Yeah, you were definitely stealth if in my group (I’m D Drysdale in Zwift – Robbo, could you add that to the results table?).

That was brutal!
For the first time in the series I’d managed to make a reasonable break – I couldn’t follow Nixie, but the effort of trying gave me a 10/15 sec gap on the bunch – then suddenly the lights flickered and I just stopped moving. My laptop stayed on so I was still in the game, but had to wait for the router to reboot. I changed to the MTB on the companion app while I was waiting – that seemed to take ages, but I wasn’t going anywhere so didn’t really matter.

Once I got going I had a massive gap to make up to the main group I could see on the leader board – no chance of catching the front group. I set myself a target of making up at least 10 sec a kilometre, but the gap seemed to fluctuate depending on if the group was going uphill or downhill relative to me – and I had to change back to the road bike so that gave more time to make up!

Managed to catch the second group with about 6k to go, had a rest for awhile and then went for it on the final hill to take 6th place – again! Averaged 343w!!

That hurt so much I’m not going to look at the results – I already know!

We’ve been over this, zwift bullies me

I must have missed this..Does it kick you out or something?

That was awesome…legs felt good today for once! The hill felt ok and I had Weeksy with me until we caught DrP by the windmills. Was trying to decide whether to swap to the MTB or not and made a quick decision…then really messed up the change and lost an extra 10 seconds…
Managed to get back to the group and passed them, then it was all about trying to put as much time into them.
Picked up T.Webster as I went round the jungle who was also on the MTB.
As Zilog says we caught him and then he went past when we changed back again.
After that I was doing everything I could to reel him in on the way down.

By end of jungle I was 2 minutes up on the group I went in with so it was definitely right to go with the MTB

Was definitely a good race for me that one. Not sure where I came with handicap but 18th on the road.

Got proper dropped at the start I was waiting to help the boss get back on after his slow mis-start, could have done with a bit of time/warning to get back to the group, but they were long gone, full power just put me on the back of the lastish group. Shit happens. Spent the whole race chasing one person/group or the other.

Watched oop north try to do a bike swap whilst rolling down hill – which isn’t possible on some devices like ATV, so that cheered me up for a while, but he soon came storming by, and I got a drag with weeksy there for a while.

I though I would be the test case for MTB swap, as I was right with oop north at the time of swap, so we must be fairly similar. One he had passed I didn’t see him again, so thats the answer for me.

Then Robbo also came storming by on mtb, even though he must have started quite a long time after us. Got a short drag there for a while. Then cat and mouse with N.Arnold – who I think was steering/zig zagging either on purpose or by accident, but I couldn’t get any drag there so stayed behind, managed a break for home with about 5k to go.

Lesson learnt – stay with the blob at the start whatever happens.

@Dangeourbrain I didn’t know u were next to me…I couldn’t see u! Was pushing 270w to 300w around jungle but the way the MTB rolls makes it feel more

Was definitely flying!

nothing to see here

Yeah I tried to change and my flywheel wouldn’t stop spinning I should have waited for the incline to go negative…I was cursing haha

But it didn’t take long to pick you all back up, feels great the speed you can reel in a group around there.

My race was almost a disaster. 3:39 on countdown, laptop auto rebooted.

Damn!!!!

Jumped on the phone, quick calibration and we were off with 30s to spare.

I rode the race pretty much exactly how I planned, but on the flat I needed an extra gear, I was in bottom gear on anything at 2% incline, so on the flat I was spinning out.

Had run chasing the MTB hero but knew I’d have to go in too deep so bailed on that. Then had jungle fin with to and fro, catching, losing, on the way down I mistimed a rest and lost ground to Arnold, then was being chased by hoppy. Legs were saying no and I really wanted that extra gear to grind out.
On the hill out of volcano flat he gapped me, but I closed again then died 20 deaths. So rolled to the line.

Really missed not having HR data as android doesn’t do it. Nor cadence,vwhich would have been nice too.

Couldn’t have given any more though that’s for sure. I was all in.

@tpbiker I thought I’d beaten you to the line as well, thought it was the first time I’d ever timed a sprint right and won it :), so I don’ think the blue banner appears in different places for different people, god knows what’s going on with that, I had similar happen last week as well. It’s a handicap race so it doesn’t really matter I guess, just a shame cos I like to have a go at the sprint, even if I’m rubbish at it.

MTB hero Lol!

@oop north did you head into the pairing screen to stop yourself?

I must have missed this..Does it kick you out or something?

Ah, no, generally it’s OK, bad workman, tools, all that. This evening it dumped me out though.

Yeah, you were definitely stealth if in my group (I’m D Drysdale in Zwift

Took me a while to reel you lot in, i caught you about 1k from the line I reckon – though I’ve no idea where that was since I wasn’t in group so no banner, but a few of you sprinted off – your lead kept fluctuating but I think you were over a minute out when I first saw any sign of you all so reasonably pleased to put that into a group of 5.

I was really surprised how fractured the tail was to be honest, I really didn’t think the hill was big enough to break it up like that.

