on, it didn't take long to realise I wasn't in that race race tonight.
A good second group established itself and we stuck together until the end.
I was properly on the limit tonight.
Thanks for organising again Robbo
Argh that hurt, are the sprint & KOM points handicapped? I thought I was in with a chance of some points today!
Please can I update my weight & FTP - 69kg and intervals.icu says 255w - I've still not recovered from the flu in December!
That course was properly tough, even the downs required a decent power to keep the speed up with everyone else!
Spent all of the race on my own at the back again (even when the leader board said I had two riders nearby, never saw them!), it really does slow you down being away from a group. I need to really work on my power though so as to keep with everyone on the starts as my W/Kg figures don't seem to be much worse than the groups that I can tell. I just don't have any top-end to use off the line or for sprints.
Ha! That was epic!!
Good group with freeride Nick, Mark Bailey, OGG, J Sartin, Zilog and DFee I think.
We reeled in J Donelly who went away at the start of the second lap, but we reeled him in again. About halfway round the second lap I realised fr Nick had buggered off up the road. No way to haul him back.
Next thing I know I realised there was only Mark Bailey & OGG with me. We pushed hard to the line and I was determined that I was gonna not get beaten in a sprint.
That was a great group riding round and working quite well together.
@reluctantjumper - that used to be my problem. If you can't hang on for a few mins at the start it really stuffs you up and you then have to do all the hard work on your own.
Keep working at it and it'll come 👍🏻
Yeah, really enjoyed that right up until the 2nd time up the KOM when I blew up! It’s actually a really great course in the sense that you never get bored, it’s so tough though if the group you are in is attacking every climb (which they pretty much were!!)
Great ride from FR nick, did have a little chuckle when he rode off, [i]knew[/i] all the “woe is me, I’m so unfit 😭” BS at the start was all mind-games 😂
@nixie dismantled us there. He got away, put time into us when we were chasing the hardest, and then held the gap so he was never in danger of being caught. Sure, the gap in the sidebar got smaller towards the finish, but (and this is the crucial metric haha) I don't think we believed in the catch for the last half lap or so.
@robbo1234biking pulled the whole race up the first drag and did some real damage. Then @nixie announced his intentions by surging around the bend in Beckwithshaw, and I think that shook things up again - @slowpuncheur was one side of the gap...and then the other.
I thought the KOM on lap 1 would be fast enough for the points, so I was relieved the way the race was broken up when we got there lap 2. And I love that finish, and thought my feather might get me away from @drp but I'm not even sure I ever even got my nose in front. That broke me...so badly that he was checking I was OK in the chat after! Thanks @drp and @donnersrider for working together like that. It was a tough chase today.
Congrats @bails. That course is full on all the way round (like @reluctantjumper says even the descents seem hard work!) so the handicap win on there is a serious victory.
Is there a way to see all the KOM sprint and finish times?
https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=2561557
Go to the primes tab. You have to sort by fastest time and then check the lap times between the two laps.
Can I claim the sprint first place please (pretty please). My lap 1 time steals it I think (unless you only recording those in the points running).
Yeh I haven’t included you in the points nixie but technically you did go fastest!
What’s interesting looking at figures, and from my own awareness, is that @nixie ‘s race craft is sublime!
My w/kg for the race was 4.1, his a bit less… I seem to be spunking watts left right and centre… and he holds back, uses the pack, and then delivers where it’s needed!
I think I used to be better a year or so back in these races…then missing a season really does lose your skill in sitting in the draft, figuring out the zwift dynamics etc….
I guess practice and repeat racing is needed on my behalf!
Bravo all for racing though..that was a ruddy tough course!
DrP
Phew. Grippy. Very grippy. I kind of love and hate that course. As @savoyad said: I was hanging with the fast lads then....bang. @nixie started to cause merry hell and as the red bars extended on the screen, I/my legs decided to sit up and wait for the second group as the gap grew. A solid group effort from then and I was surprised to see @robbo1234biking falling back. It shows the calibre of that lead group. Impressive number chaps. Robbo, @tomnavman and I managed to forge ahead near the top of the KOM second time around and pressed on to the end with about a 10s gap on the rest. Faced with a climber in Tom and a big old diesel engine (Robbo)I struggled to sit on as we got onto the final straight climb and they had a few digs, Burritos and feathers were flying. I managed to hang in and unleash a mediocre sprint to take 5th overall. Disappointed to miss next week with it being half term. Enjoy the slog up the big hill;)...I'll miss it.
