The latest episode of WOZ is out, covering all things great and beautiful in the world of Zwift racing.
In this episode, host OJ Borg brings us:
The NYC TTT on Mighty Metropolitan, what a race that was! I went deep into the weeds on the best strategy for this kind of course, read a few articles on good TTT strategy for rolling hill courses in-real-life (IRL), then went back and looked at power profiles of some of the better teams as well as their DS live-streams.
The video below shows some of this DS live-stream footage of Zwift teams that went for a momentum strategy, which seemed to win out on the day.
So, can we use tips for TTTing in real life to help with TTT strategy in Zwift?
IRL the advice is to take longer pulls on uphill segments and shorter ones on descents. The best teams in the TTT had someone pace up the KQOM, basically taking a 2-3 minute turn at the front. The longer pull meant less surging on the climb, a pace set that could keep all riders together without blowing anyone up.
In Zwift, I do not think taking turns on the downhill is the best strategy. The best strategy I saw was teams that built up momentum on the flat at the top of the climb with the heavier rider getting into supertuck ASAP and everyone else falling into their draft.
‘The effort going up the climb should be no more than 5 watts higher than on the flat’. This is an interesting one and there were so many teams who blew up riders on the climb and then haemorrhaged time in the last 9km. Key was having a watt/kg target for the team up the climb, paced smoothly by the lead rider.
Similar to IRL, on a flat course the set order strategy is definitely the best, nice straight line with small gaps between riders. This enables good recovery time after riders have taken their pulls. But this was not the best strategy for a rolling/hilly course like NYC.
The two teams in the video, Saris+TPC men and Finesse women, both followed a momentum strategy. On the rolling terrain whoever came through with momentum to the front took a turn. With this strategy, you really need an even power profile between riders otherwise lower power riders will be yo-yoed off the back and burn too many matches surging to get back on. This strategy also required a really strong DS to clearly call who is in front at what time.
This is probably the biggest difference between virtual and IRL TTTing. IRL you use hand signals, you can hear the riders around you, you can hear if people are heavy-breathing and struggling. On Zwift you see nothing other than a very calm looking avatar, the subtle cues of the riders around you are not there. This is where the DS in Zwift is vital. They are the ones who can see everyone’s HR and power data, can see in a bird’s eye view those who may be dropping off the pace, and can keep things calm through clear instructions. I would recommend any team that does not have a dedicated DS to find someone. It makes probably the biggest difference – even bigger than bike choice!
If your team has pulled off something amazing in a race, or you’ve seen something tactically great, shoot me a message and I’ll do some analysis on why and how it worked.
Article referenced available at wenzelcoaching.com/blog/how-to-team-time-trial
For a year I have been obsessed with the weekly Team Time Trial run by WTRL… so I asked Eric if I could share my obsession with you all, in weekly doses.
Each week I will give you a profile of the upcoming route, guidance on bike choice, and some target times if you want to aim for the Premiere League (top-10 in each coffee class get to be in a special race televised on YouTube).
If you can’t ride (or even if you can ride, but want more action!) tune in to the live TV show on Zwift Community Live’s YouTube Channel at 6:15 (UK time).
Before we look at next week let’s review this week’s performance in London last week.
| Category | #86 | My prediction | #95 PL | How did I do? |
| Vienna | 41:40 | 41:00 | 41:36 | 4th |
| Doppio | 37:05 | 36:40 | 36:50 | 10th |
| Espresso | 37:39 | 37:20 | 37:05 | 18th |
| Frappe | 38:51 | 38:15 | 38:27 | 7th |
| Latte | 41:35 | 41:15 | 41:02 | 18th |
| Mocha | 46:48 | 46:00 | 45:55 | 12th |
I’m pretty happy with that… remember my goal – predict a time that is closest to (but not above) 11th spot in each category.
So how did I do in London? Attentive readers will recall that I am currently riding with the Rowe and King (R&K) Vixens Latte team, having moved from one of the other R&K Latte teams, the Hyenas. This week the Vixens were lucky enough to have some proper cycling royalty in the team – World Champion, Olympic Gold winner, and MBE – Dani Rowe (nee King… do we still say nee or is that old fashioned?) joined us.
