I’ve selected two stories of pro cyclists who rocked the world in different ways (Road to Valor and Major Taylor), a gritty look at becoming a pro racer in 1980’s Belgium (A Dog In a Hat), and one of the most highly-recommended training manuals available today (Training and Racing with a Power Meter). Enjoy!
A True Story of WWII Italy, the Nazis, and the Cyclist Who Inspired a Nation
Aili and Andres McConnon
Gino Bartali is an Italian cycling legend who not only won the Tour de France twice but also holds the record for the longest time span between victories. He first won in 1938 at the age of 24, then won again 10 years later. A lot happened in between, including Bartoli’s secret work to save Jews during the war.
Based on nearly ten years of research, Road to Valor is the first book ever written about Bartali in English and the only book written in any language to explore the full scope of Bartali’s wartime work. An epic tale of courage, resilience, and redemption, it is the untold story of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.
Modern cyclists have access to more trainer data than ever before – but what do you do with it? This latest edition updates what has become one of the top training guides for self-coached cyclists.
Pioneering cycling coach Hunter Allen and exercise physiologists Dr. Andy Coggan and Stephen McGregor show how to use a power meter to find your baseline power data, profile your strengths and weakness, measure fitness and fatigue, optimize your daily workouts, peak for races, and set and adjust your racing strategy during a race.
An American Bike Racer’s Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium
Joe Parkin
In 1987, Joe Parkin was an amateur bike racer in California when he ran into Bob Roll, a pro on the powerhouse Team 7-Eleven. “Lobotomy Bob” told Parkin that, to become a pro, he must go to Belgium.
Riding along a canal in Belgium years later, Roll encountered Parkin, who he described as “a wraith, an avenging angel of misery, a twelve-toothed assassin”. Roll barely recognized him. Belgium had forged Parkin into a pro, and changed him forever.
A Dog in a Hat is the remarkable story of the un-ordinary education of Joe Parker and his love affair with racing, set in the hardest place in the world to be a bike racer.
The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame
Conrad and Terry Kerber
“Before Magic, before Ali, before Jesse Owens, there was Major Taylor.” ~Bob Roll
At the turn of the century, one of the world’s most popular athletes was a black bicycle racer named Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor. Known throughout the country, he was the fastest man in America and the first African American cyclist to achieve the level of world champion. But he still faced the virulent racism and belittling treatment that was a daily occurrence for so many.
With more big events than ever in our virtual cycling paradise, it’s easy to miss some really cool rides! Here are 5 events this weekend that you won’t want to miss.
Special thanks to Jesper at ZwiftHacks with his Events app which provides powerful event filtering tools so we can narrow the weekend list from 400+ events to just a handful.
Haute Route Community Rides // Quatch Quest
Ready for a challenge? Hit the tough Quatch Quest route with other riders in your category. Go easy if you’d like, or go all-in for a race.
Best of all, this ride helps doctors on the front lines of the pandemic! All miles ridden will be donated to support Mexican doctors working against COVID-19.
Stage 4 of Zwift’s biggest-ever fundraiser series begins tomorrow (Saturday)! This stage is all about the big climbs, with group rides and races up the Alpe and Epic KOM.
Learn more about the Tour for All, then join a ride or run. You can make it an easy group ride, or go for a race effort.
Here’s a ride we stumbled across that deserves the community’s support. We’re short on details, but what we know is enough! The event description simply says “Riding the Tour of Fire and Ice route finishing at the top of Alpe Du Zwift with Samantha who is 8 and is cycling to try and stay on top of arthritis in her knees and back.”
Sign up, get a solid workout, and support little Samantha!
Join Rigoberto Urán of Education First Pro Cycling for an all out effort to the top of the Epic KOM. This ride is short (7.5 miles), but it’s gonna hurt!
Rigo will lead out the group and it’s going to be full gas from the get go. Try to stay with the Yellow Beacon for as long as possible.
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments! And if you participate in any of these events, let us know how your ride went.
Zwift has rolled out a new series of six group rides running from today through May 18th, centered around BC Bike Race (BCBR), one of the most renowned mountain bike races in the world!
