This week was the 8th event of the Zwift Racing League – a team time trial over 1 lap of the fairly flat Watopia’s Waistband route. A fairly easy course to attack, but my team’s race was made more interesting by a bit of Zwift buginess and some less-than-ideal interactions with other teams. Read the entire sordid tale below…

The Start

We were using Google Meet for our voice chat, since some members have connection issues with Discord. (I warned my team that I’d be recording the stream, so they shouldn’t say anything too incriminating or explicit!) Soon enough Alex was counting down “30 seconds… 20 seconds…“

Then Justin (our Aussie, who whispers into his mic since it’s crazy early in the morning and he doesn’t want to wake up his kids) came on with 10 seconds to go: “I’m out of the pairing screen and pedaling, but my guy’s not moving.” Uh-oh. Justin is our strongest rider!

3…2…1… alright guys, go!

“I’ve got pedal assist,” Justin said.

Super weird. Somehow the game gave Justin pedal assist at the start, which worked out ok as we all got together and started riding quickly. Justin let fly a few choice words within a few seconds of the race starting, making the stream was officially explicit before we were even out of the start pens. A bit of a hairy start, but we settled in and started hammering out the miles!

The Dreaded Internet Drop

3.8 kilometers in, the rider list suddenly shrunk to just my name, and my teammates disappeared on screen. Nooo!!!

This is indicative of an Internet connection problem, and it meant the game wasn’t giving me any draft from my teammates. All I could do was up my watts to keep my speed up, so if connection came back I would still be near my team.

Fortunately, the dropout was short – just a few seconds. The rider list refilled, my teammates showed up, and I was still in the pack.

A Taste of Things to Come

We rotated through in our set order, each rider taking 30-second pulls unless they felt good and wanted a full minute. Justin felt good, and took 1-minute pulls almost every time! We were trying to hold 46-47kph, but our speed wasn’t great. Was the Watopian air a bit thick today? It also seemed like we were having a hard time getting into and staying in single-file formation, which meant we were wasting effort.

At 7.3km we passed one “G Zande” who promptly sprinted and grabbed onto our wheels. A big no no in a TTT! “Hey, what’s this guy doing?!” Alex asked. It took a few messages from us, and finally one from his team up the road, before he dropped off at the 9km mark.

It’s really bad form to grab the wheels of another team in a TTT – and it can get your whole team disqualified if it’s reported. Why is it so bad? Mostly because the whole point of the TTT format is to do your best as a team, with no assistance (drafting) of other riders. Sitting on another team’s wheel would potentially let them pull you up to rejoin your team, which is against the spirit of the TTT. Also, sitting on another team’s wheel messes up the rotation of the riders.

This was, perhaps, a foreshadowing of a bigger mess we’d encounter down the road…

A Messy Pass

We kept hammering out of the desert, through the ocean tunnel, up to the Italian Villas and over to the Volcano. As we descended to the start/finish in Downtown Watopia, Justin announced, “We’re being hunted from the rear.” What? A team had caught us? This hadn’t happened to us yet in the ZRL series – we had caught a lot of teams, but nobody had passed us!

Justin came over the comms: “Hold tight formation, let them past.”

So far so good. The chasing team was approaching, and we were easing up. This is all going along with WTRL’s rules, pasted below for clarity:

My team all eased up on the power, but we were moving pretty fast (52kph) on the descent to the line, and the other team wasn’t coming around! 15 seconds after we eased up (it feels like an eternity) Alex came on: “Just keep going, guys. Let’s keep doing our thing.”

Now we had a decision to make. Do we hammer down, possibly violating the rules? Or do we stay eased, hoping the other team comes around? Clearly we weren’t winning first place since we were being caught by a team that started 30 seconds behind us… but we didn’t know if we were in 2nd or 22nd at this point.

Happily, their first rider came through our group, which made the decision for us. They obviously intended to ride through, so we would let them do so. Justin took the lead position in our team, wanting to make sure we let them all get through. “Just leave it with me until they go past.”

I had eased up on my power, but was dragged to the front of our group by the draft of the Team Vegan as they came through. They only had four riders left, but two of them flew off the front of their group, leaving the other two to chase while we sat languidly in their wake.