Dani is one of Rowe and King’s top coaches, focusing on coaching female riders and, before I hear cries of sandbagging (I know the Zwift racing audience…), Dani is rebuilding fitness after having a baby, and the weekly WTRL TTT is a perfect place for that.
I have to say I was somewhat overawed to be in the same team as a World Champion, or as Team Captain Trigg put it in his post-race analysis… “At the pre-race sign-on I held back the autograph hunters as our Olympic champion entered the paddock. Sherpa had a selfie with her but he looked crushed when it became apparent that she was unfamiliar with his TTT course reviews. Apart from that, and the return of Gaby, this looked a well balanced team of fit, if ageing, chuggers.”
Trigg was right – R&K Vixens had a blinder of a day around London. Despite the dreaded Ghost Bug (basically the team can’t see me or draft off me) we delivered a time over a minute faster than our target time, coming in 47th of 403 Latte teams… and I hit 3.2 w/k for the ride… a first for me. We are feeling bullish for the Volcano Flat course, that’s for sure!
We are heading to Watopia again this week with three laps of the Volcano Flat course. This course has been run a few times in the past year and is a popular loop for riders, so I’m sure you have all ridden it before. The course is flat, but much longer than last week – overall it’s 35.5km with 150 meters of climbing. This is going to be another fast and furious day in the saddle.
Starting in the downtown pens, we head towards Ocean Boulevard and under the sea. Straight ahead at the biosphere T-junction and through the hole in the Jarvis Tree. Pop up above ground, cross the gravel then head up the winding hill, then descend to the Italian Villas. Hard left turn at the fountain, and down the gravel road to the land-bridge which takes you to the Volcano. Take the long way around the Volcano, cross the sky bridge and it’s downhill back into Downtown. Then do it two more times.
This isn’t a short ride, but it is mostly flat – just a few areas where you will need to pay attention – more on those later.
Like last week, this is all flatness… so despite the two patches of gravel, aero rules. In our tests (by “our” I mean Eric did the science again) the fastest, aeroest bike – Venge/Super 9 is faster than the Tron bike – around 2 seconds a lap.
Here are some recommendations on equipment at various levels:
As always, the ZwiftInsider reports on frames and wheels are superlative so if you want to find the perfect bike and wheel combo for you, check them out.
While the Tron bike is beaten this week – it is still the number 2 bike on the day… and the bike/wheel combo that beats it can’t be had until level 45… and it is free (the only cost is your sweat). So I cannot stress highly enough that if you are racing you need to be working on Tron. It’ll take a while, but just set the Everest Challenge and forget about it for nine months… like having a baby (just ask Dani).
You have no excuses for surprises on this course… there are pages of Volcano Flat rides on the event listing on zwifthacks.com. It is even one of the makeup rides for Tour de Zwift Stage 1, this weekend.
You can see from the segment map below… there isn’t a single hill worth mentioning…
Mostly flat apart from the nice drop under the Ocean cover you for the first 3.5km of each lap. Plenty of time to get into your groove.
The challenge here isn’t that this segment is hard – it’s not… but the constantly changing terrain can throw off your formation – and trust me – if you are doing this right, you will be on the rivet the entire time.
The rather convoluted segment is tricky. It starts with the bump out of the ocean (200 meters at 3%) then heads into some gravel which will slow you down… from there it’s the false flat (1%) up the hill which tightens at the top to 5% for 100M.
The downhill to Italian Village isn’t enough to supertuck, but it’s enough to pick up speed before hitting more gravel. Just make sure your heavier riders don’t get overzealous and race down the hill away from your lightweights.
As you come to the Italian Village turn sharp left and down the gravel hill. All this gravel… they really need to fix these roads.
Take the longer way around the volcano – and here is where you hit the only major bump in the ride. The double-bump that takes up up and into the volcano itself. It isn’t long or hard, just 8 meters vertical at 5% – use the teams momentum to get up and over without losing too much momentum… and don’t forget the little 3 meter kicker that comes afterwards.
