Since March I have become obsessed with the weekly Team Time Trial… so I asked Eric if I could share my obsession with you all, in weekly doses.
Each week on a Friday 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! Don’t forget to tune in to the live TV show on Zwift Community Live’s YouTube Channel at 6:15 (UK time).
Review of TTT #82 Tempus Fugit Target Times
Category
#52 PL
#82 PL
My Prediction
Position
Vienna
55:20
51:38
52:25
14th
Espresso
47:30
46:13
46:50
24th
Frappe
49:19
48:41
48:40
11th
Latte
53:07
52:04
52:50
25th
Mocha
1:00:28
58:02
58:24
17th
Coming into last week’s predictions I said you’d be fast… much faster than last time out on Tempus Fugit. But you blew me away here! Vienna almost 4 minutes faster and everyone else except Frappe were over a minute faster. I was conservative but now I know to increase my expectations of every one of you!
Thursday 19th November – Three Laps of Watopia Hilly
Staying in Watopia, but back on the old familiar mainland… in fact this week it is the oldest route in Zwift if you exclude Jarvis Island! This route hasn’t seen a lot of TTT action though – not since December 2019!
We will be doing three laps of Watopia’s Hilly Route for a total of 27.4km. Starting at the downtown pens go straight up the original climb, Hilly KOM. Down the long descent into the Italian Villas and through the sprint – then it’s across the Esses and back to downtown.
Hilly KOM is the obvious test here – but the Esses always add a piquant flavor to a team event too!
What to ride?
Hilly describes this course well – it’s not flat like last week, it’s not mountainous… it just isn’t at all flat. Use the bike to balance your weaknesses so you can stay with the team. That means if you are weak on the hills, lighten your bike and wheel combo. But if you are strong on hills but struggle to keep with the team on the downhill and flat, go completely aero!
I’m taking the balanced line – I will be on my Tron, which I hope will give me a helping hand over Hilly, while not giving up too much aero on the descents and flats.
Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge
I know I say it every week but it is doubly important this week. Get the Tron! There is no better ride this week.
Route Recon Rides
A few places to go for information – a race-focused recce from Zwift can be found here. Of course, it is focused on profiling the course from an individual racer’s perspective, but worth reading anyway.
Last week I suggested instead of doing a recce of the Tempus Fugit route you went out and did some paceline practice. This time you want a decent indication of how you’ll perform up Hilly and across the Esses. There are so many ways to recce this route – the simplest being to hop on and select Hilly Route. If you want an organized ride or race follow this link to Zwifthype.
Race Breakdown
Two areas of this route will define your success – up and down Hilly, and then the Esses.
You will climb Hilly KOM with fresh legs at 1km, then again at 10km, and a final time at 19.5km. Each visit will have a different story! Just under a kilometer in length, the climb comes in four distinct parts – how much you feel the distinction will depend on how tired you are.
The first 400m is steep, averaging 7% but up to 10%. It flattens for 50m as you round the bend then tightens back up to 6% again for 300m then eases to 2-3% for the remainder of the climb. Talk about how you will handle this among the team – but make sure you stay together.
The other area to watch is the Esses. Going in this direction (is this Esses forward, or Esses backward…?) you start with the hill which is 300M long, averaging 4%. I find this harder than it should be, and I’m not sure why. After that, the Esses themselves are a sequence of four bumps – not hard to ride, but the ascents/descents cause some instability in the team with different riders’ momentum causing some challenges.
Target times
Hilly Route hasn’t been ridden since December – when there were less than 100 teams. Nothing to work with there…
But I’m not going to let that stop me! Here are my target times:
Category
Finish
Vienna
42:30
Espresso
36:57
Frappe
38:45
Latte
42:00
Mocha
48:30
Wrap up
This race is all about getting the team up the Hilly KOM, and whether you accelerate or break apart through the Esses. It’s a short TTT in distance, but technical in nature. As is often the case – quick decision making and good communication will be critical.
For the past few months I have been putting together recce’s for the weekly Thursday Team Time Trial from WTRL. I race in a hungry mid-pack Latte (usually) team for Rowe and King (the Hyenas), and now I captain the R&K Ewoks on Tuesdays as well. So Eric asked me to put together a similar recce for the Zwift Racing League TTTs every other Tuesday.
ZRL #6 – A TTT on Greatest London Flat
This week the route is Greatest London Flat – around the city of London itself, then over to Surrey with the flattest of the three paths through. Some of you ride the WTRL Thursday TTT series… if so you are in luck, since you’ve already done a TTT recce of this course on the 3rd of September, and before that on the 4th of June.
