Official Zwift fondo events are always a blast, with thousands of riders taking part. Like an outdoor fondo, they feature challenging (read: hilly) routes with multiple length options. Riders can race the event, or just push to do their best and finish a challenging effort.
The fourth fondo of Zwift’s 5-month northern hemisphere 20/21 series has just been posted, and Zwift has made some welcome changes this time around:
For the first time ever, a “bonus route” option has been added which is the toughest fondo route yet!
The event schedule has been expanded to 6 different event times on Saturday plus another 6 on Sunday.
February’s Fondo events have four categories (A, B, C, and E) which are open to all riders. These categories don’t refer to rider strength or speed – they refer to route length.
February routes (click for details):
E: Mega Pretzel - 110.7 km (68.8 miles), 1642m (5387')
A: Gran Fondo - 97.2km (60.4 miles), 1148m (3766′)
B: Medio Fondo - 72.6km (45.1 miles), 981m (3219′)
C: Bambino Fondo - 52.1km (32.4 miles), 553m (1814′)
This is the Mega Pretzel’s first appearance in a Zwift Fondo event. Zwift took a Twitter poll asking Zwifters to choose between the Mega Pretzel and Uber Pretzel routes for this month’s fondo. 59% of the 6210 were for the Meta Pretzel, so here we are…
(We would have liked to see the Uber Pretzel chosen – it’s a truly daunting route, and includes the Fuego Flats and Alpe du Zwift sections which aren’t included in any fondo route or the Mega Pretzel. Nonetheless, we’re happy Zwift added another route option this month! Hopefully bonus routes will be an option at upcoming fondo events.)
Kit Unlock
This is a 5-month series, and each month’s fondo has its own unique kit unlock. These kits are exclusive, meaning they will never be available anywhere else in game. A true badge of honor! Here’s February’s kit:
Upcoming Dates
This monthly series runs through March. Here are the upcoming fondo dates:
A fondo is a “fun race”, meaning it’s more about the personal challenge of finishing a tough course and doing your best. For some riders, the goal is simply to finish the ride. If that’s you, there’s good news: with so many Zwifters taking part in these events, you’ll always have company regardless of your abilities!
That said, thousands of riders turn out for these popular events, and the front of each category is always filled with superfit riders going all out. If you’re feeling strong and looking for an extended race challenge, find a fondo.
Note: efondo events don’t give out ZwiftPower ranking points, so in that sense, this event is not a race.
Since cyclists rarely elect to skip “leg day,” the upper body is often overlooked and neglected. This increases potential for injury and ride-limiting fatigue. In a recent study, a survey of recreational cyclists revealed that 31 percent suffered from hand and wrist discomfort.
It is important to protect your arms and hands from injury arising from weakness, improper positioning, and prolonged maintenance of persistent postures. In addition, it is vital to have upper body strength to withstand the forces applied during out of the saddle efforts and maintaining pressure upon the bars for prolonged periods.
Proper cycling posture relies on arm strength but doesn’t provide the stimulus required to strengthen it. Upper body strength maintenance is essential to maximizing cycling performance and enjoyment and should be included in a well-rounded training plan.
Positioning and Upper Body Pain Prevention Tips
If you experience numbness and tingling in your fingers or clumsiness with fine motor tasks, consider these positioning modifications and tips.:
Your hands should not be positioned wider than shoulder-width apart
Wrists should remain in neutral position, not angled inward, forward, or too far back
Avoid locking your elbows if pressure is felt in the hands which worsens over time
Padded gloves, cushioned bar tape, and ergonomic grips facilitate vibration absorption and allows for a lighter grip
Adjust handlebar height and angle to allow for a slight bend in the elbow, hands shoulder width apart, and neutral position of the wrist
Vary hand position every three to five minutes while riding to avoid prolonged sustained pressure and remain relaxed in your grip
Common Cycling Ailments of the Wrist and Hands
Handlebar palsy (Ulnar nerve neuropathy) presents as tingling, numbness, or weakness of the ring and little finger
Carpal tunnel syndrome (Median nerve neuropathy) involves the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers and may also cause generalized hand weakness
Don’t perform if experience severe sharp pain (PRICE)
Increase intensity by adding weight or increasing repetitions
Strict form is essential!
The Follow-Up Appointment
Stay tuned, as in the next edition of this series I will introduce the concept of muscle activation and explain why many cyclists consider it essential to their pre-riding warm-up routine. We will examine active intervention measures to keep you riding, training, and racing at your best!
The gentle whir of the trainer lulls the dog by my side to sleep as my bike pedals turn to the tempo of the music in my ears (I stand by my choice of awful tunes when I’m on the bike — ‘90s one-hit wonders produced some absolute bangers!). We’re in Central Park for today’s race and I’m deep into the final lap. Two miles to go, I’m a bit broken physically and mentally, a sweaty mess (whoever penned the phrase that ladies “glow” clearly hadn’t attempted a Zwift race), and clinging to the front group like that last bit of a wrapper on your candy … But all I need to do is pass the horse and carriage vendors and I’m on the home straight. Round that corner and the end is at the top of Cat’s Paw Hill. I can almost see it!