Down the hill picking up speed as you go. At 8km (and 20.5, 32.5) you will hit some gravel that will slow you down – stay in formation here… then its down into the tunnel under the sea.
Once you get out of the undersea tunnel its a straight shot of 1.3km to the start/finish.
Volcano Flat was a TTT course twice last year – in February (#45), in May (#56), then again in July (#63). Interestingly, the faster teams got slower, while the slower teams faster! I think there is going to be a significant jump in performance this time though…
| Class | #56 | #63 | My prediction |
| Vienna | 55:53 | 55:28 | 55:00 |
| Doppio | 47:44 | 48:06 | 47:15 |
| Espresso | 48:48 | 49:54 | 48:25 |
| Frappe | 50:59 | 51:02 | 50:30 |
| Latte | 54:54 | 54:42 | 54:30 |
| Mocha | 1:02:23 | 1:02:00 | 1:01:00 |
As for the Vixens, we are feeling bullish. We have a strong complement of 8 seasoned riders and didn’t lose any of our stronger riders to the Cheetahs (strong riders often move up a team, weak riders move down). In London we were only a minute off a PL spot… do we have a chance this week? We will find out on Thursday!
Like last week, this is all about getting in formation and staying there. A fast start without having to wait on someone that forgot to pedal, good strong turns and team discipline will determine whether you make the PL… Pick your aero bike… get into your team kit, and I’ll see you in the pens.
New to training with power? Sarah LaRoque (YouTube channel “Everything is Photogenic”) breaks down some of the basics of structured workouts on Zwift and other indoor training platforms. If your eyes glaze over when people start talking about FTP and ERG, her conversational style might help!
First, she explains Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and the tests that help you find your FTP. This is the number that Zwift bases your workouts around to make sure they are at your level and have the right training effects. It’s more commonly defined as the power you can sustain for about an hour, but you might not be able to hold it for that long, and that’s okay.
When you’re not using a smart trainer, you’ll shift gears and pedal faster or slower in order to match the target power in workouts. A controllable smart trainer gives you the option of using Erg Mode. This changes the resistance in order to get you to the target power using whatever gear or cadence you’re using. Turn off Erg Mode and you’ll be in Resistance Mode, which works like a non-smart trainer except you can manually change the resistance.
LaRoque also explains the different training zones and how they are represented on Zwift. (These are close to, but not exactly the same as, Dr. Andrew Coggan’s power levels. Learn more about how they compare, and how Zwift divides the zones, with the help of Shane Miller’s video.)
Zones 1, 2, and 3 primarily use fat for fuel, while zones 4, 5, 6, and 7 primarily use glucose (sugar). Zone 3+ is balanced between them. LaRoque points out that knowing your training zones can help you fuel appropriately before and during your rides.
Now that you know what to expect and what those colorful graphs mean, it’s time to get to work! Happy training!
December 17, 2020, is a date burnt on my brain, scorched on my hippocampus. 9.37pm on that fateful Thursday to be exact. That is when I got the fateful message. Zwift was adding four new routes to Watopia. A fly in the ointment? This was more like a killer hornet in the chamois cream.
How could Zwift do this to me? And here I was, thinking we were friends. I was on the verge of cycling greatness (in my own mind at least) but this news meant I’d still probably languish in the ‘below-average’ category.
This will no doubt come as a complete bolt from the blue, but Covid messed up our cycling plans for 2020. We’d missed out on Gent-Wevelgem and L’Etape and, by the end of summer, I was feeling bored, fat and disillusioned with cycling in general. It says everything when the highlight of your ride is thinking of a witty Strava title. I had no goals. No pot of gold waiting at the end of the rainbow. The 365-Day Challenge was a non-starter and my annual 10,000km cycling target had been reached by the end of September. Three months of limbo loomed… until Zwift offered salvation.
It was after doing all the France stages, including Ventoux – sorry, ‘Ven-top’, which took me right back to the GFNY Ventoux – that it dawned on me I could complete all the Zwift routes before the end of the year. My OCD (Obsessive Cycling Disorder) finally had a focus. 80 courses, 2,459.8km (including ‘lead-ins’) and 36,496m (not including ‘lead-ins’) of elevation gain.