My Thursday team was on coach-enforced hiatus through September so I didn’t race it – but I did tackle it back in June with the fantastic lads from Croissy International Cycling Club (CICC), mostly rejects from Britain now on the outskirts of Paris. While I didn’t ride the course on the 4th, I did do a course recce… so today’s job is a super-easy case of cut and paste in places!
Two little things to remember about the course this week:
This isn’t the Greater London Flat… its the GREATEST London Flat – this one is longer, heading south of the river, and into Surrey.
The lap starts and ends at The Mall, not at the Start/Finish banner on Upper Thames Street. Remember to add the extra 7km to your ride as you sail past!
A 7.5km lead in from the Pens, followed by a 23.6km loop through London and Surrey. Find all this and more in the ZwiftInsider route description.
If you want a fast-paced recce of the course with some rockin’ tunage to keep you company, jump on over to No Breakaways YouTube channel and take a look.
What to ride?
The clue is in the name… Greatest London FLAT. This is a mostly flat route so aero rules the day. If you have it, the Specialized S-Works Venge with Zipp 858/Super 9 wheels is the pick of the bunch (and the only frame/wheel combo to beat Tron on the flat). If you don’t have Zipp 858/Super 9, Tron is almost as good on this course. Side note: if you haven’t done it yet – kick off the Everest Challenge and start the long painful climb to get Tron.
If Tron or Venge aren’t options for you, here are the recommendations at various levels:
Level 45 get those sweet 858/Super9 hoops and pair them with the S-Works Venge
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. To reiterate… if you don’t have the Tron – start working on it.
Route recon
We begin with a lead-in from the start pens to the banner on The Mall:
Starting at the pens and it mostly downhill to Northumberland Avenue, where you head up the hill to Trafalgar Square. Sharp left at the top and then a right as you head towards Buckingham Palace and then down the Mall to the reverse sprint. You are now 7.5km into the ride, and this is where the Greatest London Flat lap actually starts.
The jaunt around Central London is mostly flat/false-flat, except when you head down Piccadilly through the Hyde Park Corner underpass and up the other side. Soon enough (17.5km) you will head across the river to Surrey – but fear not, you aren’t tacking Box, Fox, Keith, or Leith! You are just heading through the beautiful Surrey parkland. Through the Underground Station and across Tower Bridge (23.5km) and you’re soon on familiar ground – because you’ll pass the Pens and be back on the lead-in with 7.5km to go. Just follow Upper Thames Street, up the Northumberland Avenue hill to Trafalgar, left, right, past Buck House and a quick Reverse Sprint to cross the line.
The challenge with this ride in a TTT is that despite the name, it’s not really flat. The entire 32km undulates making it a pretty technical ride at the end of the day. There are a few real trouble spots for a team as well as you can see from the below.
There are a few rides on this route if you want a proper recce. Check out zwifthacks.com to find one that works for your team. Failing that, just set up a group Meetup in Zwift Companion.
What to look out for
This is a single lap race – with a seriously long lead-in. I break the race into four parts
Lead-in
Greater London
Surrey flats
Basically repeating the lead-in
The Lead-in
This lead-in is long… 7.5km. Its starts pretty flat out of the gates so you can get into formation and start riding along Upper Thames Street. It does undulate so keep an eye on your riders, and keep communicating.
The first proper bump is when the route turns sharp right onto Northumberland Avenue (3.7km) and you head up to Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column. Northumberland is a 150m stretch at 4% – you will have to keep the puncheurs in check and stay in formation. Make sure the team chats about how to handle this bump (as well as the others on this ride) so nobody is confused as to what to do.
After that it’s a sharp left at the top and down towards Parliament, then a sharp right towards Buckingham Palace. It’s all pretty flat from here to the start/finish gate at approximately 7.5km.
The start/finish line after the lead in
Greater London
The lap-proper starts off flat, then turns into a gentle (2-3% for 1.1km) descent at 11km towards the Hyde Park Corner underpass. You will pick up some speed here, then lose it again as you come up the other side at a similar grade.
After this it’s pretty much flat as you take a big circle around Central London. This segment is your opportunity to get into formation and sit at race speed until you cross over the Thames at km 17.2.
Surrey Flats
Slight bump over Lambeth Bridge, then a sharp drop into the Underground Station. The drop peaks at 17% so be aware your team will all go down it and gain different levels of momentum. Heavier riders should rein it in, while lighter riders may have to push a few extra revolutions to maintain position.
At 18km you hit what I think of as the worst part of the course… legs are starting to get worn, and there’s a 3km stretch of just annoying ramps. Can’t describe it better than that… annoying and just in the right place to create a split. As you push through, make sure you’re watching your teammates and getting ahead of any potential splits.
