How the (Team) Race Was Won: Hammer, Recover, Repeat – ZRL Week 5 (Two Bridges Loop)
This week’s Zwift Racing League event was the one I’d been looking forward to most this season. It was held on Watopia’s newish Two Bridges Loop route, and I’d raced that route against enough tough fields to know that it suits me well.
I wasn’t sure if I could contest the sprint and also hang on over the climb for 6 laps. But I would do my best to grab intermediate points and finish well. For the glory of the DIRT Roosters!
Here’s how it all unfolded from my point of view, racing in Division B3 of the EMEA W zone.
The Warmup
My typical pre-race ritual was executed as usual. Beet juice (liquid dirt) a couple of hours before the race, then three pieces of caffeine gum (that’s 300mg of caffeine) an hour before, and PR lotion on the legs before kitting up.
Then it was time to kit up and awaken the legs and heart by spinning with the C. Cadence groupies. 30 minutes or so with a few sprints to get the heart rate up and I was ready to go.
I went with the most aero setup in game for this race, because I wanted every advantage on the sprint points and finish, and figured the slight penalty on the short climb was worth it. Cervelo S5 2020 + DT Swiss disc wheels for me.
Lap 1: All In
In our pre-race Discord chat, the Roosters agreed that most (if not all) of the fastest-thru-segment (FTS) times would be set on the first sprint, with everyone’s legs at their freshest and the group at its largest. If you were going to go for FTS in this race, lap 1 was the time.
But I was undecided. Should I burn a match chasing those points? What if I go for it but don’t set a top-10 time? Or what if I burn my legs up, causing me to get dropped on the climb? Staying in the front group was crucial, because that’s where first-across-line (FAL) points would be earned on later laps.
It’s best not to make decisions mid-race when your brain barely has the oxygen to survive. So I try to make as many decisions as possible beforehand! I decided that if I got an aero powerup at the first banner, I would go for the FTS points on that first sprint. No aero? I would just sit in and make sure I didn’t get dropped.
Why this choice? Because in my unscientific but repeated tests of this sprint, I’ve found the aero powerup gives me a ~0.4s advantage over the van powerup. And that’s probably the difference between being near the top in the FTS and not getting any FTS points at all.
We crossed the start/finish banner, and I got an aero powerup. Excellent! Now I had to time it just right. As we hit the last kicker before the descent to the sprint, I let myself drift back a bit in the pack. I wanted to start the sprint near the back of the group, but finish near the front – giving me a fast time through the segment and placing me in a good position in the group.
Halfway down the descent I was in the back of the group, around position 55 (of 77 total starters). But I activated that aero and started hammering through the pack, finishing around 10th place across the line, but setting the third-fastest time through the segment. 9.88s… a sub 10! Happy with that, as it was faster than I’d done on Friday’s Sprintapalooza.
Then it was recover, recover, recover before the crucial climb. I rode as easily as I could while maintaining a safe position in the pack, which had already split up through the sprint. As we approached the KOM start I moved toward the front of the group, then just kept the power steady, holding a position out of the wind but close to it.
Halfway into the ~65s climb is where it really gets going. I had to ramp up my wattage from ~350W to 500-600W for that last 30 seconds. The pack strung out, but I didn’t chase the handful of riders ahead. Instead, I surfed the wheels and let gravity and everyone’s tired legs bring us back together.
Supertuck the descent for a few seconds, then spin easy through the lap line and into The Esses. One lap down. Five to go.
We had around 25 riders in the front group after the first lap, and that included 4 Roosters and 5 Vikings (our closest rivals for the overall league standings). The race was on!
Middle Laps
I won’t bore you with the details of each and every one of the six laps we completed, but I’ll summarize what happened. On every sprint the pack got strung out, and although I tried to grab a few first-across-line points, I seemed to run out of steam every time.
Meanwhile on Discord I was hearing a lot of non-English cursing as my teammates got dropped from the front pack – Thomas who was recovering from Covid, then Clem and Dejan. The most painful was our captain Antoine, though, who got dropped on lap 4 descending the climb because he got distracted looking at his phone.
Lots of cursing from Antoine.
Heading into the final lap I was in the front group with teammate Arjen, 4 Vikings, and a smattering of riders from other teams for a total pack size of 16.
Final Lap
I used my van powerup on the final sprint, not to chase FAL points, but to conserve energy. Then I was stoked to see the Zwift gods smile upon me and grant an aero powerup through the sprint banner, which I would be saving for the final sprint to the line.
As we approached the KOM start, the pack was skittish. Nobody attacking, but everyone on high alert and riding near the front. I had my eye on the Vikings, because I knew if they were smart (and had the legs) they would send someone on a long attack now. And that’s what they did!
The Vikings’ Gimre attacked hard with a feather powerup just before the road got steep, and I chased him. I was hammering, but not reeling him in. Then as we reached the top of the climb a few other riders came around me – Ben Delaney from VeloNews (rides for the Stages team), Hirsch with FCCC who’s super strong, Dunne with TFC, and another Viking, Johansen. Our pack of 6 came together on the descent.
We had gapped the riders behind. This was it. The final six. I might just have a shot.
Don’t you love the feeling of reaching the final minutes of a race knowing you’ve got a shot at the podium? I can’t help but think it’s what every Zwift racer lives for.
I tried to stay out of the wind, not pushing the pace at all as we approached the finish. I needed a bit of recovery before the final sprint. Nobody else attacked from way out, so the 6 of us hit the 300m mark together. Then a Viking activated his van powerup, riders started bouncing around, and it was on like Donkey Kong, as Dave Towle says.
I put my head down and sprinted. The legs felt like they had some power left, which was good – but the pack was staying tight. This was going to be close! We all crossed the line within 10 meters of each other. And when the dust settled, I finished in 2nd place.
Well done to Henry Hirsch who took the “W” and a whole lot of sprint points as well. Super-strong riding.
See my ride on Zwift.com >
See my activity on Strava >
See race results on ZwiftPower >
Watch Full Race Recording
Team Result
After the race, the Roosters debriefed on Discord. We weren’t feeling particularly optimistic about our chance at a team win. The Vikings had outnumbered us in the front group throughout most of the race, so we figured they probably edged us out based on earning some extra FAL points and slightly higher finishing positions.
But Antoine “The Human Supercomputer” started crunching the numbers, and suddenly things began to look much brighter. We were only 14 finishing points behind the Vikings, but we had managed to grab a pile of intermediate points. Could we edge them out?
Somehow, we did.
This puts us back in first place overall, just one point ahead of the Vikings. A very close competition!
Takeaways
Once again, those intermediate points proved crucial for our team. Especially the FTS points, where we outscored the Vikings 30 to 1.
Some riders have complained that ZRL scoring is too heavily weighted towards the intermediates. I don’t have a strong opinion on that, but I’ll say this: it is what it is. Adjust your strategy accordingly if you want to win.
For me personally, I’m pleased as punch with my race result. Sure, second place is first loser. But it’s better than third! So I’m going to enjoy it while I can, because what we have left this season is a TTT and two fairly pitchy race courses. I don’t think my results will be pretty in those points races, but I’ll “give it the beans” regardless.
Your Thoughts
Did you race ZRL this week? How did it go for you and your team? Share below!