Luckily, I already had around 50 of them under my belt. Most of the routes remaining were of the half-arsed, half-hour variety, easily accomplished in-between the school run and a supermarket sweep. I won’t even attempt to describe them all here as Zwift Insider goes into all the necessary depth and detail.
It’s a hard, socially awkward thing to say out loud, like admitting you have a favourite child, but Zwifting began to be more enjoyable than being outdoors. The temptation to do ‘real’ riding receded as the mornings got darker and the weather got colder and wetter. I no longer saw the point in pootling around south London for an hour – not when I could be ticking off the Greatest London Flat or the Lutscher CCW.
One-by-one, the courses were conquered, until by the beginning of December, there were just five pockets of resistance remaining. The Famous Five. Or should that be The Infamous Five? Quatch Quest. The Mega Pretzel. The Über Pretzel. Four Horsemen. PRL Full. Names to send a shiver down a Zwifter’s back.
The problem with the remaining routes is they take so damn long to complete, whether it’s because of the distance, elevation, or both. One hour on a turbo is beautiful; two is distinctly unappealing; three is getting ugly; four is horribly disfigured; five is on fire and put out with a golf shoe. Let’s not even talk about six hours just yet.
The tedium sets in around the 1hr 15min mark (see, I was so bored that I actually took the time to think about when I got bored!). But this at least allowed plenty of time to ponder my top-five Watopia regions:
5. Jungle You can absolutely bomb it down half of the course but the return segment is really draggy. Always seem to get bogged down but plenty to look at.
4. Volcano Smash out the circuit or do the climb. Either way, it’s a really interesting course that rewards sprinters and grimpeurs.
3. Epic KOM Here’s a suggestion: Do the ‘Reverse’ route first. Unless you’re on a go-slow, you’re pretty much guaranteed a Zwift jersey. But this is a great test from either direction.
2. Alpe du Zwift Having done it IRL, I’m still struggling to remember the Gothic chateau halfway up but, apart from that, it’s reasonably accurate in terms of gradient and how knackered you feel doing it. Just a shame I couldn’t get off and sit on one of the hairpin walls like I did during the Marmotte.
1. Titans Grove Easily the most fun. Lumpy but not ridiculous, you get back what you put in. Plus I think it’s the most pleasing visually, with pterodactyls flying overhead and T-Rexs roaming around.
Come to think of it, I also had oceans of time to mull over my top-five guest worlds. In reverse order: Yorkshire, London, Richmond, Innsbruck and France. New York doesn’t make the list, not because the routes aren’t challenging but because I’ve never really enjoyed the futuristic setting or imaginary climbs.
A month seems plenty of time to do just five courses. But that doesn’t factor in having a boisterous six-year-old, a new job and everyday chores that weren’t going to do themselves. Spending five hours on the turbo, followed by another hour defumigating a pungent living room/pain cave, wasn’t the most selfless use of my time. Thankfully, I have a very understanding soigneur.
First to fall was Quatch Quest on December 7. Just the 2 hours 43 minutes of moving time, most of which was used up tackling the Alpe du Zwift at the end.
Four days later, after quitting a couple of times previously, Four Horsemen went the same way. 3 hours 37 minutes to cover 90k is slow going on Zwift but, by this stage, it was all about completing, not competing.
December 15 – the Mega Pretzel. This was when I started Zwifting into uncharted waters. More than 100k and 3 hours and 40 minutes on the bike. It was the day when the enormity of the challenge – and the enormity of the boredom – set in.
The Über Pretzel was nibbled rather than devoured on December 17 – cue a shudder – my biggest struggle since the Chilterns Challenge. A mammoth 142km and 2,387m of elevation, which took a snail-like 5hrs 25mins to complete.
That left just one to go, the PRL Full, and a whole two weeks to do it. But that was before the text arrived that evening to throw not just a spanner, but an entire toolbox in the works.