“They’re waiting, like they’ve dropped a guy,” Justin said. But there weren’t any Team Vegan riders chasing! And we had a decision to make. It had now been 1 minute since we eased up on the descent to let Team Vegan pass, and they were just 1 second ahead of our group, still trying to regroup, with us still eased on the power. How much more time were we willing to lose in order to let them overtake us cleanly?

Our patience was quickly evaporating. “Fellas? Vegan…. going?” Justin messaged. No response.

We started hammering again as we hit the incline before the left to Ocean Boulevard. Now the goal was to overtake Team Vegan and regain the time we’d already lost. Teammate Snowy busted through, with me on his wheel, and the rest of us hammering to get through. But Team Vegan wasn’t having it – they kept hammering too. And as we began the slight climb up to Fuego Flats, both teams were jumbled together, and confusion reined.

Thankfully, Team Vegan finally moved to the front, and we eased to let them get away. (I think we all figured they were lightweight riders and could get away on the climb!)

The Finish

As the ground leveled off, we were only 3 seconds behind Team Vegan. Clearly our 6 heavier riders had more pure watts than Team Vegan’s 4 lighter riders. Would we overtake them before the finish?

Our team captain Snowy messaged, “Coming past. Please do us same favor we did you.” But they didn’t write back, and didn’t seem too ease a bit. I was on the front pushing hard, with Monica yelling in my ear.

“Come on, come on! Dig deep! Keep it up!”

We hit the sprint start line for the final 400m and I shifted and stood, hammering with all I had to overtake Team Vegan just 1s ahead. I was leading out my teammates who were on my wheel – suffering and maxed out, but loving every minute of it!

We crossed the finish line with our 4th rider ahead of Team Vegan’s, which felt good even though we knew they’d beat us by ~30s. A messy final 7 minutes, but well-fought max effort from everyone. Once all the teams had finished we learned we had finished a disappointing 10th place (out of 21), 1:14 behind first place. 3 seconds faster and we would have been in 8th place.

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The Aftermath

Soon after saving my race on Zwift and Strava, I got messages from Team Vegan riders apologizing for the messy pass. I got an email from one of their team members (Sean Leary) as well – so three different messages from three different riders!

All of the messages were similar in tone – apologizing that things got a bit messy. And I say kudos to Team Vegan for reaching out and acknowledging that they could have done things better. That’s good sportsmanship.

I had a nice email chat with Sean, who sent over his more detailed thoughts on what happened (at my request). I wanted to give Team Vegan a chance to share what happened from their perspective, so this wasn’t a one-sided post and we could all learn from it. (Note: Sean wanted to make sure I mention that what he wrote is just his view, and not an official team statement. “I don’t speak for others, and I certainly don’t speak for all vegans!” Ha!) Here’s what Sean wrote:

Did the messy pass cost our team valuable seconds? That’s the big question, I suppose. It may not seem like much, but our entanglement with Team Vegan lasted for approximately 2km, and a speed difference of just 2kph (going from 46 to 44kph) for 2 kilometers equates to about 7 seconds of time lost.

But I don’t think we actually lost time beyond what we would normally lose when easing for an overtake. (Note: some of my teammates may disagree). It sure felt like we were losing time, because we had eased our effort while waiting for Team Vegan to get away. But our actual speed (as Sean mentioned) is still 45-46kph on the flat ground. It’s also true that we benefited from a bit of Team Vegan draft, and probably in the end it was all a wash. No hard feelings, as far as I’m concerned. Life’s too short for that!

I think the interesting takeaways for me from this race are:

• When we don’t ride in a strict formation, we don’t perform well. This was our messiest TTT to date, and it shows in our overall time/ranking.
• Each rider’s view of an overtaking/pass is very different. There are a lot of variables at play that make overtaking a challenging proposition in some situations! Today’s situation was one of those, with a lighter 4-man team overtaking a 6-man team on a descent near the end of the race.

Your Thoughts

Ever been a part of a messy overtake? What do you think of the overtake from today’s race? Share your thoughts below!

After the mishap of the previous week’s Zwift Hill Climb Battle and being impacted by the dreaded “power dropout” I was back again, with a point to prove to myself.  It was “Redemption Monday”.  That is the beauty of Zwift: you don’t ever have to wait long to banish the memories of a bad race. Just another reason why I am such a fan of this platform!

The route today was an assault up the Epic KOM, in reverse, with the customary finish at the Radio tower.  This route was shorter in distance, only 12.1km, but steeper.