Right before 23km you exit the Tube station – it a short, sharp shock peaking at 15%. This will hurt. This will split the team. Your weaker team members will need to recover at the top. You will need to make a decision whether you slow down and let them recover, or leave them behind and accelerate onwards.
Across Tower Bridge, and then its familiar ground, because there are the pens on your right… and you’re back on the lead in.
Starting the lead in
Once more, the lead-in
Same as the first time except this time when you go up Northumberland Avenue your heart will be pounding in your chest, and your legs will be agony. Good fun, right?
In conclusion…
Zwift lied. They called this flat but it isn’t. There isn’t a significant area of flatness other than the long loop around Central London, but I suppose the Greatest London Undulation wouldn’t work as well!
So this ride is technical, with a couple of sticky areas for teams still getting the hang of the TTT format. If you have the opportunity, get out there and practice riding in formation. Either way, make sure you are working on your Discord skills – team communication will be the thing that makes the difference this week.
I’ve never had such a clear race plan as I did going into this week’s Zwift Racing League event. After putting together the course recon several days earlier, I knew everything hinged on getting over the first climb in touch with the front ~30 riders. And everyone else knew this, too. So I knew the flat lead-in would be fast, and the 5-minute effort up the first climb would be an all-out brawl.
Here’s how it unfolded for me.
The Warmup
As usual, I chewed a two pieces of caffeine gum and rubbed PR lotion on the legs, giving my body a bit of an edge since I knew today’s effort would be a maximal one.
Then I joined C. Cadence and her posse for a warmup on Tempus Fugit. Her pace is generally perfect for a race warmup for me – I can get me legs spun up to speed sitting in the group, then ride off the front for my 30-60 second warmup efforts, getting my heart rate up to 160bpm a few times before the real work begins.
Things weren’t looking good for me. As I put in the hard, short warmup efforts, I could tell the legs weren’t feeling great. Apparently I hadn’t quite recovered adequately from a decently climby outdoor ride on Saturday.
As soon as the notice popped up to join the event, I clicked so I could get a place close to the front in the start pens. I was looking for every advantage I could get! Then I exited the game and rejoined Coco for several more miles before it was time to head to the start pens for real.
The Start (and End?)
The clock hit zero, and we jumped out onto the roads of Central Park. The pace was high (no Zwift race starts easy!) but not crazy. Not yet.
As we neared the start of the first climb I moved to the front – a time-honored trick used by cyclists on climbs! Starting near the front lets you slowly drift back through the bunch, finishing the climb still in touch with the pack but near the back, having put in less effort than those who maintained their position.
Starting the climb near the front. A classic cyclist’s trick.
But I didn’t drift back slowly. Instead, the pack swarmed around me, and I went from 10th to 60th in 15 seconds. I stood up and hammered on the flat section partway up, but by the time we passed the actual KOM start line (2 minutes into the climb) I was in 83rd place. Brutal!
I put in another final dig on the steepest section just before the KOM banner, moving up to 70th place. There was a 4s gap to a line of riders just up the road, but I didn’t have anything left to chase them down! Then Zwift added insult to injury, giving me a feather powerup at the top of the climb.
And that was it: the race start was 7-1/2 minutes at 360W (a new personal best for me) and I was dropped from the front. The actual climb section lasted 5 minutes, and I averaged 371W for that portion.
Over the top in 70th, out of gas, with the chase group just seconds away.
A group of riders caught me from behind, including my teammate Alex – but none of us had the legs to push hard enough to catch the group up the road. The gap went out to 7 seconds, then 10. Soon enough the groups ahead coalesced into two packs, with mine being the third.
Trying to chase down the chasers.
The Middle
This is where I lost the mental battle. But maybe that’s not the best way to say it.
I had already resigned myself to the fact that I had very little chance of making it over the top with the front group. So I made my decision ahead of time: with only the front 30 riders earning extra points, I had decided that I’d give my legs a break and not push hard if I didn’t make it over the first KOM in a good position.
And that’s where I was. We weren’t catching the group ahead, so I just sat in the wheels. And when we hit the second little climb the group accelerated, and I just dropped off the back. Why not? I’d earn the same one point for my team no matter where I finished, and this way I could have fresh legs to race on Thursday.
In a typical Zwift scratch race, I keep pushing to the end, fighting for places. But ZRL’s points structure makes it hard to turn myself inside out in order to finish 60th, when I’ll get the same points as 90th place. That’s not a criticism of ZRL (although some have implored ZRL to extend the extra points down to 60th place or so). Rather, it’s just an explanation of what motivates (and demotivates) me as a racer. It may be the same for you – or not.
