If you’ve followed this How the Race was Lost/Won series, you know that sometimes I like to experiment in Zwift races. Because why not? It makes things interesting for everyone and sometimes leads to unexpected (yet positive) results.

That’s what happened in today’s race. (Well, actually, this race happened two weeks ago. I’ve been too busy to write about it, because I’ve been working on our new Smart Trainer Index feature!)

I decided to race with all HUD elements turned off – something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I did the FutureWorks “Sights and Sounds” group ride a few months back. “Sights and Sounds” is an actual event mode that Zwift is experimenting with, but you can get the same effect by disabling the HUD via a prefs.xml edit, or by using the ZwiftHacks Zwift-Preferences tool (which is just a front-end that edits prefs.xml for you).

The Warmup

With the HUD turned off, I hopped on to warm up. I climbed on the bike about 20 minutes before the race, having chewed two pieces of caffeine gum and slapped some PR lotion on the legs. The warmup was uneventful: I raised my heart up to 160+ a with a few hard efforts, then it was time to head to the start pens.

The Start

This was the KISS at Race – Pacific AM event, which takes place on Wednesdays at 6am. 15 laps of Crit City’s Bell Lap route, so a bit longer than most Crit City events. We had a smaller B group signed up, so I figured it wouldn’t be too crazy out of the gate. There were a few strong Bs signed up on the ZwiftPower list, though, so I took note of their names (Wish Upon the Pleiades, Jeremy Cross, Phil Borrett Tor2000) so I could hopefully figure out what their avatars were wearing and keep an eye on them.

The first lap wasn’t too bad, and I figured out what the three top riders were wearing so I could pick them out: Cross was wearing the green argyle, Wish Upon the Mid Devon CC Look kit with a Gatsby cap, and Tor2000 wearing the black/red/white Elite kit.

Our group was moving along nicely, but with only about 10 in the front pack the overall speed didn’t feel very high – which meant attacks might be able to get away. On the second lap I tried an attack up the twisty climb and Wish Upon and Tor2000 jumped with me. Interesting! Cross came over as well, so it was clear these three were feeling pretty strong. We didn’t stay away (still 13 laps to go, after all) but we dropped a rider or two. Progress.

Attack of the A’s!

Things were going along swimmingly: we were on the 6th lap, and I was calculating my next attack. Then several riders suddenly flew through our pack from behind! I instantly realized we had been lapped by the A’s, who had started a minute earlier.

I would have seen it coming if I had the HUD minimap. But it was a complete surprise – I hadn’t even pondered the possibility of such a thing happening!

This was the winning move, I knew it. If I could grab onto those wheels, we would drop more B riders, and hopefully I could at least grab a podium spot. I went hard to close the gap to the A’s… and did it!

Note: of course, hopping into a faster group from another category would be highly frowned upon in an outdoor road race. But on Zwift, the basic rule is “if you can see a rider, you can ride with ’em.” The only exception is that it’s considered bad form to sit on the wheel of a known zPower range or sandbagger who is attacking off the front – but even that is often a judgment call.

Once I was in the front pack, the real work began. To give you an idea of the difference between our B group and the A group: after the initial high watts of the first lap, I had averaged 281w in the 13 minutes before the A’s caught us. For the next 18 minutes, I would average 310 watts as I hung with the A’s!

But I did it. I stayed with that front group of hard-charging A’s. And one by one I saw the B riders who I recognized dropped from the group. Without a rider list on the right, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was the only B left – but I figured there was a good chance. Regardless, I knew I had to hang in with the A’s as long as possible to give myself the best chance at a win.

The Finish

Without the central HUD element I had nothing telling me overall distance or laps to go, except for the lap counter displayed after the start/finish banner. When the lap counter said 2, I knew things were going to get crazy – because the A’s had lapped me, so this was their final lap!

Sure enough, I got dropped at the top of the twisty climb as they hammered away. That meant I had 1.5 laps to ride by myself. I had actually caught up with Tor2000 by that time, having lapped him thanks to the A’s. So we rode together to the finish, and when I went through the arch, the only names initially shown were A’s. I was the first B across the line over a minute ahead of Cross who came in 2nd!

See my activity on Strava >
See results on ZwiftPower >

Watch the race video

Takeaways

This was a unique race for two reasons: because it was HUDless, and because I won by grabbing onto the A group as they lapped me. Both race firsts for me!