The rides are led by Geoff Kabush, a Canadian pro cyclist who has earned dozens of accolades over his career. 15 Canadian National titles. Five US National MTB Series titles. A World Cup win. He’s stood on nine World Cup podiums, and is a three-time Olympian. He’s also a two-time BCBR winner!
Geoff will join all six events and be on hand to answer any questions, Q&A style.
Ride Schedule and Routes
All six rides are held on routes which center on the Jungle: Road to Ruins, Jungle Circuit, and reverse versions of those routes. You’ll want to prep your mountain bike! These are group rides, but many riders will doubtless be racing. You do you – pick a pace and find a group. Late joining is allowed!
Early this week I joined other Club Jarvis members to test yet another Zwift FutureWorks feature. Called the “Sights and Sounds Tour”, and the basic idea is that all on-screen HUD elements are removed, so you can enjoy a screen full of Watopian visuals. It was a fun experience, and I want to share some thoughts about it! But first…
FutureWorks Update
But let’s take a step back and review where we’re at with Zwift’s FutureWorks features. If you recall, Club Jarvis was spun up in late March 2020 as a way for veteran Zwifters to test Zwift’s new FutureWorks features. (It may sound strange, but the first FutureWorks feature Club Jarvis members tested was Club Jarvis itself!) Although the Clubs feature set is fairly basic, it seems to be functional and stable. A month and a half later, it’s still the only club in Zwift – but hopefully other clubs will get onboarded soon.
A few weeks after Clubs launched, I hopped into the first-ever “members-only” event, where a slew of long-time Zwifters went for an social spin around Sand and Sequoias while cracking jokes on Discord and chatting about new game features. This test of a “club-only” event seemed to go quite nicely.
So we already had three FutureWorks “modules” released to Club Jarvis: Clubs, Members-Only Events, and Boost Mode. Now we have a fourth!
Sights and Sounds
The event description said:
Experience the sights and sounds of Watopia in this experimental, bare bones Zwift ride. No timers, no watts, no text at all… just pure Zwift.
This ride will be automatically led by Jarvis the Bear who will be rolling at a solid 2.5w/kg. You can choose to hang around with Jarvis or do your own thing.
So there were actually two interesting things happening on this ride. First, we have the bare bones “experimental” mode. While we were in the start pens, the standard message box was on the right. But once the ride began, all HUD elements disappeared, and the only text we ever saw on the screen was rider names above avatars.
Here’s a video of my first Sand and Sequoias lap on this ride, so you can experience it for yourself:
I’m not sure if Zwift is doing anything beyond just enabling the “Minimal UI” preference setting for these events. One thing I did notice is that it seemed like the visual quality was a bit better on this Club Jarvis ride – the graphics on the backs of riders’ jerseys were sharp even when I was close up, where typically they start to look a little low-res on my normal Zwifting setup.
What Was It Like?
Riding in “Sights and Sounds” mode was more engaging in some ways – more like a real club ride, where I felt I had to pay attention to the riders around me, and I could see more of the scenery. (Did you know there are ruins on top of the desert start/finish rock arch?) We were all in the same Zwift Beta kit, which made it hard to pick out riders from the bunch. I think a race in this mode would be really interesting, as long as riders could wear their own kit!
I found myself getting picky about the sounds I was hearing – it seemed like the rolling road noise and dings from the UI were overpowering. I wanted to be surrounded by nature sounds, and maybe some sounds of other riders. So while the visuals were quite nice, I think I would opt to listen to music in my earbuds until Zwift upgrades their soundscape.
Messaging was interesting – I could hit “M” and type a message on screen, but it only showed up if people were looking at messages on Companion – which many riders were doing. I found myself wanting to make a quick comment here or there, but not doing it because it felt like nobody would see it.
Overall, I’d say Sight and Sounds mode is a nice option for event organizers, and could make for some really interesting “stripped down” racing. Other Club Jarvis riders who participated in this event had very positive things to say as well, so my guess is we’ll see this as an optional event mode in the future.
Jarvis the Robo-Bear
The second feature of this ride was Jarvis the Bear. He had actually made an appearance in our first Club Jarvis event but in this ride he was the official leader, complete with some auto-scripted messaging before the ride began.