The (Actual) End
I came over the top of the last KOM in 96th place out of 128. In the final kilometers after that climb I pushed the pace just a bit, working to catch riders up the road. We ended up with a group of 4, sprinting for 91-94th place (ha)! I almost took 91st, but got pipped by B Lambert of TT1 at the line.
Only one member of my team (DIRTy Beasts Hellhounds) finished in the points – Scott Olsen finished 24th (well done, sir!).
The rest of us earned just the single finishing point. That gave us a 16th-place finish for this race – our worst showing yet in this inaugural Zwift Racing League season. This drops us down to 11th place overall (out of 22 teams). But we plan to claw back a few places in next week’s TTT!
Takeaways
No big news here – this race was the perfect illustration of how my w/kg in the 1-5 minute range is my biggest weakness as a rider. I’ve got the punch to keep speed up on steep climbs of a minute or two, but anything over that and I really struggle, especially against a strong field like we’re seeing each week in ZRL.
Could I have raced this any better, perhaps staying in touch with that second group up the road? Maybe. Maybe if my legs were just a bit fresher, maybe if I’d pushed harder at key points on the climbs, maybe if I had a feather powerup, I could have clawed back those crucial 4 seconds and gotten over the top on the wheel of that second pack.
But even if I managed that, I wouldn’t have made it over the second KOM in the top 30. Looking at finish times and groups, best-case scenario has me finishing around 40th place. Close, but no cigar!
Your Thoughts
Did you race Everything Bagel on Tuesday? How did it go for you? Share below!
Canyon//SRAM let us know what they want to see in a new teammate, Leah’s back to answer questions about FTP, Dan and Stephen show us workout #7, and Matt Stephens is on to chat about the pro teams.
Team Type 1 is at it again with another event you won’t want to miss! It’s a 24-hour team relay happening all day this Saturday, November 14 on World Diabetes Day!
What is World Diabetes Day?
World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by IDF and WHO to raise awareness about the growing health threat that comes with diabetes:
Why is this such a big concern? Check out some of the stats about diabetes from the World Diabetes Day website:
In 2019 463 million adults (1-in-11) were living with diabetes
1 in 2 adults with diabetes remain undiagnosed
More than 3 in 4 people with diabetes live in low and middle-income countries
Diabetes caused 4.2 million deaths in 2019
How Can I Join Others Riding for World Diabetes Day?
Choose one of the following fun ways, anytime on November 14, 2020 between 12AM EST and 11:59PM EST:
Join Team Type 1 teammate, Steve Reynolds, anytime during the 24 hours. He is planning to ride 24 hours straight!!! To join Steve on ZWIFT, simply add him on your ZWIFT Companion App prior to your ride by searching for his name, Steve Reynolds TT1F. Once his name appears, click to add him to your App. When you are ready to start your relay ride, simply log into ZWIFT, select Watopia, you’ll see his name listed. Click his name, and then click join Steve. You will be transported to him on the ZWIFT Tempus Fugit route. He is not planning to ride fast, and it will be GREAT!
Join the Pace Partner C. Cadence anytime during the 24 hours. Simply log into ZWIFT, select Watopia, and you will see the Pace Partners listed. Choose Coco and you will be teleported to her. There will be many others following her as well. She rides pretty fast (2.5 w/kg), so join Steve instead if you prefer. In the event that the Pace Partners aren’t riding that day, join Steve instead.
Join one of the many teams who are doing social rides and races in solidarity with Team Type 1:
Team Type 1 Weekly Social Ride led by Mark Deal on November 14, 2020 at 10:10AM EST. The ride will be on the same route that Steve and Coco will be riding (Tempus Fugit).
Yes! Team Type 1 is raising money for two excellent organizations: Team Type 1 Foundation and JDRF!
Team Type 1 Foundation believes that nobody should die from diabetes; that nobody should suffer hardship or a lower quality of life because they have diabetes. Access to healthcare is a human right. Their vision is a world without poor health or death from diabetes, and without the common stigma that people with diabetes can’t – because, as they say: We Can. We Do. Go here to donate to Team Type 1 Foundation >
A donation to JDRF means you’re helping fund critical T1D research across the globe in support of their mission: to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. Join them, and as they say: together we can turn Type One into Type None. Go here to donate to JDRF >
(Pictured above: my first Zwift ride, then a ride at Zwift’s 2019 Eurobike booth almost 4 years later.)
Five years ago today I went for my first ride on Zwift.
It was my first winter after returning to serious road cycling, and I was already dreading the roller sessions. At the time, none of my local riding buddies were using Zwift – I’m not sure any had even heard of it. But I saw it on a random Facebook post, downloaded the game, ran it in “just watch” mode, and immediately knew I had to give it a try.
After a little research, I found a website in Germany selling Tacx Vortex Smart trainers for ~$290 to my door, and I pulled the trigger.