@Ogg and @stumpy01 thanks for that. It was bloody hard, I nearly gave up after 10 minutes as my legs felt really heavy but told myself to stop being daft and to get on with it. I was going to say how hard I'd had to work to hang on with you two, so it's good to hear you say the same! Sorry for the burritos, I did at least use one on a steep hill to minimise the damage it caused as I was never going to be able to drop you so couldn't use it for a freeride Nick style breakaway.
@savoyad thanks. It always feels like a bit of a cheat finishing 'not first' and then seeing that I won with handicaps applied, but at least in getting some reward for wringing myself out!
@bails that was a well deserved win…
What i love about these races (basically robbo’s efforts) is the handicap system…
EVERYONE is racing at their max effort (mostly) and thus a bit of guile and skill can make big differences in the handicap result!
Bravo chap!
DrP
Thanks DrP, I've been trying to work on using the courses to make up for my shortcomings (though what you do is better for fitness). The 20 minute numbers aren't a true reflection on this course due to aero tucks at a few points. 20 min would have been a fair bit higher without those. Boosting into hills is a very useful skill to learn if you want to make your life easier.
I do like the Yorkshire courses. They bloody hurt but at least there are options for attacks. The lap 1 hit around Beckwithshaw was one such point. It looked big and caused chais but in reality it is only a short effort just there and my higher weight pays back on the way down.
I never intended to solo over a lap off the front. A gap kind of opened and then kept opening up a bit of the course I didn't expect it would. By the time we hit the KOM my legs were pretty spent and it started to come down. A 3 way TTT and.it would have been over. The actual plan was to repeat the lap 1 attack, string out the group and then pull away going down as I'm heavier. I figured that would open enough to just be able to stay away on the KOM.
Well I managed to stick with a faster group for a while, but I was right on the limit and I knew it wouldn’t last. I think @stumpy01 gave me a push at some point with his little confidence booster quote. I lost the wheel of the group on a short incline, I blame myself for watching footy at the same time, can I have that as an excuse??
@neilarn2 and @mossimus then caught me up and I thought I would be able to stick with these guys, but no such hope. Dropped again, I started to slip further back with @jimdubleyou catching at a hell of a rate. Got to the bottom of the last incline thinking I had the position in the bag, but Jim came from nowhere to latch on to my wheel. Nice sprint to finish off, but I had no chance of beating Jim.
Great race in all and a little FTP increase. 199w to 200w!
That cleared the tubes out a bit after my cold. It was the toughest race I've had this series with HR over 160 to 170 most of the time, but still about 5% down on my usual FTP.
But the racing was fun: I needed to get a gap vs @Paul-S but when @Dave Riley and @sturdylad accelerated near the end of the Otley Road drag Paul went with them but I was already running on max with nothing left so had to settle down in the third group. Can't remember who was with me, but it was a good group and slowly we caught up with many of those in front, such as @Robbo1234biking and Paul.
Maybe Paul paid for that early effort because by the second lap he was half a minute back. @tomnavman, @slowpuncheur and Robbo made a small gap on the second climb up the Yorkshire KOM and again I couldn't go with them and could only just cling onto the group I was in with @v7fmp, @yanboss, plus Dave Riley and Sturdylad who put in good efforts to win out on the nasty uphill sprint.
Well done everyone - painful but enjoyable.
Another what if race for me. If only I could sprint!!!
I set a hard pace straight out of the gate on the first hill with the aim of getting a smaller group out front. That bit of the plan worked and there were about 7 of us who crested together. After that the pace settled a bit in the group until Nixie wound things up before we even got to the KOM. I just couldn't hold the pace on the KOM climb and dropped about 30 seconds back on my own. I wasn't going to be able ot maintain a 20ish second gap to the group behind so I sat up and waited for them to re-join. The second time round was a much more comfortable pace and I pushed a couple of times with the aim of tiring everyone out.
When we hit the KOM the second time slowpuncher, tom and myself got free by a few seconds and eventually squeezed out a 10 second gap. I tried shaking them about 1km from the end but this didnt work. I went early on the sprint again hoping to hold onto a gap but they both got the better of me and I sat up and dawdled over the line for 7th. I was aiming for a top 5 placing.
I got power PBs for everything between 2min 30 and 7 minutes and lots of PBs on Yorkshire so some good positives.
Time to work on the sprint during the off season I think!
im happy with 11th after handicaps. That race just feels like one constant uphill!