“So….Jen is four times as old as Jack and is also 27 years older than him. How old is Jen?”
A child has appeared by my side, clutching his math book, completely unfazed that he’s standing in a pool of sweat and looking at me, wide-eyed, for an answer. I remove a headphone. If I’m going to be honest here, I wouldn’t have been able to answer the question on the best of days (6th-grade math is a lot harder than it was back in the day!) let alone when I’m 50 minutes into a race and close to revisiting my lunch.
“My brain’s not really working just now, give me five-ish minutes,” I splutter, trying to keep one eye on the screen and frantically switching gears as the final hill appears.
“Oh, there’s a lot of people going past you isn’t there?! They’re fast!” the little person with no filter remarks as he pokes his head in front of the screen. I stomp on the pedals, frantically trying to make up a few places in the closing seconds. Completely unaware of the distraction he has just caused, he skips out of the room, leaving a few damp footprints in his wake.
Murray’s Zwift rides are anything but lonely.
Some riders experience technical issues during eRacing, others mechanical. As I crossed the line, scraping 16th place, I jotted my issue down as sideline intimidation and took a mental note to sign up for races that don’t clash with homework time. On the plus side, thanks to a quick Google search, I managed to keep face as a mom that knows “loads of stuff” and we finished the math homework during my cool down. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Jen is 36!
In all honesty, though, eRacing and training are an absolute godsend as a parent. The community just seems to “get it.” I’ve ridden alongside moms and their kids taking part in the same rides, cycling side by side in their pain caves (Zwift has child accounts, free for under-16 when you are a member). I know of a mom who used the white noise of her trainer to soothe her newborn when he became restless. If you have to leave a ride because you used the green plate for a snack and your kid’s now kicking off because he wanted the red one, the chat will be flooded with votes of sympathy and other moms regaling each other with their own stories of when their wee one did something similar. Running on coffee fumes and 20 minutes sleep after being up with your little darling who is now sleeping like a log and you’ve got a race in half an hour? There will be someone in the start pen who has got your back and will offer their words of support and a virtual hug.
For two years, up until March, I fit my training and eRacing schedule around work and school hours. A jaunt round Watopia or a mistimed early afternoon Innsbruckring race before pickup after school usually resulted in me picking the little man up from the school office looking (and smelling) like a drowned rat. Post lockdown/quarantine/pandemic, bar the occasional situation like the aforementioned ‘How old is Jen?’ conundrum, being able to simply pop between rooms to play the varying roles of teacher, mom, and athlete has been something that I will be eternally grateful for and it’s definitely kept me sane. Plus, having a devoted cheerleader watching your race from the next room and shouting through words of encouragement (and sometimes some brutal honesty) will never get old!
Motherhood is hard. There are days where my bike gets used as a drying rack and there are others when mustering the energy to get a zone 1 ride in is impossible. But when you become a mom you have this little person who looks up to you, who holds on to your every word, and learns from your actions from such a young age.
Being able to train and eRace – sometimes inches from where my son is sitting – gives me confidence that I can inspire him for years to come. For him to witness the fact that I’ve been part of the trailblazing movement towards parity in women’s cycling is incredible, and hopefully, when I’m watching the 2040 Olympics with my grandkids and the eRacers take to the stage he can regale the story of that one time he burst in with a math problem during a race while I’ll sit there and simply beam with pride.
Sepp Kuss, the young American pro-tour cyclist, has been described as “the Greatest American Climber of His Generation.” Upon hearing that Sepp was going to be climbing Alpe du Zwift during a Zwift-sanctioned group ride I signed up on my Companion app.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only Zwifter excited by the prospect of climbing the Alpe with Sepp…
Sepp is an American pro cyclist racing for WorldTour team Jumbo-Visma. Kuss grew up competing in cross country skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, and ice hockey. He discovered road cycling while studying at the University of Colorado. After racing with Rally Cycling in 2016/2017, he signed with LottoNL-Jumbo. Sepp’s biggest wins include the 2018 Tour of Utah, stage 15 of the 2019 Vuelta España, and stage 5 of the 2020 Criterium du Dauphiné.
“Join Aidan as he rides with USA’s cycling superstar Sepp Kuss and Thomson Bike Tour’s Head Honcho Peter Thomson as they pedal up the Alpe du Zwift with the goal of finishing the climb in 60 minutes (3.2w/kg average). Aidan may hope to pester Sepp with 20 questions about his life, childhood memories, and life’s most embarrassing moments, but Peter will probably help keep him on track with questions about Sepp’s banner year on the bike and plans for 2021.”
I was sure it would be interesting learning about his life and pro cycling, so I hooked up Discord and clipped in!
SK: At the time it was more of a hobby, which I combined with skiing, hockey, kayaking, and everything else that you do in Durango. Towards the end of high school I realized I really liked cycling and wanted to focus on that.
AC: You started road cycling in college?
SK: Yes, I remember my first collegiate crit was in the city park in Denver and I was scared to death.
AC: You won a couple of mountain bike National Championships as a collegiate?
SK: Yes, the collegiate nationals.
AC: Growing up in Durango, who did you look up to at the time? There were some really great mountain bikers rising through the ranks.
