Going to have to skip tonight. Turns out my ‘cold’ of last week was COVID and although well on the mend it has taken quite a lot out of me so I think it would be unwise for me to join the race tonight. Can’t make next week as I will be away in Paris for work, so that is me done for this series. Enjoy the racing and thanks @robbo1234biking for organising the series as always – it has been a blast and wish I could have joined more – was just getting back into it as well.

I am probably going to have to sit this one out. Caught a cold over the weekend and not finding it easy to breathe, certainly not at the capacity required for these frantic efforts.

On the topic of bike choice, I was probably going to go with a road bike for the whole thing. Swapping bikes never seems to work as the slow-down, change and speed-up never seems to offset  the time loss for sticking with the bike you had. Gravel bike might be an answer, although think there is too much time on the road to see any real benefit. Sure there is a Zwift insider article that will let you know the best bike/wheel combo.

Came into this race much better prepared this week. Modified my warm-up and didn’t eat so much right before so felt pretty good. Rolled out with the main group but then missed the fact that a few riders started to string out at the front at the start of the climb. Was feeling strong so kicked on and started to pick a few off eventually catching @karnali and @savoyad – @Nixie had already disappeared to far up the hill. What then ensued was a battle of attrition with @savoyad – I tried to grind him into submission and several times I thought I’d manage to drop him but every time he kicked and got back and then sprinted really early to beat me to the KOM (although @Nixie should be top of that KOM list @robbo1234biking). I then pedalled all they way down the hill where as @savoyad demonstrated his racecraft saving energy and slip-streaming where it made sense so by the time we got back into the town he seemed to be able to manage his effort much better than I could. Again basically just tried to grind out the highest power I could muster but could not create a gap and when we hit the leg-snapper @savoyad just flew away cracking out 11w/kg up most of the climb and despite my half-arsed effort to stay with him last 15s in that climb alone. At that stage new I was finishing third as no-one behind me that looked likely to catch up, and unlikely to make up 15s on riders as strong as the 2 leaders. Again pleased with third – best I could muster.

Racecraft 1 – Shear bloody-mindedness 0

Game of two halves for me. Different strategy but the result as last week – did a structured warm up but my legs just felt dead for the first 10 mins for the first race, lost the main group and by time I got it together I was nigh on dead last and in a short race like this not really enough time/distance to claw much back. Not sure if it’s a physical or psychological thing – both last week and first race of this week, I mentally gave up but then went through a sort of mental reboot and it all came together.

On the upside, the first race acted like a proper warm up and the second race I felt amazing. Could have eaten all the weatabix in the world and not stayed with @nixie and @savoyad, so third was the best I could hope for.

Oh and that late surge saw my FTP go up to 314W… highest it’s been for a while.

First of these races for a while (September) and ended up being a bit of a disaster. Thought the group initially set off quite steady (less frantic than the old days) so I found myself trying to hold back a bit in an effort to pace myself and use the draft, and ended up losing my rhythm and lost the group completely on the second sprint, leaving me 26/29 and cadence all over the place an barely able to hold 160W for a couple of mins.

Was hovering over the “give up” button but then steadied my cadence, found my rhythm and last two thirds of the race were epic, but left myself too much to do. Recovered to 11th which in the end I was pretty pleased with.

Different tactics I think for the next race.

Hi robbo, can you sign me up please. Not sure on my FTP but about 295W these days and (sadly) 80kg. If my FTP change as a result of racing, as has happened in the past I’ll let you know. Nothing like the incentive of a race to push your FTP up. Will join the one tonight if I get the link.

I will be joining in tonight – first time on this series. Not really sure how things are going to pan out because not had much time on the bike over the last month or so, but I’ll give it my best and see what happens. Not raced in Zwift since the Spring Series so the moment I have forgotten how much it hurts.

80kg and 322W FTP. Weight is a shock (in the wrong way) but FTP was better than I expected.

Great to see this back and Count me in Robbo, although will be unlikely to make the first few races of the first series. Like others, also expecting some less than positive changes on the FTP/weight front. Will let you know.

@kirky72 not had any issues with mine recently. Have had a couple of drop outs over time and I remember one ride a while back where it just kept freezing – but was fine the next time out. Might be a dodgy update – are you on iOS or Android? I’m Android.

Fair play @welshfarmer – don’t know where you find the time to ride at all during lambing. Glad you’re feeling better.

Hope you’re okay @welahfarmer?

Cheers for organising @kirky72. Made a change from the usual all out assault of the usual STW races and just what I needed to shake the legs loose after a big riding weekend.

And like others here I received my prize today. Thanks guys. Love the tea towel, and if the coffee tastes as good as it smells I might have to by a filter coffee machine ☺️.

…and much to my surprise @crazyharry.