A Frantic Start

As usual, there was the frantic start from the pens and the jockeying for position and never settled as the bunch meandered its way to the base of the climb via the Ocean underpass.  The already faster than usual pace quickened over the bridge and the race was already on as we hit the fork in the road where you can go right into the jungle or left up the KOM.  As we turned left, the pack had splintered as the road began to rise.  A relentless start after only a few kilometers of racing!

With no connection issues to hamper me, I was able to quickly settle down and began to find my rhythm, surprising, tapping out a pace equating to 5.2 watts per kilo.  This was somewhat of a shock and didn’t think it would last long, but I stayed with it. 

The beauty of climbing the reverse side of the Epic KOM are the switchbacks. They keep the ride manageable and enable you to focus on each part of the climb.  Several days earlier, I had taken part in the Zwift Academy Race up to Chalet Reynard, on the Mount Ven-Top.  I had only raced the route twice before because the long uphill sections just seem never-ending and are no fun.  In contrast, the switchbacks on the Epic KOM keep the racing entertaining and it was here that I was able to overtake two riders who had danced away from me on the early part of the climb.

Gaining Ground In the Zone

Now mid-way up the climb, I was still pushing a shocking 5.2 watts per kilo and after overtaking several riders who had clearly gone out too hard I was now sat in a steady 7th position on the road with a solid gap of 10 seconds to the rider ahead of me.  Despite clearly being in the red zone in terms of heart rate, I hoped that if I was able to keep this tempo, then perhaps I could gain a place up the steeper Radio tower. 

Whatever the outcome would be, at that precise moment I was climbing above my ability and started thinking perhaps I would get a new personal best for my 20-minute power output, or reach the magic 5 watts per kilo number? As I climbed, it almost felt like I was in a trance, like the type of daze you can enter when time trialing, when you are right on your limit, and where you are pushing hard enough to be in real discomfort, but not too hard that it is not sustainable – almost the worst kind of suffering.  I pushed on. 

After the final hairpin, a French rider pulled alongside me and as the road leveled and I took the opportunity to sit behind them, to get whatever draft I could and any respite before the final assault up the Radio tower.  In my daze I had lost track of the race behind me. “Where did they come from?”

Radio Tower Exhaustion

The rest from the draft was short-lived as the climb to the Radio tower began.  The 1.2km to the summit has to be one of, if not the toughest and steepest roads in Watopia.  To put it simply, it’s a grind.  Thinking of the long game, I slipped down a gear and began to spin my way up the climb, trying to keep a cadence of over 80 rpm.  That’s the thing with cycling, the “road always reveals” and my attempts at spinning probably only took me three-quarters the way up the climb before my cadence dropped off and I was grinding at 65 rpm. 

I had failed to make any gains to the rider who was 10s ahead of me at the start of the climb, however with 200 meters to go, I was sitting in a solid 7th now 10 seconds ahead of the French rider who I had started the Radio tower assault with.  It was now a case of just “finish the job” so I was out of the saddle trying to keep momentum as my legs faded and I could only push the pedals at 65 rpm.  That last exhausting, lung busting push felt like it would never end!                     

I crested the top in a time 28.01, 7th on the road but 5th overall on Zwift Power, with a new 20 minute PB of 5.02 watts per kilo (4.8 watts per kilo overall for the race)!

Wrapping It Up

An epic climb up the Epic KOM!  It transpired that I finished 1 minute behind Bartek Pawelczak, a Polish Olympic rower who won a silver medal in lightweight coxless four at the 2008 Summer Olympics – he took 3rd place.  This highlighted one of the great things about Zwift – I was pitting myself against a former Olympian and coming only 1 minute down is respectable. The winner was Marshall Wu, a former Road Cycling Tour of Shanghai champion from 2013-2016, in a time of 25.42. 

Granted I didn’t win, but against a strong field, I was happy with my 20-minute PB and how I had ridden, sustaining a solid effort.  I put the success of the race down to pacing.  Key for me was finding a rhythm early on in the climb, one that was hard, yet sustainable.  Redemption achieved, on to the next race!

Your Comments

Have you ever been “in the zone” on Zwift? When was the last time you had a “breakthrough” ride? Share your story below!

