So race day is upon us once more and a new course on familiar roads – Legends and Lava.

Starting from the desert pens this takes in the Titans Grove Reverse KOM and the Volcano KOM as well as the Watopia Forward Sprint in the middle.

The finish is on the summit of the volcano about 300m past the KOM finish line so bear that in mind when you attack the finish.

Also the points tonight will include the points from the best 6 races for those who have been lucky enough to score in every race so far.

Good luck all!

Starting my warm up now! I have an option of an outdoor ride this evening so I’m 50/50 to being on the start line later.

whoop whoop!

looking forward to it. see you folks at the start line (and one or two at the finish)

I’m going to attempt to connect up to a Wattbike in gym this evening, so I best get there pretty early.

I may or may not see you all on the start line!

Looking forward to the race and the post-event banter. As for the hills, probably not so much!

Right…because Rob is far too modest to do it, I thought I would remind all you Zwifters that there is a Singletrack Awards going on at the moment and Rob has been nominated in the “best use of Lockdown” category. He is up against some stiff competition and every vote counts, he needs the win and a trophy / STW tea towel!!

I think a good thank you from all of us for the hard work he has put in over the last year or two, working out handicaps, courses, posting results and being in contact with Zwift itself, is well deserved. So please, get your votes in and say a big “thank you Rob!!”

See front page news for details.

Done. A well deserved nomination and hopefully a win. I really missed the Race Series over the summer. That says it all for me. Always impeccably organised and results calculated quicker than the UCI manage…Thanks for making at least one day a week during lockdown a bit less of a groundhog day.

Well deserved vote from me!

Interesting route tonight, good mix of stuff.

Anyone else found the sticky draft is back? Didn’t think at the time but last week I recall trying to pull through and do a pull at significantly higher w/kg than the leader and nothing happening. Noticed again last night on a pootle.

Yeah, a good mix of stuff this evening. I am looking forward to it.

I tend to yo-yo around all over the place in a bunch, so can’t say I really noticed the change in drafting physics……hmmmmmmm, although now you say it I did a ride on Sunday & did think at the time that other riders seemed very ‘clingy’ or vice versa….

Racing tonight, not expecting much as have a run session prior to it with my son so either super warmed up or more likely finished before I start 🤦‍♂️

I’m 50/50

Looks like I’m heading out into the wild tonight. Weather is mixed but otherwise warm so i’m going to make the most of it.
I look forward to reading the post race reports.

Another vote for Rob

see you in a bit.

Voted for Rob – thought I’d be in bed for 8:30 but slowly rallying and hope to make it.
Won’t bother you for a handicap – just doing it for the ‘fun’

Ten minute power outage here! Back on now but not in the race

Best Use of Lockdown – The Finalists

Felt like I emptied the tank
Few bp’s so can’t complain
Faded in the last couple hundred meters which was a shame
Would have been nice to contest the finish with Robbo and slowpuncheur

That was furious from start to finish.
My first aim was to get the first KOM. @paino snaffled that.
Next I wanted to at least try and find some allies to put some time into @mahowlett – I thought we’d sneaked off with @paino, @phil56 and @yanboss on the descent, then with @robbo1234biking and @slowpuncheur at one point, and again with @phil56 up and over the long switchbacks. No gaps were opening today though. There was no chance the way @mahowlett rode – aggressive to hold it together on the descent, closing gaps up the switchbacks, I think that’s sealed the series for you!
Up the volcano I really wanted the KOM, so I pushed on with @phil56 and then just committed to the last ramp (sorry about the feather phil) – wasn’t expecting the finish at that point, I thought I’d have to get back in the big ring and find a tired-legs sprint round the top for the finish, so the KOM/finish line was a bonus!
Huge thanks @robbo1234biking. It’s still an awful lot of fun, but the difference this made to lockdown was immense. See you all in the next series…

Too many lumps in that course for my liking 🙂

And this too.

Huge thanks @robbo1234biking.

Horrible and brilliant all at the same time. The pace in those lead groups through to the sprint was relentless. It probably remained so afterwards, but my legs were broken (tough weekend of riding and this finished me off).

Andeh, I though you were going to come flying past on the volcano climb as you caught up a load of time.

Echoing what Savoyad has said, Robbo you’ve created something brilliant for all of us, and it’s been an absolute highlight through the lockdowns.

Thank you everyone and I’m already looking forward to the “treats” Robbo has in store for us for the next series.

Well I finished and even managed to have a small bit of energy left to put my meagre power down for the final little climb to the finish! I may be finishing right at the back every race and nowhere near any of the fun but it’s made me better, didn’t even finish the first race!

Huge thanks @robbo1234biking. It’s still an awful lot of fun, but the difference this made to lockdown was immense. See you all in the next series…

+1, the mental boost this series gave me through some very tough times the whole of last winter cannot be understated. Looking forward to the next one and hoping I can at least improve during it!

Ouch! Thanks @Robbo1234biking. Have voted.
That was a killer as usual, seemed to be the sweet spot to make my Tacx overheat. Was making some deeply unpleasant noises and dropping out from time to time ( a bit like me).
Was happy to stay with D Fee and and a couple of others and not get totally mugged at the end. Can’t remember who passed me at the end but they came from nowhere.