@J-R Not half as surprised as I was! Once I lost the lead group I tried to maintain and then close the gap but really had not much left in the tank. Eventually caught up @Phil56 who’d dropped off the back of lead but I think was just biding his time for an assault on the Climb. So once he powered on, I just kicked back and relaxed, resigning myself to a lonley climb up the Volcano – I was spent. And then @tomnavman appeared out of nowhere and passed me and then before I knew it I was caught by your group…! At which point I thought I am not having anyone else taking any more chunks out of me so just put head down and rode through the pain barrier to the top. Thought at one point I might catch @tomnavman again but the summit came too soon. Glad when it was over – wasn’t my day today.

Well done @vanilla83 for the overall and @straightliner for the Green Jersey – the proper winners.

Most Combatative Rider

Oh wow! I won something! That’s made the disappointment of today’s race less significant. Cheers Robbo 👍

Well that was horrible. Only 6s in it I respond by dropping one and a half minutes 🤣. Felt good, started well, tank ran dry about half way through. Must have been something to do with temperature, tyre pressures, altitude, suspension settings, wind direction, mud, etc, etc… 🙂.

Seriously though… No excuses. Wish I had some then I’d know what to change. Well done @nixie – you deserved the overall – certainly for consistency.

Cheers @robbo1234biking for another fantastic race series.

I respectfully disagree @straightliner 😉.

Have any of you guys done any XC racing? If you can keep up this sort of effort and go round a few corners, a lot of you would cruise to a regional top 10.

@padkinson I have done a few over the years, and mixed results to be honest. Although have charted top 10 a couple of times but certainly never came close to winning anything, Reality was that for years my race prep and training was based on a system known as ‘chance’ and sometimes it worked, most times it didn’t. I only started structured training (and bought a turbo trainer) in 2019 which was mainly driven by a need to prepare for the Wales360 – a 360 mile multi-stage event that I entered but then then was cancelled. However, the gains that I made were addictive so I decided to keep the training up. Discovered Zwift for the first time last March 2020 with the advent of lockdown, and Zwift racing since August.

I find Zwift races very different. Zwift is all about maintaining constant power for as long as possible, which kind of plays to my strenghts. A normal XCO/short-track type event is lots huge power spikes and dips over an average loop  (especially around here where there are no big hills) which doesn’t suit me so well. As a result most of the things I tend to enter are Marathon type events which are just long grinding battes of attrition, which is right up my street! that said, haven’t entered anything since August 2019, mainly because there has been nothing on (winter then COVID).

I’d assumed I was nowhere in the GC. Damn that changes next week’s plan.

@nixie Ouch – just 6 seconds in it. I would say my strategy is to just hang on to your back wheel but that is easier said than done especially when you can easily take 6s our of me in a single sprint. Now I am nervous!

I remember being in a race in one of the earlier series where we went up a climb in the jungle (not sure if it was one of these) and I was really disappointed that I couldn’t hold the wheel of some rider called “S.Robinson”

@scaredypants Yes it was one of these races as @savoyad says, and remember it well as you and I rode together over the boardwalks near the start/finish of the Jungle Circuit. Remembered that we started in downtown and the pace was mad at the start and I completely bombed on the climb to the bridge/bottom of Epic KOM and ended up way back. Managed to recover on the descent into the jungle, and then had to work super hard to get back through the field. Had sort of come to peace with the where I was in the race by the time I caught you but then thought I had some chance of catching @Nixie so decided to blitz the climb out. Thought I had a chance but Nixie was way too strong on the flatter parts of the course and ended up extending his lead on me, I just “enjoyed” the second half of the race on some miserable solo grind just trying to maintain the gap on the group behind.

I seem to have been “rewarded” with a new FTP of 371W, which I can scarcely believe – pretty sure I couldn’t keep that sort of power up for an hour. Anyways – even less chance of getting points now.

That went well. It was one of those days where everything seemed to go in my favour. Felt good to begin with and Due to my trainer dropping out on my warmup and requiring a laptop reboot, I ended up joining the event a little earlier than usual (rather than do a pointles 5 minute warmup in another world) so ended up somewhere near the start line in the pen. This meant that i didn’t have to put in the usual lung-busting effort to keep with the front so could keep my early breathing and HR under control. The long downhill lead-in more than compensated for the lack of warm-up and the pace seemed to suit me. Also was lucky to find myself somewhere near the front of the main group when @Nixie made the break so was able to bridge that gap quickly with a few brisk pedal strokes.

After that it was, quite frankly, flipping relentless. After crossing the Mayan Bridge for the second time I knew that if I stayed with the group I was screwed as we had @savoyad, @phil56 and @Nixie who are all really strong sprinters (sorry @padkinson – couldn’t recall your sprinting credentials) so just went for it as hard as I could on the climb out. Managed to get a gap and hung on to the end.