SK: Ned Overend, John Tomack, Todd Wells, and Travis Brown. The cool thing was that even though they were pros they were riding with us. They were just normal guys. They were very inspirational.
Sepp’s Father and His Influence Upon His Early Cycling Career
PT: How did your father feel about you giving up skiing and focusing on cycling? He was a coach for the USA ski team?
SK: He never pushed skiing. As long as I did something active and went to college. That was more than enough for him.
AC: Having a Father as a high level coach must have helped you to develop as an athlete?
SK: He was a strong advocate for athletics in general, a healthy lifestyle, and knowing what to do in the outdoors. He took us hiking for multiple days in the snow in igloos.
PT: Cycling must have been easy after all that?
SK: Yes, since I was a newborn I was in a backpack going up 14ers in Colorado.
The Race That Convinced Sepp He Had Potential
PT: Is there any one day that helped to convince you that you really could be a pro?
SK: The 2016 Redlands Classic Stage 2 to Oak Glen was one of the few races I have won. Being inexperienced in the road racing scene and being able to do that, I thought, okay, at least I have some potential.
SK: It is hard to say because there are many more days that convince you that you are not. You need those moments to keep moving forward and build on. Most of the time it is overcoming the voices in your head, the negative thoughts.
Sepp’s Most and Least Favorite Training Rides
AC: What is your favorite training day or workout? Or the one that you dread the most?
SK: A really long endurance ride of 6 or 7 hours in the mountains is always fun. Or longer intervals where you are changing the pace and cadence are always more interesting and stimulating mentally. Least favorite are recovery rides. Some days I wake up and just don’t want to put on my kit to take a recovery ride.
Even Sepp Has Tough Days on the Bike
AC: What has been your hardest day on the bike?
SK: I have had a lot of bad days in The Tour of the Basque Country. Just suffering all of the time. It’s one of the hardest races in the world. It is usually wet, cold, and with steep climbs. Everybody is in peak form. I think if you ask most riders what the hardest race is they will say Basque Country.
Sepp’s Favorite Climbs
AC: What is your favorite climb?
SK: In the US it would be Coal Bank Pass or Red Mountain Pass, North of Durango. In Europe, I really like the Col du Pradel. It is really beautiful. But most of the climbs in a race are really a blur.
Sepp’s Thoughts on Grand Tour Training
AC: When preparing for a tour what does a big week of training look like for you?
SK: In between races like the Tour and Vuelta it’s nothing too extreme because you already have the tour in your legs. Before the Tour, it is mostly endurance, a lot of strength and cadence work on the bike below threshold, and short VO2 intervals once in the week. More 20-minute efforts are saved for closer to the race because they are pretty taxing on the body.
AC: What will you do for those 20-minute efforts wattage wise?
SK: Threshold training would be two 20-minute efforts with 3 minutes below threshold at 350W, 1 minute a bit over at between 420 and 450W, and then back down to the under, For 20 minutes or so.
AC: Do you work with a personal coach or is there a Jumbo-Visma coaching team?
SK: All of the riders have a team coach, there are 6 or 7 coaches, and I work with one of them. Nothing overly complicated.
AC: Any Zwift racing?
SK: It would be a really good workout actually (laughs).
Sepp’s Thoughts on Nutrition
PT: What is your typical breakfast before a ride?
SK: Breakfast for a harder day is pancakes. Most days it is eggs, toast, and cereal on the side. At a race it is usually rice.
AC: The Jumbo Visma team works hard to dial in their racers’ nutrition?
SK: In terms of race nutrition, it is specific weighing of food relative to what we have done that day and making sure we are not gaining weight during the race. Which is a lot harder than it sounds. Having the right amount of carbs, especially during the ride. Typically 90-120g/carb per hour which is 3-4 gels an hour.
Sepp’s Thoughts on Being In Race Form
AC: Do you have any benchmarks which tell you that are ready for a big race like the Dauphine?
SK: For me it’s not super quantitative. The numbers are always there more or less. I think it’s more of the sensation you have during training. If I can do the numbers I normally do and feel in control and am okay, then I think I am ready. But for me it is always a bit of an unknown going into the first race because it could go really well or really badly. You just never know.
Sepp’s 2021 Olympic Plans
AC: It seems the Tour de France is conflicting with the Olympics? Any thoughts around whether you have a choice between the two?
SK: If I want to do a good Vuelta it is not really the best to go to the Olympics. We’ll see because it is a really big honor to go, but there are also a lot of other big races.
AC: Thankfully you are young enough so you will probably have multiple chances.
SK: Yes, but for me it is not the end all be all, but it is definitely an honor.
AC: How much is that a Jumbo-Visma team decision?
SK: It just comes down to what races suit me and how that fits into what we do with the team. At the end of the day it’s my decision.
Sepp Tells What Would Make 2021 a Successful Year
AC: To sum it up, if you could only accomplish one thing that would make it a good year what would it be?
SK: I would love to be a part of the team that wins the Tour. I think it would be a huge career highlight to be a part of that.