As promised, he held 2.5 w/kg steady for the whole ride. That meant he hung with our main pack until we hit the redwoods, at which point many riders (including myself) bumped up our wattage on the climbs, and Jarvis quickly got dropped.
Is this a useful feature for Zwift events? I could see how a constant wattage beacon would be handy for flat rides. I’m not sure if would work on hilly routes, unless Zwift builds a feature to algorithmically scale Jarvis’ efforts on climbs.
For example: ride leaders could enter the wattage range for the ride (say, 2.5-3 w/kg). Jarvis would hold the lower end on flats, then on climbs his effort would scale up in proportion to the incline. So he might only bump it up to 2.6 w/kg on a 2% rise, but 3.0 w/kg on a 10%+ rise. It could make for a really challenging pacer-bot session if done right!
Zwifters have been asking for pacerbots for years – more specifically, they’ve been wanting a pacerbot of their own best efforts, so they could race themselves. Jarvis may just be the beginning of such a bot.
Your Comments
What do you think of these FutureWorks features? Have you been able to try them yourself? Comment below!
After an easy recovery day, I was looking forward to hitting a longer, harder Zwift race for today’s effort. Scrolling through the events list, I couldn’t find a race that was exactly what I wanted – so instead I signed up for the Sydkysten/KST Race which would be held over two laps of the Greatest London Flat route.
Being on a flatter course was a good thing for me, although the Greatest London Flat route always kicks my butt when we hit the rises through the park section. Happily, this was a double draft event, which works in my favor over those rises as long as I could hold a wheel.
The only downside was that all the categories were starting together, which meant I would be starting hard and holding onto the A’s as long as possible. Not my preference, but without another race that fit my schedule, I decided to give it a go anyway. Because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
The Warmup
I started my race prep the same way I always do – a couple pieces of caffeine gum and some PR lotion on the legs. I was running a bit later than usual, so my Tempus Fugit warmup was only around 15 minutes long. Shorter than my usual ~30 minutes, but I tried to convince myself that, since this was a longer race, perhaps a shorter warmup would be sufficient.
(Typically longer outdoor road races don’t start very hard – they often have a lead-in/warmup section, in fact, so a shorter warmup is permissible. In contrast, short road races start harder, so a longer warmup is needed. Unfortunately, that race rule only really works outside. Zwift races always start hard!)
With just a couple minutes to go, I clicked to head for the London start pens. It had been a while since I last raced on the London map. Let’s race!
The Start
The clock hit zero, and the race started hard. I averaged 336W for the first 5 minutes and 318W for the first 11 minutes. Then someone on the front of the pack pinned it hard on the false flat as we left the Classique’s red pavement. Our pack got strung out and gaps opened up – including one directly in front of my bike!
Dropped!
I was dropped. Time to assess the situation.
I had two riders with me: and A named Pollizzi and a fellow B named Nero. The three of us grouped up and began working together, wondering if we could stay away from the chase group that was doubtless forming behind.
This being a double draft race, I had my doubts about our ability to stay away from the chasers. As that group grew, its speed would increase. Our group of three, on the other hand, wasn’t getting any bigger. So I kept a wary eye on the time gap to the group behind.
Sure enough, that gap began to come down steadily. That’s when I made the decision to stay off the front of our pack of three – it was just wasted energy, after all. I could destroy myself pulling our group, only to be caught 5 miles up the road by the chasers. Or I could sit in and take it (relatively) easy, and get caught 3 miles up the road. I made the easy choice.
It was interesting to watch the rider names of the chase group as they came closer. There were definitely a small number of riders on the front, putting in the work. This included one zPowered B named “R. Hutter” who was pinning it at 4.5+. It also included two A riders, and a couple of B’s who would finish near the top in the end. As they neared my small group we joked about how we were going to let Hutter sit on the front and pull us to the finish. He never replied, but based on his power numbers for the next several miles, he certainly did his best! Thank you, sir.
At mile 10, 22 minutes into the race, we were picked up by the chase group. This pack of ~12 was mostly B’s, with one C (you’re not fooling anyone, “p.coulange”!) and two A’s. At this point, I should have checked ZwiftPower’s live results to find out how many B’s were up the road – but when I had done that in a race two days earlier, the live results weren’t working, so I figured they wouldn’t be today. (Note: I was wrong!)