Seeing the single tear roll down my flushed cheeks, my wife stepped up to the plate again. Selflessly sacrificing her own hopes for a relaxing Saturday close to Christmas, she promised to take our daughter out for a couple of hours so I could cross off all the four new routes in one day.
A Strava follower later asked which was my favourite out of Beach Island Loop, Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop, Serpentine 8 and Two Bridges Loop. I couldn’t honestly say. I’d been so tunnel-visioned in just getting them done, I hadn’t paid much, if any, attention to my virtual surroundings. I vaguely recalled the Mayan Bridge being kind of cool, but that was pretty much it.
The only thing that now mattered was the PRL Full – and, crucially, when London would next be a guest world. My circumnavigation window was narrowing.
December 27 it was. I’d like to say the PRL Full was a glorious, fun-filled finale to my Zwift journey but that would be a blatant lie. It was a monotonous 11 ascents of Box Hill. 2496m of climbing over 173km. Something I just had to do, rather than had any desire to do.
By the fifth time up Box Hill, I needed a 15-minute break; by the seventh I required an hour’s R&R, which included a visit to the local off-licence. Like much of lockdown, if I was going to do this, I wasn’t going to do it sober.
Replenished by a few cans of Polish lager, plus a punchy IPA from a local brewery, the thighs and brain were suitably numbed to finish off the final 25k, with a much-needed glass of champers waiting for me at the finish. 6 hours and 10 minutes. I’d sweated through three bib shorts and four headbands, and the lounge smelled like a rubbish dump, but never has a glass of bubbly tasted so sweet.
Would I do it again? Most certainly not, I couldn’t even look at the turbo for several days afterwards. But, then again, there are still a lot of Zwift badges to be earned…
Zwift is kind of like Crocs or margarine: innocuous enough, but capable of eliciting the most vitriolic reactions. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover a militant faction of luddites, actively sabotaging bluetooth connections and running interference on domestic wifi. Operating with the pseudo-religious fervour their 19th Century counterparts reserved for destroying textile machinery. How else do you explain the increasing number of drop-outs on Zwift recently?
Most objectors seem to focus on the fact it’s not ‘real’ riding. True, there was a time I refused to log indoor rides on Strava. I didn’t want ‘plastic’ miles to count towards my annual totals. Even now it feels disingenuous to boost your elevation tally by climbing virtual mountains. And yet training indoors can be every bit as exhausting as riding IRL. If anything, I tend to go harder when confronted with nothing but the cold hard facts of my power output.
Maybe what’s really eating at those left behind is the sense of abandonment. The competitive nature of Zwift is so compelling, the experience so utterly addictive, that once you see a friend taking trips to Watopia, you begin to wonder if they’re ever going to come back.
Editor’s note: this article was originally posted on Broleur.com, and is reposted here by permission.
Since sometime in December, astute Zwifters have noticed a “New AI” tag appearing on a small number of events. Then a few days ago, ZwiftHQ confirmed (via this FutureWorks forum post) they have been testing new pack dynamics in certain events indicated with this tag.
What’s different about the new pack dynamics, and how you can test it for yourself? Here’s what we know…
The “new AI” tag is interesting in itself. Have you ever pondered that, without users doing the steering, Zwift has to use artificial intelligence to steer for us?
Even without the “new AI” tag, your avatar will veer around riders, and veer into their draft. Sometimes the AI isn’t very smart – it famously takes terrible lines in corners, for example! But overall, it generally puts riders in a sensible place.
Here are excerpts from Zwift’s forum posts on the new pack dynamics, explaining how they’re different from what we’re used to:
Experienced Zwifters may have noticed changes in the way your avatar moves around other avatars.
In Bike group events with new pack dynamics enabled – it affects the shape of the blob, and avatars don’t pass straight through each other like ghosts. They move around each other a little more realistically most of the time. You’ll see it happen still – it’s not perfect yet.
Game physics more accurate, including the positioning of the bikes on the road.
The movement and shape of the pack smoother and more human-like.
We didn’t change the math behind drafting, but the draft effect should be more realistic because avatar positionings are more accurate now.