When the climb was through, and it was apparent that Sepp may not have been going his hardest, I was satisfied that my goal of learning about this exciting racer had been met. Although, I am not sure that Sepp agreed when I heard him say as we crossed the line, “what a leaderboard here? I’m 25 minutes back!” Good luck on the real Alpe Sepp! Ride On!
This week’s Zwift Racing League event (Innsbruckring 3-lapper followed by the Innsbruck Q/KOM) was definitely not a pretty race. Many of the tactics involved who in the team would focus on sprints and who would focus on the climb. As I watched the prems, then commentated on some of the racing, then raced myself I saw it mostly turn into a race of attrition up the climb with few tactics playing out.
But then I saw the dPAC-Elite team do something really cool in the APAC division. They utilised the sticky draft to launch an attack halfway up the climb.
Check out the video:
So how do you make this work?
Have at least one other teammate in the front group
In this case it was Lindsay and McKie from dPAC Elite who were in the front group of 11 halfway up the climb. One needs to be the designated attacker (obviously the stronger rider) and the other the designated ‘sticky rider’ who needs to be able to hold a high 1-2 minute power.
Pick a good spot
On this climb it could be broken into thirds, at the end of each third being flatter portions that lowered from 8-10% to 3-4%. The best place to use this kind of strategy is in the flatter portion where the draft benefit is the biggest.
The execution
Have the sticky rider move to the front of the group when the hill flattens off. Get the attacker right on their wheel and just hold a steady tempo effort. From here the attacker launches around their sticky rider at very high watts, about 3-4 w/kg higher. The sticky rider slightly increases their watts and captures the group behind them in a sticky draft for a few seconds.
That few seconds is enough to enable the attacking rider to create a good gap on the field before the next incline hits. If anyone does try and catch they are already on the back foot and have to burn serious matches.
What About You?
If your team has pulled off something amazing in a race, or you’ve seen something tactically great, shoot me a message (or comment below) and I’ll do some analysis on why and how it worked.
A new year often brings with it a newly-dedicated focus to our training and racing, but sometimes we overlook the little things that could benefit us most. In this episode, we bring in world-renowned bio-mechanist, author, and cookie connoisseur Jay Dicharry to enlighten us on what we really need to focus on structurally and posturally to have our best shot at hitting our training healthily and efficiently.
Listen in if you want to be faster and stronger this year, and if you want some laughs along the way!
About the Podcast:
The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathlete Matt Lieto and Zwift Academy Tri mentor Sarah True. Both are passionate about lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.
Back in April 2020, Strava announced they would be making major changes to Zwift Strava segments, to “remove clutter and noise so athletes can experience the segments that matter the most.”
At that time, Strava swapped quite a few user-created segments to “private” so only the user who created the segment could see it. They appeared to backpedal a bit after the initial “culling,” with a lot of user-created segments still being visible in the weeks following their announcement.
Since that date, to the best of my knowledge, all segments created by Strava accounts other than Zwift Insider have been marked as private segments – Zwifters have no option to make a segment public. (This is why we’ve only seen Zwift Insider segments on the France and Paris maps – they were released after Strava made this change.)
Today: All Non-Zwift Insider Segments Hidden
I woke up this morning to several emails from Zwifters wondering what was going on with Strava segments. One rider said, “I rode for an hour in Watopia, and Strava only popped up with three segments. They were all Zwift Insider verified, and they were all hidden!”
It appears Strava flipped a switch overnight, marking all Zwift segments as private unless they were created by our Zwift Insider account.
To give you an idea how dramatic this change is, here are snapshots of the segment list from a particular activity – first in April 2018 (before Strava’s initial culling), the second from today after Strava’s final culling:
April 2018: 794 segments
Today: 4 segments!
For some Zwifters, this will be a welcome change. But I also understand why others would be bugged by it, especially if you’ve been tracking progress on particular (non-ZI) segments.
(And for all the Zwift veterans, the legendary “first attempt. very intens” segment appears to be hidden once again, visible only to that long-time Zwifter who created it many years ago.)
No More (Zwift Insider verified)
Renaming in progress!
As I was composing this post, I refreshed a ride just in time to catch Strava in the act of renaming all the Zwift Insider verified segments, removing the “(Zwift Insider verified)” portion of the segment name.
Got an email from Zwift’s Wes Salmon just minutes later:
Hey Eric,
Quick note about some changes Strava is making for Zwift segments … since all the official segments you’ve created are now sanctioned by Strava, they are removing the (Zwift Insider Verified) since all Zwift segments are now default verified (by you). 🙂
The URLs should not change, just the titles.
An understandable change, although it a bit of a bummer for me, since having the segments tagged with Zwift Insider was a good way to remind folks to visit this website. The segment list will certainly look cleaner now…
Got Segment Suggestions?
With only Zwift Insider segments showing up, the segment list in Strava is indeed quite short for some rides. I don’t plan to re-clutter it, but I do think there is room for some additional segments across key portions of Zwift’s maps.
To that end, I’m working on creating a set of segments for the Epic KOM as I type this. This will include (for example) segments from the start of the forward and reverse climbs to the top of the Radio Tower. Not official in-game segments, but useful and interesting nonetheless. Here’s what I created so far today:
If you have suggestions for segments beyond the official ones we’ve already created, please post them in the comments below. If your segment idea seems like a sensible one, I’ll do my best to get it created!