All that to say: I wasn’t sure what place I was racing for at this point. The front of our group was 32nd place, and I figured there were probably 20-25 A’s up the road. That left several B’s probably in that front pack. With any luck some might get dropped and picked up by us, but chances were the podium was all up the road, never to be seen again.
I stayed off the front, because I knew three things:
We weren’t going to catch the front group, which was stuffed with A’s and strong B’s
I didn’t have the legs to attack and stay away from a pack of ~12, especially in double draft mode with 25 miles to go
The gentle slopes of the park section were coming up, and I would need everything I had to stay with the group over this section
The Middle
The park section of this route can really be broken down into three climbs. Calling them “climbs” is generous – they’re really just rises in the road. Yet I’m always surprised by how hard they make my races! In fact, as far as I can recall, I haven’t survived this section in any of my past races. I always get dropped by some or all of whatever group I’m in.
We hit the first rise, just out of the Underground tunnel. I stayed seated, wanting to save my out of the saddle power for when I needed it most. I tried to stay close to the front of the group, too – benefiting from the double draft (we were moving at 24 mph, even on the climb) without being so far back that I could get caught out if a gap opened up.
Holding position up the first rise
It worked! I finished that first climb near the front of our group. Then it was onto the next climb, the smallest of the three. I maintained a good position there, enjoyed the slight downhill, then steeled myself for the last rise – the longest and toughest.
This rise I attacked with a combination of seated and standing efforts, forcing myself not to get “lazy” by drifting back too far in the pack. Happily, our chase group didn’t have the hard-charging strength that was certainly in the front group, so I was able to hold onto the wheels without going fully into the red zone.
We exited the park, and hit the ramp up out of the Underground. This is an interesting section to race, as it always catches someone by surprise. I’ve found the best approach is to hammer hard up the climb, then keep hammering until I’m up to speed with the rest of the group.
You can’t attack it easy. And you’ve got to keep pushing even after it flattens out, otherwise you’ll get left behind.
Someone in our group caught sight of a handful of B riders 2 minutes up the road, and the chase was on! I almost felt sorry for these lonely B’s, knowing the inevitability of the catch. Sure enough, we gobbled them up mid-Classique. The front of our group was now 24th place. Were the B’s in my group now competing for a spot on the podium? I didn’t know, but I decided it was quite possible.
The Finish
The second lap was uneventful – just chugging along in the double draft, employing the same tactics over the park rises that I used to good effect on the first lap. This final lap was largely a high tempo effort for me, meaning I wasn’t on the rivet, but it also wasn’t easy. I could have pushed harder, but there was simply no reason to do so, with no riders up the road within catching distance, and no way I could stay away attacking off the front.
Soon enough, we found ourselves back on the red pavement of the Classique for the final stretch. 33 miles in, 10 riders in our pack, and probably a B podium slot up for grabs!
Did I have a strong enough sprint to beat the other B’s in our group? This race wasn’t handing out powerups, so that was a non-issue. And I had sprinted this section many times, since we use the Classique Reverse route for Sprintapalooza occasionally. I knew it was a “slow” sprint, since it was on a false flat. I also knew I could conserve a lot of energy by staying in the draft, so I tried to maintain a position 2-3 wheels from the front, until just before the sprint start line.
Then I shifted, stood up, and went all in! I didn’t even look up until I heard the sound of my rider crossing the banner. 5th place in the B’s is what the results screen said – but 1st place had averaged 4.7 w/kg, so I knew he was out. 4th place then.
But wait… what would ZwiftPower say? That is, after all, where the final results live. I knew R. Neumann, the one B who was able to hang with the front pack, was a legit B on ZwiftPower. (I had looked at the start list before the race began, and he was the highest-ranked B.)
As it turned out, 3rd place finisher “G. Slb” was on zPower, and that wasn’t allowed on the B podium for this race (a pretty common practice). So I made it onto the podium… just barely. Third place in the final results, and second place Nero beat me out by 1/100th of a second. Well done Neumann and Nero!
Race winner Richard Neumann is an Austrian who rides for Kirchmair e-Cycling and appears to be perfectly suited for just this sort of race. He’s a bigger rider (89 kg) with massive 20-minute power that puts him right at the top of the B category, just under 4 w/kg.