That accurately describes the new pack dynamics, as I’ve observed them. I’ve noticed it causes groups of riders to be more spread out, and your avatar rides through other riders much less.
With riders more spread out, the draft effect seems to be reduced somewhat, which causes the packs to stretch out more, front to back.
Here are three short recordings made today, showing the new and old pack dynamics.
How would you describe the differences between the first two clips and the last one? I would say riders seem more “jumpy” in the first two, as well as more spaced out. And there’s definitely less riding through other avatars in the first two clips.
Are the new pack dynamics better than the old? My take on it is: yes and no.
Not riding through other riders is a good thing, obviously. It makes the visuals feel more realistic. And having riders spaced out a bit more left to right feels better as well.
Although I haven’t been able to test/confirm this, I have a theory that the new dynamics may reduce the “churn” at the front of the blobs somewhat, because riders will veer around the front rider and into the wind earlier than they did previously. So instead of slingshotting off the front and continually bumping up the pack speed, the new pack dynamics may result in more realistic group speeds. Maybe.
Rider movements can be a bit erratic with the new pack dynamics, though. Riders will (seemingly) randomly veer left or right in the pack, like some sort of Cat 5 racer with a flat. It’s possible these are Zwifters running an outdated version of the game, but it’s also quite possible this is just the new pack dynamics needing a bit of fine-tuning.
While the “new AI” may not be perfect, I’m excited to see Zwift attempting to improve the pack dynamics. If this eventually makes our avatars’ movements more realistic and reduces the blob-accelerating “churn” at the front, that’s a major upgrade.
Want to test out the new pack dynamics for yourself? All of the Tour de Zwift make-up events are using the “New AI” tag. There are also some non-TdZ events using it – click here for that list.
Have you tried out the “New AI” events yet? Share your thoughts below!
And, more importantly, share those thoughts on the Zwift FutureWorks forum thread so Zwift sees your feedback.
Plyometric training utilizes quick, powerful movements to enable the muscles to produce the greatest force possible within the shortest period of time. It is based upon theory and research proving that muscles have the ability to create greater tension when a rapid stretching phase is followed by a fast contraction, referred to as the “stretch-shortening cycle.”
Training the body’s nervous system through focused dynamic exercise conditions it to react to the lengthening of the muscle by rapidly contracting with maximum force. This is achieved through various jumping and bounding movements.
While the importance of plyometric training may be obvious for athletes engaging in jumping sports like basketball and volleyball, the benefits are less clear for cyclists whose feet never touch the ground. It can’t be denied, however, that lower body strength is primary to cycling performance. Research shows that the performance improvement potential of plyometric training for cyclists may be significant and difficult to ignore.
In a recent New Zealand study, well-trained cyclists were subjected to a plyometric training program consisting of single-leg jumps alternated with high-resistance cycling sprints. After 12 sessions the cyclists exhibited average gains of 8.1% in 1 km power, 6.8% in peak power, and 3.7% in lactate threshold power, all with 3% reduction in total oxygen cost.
The authors of the study attributed the gains to improvements in exercise efficiency and lactate threshold, the result of improvements in neuromuscular efficiency, or a faster stretch-shortening cycle. If well-trained athletes realized such improvements, imagine the potential for amateur cyclists?
Source: Paton, C.D., and W.G. Hopkins. “Combining explosive and high-resistance training improves performance in competitive cyclists.” Journal of strength and conditioning research. Nov. 2005, 19(4): 826-830.
Find the Zwift Insider Plyometrics Training Program Complete with Exercise Descriptions >
Stay tuned, as in the next edition of this series I will introduce proper posture and body mechanics off-the-bike and explain why it is essential to on-bike performance and enjoyment.
Have you ever considered adding plyometric training to your cycling strength building plan? If yes, what is your experience? If no, why? Your fellow Zwifters want to know!
When faced with challenges and adversity, most people can be placed into one of three categories:
For those individuals, the drive to succeed by pushing themselves ever higher is in their DNA, woven into the fiber of their being. They awake each morning with a goal in mind, and the anxiety they feel to achieve it is self-imposed because failure would mean disappointing themselves above all else. Dexter Yeats is one of those people.