Race 3 of Zwift Racing League Season 2 took place yesterday, finishing atop the Innsbruck KOM – the longest climb in Zwift Racing League history.
With a ~25 minute climb at the end, I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere near a podium finish. And I didn’t fancy my chances of earning intermediate sprint points, with the Leg Snapper standing guard like some sort of tarmac sentry just before the sprint.
Heck, I even volunteered to sit the week out, if my team could find a rider better suited to the route. But alas, no such rider was found: I would have to do what I could to grab points for my team.
Pre-Race Strategy
My team (the DIRT Hellhounds) had been chatting on Discord in the days leading up to the race, and we never really settled on a cohesive strategy because that was impossible to do. Instead, we discussed how the race would probably unfold, and we each set goals for how we would approach the race given our strengths.
For me, an “overmuscled cyclist” who sprints better than he climbs, it looked like this:
Attack the first Leg Snapper with max effort if needed, to stay in touch with the front group
If I make it over with the front, hit the sprint and try to get some intermediate points
Try to stay in touch with the front for the three laps of Innsbrucking, so I can put time into those behind and have a better chance of a higher final placing atop the KOM
The Warmup
Zwift Racing League‘s Tuesday events are my priority races each week, so I do my best to be fresh for race day. That meant a day off on Sunday, and an easy Monday. But Monday’s ride had me worried – I didn’t feel strong at all, and my heart rate didn’t want to get out of zone 2. This usually happens if I’m getting sick, or need recovery… or both!
So I didn’t push it on Monday, but made sure I ate and slept well. Then I executed my usual pre-race warmup routine on Tuesday, which included my three favorite race-day products:
Caffeine gum – three pieces (300mg), 1 hour before the race.
PR lotion on my legs about 45 minutes before the race. More bicarb=less burning.
The Nopinz Subzero kit, with two sets of freezer packs. One for the start, and one for the final climb!
I got on around 40 minutes before the race began, and spun with Cara Cadence for my warmup. I happily sensed that the legs felt good, and my heart rate was responsive. Soon enough it was time to hit the start pens. Let’s race!
The Start
We figured the start wouldn’t be too crazy, because everyone knew the Leg Snapper is where the fireworks would happen. And that was exactly right: I averaged ~300W for the first three minutes to easily stay in the front group.
A big group at the start of lap 1
During the lead-in to the first Leg Snapper I was just conserving as much as possible, because I knew the first Snapper would be a max effort for me as the strongest riders pushed hard to make a selection so they could reduce the competition for the sprint intermediate. (My 1-minute power is a big weakness when it comes to short climbs in competitive fields – 6.5w/kg doesn’t keep you in the mix very long against guys who can do 8w/kg or more!)
As we hit the brown bricks leading into the Leg Snapper I worked my way to the front of the group so I’d be able to slip backward a bit on the climb if necessary while still staying in touch with the pack. I used my feather powerup as the road pitched up, so I could keep my entry momentum for just a bit longer. And I stayed seated for this climb, trying to keep my heart rate low and power consistent.
And I hung in there! Over the top things were a bit strung out, but it came back together on the descent. I was in the mix for the sprint!
Cresting the first Leg Snapper
In the front group heading into the first sprint
I had no powerup for the sprint, though… and I was far from recovered after a maximal 1-minute effort up the Leg Snapper. When riders began sprinting I went for it… but got left in the dust, crossing the sprint banner in 25th place. But two of my teammates (Tucker and Pruett) finished 1st and 2nd – extra points, baby!
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
As I predicted in my route recon post, the chase group caught our front group as we made our way around the Innsbruckring loop. The front group had no incentive to keep pushing, because they knew the group would split up the Leg Snapper yet again. But the chase group had incentive, because they wanted to stay close to the front group and hopefully pass some of them on the final climb.
Laps 2 and 3 were similar to 1, just a bit easier. Each time a group of 30 or so split off on the Leg Snapper. I never had the legs to contest the sprint. After the third sprint I found myself even further behind the front group than I’d been on laps 1 and 2, so I waited for a few other riders to catch, and we easily caught up to the front group just before the final KOM began.
Going all in for the finish
The Final Climb
The Innsbruck KOM finish had given me nightmares for a week. I had hoped I would start the climb in the front group, thanks to any splits coming together. That all went according to plan. But how would the climb shake out? This was by far the longest climb we’d taken on in ZRL, and I had no idea how strong the competition would be.
But I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. And it wasn’t.
I started the climb in 39th place, the front group quickly riding away at a pace I knew I’d never sustain. Then I just tried to hold steady wattage – but my steady wattage wasn’t enough to keep me ahead of those chasing from behind. I finished in 50th place after putting in a max effort in the final kilometer to pass a few riders.
It felt good to gain a couple spots in the end… but losing 11 spots hurt more.
It looks like we took third overall, behind first place KIRCHMAIR B Bees and second place Foudre Bourgogne. That keeps us in second place on our division.
Foudre brought in a ringer for this race: one Camille Udny, a lady weighing in at 44kg and thus able to average 4.7wkg for this race while still being a B, since she’s nowhere near the 250W limit. Smart move by Foudre, and a commanding win by Camille who blew all the dudes out of the water, winning by 13 seconds!