First Zwift session: November 12, 2015
The night my Vortex arrived I put it together, hooked my bike in, and went for my first Zwift ride from the middle of my living room. The trainer wasn’t calibrated, and I wasn’t dressed for a real ride… so that effort didn’t last long.
But two days later I went for my first “real” Zwift ride – two laps of Watopia’s Hilly Route (which was the only route on Watopia at the time). Uploading it to Strava certainly confused local friends. “Are you in the Solomon Islands right now?”
I wish I had been on Zwift from the beginning, but when Zwift beta launched in 2014 I was just returning to serious cycling after an 18-year hiatus. So I never got to ride Jarvis. But what I have been a part of has been special. So each year, I look back and deliver my perspective as a Zwifter and the editor of the web’s most popular Zwift fansite.
Zwifting as a Necessity
Our all-time Peak Zwift of 34,940 came in the middle of worldwide Covid lockdowns. Those same lockdowns shut down pro cycling for months, driving many pros indoors, where they discovered Zwift. At one point in mid-lockdown we had several pro teams per week leading group events, and pro riders on course at all hours of the day. It was wild!
The same happened to non-pros, of course. Cyclists who had never considered Zwift now found it as the best of only a handful of options. Smart trainer sales soared, with some retailers reporting a 900% increase year over year. Getting up and running on Zwift is no small thing – it typically means purchasing a smart trainer, and often some accessories. This barrier to entry was simply too big for many cyclists, but when it became the only option, that barrier was suddenly a minor factor.
Stepping Into the Mainstream
This year, much more than ever before, Zwift has become part of the mainstream cycling world. What was once a small bunch of misfit techies celebrating one hundred concurrent riders is now a massive online community where several thousand regularly ride together.
Zwift is no longer a small startup. It’s not just a beta for nerdy cyclists. This year, Zwift was, in many ways, the biggest thing in cycling.
Today most cyclists know what Zwift is, even if they aren’t “Zwifters”. We see setups in bike shops, ads during the Tour de France, events at world tour UCI races. Most of my local riding buddies are now on Zwift – even the ones who poked fun at me that first winter.
And Zwift is no longer seen as the bad weather antidote: it’s avoiding city traffic. It’s confidence for elderly riders. It’s inspiration for anyone recuperating from injury. It is a supportive community you can access from wherever, whenever. And that’s powerful stuff.
Zwift has become a thing. A really good thing.
Trainers: Much Progress, but Further to Go
The KICKR, now in its 5th edition
If you wanted a smart trainer in late 2015 your choices were slim. Wahoo’s KICKR ruled the day, but if you couldn’t shell out $1200 you were limited to a small number of trainers that weren’t terribly accurate or reliable. The Vortex Smart I purchased did the job for a season, but I would upgrade after a year to a Tacx Neo and become a “direct driver” for life. (Today my wife rides the Neo while I use a KICKR v5).
Today we have a lot of options when it comes to choosing a smart trainer! (I spent many hours this summer putting together the Zwift Insider Smart Trainer Index, and one thing that experience taught me was that there are many, many smart trainer models on the market.)
Lots of options is a good thing. Lots of good options is even better! Unfortunately, the past twelve months haven’t seen much innovation in the smart trainer space. While we did celebrate the release of an updated Direto and KICKR, there hasn’t been anything eye-opening in the smart trainer world in months. What we are seeing is the price of high-quality direct-drive trainers slowly dropping, as the features of “budget” direct drive trainers begin to match the features of past years’ premium trainers. Today for ~$900 you can get a trainer with the same capabilities as the $1200 trainers of a few years back.
Covid has slowed this drop in prices, as demand has outpaced supply. But we’ll continue to see prices drop and features improve in the $700-$900 range of trainers.
Are we living in the golden age of indoor trainers? Not by a long shot. I would summarize today’s trainer market as there is still plenty of room for improvement, but we’ve come a long way. Today’s smart trainers still suffer from compatibility issues with certain frames, connectivity challenges, poor calibration tools, and setup requirements that are daunting to many cyclists. It’s still too hard to get going on Zwift, and that needs to change.
ZwiftHQ sees this. That’s why they’ve spun up a “Fitness Tech” division. They’re being pretty tight-lipped about what’s in the works, but suffice it to say it won’t be the same as what’s already on the market. They want a simple, reliable solution. I’m thinking a plug and play smart bike, probably with an integrated screen/computer. Just buy it, plug it in, and start riding. Like a Peloton bike… but for cyclists. 😉
A Virtual Tour de France. It really happened!
