STW Zwift Race Series 3 – Winter

That was really tough, annoyingly I just can’t make the numbers I did back in November before I got sick. Spent all race just on the verge of blowing up with average HR of 171 (I’m 41) defo lost 20 watts somewhere along the line. Onwards and upwards and once again robbo thanks for all your hard work and making this happen.

Great race! I got into a group with Dobski, Underra, Orsborn, Arnold and was just about hanging on after initially making a break for it that I was never going to maintain.

Then the bloody wi-fi dropped up the jungle climb…I spent a couple of minutes wildly clicking buttons until my wi-fi hotspot on my phone locked in.
By then the group had split up and I was about 5 seconds back.
Managed to join a group of 3 and then we caught Baron who hung on to us and then I keeled over up the little climb onto the volcano. Couldn’t keep up and had nothing left!!

Great ride though – absolutely spent at the end!

As always, thanks Robbo for sorting and getting the results out so quickly. This week was a lesson is preparation i.e. I had some for once. 30 mins warm up worked wonders for me but by god, nothing prepares you for these starts. Having said that I thought it settled down a little: ‘the storm before the storm’ as someone put it!

First 25 mins were over my FTP and I was glad to see a few slip back on the first climb. For some unknown reason whilst I was sitting in a decent little group with @oopnorth, Nick, Ben’s Dad and Pewsey, I decided to attack up the jungle climb. It worked I suppose but I struggled on the drag back out of the jungle to the windmill and got picked up by the group again. PSA: There is no tuck on a MTB! A few nice digs on the run in and around the volcano but I decided to follow attacks and wait for the sprint. I ended up nicking a 4-up sprint with @v7fmp, @drew, M Vance and Mr M Senior. We all had exactly same time. My best race so far in terms of power and tactics. Not looking forward to the Crit so much next week though. We shall see…

I think the big news here is…
PHIL GOT SOME POINTS!!!!

!!!!!

DrP

@Dandasbike – I see your 171 and I’ll raise you 174! Same age too, though I’m nearly 42. Like you, I think I’m struggling a bit post illness (covid in my case). FTP down a chunk, and probably 15w down in races compared to summer last year. Things moving in the right direction now I hope.

I need to get better at racing. I sat in the group nicely but when it hit the climb going up out of the sea tunnels I tried to hard to stay with the fast guys which just put me too far in the red and I then missed my group I wanted to be in going up the climb by about 5 seconds. This quickly grew and I couldnt close it so settled into a group with euain, funkybaj, haloric jr.

Ended up riding out of the jungle with funkbaj and haloric jr and we stayed together as a group with a couple of small attacks by all 3 of us but still together at the end. Haloric jr put a good effort in on the final hill but I got past him and funkybaj got past me with a sprint.

Really enjoyed the race still. Looking forward to next weeks crit – should be pretty interesting!

Really wish I didn’t have to very briefly pop into work tomorrow morning, weather isn’t going to be great and I suspect I’m going to be like death warmed up after tonight’s race…

Absolutely spent after a threshold ~7min30secs effort to finish line, because someone I cannot find on the spreadsheet (M Vance?) got within 10secs of me after I tried to recover from my first ever stitch while on the turbo, that began during the climb out of Jungle.

Missed out on getting any points by 1sec… Devastating! 😆

Thanks for your efforts in running this series Robbo.

Glad to finish amongst the points but definitely getting harder and harder, just noticed for example i was giving 1min 50 to woody, I’m always happy to finish anywhere near him. Only 26 secs separate us on the GC times and that was all made up on the TT so I really need apply savos tactics now and only finish with Nixie, Ben and Phil a bloody tough ask which I’ve never done.

Well done VMtp on the win you seem to over achieving and are beating some good B riders along the way.

PHIL GOT SOME POINTS!!!!

Yes!!!! and I finished in the top 20 (just)!!

I think I should retire now – @robbo1234biking won’t be happy with that and he’ll already be planning to ream me next week!!!

Yeh – if anyone knows who M Vance was and they want to join the series can they let me know FTP and weight so I can do the handicap for next week!

@slowpuncheur “the calm before the storm” that was me…the start was crazy but it seemed to suddenly slow right down in the tunnels, I was wondering why the hell I was near the front….then the climb came and it all went off….

I need to try a crit before next week….never done one!

Oh and I’ve changed my plans for my 7am ride tomorrow, it was going to be the long TdZ ride of 2 laps of sand and sequoias but that’s gone out the window. One lap of casse pattes it is…

Definatley cagey in the tunnels. You can see here when I tried to go with Phil and Nixie – my heart rate jumps up and that effort defined my race! Oh well always something different to try next time!

Ouch… That seemed to go on a bit…

@oblongbob it’s been a perfect storm for me of a month off the bike due to illness and the subsequent lack of form that brings, also the hilly nature of the first few races really doesn’t suit me for some reason, looks better from now on though. Not an excuse but I hate riding the mtb’s, itching to get back on my canyon aeoroad with zip 808’s 🤣

Yeh – if anyone knows who M Vance was and they want to join the series can they let me know FTP and weight so I can do the handicap for next week!