Our top finisher was Scott Olsen in 5th. The sprint bonus points from Tucker and Pruett helped hugely, amounting to 40% of our total of 170 points. Me? I added a paltry 13 points to the team total.
Takeaways
My result is nothing to crow about, but it feels good to set some PRs if nothing else:
1-minute power PB on the first Leg Snapper: 537W
Leg Snapper PR: 50 seconds/550W
Innsbruckring PR: 11:22 (previous best was 12:02)
Innsbruck KOM PR: 23:37 (previous best was 26:34)
Given 20/20 hindsight, I would have grabbed more points for my team if I’d eased up on the Leg Snapper and sat in with the chase group through each sprint, content to reel in the front group each lap. This would have resulted in me arriving at the base of the KOM in the exact same place as I did in this race, but with fresher legs. (My guess is I could have finished perhaps 10 places higher with those hypothetically fresher legs.)
But that’s a big gamble to take! Some of the earlier races in the day had seen the groups coming back together – others had not. So I think the smartest approach would have been to handle the first lap just like I did – but ease up on the second and third laps, since I could be reasonably sure everything would come back together, and I knew I didn’t have the sprint legs to earn any extra points from the front group.
Next time!
Your Thoughts
Did you race in ZRL race 3? How did it work out for you and your team? Comment below!
Slovenia is a small country located in Central Europe, bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, and Croatia to the southeast. For such a relatively small country (7,827 sq mi), Slovenia currently boasts some of the world’s best cyclists. First, there was Primož Roglič: 2019 and 2020 Vuelta Espana winner. Then there was Tadej Pogačar, 2020 Tour de France winner. And now there is Mitja Kovacic!
Mitja’s Challenge
On 30th January, Mitja is attempting to ride for 24 hours on Zwift.
The miles that Mitja accumulates will go towards the Doddie Active Inter-District challenge North & Midlands, which is a charity designed to tackle Motor Neuron Diseases. In addition, Mitja has set up a donations page to help raise funds.
Doddie Weir OBE is an ex Scottish Rugby player that earned 61 caps for his country and represented the British and Irish Lions on their successful tour to South Africa in 1997.
In June 2017, Doddie Weir revealed he was suffering from Motor Neuron Disease and subsequently set up a foundation named ‘My Name’5 Doddie’ in order to “raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition.”
On 31 October 2018, Doddie announced that his charity had now raised over £1 million.
Motor neurone disease is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system. This leads to muscle weakness.
It occurs when specialist nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord called motor neurones stop working properly. This is known as neurodegeneration.
Motor neurones control important muscle activity, such as:
Gripping
Walking
Speaking
Swallowing
Breathing
As the condition progresses, people with motor neurone disease will find some or all of these activities increasingly difficult. Eventually, they may become impossible.
There’s currently no cure for motor neurone disease. Treatment aims to:
Make the person feel comfortable and have the best quality of life possible
Compensate for the progressive loss of bodily functions such as mobility, communication, swallowing and breathing
About Mitja
Mitja, like his other Slovenia cycling compatriots, is tough. His Zwift stats are impressive: a Level 50 rider with over 20,000km accumulated, climbing an elevation of 206,698 meters with 28 days in the saddle. Needless to say that Mitja is a Category A rider and races for Race3R Team and SloZL Team (Slovenian Zwift League).
Mitja is a veteran cyclist, having spent the last 25 years riding outside where, like many of us, cycling provides the opportunity to relax from the stresses of everyday life. In contrast, Mitja is relatively new to Zwift, first using the programme in late 2019. He says the experience on Zwift is “a different beast” to cycling in real life (IRL).
Mitja explains that Zwift is the complete opposite to cycling IRL due to the mental challenges required to ride on a trainer. But he also says it is the community aspect and interaction that “makes you come back to the paincave every day and do things you would never think possible doing indoors. Like racing in a Team Time Trial, doing your max efforts for your team or leading a ride with hundreds of riders from all over the world and helping them survive their first ever hour on indoor trainer.” Incidentally, Mitja actually leads group rides on Zwift and this in itself is a massive skill and undertaking.
Mitja is not new to endurance events. Having never heard of ‘Everesting’ until late February 2020 and liking the sound of the challenge, he succeeded at the first attempt on Zwift a few months later and even climbed to a nice round 10,000 vertical meters in the process.
Most people would be happy with that, but Mitja decided to tackle the endeavour outside after Slovenian ultra cyclist and RAAM racer Marko Baloh mentioned it would take 29 repeats on his local climb to get to 8848 vertical meters. Despite not being short of amazing mountains to ascend in his native Slovenia, as suggested, Mitja opted to undertake the mission on his local climb, near Stara Vrhnika, achieving it in a little over 13 hours.
The idea of cycling 24 hours was mentioned by cycling club mate Ross Duncan, also an endurance cyclist, who undertook 14 ‘Everestings’ in 14 consecutive days. This was a challenge that Mitja could not pass up and, having read Doddie’s story, decided to combine his effort with the greater good.
