30 for 30: Week 2

December 26, 2021

LAST UPDATED December 23, 2021

Here we are again – days 8 through 14 of racing every day for 30 days. (If you missed the last article you can check it out here.) Last week Zwift Insider’s editor Eric asked that I get some better pictures for this week’s post. So this week I learned that F10 screenshots in Zwift. Who knew?. I did my best.

I would like to note that screenshotting like Eric does while racing is a lot harder than it looks. Apparently writing good articles require “forethought” and “planning”. Agree to disagree.

Editor’s note: just for you, Rick…here’s a post on How to Snap and Share Killer Zwift Photos

Thanks to everyone who has commented on Strava, the last article, and in-game. I cannot tell you how nice it is when someone says hi before or during a race.

You can follow my progress on Strava here. I will link to the races in the title of the day.

Day 8 – 12/9/21 – WTRL TTT

This was basically the worst idea of my whole life.

I’m on team DRAFT and they were pulling together a team for the World Bicycle Relief TTT, Frappe Division. Well, we ended up with too many A’s so we were Expresso.

Friends… let me tell you, my main Zwift skill is drafting. My worst Zwift skill, and the thing I like least, are iTT efforts. But when you race a TTT with a bunch of A’s, and you have to ride at 4.2 w/kg to sit in, I’m just not the guy for the job. In my infinite hubris I even told the team before the race I would help fill gaps in our line. I’m so dumb.

At two minutes, yes TWO, I sputtered, “Guys – I’m not gonna be able to fill gaps, I’m just gonna try to sit in.”

I got dropped after 7 minutes.

I didn’t want to do another race so I rode the rest as hard as I could. So a 60-minute iTT after being completely blown out in the first 7. Ack. According to my Whoop Strap this was the hardest race I have done so far.

Finishing Place: I’m not sure and I don’t care and I definitely wasn’t crying 6 minutes into the race and please don’t watch the race video.

Day 9 – 12/10/21 – L39ION of LA Crit Series

Felt horrible today, and I only joined this in hopes that my 1000th place finish would still get ranking points. The front pack was at least 150 people, but I couldn’t really tell. Eric did a good write-up on how this race goes (I was in a different race but it sure felt like the same one).

Honestly this was really boring. I just sat in the pack and then sprinted. The only thing of note was that I had NO sprint at the end. My legs just wouldn’t turn over after yesterday. I could only manage 5.4 w/kg for the sprint, and honestly, it felt like if I downshifted I would have just stopped pedaling.

I had two takeaways from today:

I’m serious… don’t do TTT’s with Cat A’s
Races with over 100 people aren’t my cup of tea

Finishing Place: 72nd out of 263

Day 10 – 12/11/21 – WTRL Racing

I just wanted something flat, so two laps of Greater London Flat was the order of the day. I actually couldn’t remember if I had ever raced this course, and a few teammates joined me for this one which always makes a race better.

There was one small part with a hill but that was no problem (author’s note: this is a lie) and I made it up with the top pack without much worry (author’s note: there was significant worry).

I had an aero helmet the whole race, but I didn’t think I was gonna have much of a sprint after yesterday, so I wasn’t sure what to do. In theory I would want to attack long, but it is just so hard to do and I never feel like I have enough to really make it work. We did a small attack as a team on lap two which was fun, but it got pulled back pretty quickly.

Got to the end of the lead pack and just got hammered in the sprint. It was better than yesterday, but not where I needed it.

Finishing Place: 10th out of 27

Day 11 – 12/12/21 – EVO CC Sprint Race Series

This race was on the Sleepless City course, which I hadn’t done before so thought it would be fun. It was also really short, and I needed a bit of a down day after a couple days of hard racing where I felt pretty blown out.

Enjoyed the course and had a very good sprint, one of my best 15 seconds ever (9.5 w/kg) and best of 2021. Legs felt good! Timing was a bit off, but it seems to be getting better.

Finishing Place: 10th out of 26

Day 12 – 12/13/21 – 3R Innsbruckring Flat Race

Loyal Reader,

I had prepared a song for you on this, the 12th day of racing (to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas). It took me about 3 hours, it was rhyming and it started with a number on each line. I was very proud of it.

So I showed it to my wife. While she was reading it I was on my phone trying to decide if I should wear a suit or a tux to the GRAMMYs next year, and who I should thank in my speech.

You know that thing that your spouse sometimes does when they look at something, and you are expecting them to be excited but there is no expression on their face? She did that. Here is our conversation:

Wife: Oh…is this what you are planning to send to Eric?

Me: Yeah! I’m so excited.

Wife: …

Me: What?

Wife: Well, I mean, I can tell you put a lot of work into this

Me (incredulous): THAT’S WHAT YOU SAY WHEN SOMETHING IS TERRIBLE

Wife: …

You would think that when you are married for almost 11 years that you wouldn’t get embarrassed around someone.

I deleted it, but here are two of the most excellent rhymes:

My worst enemy gave to me / a one minute effort at 9 watts per kg
Another trip up the snapper / put my legs in the crapper

So anyway, this was another mixed cat race (sigh). There were only three A’s, but that’s three too many. My teammate Chris Carvahlo was one of them, and he decided that the leg snapper at 9 w/kg would be super fun. Ended up dropped lap one, which came back together, and lap two I got dropped for good.

Obligatory dropped from the pack picture. Look at that snapper graph!

I rode with two other guys for the rest of the race, one of whom yelled at us to do some work. Me and the other guy continued to do no work and then dropped him on the third and final snapper. Probably a low class move, but to quote Ricky Bobby’s Dad, “You’re either first or you’re last.”

The other guy and I then played chicken like a Match Sprint with about 1k to go. My 9-year old son had come into the room, and I said to him, “Watch this Buddy, at the corner I am gonna make a move and drop him.” The guy immediately started sprinting and I was left in the dust.

My son hasn’t looked me in the eye since.

Finishing Place: 5th out of 12

Day 13 – 12/14/21 – WTRL Race

One lap of Wandering Flats, so I was going to get a route badge and hopefully lower (raise?) my ZwiftPower ranking with a quality mid-day European field. I also wanted a pretty flat course, and this fit the bill – lots of flat, one challenging hill, and then a glorious downhill finish. I feel like the WTRL races are always on good courses, with large fields.

This was a pretty good race for me. I wasn’t sure how I would react after the hard effort yesterday, but this was better than I expected. The flat part was pretty tame. Felt strong-ish up the hill and ended up with a little group at the top. My sprint wasn’t great, but that was to be expected after the effort yesterday. I like these 80-100 person fields, as you are always with someone and there are some fun tactics bridging to groups.

Finishing Place: 33rd out of 77

Day 14 – 12/15/21 – Chase Race with Autocat

I’m not gonna bury the lede – this was the highest-ranking race finish I have ever had and probably my best overall race. I was jacked at the finish!

Was a good group of B’s working together and we caught the C’s with about 4 km to go. From there I was working the group trying to get position. Ended up in a really nice spot close to the front. I caught some wheels and got a nice “double sprint” where I ramped up, caught a good wheel and relaxed for a second, then launched again as others started coming up. It was as good a position as I have ever had in a sprint.

Finishing Place: 6th out of 47

Weekly Wrap

What a great week. I absolutely love racing every day. It is giving me focus and even though I am tired every day there is a reason to get on the bike – the question of “Should I ride?” is gone.

The biggest change has been my ability to better position myself at the end of races. If you only race a couple of times a week it is hard to remember what you messed up, but with this you just try to fix what you did wrong the day before. I think this is important for those of us without huge power sprints. 14 w/kg can make up for a lot of sins, but those of us in the middle need to use position to make up for it.