The eRacing Niche
Zwift racing participation continues to increase, with the first-ever Zwift Racing League pulling in a massive 6,000+ registered riders each week. And of course, we can’t forget the Virtual Tour de France, which was a huge deal, even though only top pros could participate.
But 2020 has seen Zwift less focused on eRacing than past years. And that’s not an accident – it’s a purposeful shift in focus toward the needs of the overall Zwift community. While Jon Mayfield was chided by the community early on for saying racing on Zwift was “niche”, in a way he was right! The majority of Zwifters aren’t racing – not even close. And with tens of thousands of new riders coming online thanks to Covid lockdowns, Zwift made the decision to focus resources on maintaining a stable platform and a steady stream of events for riders of all stripes.
There simply hasn’t been much development on the eRacing side of things in the past year. Features like anti-sandbagging are still only seen in a handful of events, and Zwift taking over ZwiftPower has meant no further innovation on that front.
As a regular racer on Zwift, I certainly have a list of improvements I’d like to see. All Zwift racers do! But I also realize that devoting development resources to race-specific features means fewer resources applied to features that could improve the experience for even more people. It’s a tough balance.
So Many Rides, So Little Time
There was no in-game event calendar five years ago. The community organized their own events and shared them on a Teamup calendar, and riders had to choose the right course then congregate at the start/finish banner before the event. Racers would jump the gun, make wrong turns, have their clocks set wrong… it was a mess! But we made it work because it had to. You couldn’t have hundreds of riders hanging out in one place without some competition!
We also only had two worlds: Watopia and Richmond. (Confession time: I fell in love with Richmond as a race course early on, and still love it. My first Zwift race was on Richmond, so it holds a special place in my heart even though I get dropped on Libby Hill every. single. time.) Happily, this year Richmond got a refresh, making it a much more palatable course for many Zwifters.
Now we have events happening around the clock – a few hundred every day! And ten worlds to choose from.
Support: Here For You
Zwift’s documentation and support were pretty sparse back in 2015, which is one reason why this website was built. When I had a question I would research the answer then document it here. Eventually, I started doing the same for other people’s questions (usually pulled from the Zwift Riders Facebook group), and before I knew it a sort of Zwift knowledgebase had developed.
Thankfully, Zwift has built a large support team since that time. It grew significantly larger when lockdown began, as thousands flooded to the platform and with them, many questions. This year, Zwift even spun up a program to allow Zwifters to perform a support role on the forums and get paid for their labors. What will that lead to? Only time will tell.
Changing Zwift Staff
Early on I was impressed by Zwift’s core team. Eric Min would pop into support chats on Facebook. Jon Mayfield would chime in on Reddit threads. And Lindsay Ruppert or Eric Chon always had some appropriate snark for anyone whining in the Zwift Venting Area.
These staffers were engaged in the community, passionate about what they were building, and cyclists themselves. Eric’s enthusiasm was boundless and infectious.
Five years in, I’ve been able to rub real-world elbows with hundreds of Zwift staffers at various events, and I communicate with many of them on a regular basis. A big re-org happened this year with Zwift’s top management, and one big result I’ve seen from that is Wes Salmon taking a more public-facing role. That’s been a good thing. As a longtime and regular Zwifter, Wes has his finger on the pulse of what the community needs. But he’s also got the project management experience to make stuff happen.
Zwift staffers have been largely working remotely since Covid began. Has this slowed the pace of development, or perhaps reduced their ability to collaborate effectively? That’s unclear. But I think it’s fair to say that for Zwift (and most companies around the world) Covid has presented some major challenges and created a need for creative thinking and organizational flexibility.
Virtual + Meatspace
When I joined Zwift five years ago, I never would have guessed that I would fly halfway around the world to hang out with people I only knew through a virtual cycling platform.
And yet, that’s what I’ve done. More than once!
In June 2019 Monica and I celebrated our twentieth anniversary with a trip to Girona, where we hung out with Zwiftcast’s Simon Schofield and several other Zwifters for a week of beautiful rides and late-night dinners.
(left to right) Zwifters Glen Knight, myself, Al Clewley, and Kerry Smith riding the Girona Gran Fondo, June 2019
It may have begun with a virtual spin session, but the relationships I’ve built through Zwift have become real, personal, and valuable. I’m looking forward to doing more “Zwift Travel” in the near future.
The Future Is Bright
It’s not hyperbole to say my involvement with the Zwift community has been life-changing. It’s changed my fitness, it’s changed my work life – it’s even changed my vacation plans! And I’m loving every minute of it.
This winter is going to be crazy, with the crush of new riders on the platform. And I firmly believe that our community will keep growing as the Zwift platform develops and Zwift leadership strives toward their goal of more people, more active, more often. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Zwift has just announced that El Giro de Rigo is returning to the platform, and happening this weekend! Normally a massive outdoor event, this year’s El Giro de Rigo in Colombia has unfortunately been canceled due to COVID-19, so Zwift has become the sole destination for 2020 El Giro de Rigo fun.