I do. I’ll get the details.

@oopnorth – I was really hanging on towards the end, couple of times I almost sat up and started cruising but then I kicked again and in the end just about managed to catch you, didn’t have the legs to sprint you to the line!

Surprised to get some points, wasn’t feeling 100% really, think I needed another day to rest after AdZ on Saturday, or perhaps I shouldn’t have gone out and done 50k on Sunday…

Not an excuse but I hate riding the mtb’s,

Join the club. Definitely benefits the riders who can put in sustained efforts rather than people like me who are up and down like a yo-yo 🙂

That was hard. Tried to stay with a group through the tunnel but just dropped off the back and couldn’t recover. Ended up treating it as a solo TT and trying to pace against ftp and watching those behind me. So glad when the last climb out of the volcano

Definitely benefits the riders who can put in sustained efforts

Is this true? Apart from the fact that they’re slightly slower so the races are a bit longer, I really can’t say as I’ve noticed any difference in how the MTB feels or reacts.

I really can’t say as I’ve noticed any difference in how the MTB feels or reacts.

Feels like it slows down faster and speeds up slower to me, but that might just be people around me 🙂

Is this true?

Maybe it’s just me but I definitely find it easier to stay with the faster guys on road bikes by using the draft and putting in short intense efforts when required when the hammer goes down.

@Nick I was the same…holding on.

I was dead at the end after we had those 2 goes at trying to get back to the group…it took it out of me.

A solid race for me there and survived a dropped chain – I really need to sort my front mech out. It dropped while on a downhill and I managed to get it back on without having to get off the bike so didn’t lose too much speed. Ended up in a nice group of 4 or 5 of us for most of the race. My average watts were the same as race 1 but I felt a lot more in control and comfortable. I need to push a bit more on the flats but I am learning the feel of the new smart trainer now.

@slowpuncheur…

Having said that I thought it settled down a little: ‘the storm before the storm’ as someone put it!

Ha ha. That was me.

@oopnorth said ‘the calm before the storm’ and I thought there’s no bloody calm here, so replied with ‘the storm before the storm’…

I remember Robbo saying perhaps last week that the remaining races were gonna favour riders who can put out big power, which crossed my mind at the start & I realised I was going to be hanging on for dear life all of the way round.

36 minutes of the 49 were in the anaerobic zone of >176 BPM and the balance at threshold. Hitting a recent peak of 193bpm, I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing but sure there wasn’t much easing up tonight.

In my experience a crit is even more intense and tends to be pretty much a full on effort from start to finish, I expect a lot of people will be riding outside of their usual FtP if 5he race is 25/30 mins. so expect to see more ftp increased across the board.

@robbo I take it we are doing the standard race not the Boost mode version? the boost mode is fun and adds even more of tactical edge but may be a bit confusing for those that haven’t sampled it before.

I think the big news here is…
PHIL GOT SOME POINTS!!!!

👍 It does raise a question though about the results order when there is a tie. @robbo1234biking does your master sheet go to a greater accuracy as the Google sheet appears to have the 3 of us on 1:11:00 the ordered alphabetical (not that I’m getting competitive and think every point might count 😃).

In my experience a crit is even more intense and tends to be pretty much a full on effort from start to finish, I expect a lot of people will be riding outside of their usual FtP if 5he race is 25/30 mins. so expect to see more ftp increased across the board.

@robbo I take it we are doing the standard race not the Boost mode version? the boost mode is fun and adds even more of tactical edge but may be a bit confusing for those that haven’t sampled it before.

I was bang-on for my FTP this race so the effort on the TT was flat-out too. My FTP at the beginning was set doing a crit, they are absolutely brutal if you end up just about keeping up with a group! Boost mode is fun depending on the course, if it’s got a few hills on it then tactics come into it but if there’s only 1 hill then everyone saves it up for there and it’s pointless.

I want to go to bed but my legs are still tingly.

@kirky72 it will be normal crit mode and I assume we will get the standard Crit power ups

@nixie you are right. I have modified the points. You and @phil56 both move above Haloric Jr based on finishing position on the road. You finished ahead of Phil by 0.232 of a second according to ZP! That about the length of a knobbly on the tyre!

Downtown Dolphin next week. There are lots of Crits on the schedule so you can have a practice of one before hand if you want.

Thanks for another great race Robbo, I was really looking forward to it after failing to get on the start line for the previous two. I managed to get off to a good start and find the group I needed to be in to collect some points at the end. It certainly takes the pressure off when you have the lowest handicap in the group. I always feel a bit guilty spending most of the race in the draft but I guess that’s what you’re supposed to do if you can afford to. Receiving a feather power up that I could drop on the last steep ramp was definitely a bonus.
I looked back at the Hare and Hounds race last year and was pleased to see I averaged exactly the same amount of watts this time round. I might not be improving but at least I’m not going backwards! Planning to do a repeat ramp test at the weekend as I feel I might be a just little bit stronger now than I was coming into this series.

I’m not 100% sure but I think @v7fmp may have beaten me to the line in the sprint which would make him top in the C category.