Averaged 343w!!

Offt that’s a chunk over that length of time!

Yes Nixie I did but I think I exited too quick and went to the garage too soon before the bike had stopped.

By the way…short cut buttons help for speed

A – instant stop and sends you to the pairing screen

Exit that screen

T – takes you to the garage.

But you can only access the bike frames when fully stopped.

My change back was perfect 🤣🤣

so I don’ think the blue banner appears in different places for different people, god knows what’s going on with that,

You may actually be onto something there, given the spacing on the “start line” it could well be the banner is in a slightly different place for everyone so they do precisely the same distance. Of course having a race mode where the finish is in different places for everyone is bobbins, but given that’s zwift MO for software it’s probably ture.

I think it’s to do with when you start pedalling once the clock gets to 0:00. I sat still for a few seconds before heading off and that seemed to be recognised in the times relative to people around me.

[Next week everyone will stand still and have some sort of track stand competition to see if this is true!] 😜

so I don’ think the blue banner appears in different places for different people, god knows what’s going on with that,

That’s what happens, and it’s why someone riding next to you can be either in front or behind on the time splits, because they are a different distance to through the race to you it works out the time differential.

That’s probably correct as I always seem to be straight off the back when the event starts. Are folks already pedalling when the clock ticks to zero? I then need to hammer up the line to get into the first 10 places before robbo says go

Hal

i was knackered so was trying to make the course as short has possible hence the zig zagging I had nothing left when you pushed at the volcano.

Neil

Proper laugh tonight.

Our group came past Phil as he was swapping to mtb and I thought “ha, the fool! We’re so quick” only to have him steamroller back past a minute or so later. One of the group tried to grab on be he was hauling. Must have put 30 seconds into us just on that descent!

Again, stuck with a nice group for most of the second half and as per tradition couldn’t really contribute much. Nearly got dropped a couple of times (climb out of the jungle) but seeing the next group were 2mins plus back, I couldn’t afford to hang about. Dug my heart out and just about managed to keep up.

Someone went hard with a km to go, Scaredy jumped on but I’m guessing missed the memo about the blue banner as when I came pootling past he’d stopped between the finish arch and the blue banner 😅

Thanks all. This series is a hoot and a half.

What’s the hold up with the official results?!! I want to know if I’ve got any points!! C’mon robbo!😉…seriously though, thanks once again to Robbo for organising. Not a fan of the dirt loop generally, but it worked surprisingly well for an interesting race today. That hill near the start was tough for the more…erm…massive amongst us, but split things up nicely.

Holy shit that was hard yet again, every week I think it can’t get any harder. I was desperate to get a good start so tried again to hang with the lead but it’s bit hard on that first sharp climb when it’s hitting 8/10% stuck with 4 or 5 but a couple of flyers made off and gapped us. Just about recovered on the short decline and thought I could stick with Savoyard, south side Johnny, Phil woodster, I think Phil 56 was there and then we gathered he had tried to swap to the mtb. He stopped for while but then it was interesting to see how quickly he started to catch up until the board walk the he dropped back and caught up again on the second long climb.

I nearly gave up On the group once a twice climbing out of the jungle as my hr was reaching my comfortable mid ride max around 180 and I felt like I was averaging on or above my new ftp on the climbs and was conscious I couldn’t hold that for more than 20minutes to an half hour. Every time I felt done in I just managed a spurt to catch a wheel then recover a touch, after the last long climb I was determined to grind it out.

On the last little climb up into the volcano Savoyad and Southside Johnny tried a cheeky break and they started to open a gap, I had to dig deep with 450/500 what down the dip and up into the volcano to catch them and reach the finish before I died.

Approaching the finish line I couldn’t believe everybody was too tired to contest the sprint as I wound up to use my very last watts of energy, only to realise I had yet again gone too early and they started to sprint for the blue banner as I was coasting arms a loft. Doh.

Pretty pleased with 10th I think on the road. I’m starting to give real thought to shifting a bit of weight and try and lose 6 or 7kg as I may then make a mid pack Cat B.

Legs weren’t in a great state tonight after stating a training plan yesterday, however I probably couldn’t have stayed with the front group anyway. Ended up with a small group (snotrag/Bawden/Sutcliffe/Atkinson) on the descent into the Jungle start/finish which held together for a while then slowly fell apart. Eventually ended up with Robbo and Atkinson for the final ascent. Tried to be a smart arse and time trial it from 1km out but didn’t have the legs…. Robbo caught me before the line!

I wasn’t really in the mood for ripping my legs off so after I missed the start group I swore at the screen for a bit then decided to throw in the towel. Cya next week 😄

Apologies to anyone who got caught out at the start. Although it said it was paired I was spinning the pedals and going no where. I tried to catch up but knew I would be too far back so had a quick look and it looked like everyone was together to decided to go with it.

Other than that I enjoyed the race. I started on a climbing bike, swapped to a MTB and finished on the Tron bike so went for 3 different bikes. MTB seemed to work in the jungle caught and passed quite a few people. Had a good last 15 km with Jules and Drew – tried lots of breaks but couldn’t shake them. Just about got them on the line!