Last year’s event was very popular with its prizes and a chance to ride with the great Colombian pro cyclist Rigoberto Urán.Here are the details of this year’s events…
Routes
This year’s event includes two route options. The “official” route is a 70km ride on Watopia’s Big Foot Hills, or Zwifters can choose a shorter 42.3km effort on Watopia’s Out and Back Again.
The category you select will determine the gender(s) you compete against as well as your route length. Categories for these events are not based on power numbers.
A: open category (men + women), 70km Big Foot Hills route
B: women only, 70km Big Foot Hills route
C: open category (men + women), 42.3km Out and Back Again route
D: women only, 42.3km Out and Back Again route
Event Schedule
There are currently 11 “2020 El Giro de Rigo” events scheduled this weekend, with the first happening Saturday at 10:05pm Pacific, and the last on Monday at 5:05am Pacific. Rigo will be joining two of the rides – on Sunday at 5:05am and Monday 5:05am Pacific.
Zwifters race for a variety of reasons. Some do it to train for outdoor events, others do it for the pure fun of competition. Some do it to test their personal limits – others because they’re part of a team.
I was going into this race with a different sort of goal – to complete a structured workout in the context of a live race event. I’ve raced as a workout before, but this was a workout I hadn’t yet tried. My motivation was Tuesday’s big Zwift Racing League event on NYC’s Everything Bagel – a race that would be won or lost over a few climbs. And I knew those climbs were my kryptonite.
So I conceived a plan to work on my VO2 Max power during a Crit City race. Would one workout fix my historic VO2 Max w/kg weakness? Nah. But 12 laps of the Bell Lap route would provide the perfect environment for an engaging and challenging workout. And what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
A Bit About VO2 Max
The terms “VO2 Max” refers to the maximal volume of oxygen that can be inhaled and absorbed by your body. It is widely considered the gold standard for evaluating cardiorespiratory fitness.
Cycling coach Jeff Winkler says, “Think of VO2 Max as a supply-and-demand of oxygen, transporting it from the lungs to working muscles. Things that affect that are how well your lungs function at moving oxygen from the air into the blood, the stroke rate and volume of your heart, and capillary density. The demand is the rate that your muscles call for oxygen, a mitochondrial process.”
Testing your capacity to absorb oxygen requires a lab, and the results are stated in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, or ml/kg/min. But there are road tests we can take to predict our VO2 Max in terms of power. One simple test: your VO2 Max power is understood to be 110-120% of your FTP. Based on my ZwiftPower numbers, my FTP is 95% of 319 (so 303.5W), making my VO2 Max fall somewhere in the range of 333-364W.
Why does VO2 Max matter? Because it’s a huge determiner of your ability as a cyclist. On Zwift, we see riders pushing to their VO2 Max in many races with short climbs (think 3-5 minutes). In fact, it could be argued that your 1 and 5-minute power is more a determiner of Zwift race success than your FTP. But we’ll leave that for another day!
Warmup and Workout Planning
After chewing a couple pieces of MEG caffeine gum and rubbing some PR lotion into the legs, I headed over to Tempus Fugit for a warmup. Just a typical warmup – around 25 minutes, with a few hard efforts to get my heart rate up to 160.
While I warmed up I mentally rehearsed the ride plan. The race was 12 laps long, and I knew Crit City laps take about 2-1/2 minutes to complete. So I would do two hard laps, then two recovery laps. Repeating this 3 times gave me a total of 12 laps, with 15 minutes of VO2-level effort. Perfect! (Painful, but perfect.)
My grand vision was that I would jump off the front of the pack and stay away for two laps, then they would reel me in as I recovered. Wash, rinse, repeat. But as I checked the signup list I realized the B group had grown in numbers and strength since I had last checked. There were a handful of riders ranked higher than myself, and plenty of strength in the group.
I figured my grand vision might not quite pan out, but it would be a great workout regardless. Let’s race!
The Start (Set 1)
My first tough interval began when the clock hit zero and we charged out of the pens. We had 57 riders in our group, and I was immediately on the front with a couple of other riders, the pack strung out behind us.
Riding on the front – it felt so inefficient!
I knew I could hold around 350W for 5 minutes, so that was what I targeted on the flatter sections. Usually the pace settles down after the first little climb on Crit City, but I keep pushing over the crest, trying to keep my wattage up on the brick descent.
This was a really strange experience mentally. My brain kept questioning why I was pushing hard on the front of the pack! Especially on a descent. Especially on the first lap of the race. And especially when my legs already hurt!