With so many events on Zwift, it’s very rare that I find myself doing the same event more than once. But there are a few exceptions, and the ZWC Hill Climb Battle on Mondays is one of those. 

The reason why this has quickly become one of my favourite races is because it is different to a lot of what is on Zwift.  The route is a custom one and usually consists of a 15.6km ascent up the front of the Epic KOM or the shorter, but steeper reverse side, at 12.1km.  The race time can be anywhere between 28-35 minutes, with both routes finishing at the Radio tower. 

The beauty of this race is that the intensity is high from start to finish.  It is relentless, as you are consistently working up the climb, with little or no opportunity to rest in a group.

Being a short race in distance and time means it is a perfect workout for those who want an intense session and are time-constrained.  This race, coupled with a 10-minute warm-up and a 5-minute warm down means you can have a complete workout in 45-50 minutes, making it the perfect lunchtime ride. 

The Start

As has become my Monday routine, I lined up at the start for the ZWC Hill Climb battle, with today’s route being the ascent of the Epic KOM from the front.  Feeling relatively fresh, I was hoping for a top 10 finish.  As customary with all Zwift races, the start was frantic, despite my earlier messages in the start pen pleading for a calm start. As all the different category riders merged into one blob, the pace quickened.

The Dreaded Dropout

We meandered our way through Watopia to the base of the climb, but then I noticed my avatar’s legs had stopped moving and the bunch starting to swarm me.  A quick glance to my power data and I could see dashes where my power should have been displayed.  We have all experienced this: the dreaded connection dropout! We just hope that when we do experience it, it’s in a social ride and not the crux of a race.  Unfortunately, mine was at a crucial point, just before the very base of the climb, just before the dotted blue line on the road to indicate the start of the climb.  I watched as my avatar coasted to a stop. 

I jumped off the bike and hobbled over to the tablet that was connected to the TV.  I dived into the pairing screen where “No signal” was displayed. Panicking, I unplugged the trainer and plugged it back in and watched as the pairing screen reconnected the device.

Chasing

Back on the bike, I was now down in 60th position of 91 riders.  All composure gone, I pushed on the pedals with all my might to get my avatar rolling.  I crossed the blue line of the start of the climb at 650 watts. I soared up the first part of the climb, pushing 5.3 watts, zipping past the individual riders and small groups that had formed.

The early part of the climb was simply a blur, my nervous energy meant that I was pushing way too hard and knew I would pay for it later.  But I couldn’t slow down.

I was conscious that as I approached the castle, my watts per kilo had dropped from 5 to 3.5. This was the first sign that the adrenalin had now worn off and I needed to settle into a rhythm. I selected an easier gear and started finding that. 

I started to make my way up the climb, steadily passing several small groups, using them as a springboard to chase down the next rider or group.  It was during the underpass that I started to feel the first bit of fatigue and took my first brief rest as the road descended over the bridge.  The rest was short-lived as I hammered on the pedals and pulled up the little incline.  I caught more riders and pushed to the KOM banner.  I crested in 20 mins and 10 seconds, my second ever fastest time and now in 15th position.  However, with still the Radio tower climb to go, there was no time or energy to celebrate that minor victory!

To The Radio Tower

The Radio tower section is hard, but factor in what felt like a 20-minute sprint for me, and I was in trouble.  I tried to push up the climb, but it was too steep and I was too tired to chase the riders ahead of me and the one rider that I was level with now just edged away.  I could do nothing, and I realised a top 10  finish was out of the question. So I settled for 15th and kept a tempo to ensure I didn’t get passed. 

The last 400 meters were torture and the meters ticked by so slowly.  The finish line crawled into sight.  I collapsed over the handlebars in 33.41, in 15th position.  I was cooked.

Wrapping It Up

Not my most composed race, but the anxiety and desperate chase at the start of the climb led to a new 5-minute power personal best in ZwiftPower.  The lesson learned is in the event of a technical issue, pace yourself back into the race and don’t overdo it (like I did) as you will pay later.

As former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas said, “Mountains are where the biggest races are won and lost.”  Today, I wasn’t sure if I had won or lost, but one thing I did know and that is I would be back next week and as G states, “Enjoy, and suffer, and enjoy a bit more. My mountains are your mountains.  Let’s climb.”               

Editor’s note: watch for part two of Tim’s Hill Climb Battle to be published soon!