Took me a few minutes to get into the groove and find the enthusiasm, but once i did, it was fun trying to push on.
I managed to stay with the second blob on the road until the 2nd time over the KOM. I was producing around 300w, but it just wasn't enough to stick with the boys. I tried to bridge on the way down the other side, but didn't have the power. So it was a solo last 4.5km trying my best to keep the gap between myself, @Paul-S and @drew, which i managed to do, but it wasn't easy!
@robbo1234biking It might be good to reflect on a couple of things and not be too disheartened: 1. the first four are Cat A riders - it went to form. You only finished 7th because Tom and I hadn't ripped everyone's legs off several times and we held something back for the sprint. 2. When I started these races we were both Cat C and I could comfortably beat you on most courses. How things change 😉 To improve as you have whilst also organising the whole shooting match deserves enormous credit.
In fact, lots of people have really come on in leaps and bounds and I dare say that wouldn't have happened without the competitive drive this series generates in us. Next weeks route really isn't one I'm suited to but I'll be gutted to me is. That says it all 🙂
@slowpuncheur - 100%. I have become stronger and fitter due to these race days. I wouldn't flog myself for so long on a weekly basis otherwise!
So hooray for robbo and hooray for us lot for getting involved!
In fact, lots of people have really come on in leaps and bounds and I dare say that wouldn’t have happened without the competitive drive this series generates in us.
Definitely. I'm still at a similar level to what I was in the first series (God knows how bad I'd be without doing all the racing!) and the people I us d to battle with are now miles up the road and putting out much bigger numbers. It's like being reminded weekly of "this is what you could have won.." 🤣
What @slowpuncheur said - about @robbo1234biking (who really did tear everyone's legs off in the first 4km yesterday, As or not) and the series (its creation is an amazing achievement I'm so appreciative of).
And @drp is right - the handicap system is brilliant and adds another dimension to every race.
I knew I would be dropped off any bunch when we hit the first hill so my plan was to not go too hard from the off, just try to hang on to anyone who came past.
This turned out to be @neilarn2 and @jimdubleyou, who both also gradually buggered off into the distance. I was convinced I had a 40 sec handicap on jimdubleyou, which made me hang on even after he was way head. Turns out I had a bigger one, so ended up ahead on adjusted time.
If it wasn't for the handicap system, I would deffo have slowed right down in the last 6kms on my own.
I don't like those big hills, whats next week ?
haloric
I don’t like those big hills, whats next week ?
Not many gradient changes next week. Just a shame that the gradient is just up most of the way 🙂
https://zwiftinsider.com/route/la-reine/
We're not doing the whole route though. Just 16km of it, I think.
La reine? I picked the wrong week to fall off my bike didn't I?
je vais regretter la reine
So we can roll gently along in a pack for a few km, then hit the climb and get sorted by W/kg.
Your forgetting the rollers straight from the pens and the the Petit KOM before the main event.
I think I'm back to ZRL next week. Its a similarly hard course (climbers gambit).
Oh hang on, it's last race next week, that means it's 16k of fizz and chat, with interviews for the winner doesn't it?
I reckon I can hold my own in that.
16km should be about 500m of climbing . There is a sprint and timed KOM section.
Feel free to crack the fizz though!
So are we discounting the first race that never ran? (rather than tagging it on the end)
Final results will be our best 5 from the remaining 6 races (after next week)?
Given that Race 1 didn't happen, would it be possible to schedule another go (just for 'fun') through the STW Club as a 'Group Ride'? I assume it would need to be on the 22nd Feb if Robbo has already got the Spring Series sorted with Zwift but I think it would still get a bit of interest.
What do people think?
I'd be up for "racing" it, either in official format or the old fashioned, group on robbo, go go go one
I’d be up for a resurrected race 1 in some format.
Your forgetting the rollers straight from the pens and the the Petit KOM before the main event
I just thought you fast guys might be a bit more sociable for the last race, and keep your powder dry for the final climb.
I shall (co-incidentally) be halfway up a French mountain, but not on a bike!
Good Luck all 🙂
Oh…Drunken zwift racing..that sounds fun!!!!
DrP
Oooh spring series, hope that doesn't clash as much this time.
Oh…Drunken zwift racing..that sounds fun!!!!
DrP
I don't envy robbo working out the handicaps though, or us having to make good on "6 pints and 8 minutes"
I can put beach island loop in for the 22nd.
The next series doesn’t start until the 8th March. Routes are already sorted out and zwift have even sent me the links.