Dexter Yeats is an elite endurance athlete, as this truncated list of her results shows:
When not cycling, running, and swimming on the roads and in the pools of her hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Dexter can be found riding her KICKR bike and running the roads of Watopia under the acronym G. Grandma (Strava profile here), a tribute to her many grand and great grandchildren. Yes…Dexter is 75 years old!
Dexter’s career as an elite endurance athlete began late, for life presented its own challenges for her as a mother. Of course, Dexter didn’t choose to take the easy way out! She worked as a Teamster trucker, driving big-rig 18 wheelers for 25 years in the San Francisco Bay area.
Dexter sought work as a trucker because, as she states, “My daughter wanted to go to school. I had to make a man’s wage to be able to afford her college,” she notes proudly. “It was equal pay for equal work and now she is a very successful surgeon.”
As a Female Master’s endurance athlete Dexter experiences discrimination of a different form. “Seniors are not always given a fair shake with conditions,” she explains, “such as being given late start times, making it almost impossible to come in under the cut-off.” She also admits to being humbled when attending events with young friends, “and they get asked about the race when I am the one racing.”
The struggles Dexter faced as a female in the male-dominated trucking industry and as a Master’s triathlete prepared her well for another extreme challenge she chose to embrace. On October 17, 2004 Dexter began a 6-day trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
“I was 59 then and felt like I was getting old,” she states jokingly, “and the Sherpas didn’t believe someone my age could climb to the top. While on Mt. Kilimanjaro I learned to look at climbing in stages, and if you take one step at a time you will reach the summit,” she exclaims, “the grand reward!”
Dexter is currently using that strategy in her quest to earn Zwift’s Extra Credit “Alpe du Zwift in Under an Hour” achievement badge.
In 2019 Dexter competed as the defending Age Group 70.3 IRONMAN World Champion in France, where the bike course hit the slopes of the legendary ‘Col de Vance.’ “On race day,” Dexter notes disappointedly, “the challenge [climb] was my downfall, and I did not make the time cut and wasn’t allowed to continue on to the run with the other ladies in my age group.”
This has fueled the fire in Dexter to become a better climber.
So far, Dexter has improved her Alpe time from 99:20 upon her first attempt, to her most recent climb of 67:53, placing her in the top 50 for 60+ female Zwifters (see Zwiftpower segment stats). “I don’t think any of those days on Mt. Kilimanjaro was as hard as the hour pIus I spent climbing ADZ,” Dexter remarks, “I can only imagine how doing it under an hour will feel.”
I am confident Dexter will get the chance, but not as confident as she is!
Dexter sums it up best when describing her motivation and the insatiable drive to push herself to the limit… and beyond.
“Life is a series of challenges. Climbing hills is also a series of challenges. There are many summits in life that we all attempt to reach. Once we reach one of them, we look for and set our sites on the next summit. Summits can be relationships, jobs, places we live, retirements, or even earning badges on Zwift!”
Well said, Dexter! Ride On!
Where do you see yourself as a cyclist when you are 75? What ADZ time do you hope to post then? Let us know!
The competition heats up for week 6 of Zwift Racing League Season 2 as we head to Watopia’s Whole Lotta Lava route.
This course has never been used in a ZRL race, and it’s a challenging one for sure, with three efforts up the Volcano KOM. Let’s dig into the course, including some tips for bike choice, strategy, and more…
Here’s the course preview video from Rick at No Breakaways:
Events on this route begin with a 4.9km lead-in from the downtown Watopia start pens. Once you hit the Volcano start/finish banner the actual Whole Lotta Lava route begins.
Next we ride around 2/3 of the standard Volcano Circuit CCW route before turning left onto the Volcano KOM. Ride to the top of the Volcano, descend back to sea level, then finish the Volcano Circuit CCW lap. That’s one lap of Whole Lotta Lava – and we’ve got three laps in this event.
The Whole Lotta Lava route breaks up nicely into three sections:
The descent and flat portions combined will take 10-20% longer than the climb, meaning each lap will end being an over/under session with roughly half of the lap time spent over threshold on the Volcano KOM, and the other half spent recovering on the descent and flats.