The draft must be pretty strong as I was able to get back in the group from zero watts from time to time.

As always, stuck with the lead group for a couple of miles knowing it wasn’t going to last. Soon dropped off. Stuck with Fee, Clarke and Orsborn, constantly thinking I’ll give up and rest in a minute, I’ll give up in a minute, one more minute!! Stuck it out then a mile and a bit from the end 2 door cinema club came on and gave me a boost!! My belly hurts now though, bloody hell.

bah so I got back on and then even though it said ‘legends and lava’ it sent me the wrong way (29.4km 331m climb) and then ate all my data anyway 😐

Oh well – not like I was going to win anything! 🙂

Cheers for organising @Robbo1234biking !

Bleurgh. Couldn’t stay with the front group. Ended up in a group of 4 or 5 with JimW and MBailey & v7fmp (I think that’s it 🤣) and someone else.
That group ended up splitting so it was JimW & me the whole way round, while the others got away.
From previous races I was confident I could beat JimW up the climb but half expected him to spring a surprise on me. In the end I had the legs and was safe up the Volcano.

The rolling sections really batter my legs and I just don’t seem to keep in a group.

Thanks Rob! Top effort!

Well done reluctantjumper! Keep at it!!

Thanks for everyone for taking part in the series! This has been a really great series – and tonight seemed a fitting finale. The Xmas series is only 2 weeks away and I will post a thread up in the next day or two.

The results are provisional in case I have made any mistakes. Please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1La3WIPQUrOIv7FQHkJ_SSKDJsRoQPgCCR8RtR15TrC0/edit#gid=1334036094

Race 6 – Legends and Lava

Overall Race Winner
1. savoyad
2. phil56
3. mahowlett

Overall Race Winner (with handicaps)
1. rmahowlett
2. yslowpuncheur
3. yanboss

Sprint Points (Watopia Sprint Forward)
1. paino
2. straightliner
3. savoyad
4. jonnysartin
5. slowpuncheur

KOM Points (Titans Grove Reverse KOM)
1. paino
2. savoyad
3. phil56
4. yanboss
5. mahowlett

KOM Points (Volcano KOM)
1. savoyad
2. phil56
3. paino
4. mahowlett
5. karnali

Green Jersey Standings
1. straightliner
2. savoyad
3. andeh

KOM Standings
1. savoyad
2. paino
3. phil56

Series Top 3 (including sprint/fastest lap points) Best 6 race points counts
1. mahowlett
2. savoyad
3. slowpuncheur

Series General Classification
1. savoyad
2. robbo1234biking
3. slowpuncheur

I have set up a GoFundMe for people who have enjoyed the series. This time around we are raising money for The Firefighters Charity which provides support to Firefighters and their families during tough times. This is a cause close ot my heart as my Dad has been a Firefighter for coming up to 50 years. My Dad was ill a number of years ago when I was pretty young and the charity helped by giving us a few days away as a family after spending a lot of time in hospital. They do a lot of good work for Firefighters and families supporting them through tought times.

https://www.firefighterscharity.org.uk/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/stw-race-series-fundraiser?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

Thanks everyone for taking part. It has been great to get it going again. The next series will start on the 2nd November with an announcement in the next day or so of the routes and sign ups!

That was tougher than last week tonight! Hard through titans grove as expected but was asurprised to see it come back together again after that up until the switchbacks when I think the gaps started to open again. There were 5 of us who hit the bottom of the volcano together (Slowpuncheur, J-R, paino and djflexure). Paino soon got the better of us and it was another attritional battle all the way up with slowpuncheur and J-R getting the better of me by the end. 8min 24 for the climb matched my previous best up there (although that was on fresh legs not after 30 mins of racing at 300 watts!).

Going into this race I had 11 seconds on slowpuncheur – he beat me by 8 seconds tonight which meant I hung on to second in the GC by 3 seconds! Over 4 hours of racing that is pretty close!

Really enjoyed the series – I have managed to perform a lot more consistently better hanging on to the front groups and digging deep when I needed to.

Thanks to anyone who has voted for me as well and I am glad if I have made a difference to you.

Struth, that was intense. Hung at the front until the long switchbacks before the village but, Christ, someone just kept attacking, the group surged and I rolled off the back.

Hung around on my own, not cruising but not gunning it as the hill was on my mind. Dug in on the volcano and closed a gap but Straightliner whipped out his magic feather on the last kick and shot off.

Whoever was behind me (Tom?) was smashing it and made up a ton of time on the climb. Another 100m and you’d have had me!

As always, ace fun Robbo! Thanks a ton.

Thanks Robbo – great fun as always.

Donated and voted to show the love!!!

Massive thanks to @Robbo1234biking, one of the very few things that have got me through lockdown and given me something to look forward to.

Tough race tonight, a course that I knew might suit me as long as I could save enough energy to not blow up on the final climb, which I nearly failed to do. I knew I had to minimise any time differences, which meant staying in the first group if at all possible.