Could barely step off the bike at the end.

@kirky72, much like @savoyad says, I am amazed that you are not a Cat A already as you are always there or thereabouts amongst the front runners in the GC. It’s either that, or I should join you in Cat B!

thing is am nearly dying in these races to try and keep up with the usual suspects

Yep… sounds like every race for me. I don’t really know how it affects the general Zwift racing as almost all the races I have ever done on Zwift have been with the STW guys. I did one in the summer that was one of the TdF related stage thing as a Cat A  which was grim – was no where near the front but probably finished in the top 30% or so (and also hit the highest HR rate in the last 12 months – possibly ever) and then the other was the Zwift organised Uber Pretzel, and that was a blanket Cat E.

As for the race, it was great to have the group working together and once we actually got visuals on the lead group you could really feel the energy increase as everyone started to smell blood. I really enjoyed, even if I did get smoked at the end!

@tomnavman I am no expert on this, but I have learnt the following from personal experience and stuff that I have read from reliable sources on the Internet.

1. FTHR and MaxHR can be different for running and cycling because you use different muscle groups.The amount of oxygen your body needs therefore varies,

2. For me, over training as resulted in a drop in power and an elevated hear rate, while resting and exercising. Normally a lower heart rate for the same power output normally would mean you are getting fitter.

3. Everyone’s max heart rate is different. There no formula to work it out (things like 220 minus your age are nonsense. I am 49, and my max HR tonight was 185 and I can hit the 190’s. Your max HR just determines your own personal training and effort zones and cannot be used as a point of comparison to anyone else.

4. There is a form that calculates your theoretical HRmax from your Functional Threshold HR, which is the max average HR you can sustain for an hour. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calculator-0

More general useful information from British Cycling on using HR here https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/article/izn20140808-Understanding-Intensity-2–Heart-Rate-0

Got to be plenased with 5th and 3rd in the two races. Don’t actually remember much about the first race – was all a bit a blur where we all charged around in one big group and sprinted out for the finish. I am crap at sprinting –  my peak power, especially right at the end of a race is genuinely pathetic compared to some of you guys so after a similar first few laps in the second race I tried a new strategy once we caught a handful of breakaway riders, and tried to crack the field with over a km to go. Thought I had it once I managed to put 2s between me and the rest of the field, until @savoyad and @Phil56 had other ideas and stormed past me at the finish. I was sprinting so hard I think I had my eyes shut so was pleasantly suprised that I held out for 3rd.

If nothing else I was certainly consistent, 693W max and 336W average in the first 693W max and 337W average in the second race!

Well done @holwellp and @savoyad for the respective wins, and well done everyone else for great racing.

I enjoyed that. Came into the race not 100% sure if my legs were up for it and had a shorter than usual warmup. But when the race started I felt great. Missed an early break so settled into a large second group and although I tried to use the opportunity to conserve a bit of energy, seemed to keep finding myself at the front. So about half way round I figured I’d have a crack at bridging the gap to @nixie, @savoyad and at @kirky72 – there was no chance of catching @holwellp as he must have had an extra Weetabix this morning .

Made the catch just before the start of the climb and given that I’d already spewed a lung doing it 🤮 when they all decided to kick on I had nothing left. Managed to reel in kirky72 again before the top of the climb but as hard as I tried I could not make up the time again on the other two.

Well raced guys…I am utterly broken now. And as for @holwellp that was an outstanding effort for the win… Both the race and especially the climb!

Am I the only one with an image of a disgusted neighbour to Mr and Mrs  @v7fmp wondering what all the panting and groaning is from their garage?

With noises coming from my pain cave, I’m surprised my neighbours don’t think I’m abusing farm animals.

I do enjoy a time trial, and felt that I paced that effort really well. That said, my legs weren’t quite up for it even though I came in well rested. Enjoyed a race long personal battle with J Snook, who caught and passed me early on and I then spent the remaining kms trying to real him back in.

Close in the end for 4th place, with 4 riders split by only 2s, although don’t know that until the race is over! Can’t help thinking that if I’d only put in slightly more effort and I wouldn’t have finished 7th…🤣.

Well done all

@oblongbob You’re welcome. Happy to to be your lead-out man!

Felt good throughout the race and thought I had the legs to hold out to the end, but as you guys started to close the gap I wasn’t sure exactly how far it was to the finish so resigned to being caught and letting the sprint finish sort us out. Trouble with that strategy is that I am a rubbish sprinter, and at I end I got fixated on a feature that I thought was the finish arch, but was actually about 300m further down the road. Saw you power off and thought you were going early, but it was actually perfectly timed.

A deserved 6th. I’ll take the moral victory although @Robbo1234biking ‘s handicapping doesn’t seem to have a morality factor 😄, which is very disappointing.