Make sure you know how the finish lays out – it’s a challenging/technical one, with a short ramp up into the Volcano followed by another ramp before the finish line. It requires strong 1-minute power and good positioning skills. Riders who go early here rarely win! Instead, the win usually goes to the rider who holds a good position up the first ramp, then sits in the wheels and times their final attack just right.
The total course is 41.8km (26 miles), with 480m (1575′) of climbing. Top racers should finish in just under an hour, with lower categories finishing 5-10 minutes later.
Read all about the Whole Lotta Lava route >
Climbing up the Volcano is a 6-8 minute effort for most riders at race pace. This is far from a steady, “whoever has the highest w/kg wins” effort. Rather, it’s a low-grade climb which can be ridden strategically for maximum results.
While the average grade shows 3.2%, if you zoom in it’s more like 4-5% with a few flat spots and one steep section at the finish. It roughly breaks up like this:
This climb isn’t a steep one, and that’s so important to understand because it means two things:
With half of your time spent climbing, you might think this route is one for a lightweight rig. But you’d be wrong!
In fact, our extensive speed tests show that aero setups beat lightweight setups up the Volcano KOM. And of course, aero always wins on descents and flats. So it’s really a no-brainer, if you look at the numbers.
At the top of the performance charts, the Tron bike turns in essentially the same time as the Specialized Venge S-Works + Zipp 858/Super9 combo, so just pick what looks better to you if you have access to both.
If you don’t have either of those rigs, go with the fastest you’ve got based on our “Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level” list.
The Volcano KOM banner is the only intermediate in this race, so riders will have three chances at intermediate points. Both first-across-line and fastest-through-segment points will be awarded, 10 riders deep.
The KOM effort will be a hard push on each lap, but expect the first and third KOM to be the biggest efforts:
With no sprint points available and three punishing climb efforts to complete, pure heavier sprinters have no appealing options this week. They’re left with two choices: go all-in on the first climb in an attempt to grab some intermediate points, or conserve as much as possible while working for the highest finishing points.
Lastly, powerups: there will be seven opportunities for a powerup on this route, and powerups given will be an even mix of the Helmet, Ghost, and Feather. All three powerups could prove useful in the final meters before the KOM or lap banners, so make sure you know how each powerup works, and use them wisely!
Care to share your thoughts about Tuesday’s big race? Comment below!
Our friends at WTRL who brought us the wildly successful Zwift Racing League have just announced their next partnership with Zwift: the Zwift Duathlon League!
Director of WTRL Martin Carew says, “This is exciting. It is the first time cycling and running is distance-focused. This event is different, with the objective being to go ‘as hard as you can, for as long as you can with the aim to go as far as you can.’”
The concept is simple: Zwifters will ride as far as they can in 35 minutes, then run as far as they can in 15 minutes, with a 10-minute transition from cycling to running.
The bike races are mass-start, with no drafting, so you will need to select your best Time Trial bike and be prepared to go full gas! (See below for help choosing your fastest TT setup.)
A transition time of 10 minutes allows you to change your shoes and power up the treadmill.
The run event is simple: just run as far as you can in 15 minutes.
A simple scoring system will determine your league position:
Scores are then added together to form a league table by age group.
The Zwift Duathlon League will take place weekly starting on Wednesday February 17, and consist of 6 total races.
Each week’s race has 6 Wednesday timeslots to choose from (or Thursday depending on your timezone):
Each week, the Time Trial course and Running course will vary. Here is the schedule of routes:
You must create an account with WTRL in order to register for the series. Event details (private signup links) will be furnished via email.
The cycling routes for this series are quite flat, so you’ll want the most aero TT rig possible. Here are some helpful links:
For more details including rules, routes, Visit WTRL’s Zwift Duathlon League page for more info on this series.
If duathlons are your passion, then you may be interesting watching the Z Pro Tri Race Series. Watch the Pros battle it out! Races are weekly and can be viewed at zwift.com/video/zprotri-live.