The alternative could mean being in the second group on the road but having to sit on the front of it for most of the race just to ensure the gap didn’t get too big. Had to fight to stay in the front group for the whole race and Savoyads surges nearly killed me, I can’t stay with him and it’s either a huge sprint to catch him or a really long more sustained effort, luckily the rest of the group were always also putting the work in to reel him back in. I really thought he’d done for me at the sprint though, a massive effort to get back to him, and I really thought I didn’t even have enough to fend of the second group come the volcano climb. Luckily there was a bit of let up for a few mins and I got my heart rate back under some kind of control. Come the volcano I just dug in, ignored the numbers and my legs and tried to hold on for as long as I could. Was very surpised to finish 3rd, I was honestly just hoping to stay ahead of the second group. A good race that one, and the one I think I fought hardest for. Anyway thanks again @Robbo1234biking looking forward to the next series already.

Nothing in the legs tonight – I was knackered when I finished work and didn’t get on the bike early enough for a proper warm up, so I got spat out the back not paying attention on the first KOM.

From there it was damage limitation just watching the front pack(s?) take time out of my whilst I was stuck on my own. Tried to attack up the Volcano, and got pretty close to @andeh, like you said, another minute or so and it could have been an interesting finish 🙂

Thanks again Robbo for another great series, already looking forwards to the next one!

@andeh – leave my magic feather out of this! 🙂 I do agree that Tom was flying up behind us and I was rather glad the finish wasn’t beyond the KOM banner.

@reluctantjumper

Huge thanks @robbo1234biking. It’s still an awful lot of fun, but the difference this made to lockdown was immense. See you all in the next series…

+1, the mental boost this series gave me through some very tough times the whole of last winter cannot be understated. Looking forward to the next one and hoping I can at least improve during it!

This and this. Thanks @robbo1234biking for doing all this again.

Just didnt have the legs this series. Thanks to everyone I blobbed with each race!

Donated + voted and looking forward to doing the winter series!!

Another great race series, thanks Robbo for organising. Hope to be joining in – work permitting – the next series also and to be working my way forward from the back of the pack once more!! I live streamed tonights race and you can view it here if you wish. https://fb.gg/v/8KUUGfMGhC/ Thanks again.

Should have states the actual race starts 20 minutes into the stream!

Going into this race I had 11 seconds on slowpuncheur – he beat me by 8 seconds tonight which meant I hung on to second in the GC by 3 seconds! Over 4 hours of racing that is pretty close!

Any idea how I can withdraw my vote for Robbo??:). What brilliant competition and played out in a great spirit.

I didn’t feel great tonight and managed a 20 minute nap before which probably helped. Felt good over Titans but it was still very nervy with only a few digs until the dirt road after the tunnel when @Savoyad dropped the hammer. I managed to close a few gaps but sometimes you’ve just got to settle into a group and accept you can’t play with the big boys! You could sense the nervousness in our little group before the volcano. @Paino disappeared and I had a good scrap with @robbo1234biking, @J-R and @djflexure up the hill. After screwing up the finish there last time, I still kept the power down after the banner but in truth, I was completely spent. Really chuffed to be 3rd on GC and points category. Can’t wait for the next series and thanks again @robbo1234biking.

First up, thanks Robbo. Great work once again! Voted and will donate.
After making a complete back to front of it last week I thought I’d try a different tactic. Concentrating on the KOM & sprint points, then seeing if there’s anything in the tank for the volcano. Can only apologise to @Savoyad, Phil etc for not giving the descent & time gap a go. Didn’t want to suffer the same fate and die a miserable death trying to keep up, so instead fell back to @robbo1234biking’s group who worked really well. Surprised to see the lead group let up/be brought back so next effort was to try the sprint. Only problem was I got dropped by everyone on the esses before the sprint then mistimed my catch so I overtook the group before the sprint event started! Still managed a good time, probably more down to no one else giving it a go! Found my legs again half way up the volcano so managed to gap Robbo, JR, slowpuncheur & djflexure, with the help of an aero through the lava. Had my eye on the trio ahead of me but only managed to pass (think it was Ian…..sorry Ian!) right on the finish line.
Congrats @mahowlett. Great win!

Cheers @Robbo1234biking. thanks for organising, a great series again, looking forward to the winter series in a couple of weeks.

That was tough work, as normal my abity to draft (lack of) saw me using more watts than I need to. Tried to gap m howlett in the volcano but couldn’t do that, nor close the gap to the front two, not surprised when m howlett came steaming past up the last steep bit, I was finished. Great series again sad to only make a couple if races but hope to make more after the short interlude. Big thanks to @robbi1234biking. Off to vote

Well done everyone, especially to those who got on the podiums and those that really improved themselves this series! I’ve been watching from the outside and it certainly looked like a tough set of races (ha…wait until the next series!).
It just shows how good Rob has done with his creation as I’m sat wanting to get on the bike as soon as I can to go through that pain again and get involved in the banter, unfortunately it will probably be the spring at the earliest before I can rejoin you and then I’ll be taking it easy.
Well done and all the best in the winter series! Keep smashing it.