It’s pretty obvious to say that Mitja classifies himself as a climber, having done 50 ascents up Alpe du Zwift and prefering longer races like the Fondos. As he states, “I like the long races. I’m like a diesel engine. The longer, the harder, the better.”
Mitja’s Plan
To cycle 24 hours is a huge undertaking, so I asked what the plan was to complete this very challenging task.
He explained that having decided very last minute to undertake the challenge, he is relying on his mileage from the previous year, but has been increasing his steady pace rides, accumulating between 15 to 25 hrs a week and managing to do a 7-hour ride, a 9.5-hour ride, and a 12-hour ride. From that point, it’s as Mitja describes “uncharted waters”, having only done a 14–hour trainer ride once before. Prior to the event, he will skip his max effort events like the Zwift Race League and take a rest day just before the event.
The route that has been selected for the challenge is Watopia’s Tempus Fugit, with the occasional Epic KOM to changes things and break the monotony of the flats.
He will start on Saturday, January 30th, 7:30am GMT with a 3R 200km Special Event ride and then continue for 24 hours.
In terms of food, being a vegetarian Mitja has opted to follow his everyday routine, paying attention to hydration and carbohydrate intake two days prior to the event. On the day of the event, he aims to start with a 2 litre smoothie made of bananas, mango, pear, orange, and melon for the first three hours. Later, he’ll be switching to pasta mixed with cottage cheese and honey. He states, “I find it easier to eat in small bites than large portions on a trainer.” The last 8 hours energy bars, recovery bars, and gels will be relied upon. It is estimated that he will drink 0.75l of fluids (energy/recovery drink, water, smoothie) per hour.
There are no breaks and sleep planned but stops will be allowed to change bibs/jersey, socks, and take toilet breaks. The event will be live streamed on YouTube.
Mitja’s Concerns
This is unquestionably a daunting challenge, and I asked Mitja’s about his biggest concerns. He explained:
My mind is ready. The real question is how my body will react. Changing kit and riding out of the saddle will be crucial to avoid bruising. Fatigued muscles can change your position on a bike, leading to lower back or knee injury. Palms, wrists, and toes can cause additional issues. Also, I don’t know how my digestion will cope with high energy intake after 16 hours of fuelling. I’m expecting the main mental and physical crisis to start at 16-18 hours into the ride and smaller challenges before that.
These are my main concerns. I’m not afraid of stopping and call it a fail if my body tells me to. I’ve learned to listen to my body while riding without HR monitor or power meter for most of my IRL rides. However, I will try to eliminate as many risks as possible to make it to 24 hours.
Come Support Mitja
Donate to the charity and come and ride with Mitja on 30th January! I for one will ride and support him whilst he is undertaking his challenge, I’ll even see if I can get a brief interview en-route. If not, be sure to support Mitja via his YouTube channel.
In the third week of Boone’s 6-week training program we continued pushing hard in each of his 4 rides. With such a short training program, each workout has to count!
Our goal: to transform a 265-pound rookie rider with a tested 1.92w/kg FTP into a cat C Zwift racer (2.5w/kg+) in 6 weeks.
We aren’t entirely sure if the goal is attainable in that time, but Boone’s willing to take a leap and find out. Sort of like that time – many years ago – when we tied a rope around his foot so I could lower from a 20-foot tree branch. (It didn’t end well. In hindsight, it’s a miracle we survived childhood.)
The first week was mostly about orientation and baseline testing. The second week was about building endurance and improving form on the bike. And this third week was about pushing that endurance – now that Boone could ride for a full hour, let’s get those watts up!
The Plan
As a reminder, here’s the basic plan we’ve settled on for the 6 weeks. (Many thanks to Alan Dempsey of HPP Coaching for giving us solid advice that sets Boone up for success).
Week 1: Benchmark testing + Endurance FTP test, attempt first Zwift race, and get some time on the bike
Weeks 2-4: Endurance + Cadence Work Lots of work from low zone 2 to mid zone 3, with some high-cadence drills to train the legs for efficient pedaling
Weeks 5-6: Endurance + Intensity, Finishing with Benchmark Testing Start with similar rides as weeks 2-4, with some VO2 and threshold efforts included in short durations. Toward the end of week 6 we’ll do another FTP test and Zwift race, so we can compare progress from week 1.
We aren’t doing ERG workouts – rather, we’re doing free rides and Zwift events with particular goals in mind.
Ride #9: Breaking 20MPH
Boone had a simple goal for this ride: to average at least 20mph over an entire hour ride.
Before he got going, we popped into the Drop Shop and picked up a shiny new wheelset: the DT Swiss ARC 62’s. He had barely just enough drops to make the purchase!
In Zwift, wheel upgrades generally have 2-3x greater effect than frame upgrades. These wheels are about 25 seconds faster over an hourlong ride compared to the stock 32mm carbon wheels, so they would help Boone just a bit in achieving his goal.
We put him in with Dan Diesel, but after a short warmup and some quick math Boone realized hanging with Dan wasn’t going to get him a 20mph average. So off the front he went, keeping his watts up, sitting on wheels, and using powerups to keep his speed high on Watopia’s Flat Route.
And he did it, with 32 seconds to spare!