I actually enjoyed that, even though it was tough. Had a small group of me, Drysdale and Varey and swept up Snook and Navman on route. Made a bold attempt to attack on the last climb and then hold on to the finish. Thought I was going to finish 6th but got and blitzed on the sprint by everyone and ended up 10th 🤣.

P. Howell must have had his Weetabix. Seemed to start way back but stormed past us on the first lap and nearly took the win in the end.

Another really amazing series @robbo1234biking – I really enjoy these (even when I’ve had a bad race) and actually already waiting in eager anticipation for the next series! It has been been truly brilliant and loved the company and the banter.

@DrP Very decent of you. When you look at the graph it is realistic for all but 5m/8km upto the bottom of climb. So still pleased with the bridge :-), and I think that was me an not dodgy data (certainly felt like it was me!). Agree with you on the sprints -if I can crack 800W I am chuffed – don’t bother trying to compete any more but just stay in contention so I am not too far behind once the sprint is over. Really went for it in the last race, and it was pathetic :-D

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.

@DrP Is your Big Foot Hills meetup on Sunday banded? Thinking of joining but also want to follow a workout whilst doing it.

Those videos are excellent @savoyad. Thanks for posting. Although I have to be honest, my avatar seems to be putting a lot less effort into this than I was. Think I need to have a stern word…

there wasn’t much sharing of the workload last night. If it wasn’t for you and Wellock I would have been lapped.

@Paino LOL! Whether you led or not it helps when there is a couple of extra bodies in the group so when I have had my stint at the front I have a wall of bodies to hide beind whilst I catch my breath. Makes a big difference. Your support, even if unintended, was greatly appreciated!

Let’s be honest, I was cruising because I was done and had given up. I’m really struggling with the frustration of the fitness and power drop from last year.

@nixie Know the feeling. Although I never reached your dizzy heights, I also had a dramatic drop in power and performance through November and December and it was hugely frustrating as the legs just wouldn’t respond to the will. Coming back to me now though and FTP gradually creeping back up.

That was possibly my best race since the first series and crossed the line with the feeling that I had done the best I could. It was my first ever Crit but had been given a heads up on likely tactics by @straightliner so after a mad start and first lap I settled into a manageable rythym of about 95% FTP in a small group with Wellock and Snook. We seemed well matched and worked well together and although never looked like catching anyone in the lead group swept up @Paino and @j-r who then latched onto our group to share the workload.

Last lap, finally got the sprint at the end just right. Normally I end up going too soon, too late or have nothing left in the tank to do anything at all. This time was greatful that no one really attacked on the climb and then just went for it about 400m out and grimly hung on to narrowly beat Southside Johnny.

Only afterwards did I realise that I was only a couple of seconds behind a ‘cruising’ @Nixie but I honestly don’t think I had those extra few seconds in me.

Anyway… Chuffed with that. Cheers @robbo1234biking for another great series.

That was possibly my best race since the first series and crossed the line with the feeling that I had done the best I could. It was my first ever Crit but had been given a heads up on likely tactics by @straightliner so after a mad start and first lap I settled into a manageable rythym of about 95% FTP in a small group with Wellock and Snook. We seemed well matched and worked well together and although never looked like catching anyone in the lead group swept up @Paino and @j-r who then latched onto our group to share the workload.

Last lap, finally got the sprint at the end just right. Normally I end up going too soon, too late or have nothing left in the tank to do anything at all. This time was greatful that no one really attacked on the climb and then just went for it about 400m out and grimly hung on to narrowly beat Southside Johnny.

Only afterwards did I realise that I was only a couple of seconds behind a ‘cruising’ @Nixie but I honestly don’t think I had those extra few seconds in me.

Anyway… Chuffed with that. Cheers @robbo1234biking for another great series.

Spent.

I mentioned I my earlier post, Zwift seems to take 95% of my actual race (19 minutes) to calculate my ‘new’ FTP. I did warm down, but at a much lower power out put, and if I look at my best 20 minute effort on Strava (race + first minute of warm down), the FTP calculates at 304W

Weirdly… At the end of the ride I got the “Oh Yeah! We’ve detected an increase in your FTP” message, but it didn’t actually tell me by how much like it has done in the past. Had to go into my profile afterwards to find that out.

ZP hasn’t even logged an attempt at a new FTP for this race – guessed because the race itself lasted less than 20 mins.

Owww!  Well done everyone as that was brutal.

Well at least it looks like all those races getting caught in no-mans land between lead and second groups has its benefits as it is has improved my time-trialing! Broken at the end but my FTP as taken a massive step up to near where it used to be – seems it was motivation was all that was needed. According to Zwift it is 314W – seems to have taken 95% of my average power for the race (which was slightly below 20 mins). Strava reckoned 304W.