It took some mental gymnastics to keep my body working hard for those first two laps, and I never got a significant gap on the group. But I think the pace stretched things out and dropped a few riders, so that felt good.
After two laps I sat up, going back to my natural habitat of sitting in the draft and riding efficiently.
Lap 5 began soon enough, and with it my next tough VO2 effort. I went hard up the twisty climb, deploying the breakaway burrito on the front so any chasers had to work a little bit harder. But I didn’t drop a single rider in our front pack of ~20. In fact, I was having a hard time staying on the front!
I kept naturally defaulting to sitting in the wheels to recover, before slapping myself and pushing hard to keep the wattage up. But the legs were hurting! I finished the second lap (not a meter too soon) and eased up, sitting in the wheels to recover. I was sure my power was lower for that second set – I could feel that the legs just weren’t fresh enough for an breakout effort today.
The Finish (Set 3)
By the 9th lap I was feeling the effort and realizing that perhaps my neat and tidy lap breakdown wasn’t so smart after all. Because now I was staring down the barrel of two full-gas VO2 interval laps, followed by the final two laps which would surely not be easy! Would I even survive to sprint it out in the end?
I was so busy thinking that I forgot to go hard at the lap banner to begin my third and final VO2 Max set. But I remembered soon enough and went hard up the twisty climb. The group stretched just a bit, but I could tell my wattage was far from impressive. Oh well – it was going to be a killer workout if nothing else! So I pushed for laps 9 and 10, sometimes finding myself in the middle of our pack of ~20, other times riding on the front in a position my mind was not happy with.
At the end of lap 10 I sat up, and just tried to take it easy while staying in the pack. I figured lap 11 would be fairly easy, then 12 would be hellish. Riders were still pushing the pace on the front, but sitting in the draft meant I could hang with the pack at 270W instead of 320W. Much easier.
The final lap hit, and the pace of the group rose palpably as we hit the twisty climb. All I had was a friggin steamroller for a powerup, which would be of no help in the sprint. So I just worked to stay in touch with the front group, using my steamroller on the bricks to make me roll just a bit faster.
A small group had broken off the front, but I didn’t have the legs to chase, so I hoped my pack would reel them in. And we pretty much did, but by that time everything was going fast and the pack was a strung-out mess! I shifted down a couple gears, got out of the saddle, and went all in at the last left turn. I passed a few riders in the final meters, finishing 8th on the day.
While it was difficult, I’d take this sort of a workout format over a solo ERG workout any day! VO2 Max work is really tough, but doing it in a race context helps the time fly by.
My “recovery” between sets wasn’t easy at all (270W+). And I think this made it so I couldn’t hold my normal VO2 wattage for all three intervals. Is that a downside to this style of workout… or a benefit? Is it better to hold that precise VO2 wattage for each interval, or to struggle to hold it while riding tempo in between, just like I would in a race?
I’m not really sure. But here are my numbers for each set:
VO2 Set 1: 361W for 5:02, 175BPM, 88RPM Recovery Set 1: 285W for 5:14, 170BPM, 84RPM
VO2 Set 2: 332W for 5:14, 178BPM, 87RPM Recovery Set 2: 273W for 5:24, 172BPM, 84RPM
VO2 Set 3: 312W for 5:17, 177BPM, 86RPM Recovery Set 3: 321W for 5:08, 176BPM, 87RPM
You can see my power dropped on each VO2 interval. And my so-called “recovery” set on those final two laps was anything but!
I set a new 6-week power PB in the 11:20-18:10 range, which was unexpected.
Would I do this again? For sure. But I think what I’d like to try it in a double draft race, where I could get more recovery on the easy portions. It would mean even less chance of me getting away off the front on the hard intervals, but after this race/workout experience, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen anyway. The pack is just moving too fast for me to create a gap and stay away at my VO2 max power.
And that’s another takeaway from this race – just a reminder of the massive difference in effort between riding on the front and sitting in the pack. Just like outdoors, you can kill yourself in the wind on the front of the pack, putting out 350W. Or you can sit in at 270W a few wheels further back. Both positions serve a purpose, but for most racers, if you’re looking to win, sitting in makes the most sense!
Your Thoughts
Have you ever executed a structured workout in a race? Share below!
In this podcast special, Matt Lieto brings in Sean Jefferson to talk about the inaugural Zwift Academy Run program. The training camp is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join Zwift’s new top-end run team, and explore some killer workouts to improve your fitness.
Matt and Sean bring on Terrence Mahon, a world-renowned coach and runner in his own right, to chat about the coaching program he created.
Some really good banter and running history covered in this episode. Give it a listen!
About the Podcast:
The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.
