If you ever want to feel completely out of your element, become a chubby mediocre cyclist and then head to Mallorca to participate in a high-end cycling event. That is a picture of the battle in my head these last few weeks as I gear up for Zwift Community Live 2025 in Mallorca.
Back in November I first heard of the event and as the wife of Mr ZwiftInsider (who was jumping at the chance to go) I was very happy to jump back on my bike and start training. I’ve been off my bike for maybe a year. The reason? Your guess is as good as mine.
I decided to start training with 3 rides a week, only 20 minutes per ride. I knew if I started with too high a goal each week I’d be quick to quit. The plan was to increase that time by 10% each week until I was riding around an hour each ride. Then I’d add either time or another day.
About 2 months before the event I was putting in good time and distance (I felt like a beginner again, but not for too long). I saw on the ZC app the minimum ability was listed as being able to do 75 km at 25 km per hour. Not a problem, if I was doing that once. But there would be 3 days of riding. Could I do that 3 days in a row? We shall see.
Two weeks before the event I was riding in my office as Eric walked by the door. He must have seen a look on my face as he came in to see what was going on. I started crying (not recommended while riding, by the way). I had seen the Strava events posted for these outdoor rides. The first small ride was 60km with 480m of climb. “I’m going to disappoint you. I’m going to make someone stay back with me as I’ll be so slow. They’ll be bored and disappointed. What am I doing? Mallorca is where cyclists dream to go. I’ve never dreamt it. I feel like an imposter.” I stopped riding. Eric, being the amazing man he is, told me he had no expectations of me. He didn’t care if I decided not to ride even. He just wants me at the event with him. No pressure, no expectation. The heavy burden fell off my shoulders.
Nine days before the event Eric and I rode outdoors. After an hour we realized I’d planned we’d ride 50km, he planned we’d ride 50 miles. Oops. We ended up riding 44 miles, I barely limped back hitting a small wall around mile 40. My bike handling was crap, we rode in the rain, but I was happy to have finally been outside. I had two more days of riding before we hit the road so I spent that time just doing laps in front of our house clipping in, unclipping, turning around in a bit of gravel, looking over my shoulder without swerving, etc.
We finally started leg one of the journey, beginning with 3 days in South Carolina seeing Eric’s family. Leg two was 3 glorious days in the Girona, Spain area seeing our dear friend Simon Schofield and his amazing wife Jenny.
We finally made it to leg 3 of the trip and arrived in Mallorca last night for Zwift Community Live 2025. As an “average” cyclist I know I’m atypical in that I’m married to Mr ZwiftInsider and have a bit of privilege (like showing up early to the event). But my legs and my knowhow of cycling (especially outdoors) puts me firmly in the “average” category. And so here I sit in the lobby of the beautiful Iberostar Playa de Muro Village hotel watching Zwifters check in, wondering who else is battling their thoughts of where they’ll stack up during the three IRL rides. I’m sure it’s more people than I guessed. But I do know that we’re all here to have fun, this isn’t a race! And for once, it really isn’t a race.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know how it goes!
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