Going HUDless

The HUDless experience was really fun, and it forced me to pay closer attention to the actual avatars. With a minimap visible, would I have seen the A’s coming and been able to make a smoother jump into their group? Probably. But I was also so engaged in watching all the riders that I saw as soon as the A’s came into our group, and was able to respond.

Paying closer attention to the avatars helped me, I felt, to spot attacks more quickly. Instead of bouncing my eyes from the rider list to the peloton and back again repeatedly, I could simply focus on the riders around me.

I’ll be racing HUDless again. I wouldn’t want to do it on a route I didn’t know well, but if you’re familiar with the route, I think it’s a fun changeup from the typical Zwift race experience. Probably a disadvantage overall, but I hope that the focus it taught me carries over and benefits me when racing with the HUD.

Getting Lapped

The other takeaway is, it’s smart to look at group start times and anticipate being lapped on short loop courses like Crit City, Volcano Circuit, and possibly others depending on overall race length. Knowing it’s coming should allow you to make a smooth transition into that faster group – just another strategic advantage you can have over your rivals.

Your Thoughts

Have you ever raced HUDless? Have you ever grabbed onto a faster group as they lapped your bunch? Share below!

We are still anticipating the upcoming changes to the WTRL league system. Details are thin on the ground… but I’m expecting an announcement this week! We know there will be a new caffeine-fueled Doppio class filled with A+ riders, and a league system within Vienna but that’s all I have for now! If something comes up after I post this, I’ll add a breaking news section!

If you can’t ride, or even if you can ride, but want more action! Don’t forget to tune in to the live TV show on Zwift Community Live’s YouTube Channel at 6:15 (UK time). 

UCI Harrogate Recap

Before heading to the Big Apple let’s take a look at how well you did in Yorkshire (#73). What you see below is the finish time for the 11th team over the line – when this course was last run, this week’s PL qualification time, and my prediction for PL from last week’s recce. The last column shows what position “my team” would have attained this week. 

All I have to say is what happened to Vienna, Latte and Mocha – you guys knocked it out of the park… your categories significantly faster than in #58. Espresso, and Frappe came in exactly where predicted, slightly slower than #58.

Thursday 17th September – Astoria Line 8

Across the Atlantic this week, to New York’s Central Park. Astoria Line 8 is named for New York’s first subway line – but unlike London, we keep it above ground throughout. The route is an accurate replica of the surface roads in the Park – when the New York world was released Dave Chauner, racer from the 60’s said “Rode the new Central Park course this morning. It’s been a long time but I recognized every meter of the circuit”.

Three laps at 11.58km (7.2 miles) each with no lead-in gives a total distance of 34.75 km. There are no significant hills but this course is LUMPY – there is no significant flat on the course at all, but equally there are no mountains to climb. Elevation per lap is 141m (460’ in old money).

The layout of Astoria Line has confused me for ages – I ended up watching a ‘cast of the last TTT (thank you Team DIRT) to try and work it out. The pens are slightly the “wrong” side of the start/finish banner so technically (I think) what you have is a lead-in of 11.58km on a lap that’s also 11.58km. I’m going to try and ride this again and pay attention to where the pen is vs the start/finish.

The course itself is best described as a figure-8 if the 8 had an extra loop. 

A 2.25 km clockwise loop at the top of the park, straight down the west side of the park to (almost) 8km, then a 3km clockwise loop at the southern end before getting back to the start/finish banner at 11.5km. You can see the start/finish banner by the pens on the map. Of course, with Zwift you don’t have to worry about directions – just pedal and go!  

What to ride?

First off, an apology… last week’s recommendation included buying the S-Works Venge at Level 32… but that was a mistake because it’s not available until level 33! I know a few of you eagerly rushed to the Drop Shop only to be disappointed!

Just like last week, this is not a flat route, but there are no mountains – it’s best described as lumpy. One of the few similarities between Harrogate and New York. I am going to stick with my recommendations from last week – if you have Tron use that. If you are level 45 and want to show off you can run the S-Works Venge with 858/Super-9 wheels but it won’t give a time advantage.

Like last week, teams with newer Zwifters have got a great frame in the form of the Specialized Tarmac Pro SL7, which can be paired with the ENVE 3.4s or Rovals for decent performance.

Here are some choices for you at different levels – but to reiterate – none of these combinations beat the Tron around Astoria Line 8. 