Thanks @robbo1234biking. Yes I just nipped past Phil on the line. Was very close.

I went with the plan but didn’t quite have the legs for it. Go hard on the ramp from the tunnel to force a split then hard but not flat on the climb to the bridge to string it out again.

The first part worked nicely with the ramp attack shattering the group. I do like attacks there as the effort duration is so short and you can normal rest while the front of the pack catches up. The second part was not quite as neat when a couple of riders (@Phil56 and @savoyod) opened a gap. Had to go harder than I wanted to close that and stay on or around the front.

Into the jungle approach there was a nice group of I think 4. I thought we were away but someone in the chasing group had other ideas and with a big effort they caught before the downhill proper. That left no choice but hard attack on the jungle climb. Again Phil and savoyod pulled off the front a little on the flat. I closed that gap as the climb started and @benman came past as well. He sat a short way ahead and I desperately tried to hang on. Legs said no and by the top the group had reformed.

At that point I’d have expected it to stay together but somehow benman and I ended up creating a gap which I think got to 15s at one point. As the course went flat onto the bridge and then down I tried to stay ahead of ben pulling to use my weight/raw power advantage to increase the gap. I was gambling on stretching it enough that the chasing two gave up on trying to close but we never got far enough ahead. The effort meant a lack of pace towards the Italian village and just before it the gap was gone. Them Savoyod was also gone with their trainer issue. Ben was a little ahead now and with not that far to run neither Phil or I wanted to commit the power to close him down. The dig I tried into the volcano did knock a chunk from the lead but as we got cagey again it opened back up. I tried to got from 1k without success. Phil popped an aero behind so I slowed till he was ahead. It came down to a 200m sprint in the end and I just had enough left to get half a wheel ahead on the line.

Again another fun event. I’m really liking the MTB action and the increased competitiveness. Good clean fun racing.

Oof that TdZ stage 4 ride this morning was harder than it should have been! My legs felt like cheese after last nights effort

It was just a case of sot in a group and get round…another one ticked off.

I think it’s hard for Robbo when riders are hitting the line at the same time, I think me and Nick were the same but 2 points ain’t gonna make a difference to my placing and I’ll never be troubling the leaderboard 🤣🤣🤣. In all a great race which I really look forward to every week even tho its painful. Kudos to you Rob for getting all this fun organized, Tuesday nights would be boring without it!

Was another enjoyable one. It always amazes me how hard i can push myself when trying desperately to hold on to a wheel or not get dropped. A couple of the short sharp climbs near the end where a big challenge of digging deep and powering up them. The long drag out of the jungle wasnt overly fun!

@drew @mtbrog @slowpuncheur etc in our little group kept me working hard for it!

Into the jungle approach there was a nice group of I think 4. I thought we were away but someone in the chasing group had other ideas and with a big effort they caught before the downhill proper.

DrP waves…’hi’…!

I was really pleased to have caught up (along with Kirky and woodsy) and rode with you all down to the jungle banner..but then I missed the break Phil etc had made (i thought it would come at the foot of the hill, not on the flat) and had no chance of catching up again!

DrP

That was a great race. Retrospectively enjoyed it, but it was very hard at the time.

I was glad it didn’t kick off so much in the early stages, and we had a relatively large front group going into the jungle. Then @phil56 kicked off a break which @nixie and I chased down. I was feeling strong on this climb and was tempted to break myself, but was acutely aware that there was a long way to go…

Somewhere on the next climb Nixie and I broke away and got a 10 second gap on Phil and @savoyad which I was hoping we could maintain. However they must have worked hard together and they caught us up somewhere towards the Italian villas (I think).

Whilst they recovered that was my cue for one last go at a break. I expected Nixie to come with me, but luckily I managed to go on my own. The last 7km was agonising, trying to sit at or above FTP whilst fighting off cramp. I was expecting Phil and Nixie to get it together and chase me down at any point.

I thought it was you @DrP. Was a nice catch. Yeah the break on the jungle hill started early.

@benman I tried to come for the last attack but just want happening. The earlier efforts and PT session caught up with me.

I just want to echo what others have said about this Series (and the previous ones). Pre-covid, I played football on a Tuesday night almost every week for years and years. Same bunch of mates and a wider circle of people who came and went. With a couple of post match pints and a catch up afterwards, it was a real boost halfway through the working week. Covid’s obviously killed that I and really miss it. So thanks @robbo1234biking, all at STW towers and everyone who’s clipped in and had a go at racing. It’s something I genuinely look forward to each week. Now, if you could just fix the pub situation that’d be great….;)

@benman you got the 10 seconds that you needed in the end! Very tight at the front though and next week wont see much separation. I will likely go to 30 second handicap intervals as most people are going to finish as a group.

@slowpuncheur and others who have provided compliments. Thanks 🙂

Post Race 6 requires a beer I believe!

one big zoom meeting after the last race and we can have a beer together?! 🙂

Well done everyone – I bottled it last night as I had overdone it last week and my legs were wrecked. I think Mondays need to be a rest-day going forward!