Starting off with Dan
Sitting in, off the front of Dan’s group
20 miles in 59:28!
Boone got quite a few Ride Ons during this effort, and he wanted to make sure I mention in this post that 1) he’s grateful for the Ride Ons and 2) he wishes there was an easier way to reciprocate a Ride On someone gives you. Clicking around with your mouse or fumbling through rider lists is just too much hassle when you’re pushing hard!
Since Boone had been consistently dropping Dan Diesel, I figured it was time to move up to Cara – the next-fastest Pace Partner. Cara’s group clips along around 40kph, while Dan’s group is closer to 30kph. We figured Boone wouldn’t be able to sit in with Cara for a full hour, but he could try to hang for a while, then do his own ride for a total of 45-60 minutes.
The Pace Partners join screen said Cara was riding on Tempus Fugit (nice and flat – exactly what Boone wanted) but that was just a cruel prank. When we dropped into the game Boone was with Cara’s group riding the Hilly Route… in the rain!
Oh Cara, you evil woman!
He hung in there for 15 minutes, but blew his legs up when he decided to randomly sprint on the descent. (He was trying to get the 50mph badge, you see). He didn’t quite hit 50mph, but he did unlock the badges for 40mph, holding 500W for over 10 seconds, and hitting 1000W!
We headed over to Fuego Flats after this, where he rode for 30 more minutes. He was tired (hadn’t eaten much of anything that day) and basically ran out of juice. But he did manage one more sprint effort, enough to earn the 1100 and 1200W badges. All seated sprints!
I checked where Cara was actually riding before we joined her this time. She was in Fuego Flats (hurray!), so Boone hopped into the group to see how long he could keep up. He lasted 25 minutes, then spent the rest of his ride just trying to keep his power decently high until hitting the hour mark.
He ended up hitting new power bests across the 18-40 minute range. He also set a new hour distance record for himself: 22 miles! Nice gains.
Boone’s been dropping weight – we’ve been adjusting it on almost every ride!
Here’s a weird thing we discovered this week: Strava is showing a different calorie burn number than Zwift! (Boone is paying fairly close attention to this since he’s working on dropping weight while also consuming enough fuel for these training rides.)
Here are the numbers from some recent rides:
Strava Calories
Zwift Calories
829
710
614
526
834
715
313
295
If you’ve used more than one service to track fitness metrics, this may not surprise you one bit – each service has its own way of calculating calorie burn (learn more about how calorie burn calculations work). But the strange thing is, on my Strava account, the calories always match Zwift’s. Because Zwift passes those calories in via the .fit file, and Strava displays them. At least, that’s what this page leads me to believe. It says, “Strava shows Calories as they were provided to us from upload partners. If no value is sent, or you record with the Strava mobile app, we use our own calculations.”
So why do calories match on my Strava account, but not on Boone’s? All I can figure is it’s the difference between being a paying Strava subscriber and a free one. My theory is paying subscribers get Zwift’s number (calculated based on ~25% efficiency), while free ones get the number calculated by Strava (which appears to be calculated based on something like 21.3% efficiency). But I’d love to hear if you have a better idea!
Ride #12: Crit City D Race
Since we’re at the halfway mark, Boone thought it would be a fun to attempt the same Crit City race he tried the first week. In that first week, he got dropped from the front page 2.5 laps in. Could he last longer this time around? He was certainly stronger than the first week – and almost 15 pounds lighter. Plus he had the new faster wheels! But his result would also depend on the competition.
My buddy Zane came over once again to heckle and advise Boone – you can hear us alternatively cheering, jeering, and advising Boone in the video below.
13 riders joined this time around, compared to 17 in his first race. But right from the gun it was clear this would be a very different race. The front group thinned out more quickly, and the pace was higher. But Boone was hanging in there! At the 2.5 laps mark there were 5 riders in the front group, and several off the back who had been coned (no cones in Boone’s first race).
He was definitely on the rivet, but did a great job of sitting in the draft and conserving as much as possible. After the brick climb on the penultimate lap the pack strung out, and Boone couldn’t hang on, despite Zane yelling very loudly. He limped around the final lap as one of the lead riders got handed a green cone. He crossed the line in 4th. But 3rd on ZwiftPower!
Boone’s 3rd place result in his second race (above) doesn’t look much better on paper than his 4th place result in his first race. But the difference in performance between the two races is striking:
Race 1
Race 2
Watts Avg
216W
256W
HR Avg
179
182
HR Max
186
191
Total 6-Lap Time
21:45
19:31
Between weight loss and fitness gains his average wattage in these races went from 1.8w/kg to 2.3w/kg. Not bad for just three weeks!
For the next week we’ll be riding with Cara Cadence more, seeing if he can extend how long he can hang with her group. We’ll also be doing some cadence work to improve muscle efficiency, and sprints to see if we can find the top end of Boone’s power.
Support Boone
Thanks to everyone who followed Boone on Zwift and Strava and gave him lots of Ride Ons and Kudos. He’s loving it! If you haven’t done so yet, follow him on Zwift (name “Boone Bridges”) and Strava.
Your Thoughts
Got any tips for Boone? Comments on this week’s efforts? Share below!