And to the results:

Scaredypants had a great result but asked not to be included in the points so I have listed him here but not added the points on.

Also tpbiker and howlett I swapped positions as requested due to a timing error on the line.

Category A
1. Nixie
2. Crazyharry
3. Mahowlett

Category B
1. J-R
2. W00dster
3. Savoyad

Category C
1. Kirky72
2. Scaredypants
3. Oop north

Category D
1. Whirld

Top 3 (with handicap applied)
1. Uncle zasker
2. Kirky72
3. Savoyad

Well done all.

Overall Standings:
1. Kirky72 (183 points)
2. W00dster (161 points)
3. Trolo1234 (160 points)

Next week we are off to Yorkshire – no big hills but lots of little ones!

Results are provisional in case I have made any mistakes.

Results here

What’s the hold up with the official results?!!

I know come on Robbo, less riding more spreadsheeting. 😂

In all seriousness, thanks once again for organising, I’d probably not have ridden today but for this.

That was me who jumped 1k out. A bit over ambitious, but luckily for the two who went past seemed to pull up short…not sure if we had different banners, or they did what I did last week and got the wrong finish line!

Whoop! 3rd in C cat and 21 points…well chuffed with that! My best race yet.

well I took a few snaps on the way around this evening for those that are interested in the race photos 😉

https://ibb.co/8Pg2JW5

https://ibb.co/LPLVyCj

https://ibb.co/S50sq1V

https://ibb.co/TgYQ7c0

https://ibb.co/t39Ppz1

https://ibb.co/hDn0hcM

https://ibb.co/FnH7Y9y

https://ibb.co/1LYTQP4

https://ibb.co/hV3LfNB

https://ibb.co/DRmLv2d

I’ll take 15 points happily!

I might be missing something but if scaredy pants finished 2nd total time why does he not have any points?

Bejeesus! That was soooo hard. I put a bit of air in my rear tyre (back to 100psi) before jumping on and I don’t know if that messed with the calibration but I really struggled to generate as much power as normal. Either that or my legs were still screwed from shed painting at the weekend!

I was slowly reeling someone in – must have been mrhoppy – and then I wasn’t 🙂

When people talk about tactics and riding this bit in a certain way, then pushing here and holding back there it just bewilders me.
I just go as hard as I can at a pace I think I can sustain for the whole race. I take it this is a naive way to go about it?!
I seem to always end up on my own and making it hard work for myself.

I might be missing something but if scaredy pants finished 2nd total time why does he not have any points?

This is the only race that he can make in the series so he asked not to be included in the points distribution.

bloody hell i’m amazed I won…never won anything in my life before 🙂

that was so hard.., I absolutely emptied myself on tonight’s race, managed to get a good start and kept with a fast group through the glass tunnel and then paced my way up the first climb

settled into a nice rhythm and tried to hold a power level I knew would get me round..fell in with a group of 4-5 riders through the jungle, then got passed by some guys on MTB’s

tried to hold them on the climb but eventually had to drop back or blow-up

then head down for a final individual TT to the line

I can really feel how my fitness has improved over the last few weeks – also got an FTP increase for my troubles so If you can change my data please Robbo, Zwift has now put me at 255 (up from 215)

Thanks to everyone for a great race tonight

Regards – U.z (aka J Bawden)

Today I knew I was going to struggle all work and no play makes me a slow boy.

I tried up the 1st hill but lost the front group and then a 2nd group of 4 passed me just cresting the top and I failed to close the gap.

In the jungle somebody swapped to MTB right in front of me and they pulled away from me very fast.

I eventually gave up on road bike and switched to MTB 15km into the race, then changed back when the road started again, probably was not worth it.

I rode the last few km with Zilog and oop’north and finished with an enthusiastic sprint.

Jeesh… I’m either somewhere or nowhere!

Will hopefully have a bit more juice in the ol’ pegs for next week….!

DrP

Ahh that was you Twisty, I was wondering who T.Webster was. Well done on the sprint, I had nothing left by that point.

Well done Uncle Zaskar! Kept trying to lose you in the jungle by giving a kick now and again, I knew I needed to get rid before I had to change again. You kept up well for a while.

Thanks for the tow for those 15 km Robbo, the elastic came very close to snapping quite a few times. Sorry I couldn’t contribute much at all but I was right at the limit and had to let go just at the end. It felt very hard going tonight, harder than last week.

When people talk about tactics and riding this bit in a certain way, then pushing here and holding back there it just bewilders me.
I just go as hard as I can at a pace I think I can sustain for the whole race. I take it this is a naive way to go about it?!
I seem to always end up on my own and making it hard work for myself

Same tactics as me.

Had a fairly uneventful time of it until I had to disconnect the back brake as the rear wheel bearing went a bit sloppy. Managed to unhook the canti on a descent. Sounded awful but drowned out by my wheezing and coughing.