• Level 5 Specialized SL7 with ENVE 3.4 (last week’s pick, the Rovals don’t climb well which is why I went with the ENVEs)
• Level 13 Keep the SL7, upgrade the wheels for ZIPP 808s
• Level 33 S-Works Venge with ENVE SES8.9
• Level 40 S-Works Venge with Zipp 858
• Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge

As always, the Zwift Insider reports on frames and wheels are superlative so if you want to find the perfect bike and wheel combo for you, check them out. 

Route recon

In my experience this is a hard route to break down and analyze. I find New York’s ground-level landmarks hard to differentiate between and I never seem to know where I am on the course. 

Prepare for an hour-long effort (45 minutes if you are a top-flight Espresso team, 1:15 if you are at the back of the Group D pack). I strongly recommend doing a few laps of Astoria Line 8 before the TTT. If you can, find a race or two to see how it feels at your threshold. If you can’t get on any other arranged ride, just do a group ride. Gold star if your team does its own TTT practice ride this week!

Check out the event listing on zwifthacks.com and find a ride or two. This weekend has some nice group rides and races for a practice. 

• Friday – If you’re keen there’s a 100km group ride arranged by ZTPL on Friday, perfectly timed for lunchtime in the USA and evening in UK/Europe. They will keep the pace around 3.5 w/k.
• Saturday – 3R Hilly Race will do 3 laps mid-morning in Europe.
• Saturday – Oh My Crit will do a 4 lap race mid-morning USA-time (late afternoon UK/EU time). 
• Sunday – The Peel Cycling Sunday Chase is one of my favorite weekly events, and this week it’s in the right place for a recce. Categories start 2-minutes apart and the mission is to chase down the Category in front of you… while taking copious notes of the course layout! Early morning USA, or lunchtime in UK/EU.
• Monday – If you aren’t in the mood for a race, MAAP have a nice 2.5 w/k group ride on Monday morning (UK) / early afternoon (UK/EU).

What to look out for on the ride

This is a technical ride. Like Harrogate last week, winning this week is all about knowing your team’s strengths and weaknesses under pressure. There are a couple of places where teammates might crack: the loop at the north of the park, and the bump right after the sprint are particular hotspots. , 

West side

Out of the gate here you hit a gentle rise and fall leading into the North Loop. This is the most straightforward part of the whole ride. A perfect time to get into your stride… or on subsequent laps to regroup. 

North loop

The north loop is a rollercoaster – On the segment picture below, you enter at the top (where the green turns to blue), take the right turn and straight up the hill – North Woods Climb East which is 400m at 5%, down the hill (get your heart rate down) then up East Drive Climb which is a curvy 420m at 5% again, bu has a tight 8% section in the middle.

East side

The east side straight is dominated by a triple bump hill. This isn’t steep by any stretch of the imagination – 400, 350 and 300m each at 2.5% – but it is a leg-sapping section, particularly as it comes right after East Drive Climb. After that though, you head downwards for 700m to the relative calm of the South Loop.

South loop

The south loop is fairly straightforward – a lumpy 3km around. Two areas of note – the sprint, which you can use as a distance marker (it’s 1.25km to the start/finish) and the climb right after the sprint banner (300m at 4%). 

The finish

That last climb isn’t rough – but I can tell you from personal experience that on the last lap, 300m at 4% is a killer. On the last TTT I got dropped here – but at least I did a decent turn on the front before pulling the parachute. 

The route has an uphill finish – 300m at 3%. Save some adrenaline for that on the last loop around!

Target times

I’m mighty proud of my predictions for last week – if you hit my times you would have been in the middle of the Premiere League in every category. But… what I want to do for you is get closer to the maximum time for each Coffee Class that will still get you into the Premiere. Let’s see how close I can get this week.

This course has been run twice before; last time was April (#53, my second TTT), before that was August last year (#44). 

Last week I assumed the times would be a little slower than at Peak Zwift in the spring. I am going to continue that this week.

There are few obvious landmarks to use as you sail through the splits, so I’m just going to use the distance markers and you can work out where they are yourself this week!

• Split 1 – 8km
• Split 2 – 18km
• Split 3 – 28km

My best time around here?

Wrap up

My closing words last week were that the Harrogate course was one to perfect team communications. If you practiced that in Yorkshire, you will reap the benefits here. The northern/eastern side (the first half of the ride) is pretty technical and I personally find it hard to know where we are at any given moment.

Once you hit the north loop it’s up, up, up in a sequence of bumps, but the second half opens up a little and is easier on the brain so the team can regroup. Like last week, this isn’t so much about equipment, it’s about situational awareness and team management. This is a great course for a Team Time Trial that I hate with a passion!