That means he can sit in with A riders on a flat course and not even be fussed about having a weaker sprint, since he has no B’s left to sprint against by the time the race ends. Which is exactly what he did today. Smart race choice, sir!
Takeaways
My big takeaway from this race is it ain’t over ’til it’s over. Typically my mindset is, “If I get dropped from the front group, my shot at a podium is gone.” And that’s generally true, if you’re in a race where the categories are split up! But in a combined race like today’s, you may very well be racing for one or more B (or C, or D) podium spots from the chase group, as riders up ahead may eventually drop back to your group, or get DQ’d on ZwiftPower for various reasons.
So race smart from the chase group. That may mean pushing the pace on the front to help catch your competition up the road. It may mean sitting in and conserving energy, because there’s no way your group will catch anyone from your category. It may also mean attacking hard to drop some of your competition from the chase group, so you have a better chance at a high result.
Your Comments
What’s the best race result you’ve ever had from the chase group? Share your experience below!
Zwift’s supertuck is a fun feature, a sort of Easter egg which can be combined with strong course knowledge to give the legs a bit of respite during a race. The concept is simple enough: if the road is steep enough, and you’re going fast enough, stop pedaling and your avatar will get into the aero supertuck position. This will allow you to coast at zero watts while keeping pace with riders who are holding some significant power on the descent.
But did you know the supertuck actually behaves differently in races than it does when free-riding? This is because of an update released in May 2019 which changed two key race physics, but only in race events:
The slight braking force when descending is entirely removed. So you will descend faster in a race event than you would in a group ride or free ride, assuming all other variables are equal.
Zwift made the supertuck more aero. Zwift didn’t share the exact numbers, but they’ve said the supertuck’s aero advantage is similar to the aero powerup (which reduces your CdA by 25%).
This means our experience supertucking in group ride events and free rides might vary significantly when compared to races. What does that difference look and feel like? I decided to run some experiments… for science!
Test Goals
This test set out to answer three questions:
How much faster is the supertuck in race vs non-race mode?
Is it faster to supertuck with additional riders vs solo supertucking? If it is faster, how much faster is it?
If I’m supertucking, how hard do riders around me need to pedal in order to drop me from the group? Does this change in race vs non-race mode?
Test Parameters and Methodology
All of the test riders were set to 183cm height, 75kg weight, and rode Zwift Aero bikes with 32mm Zwift wheels.
Tests were done on the Fox Hill descent in London. (I prefer the steady, steep, long descent of the Alpe du Zwift, but no race events ever descend the Alpe, so it wouldn’t work for these tests.) We would hold 300 watts steady once the descent began, then cut power to 0 as soon as the riders hit 60 kph.
Two-rider tests were done either in “Meetup-Only View” or on deserted courses, to eliminate the possibility of speed-influencing interference from other riders.
Test Results
Mode
# of Riders
Power
Fox Hill Descent Time
Speed
Race
1
0 (Supertuck)
2:18
62.87 kph (39.07 mph)
Race
1
225W (3 w/kg)
2:24
60.25 kph (37.44 mph)
Race
1
300W (4 w/kg)
2:18
62.87 kph (39.07 mph)
Race
2
0 (Supertuck)
2:14
64.75 kph (40.23 mph)
Race
2
300W (4 w/kg)
2:17
63.33 kph (39.35 mph)
Non-Race
1
0 (Supertuck)
2:39
54.57 kph (33.91 mph)
Non-Race
1
150W (2 w/kg)
2:30
57.84 kph (35.94 mph)
Non-Race
1
200W (2.7 w/kg)
2:25
59.83 kph (37.18 mph)
Non-Race
1
225W (3 w/kg)
2:25
59.83 kph (37.18 mph)
Non-Race
1
250W (3.3 w/kg)
2:21
61.53 kph (38.23 mph)
Non-Race
1
275W (3.7 w/kg)
2:20
61.97 kph (38.51 mph)
Non-Race
2
0 (Supertuck)
2:34
56.38 kph (35.01 mph)
Non-Race
2
150W (2 w/kg)
2:28
58.62 kph (36.43 mph)
Non-Race
2
200W (2.7 w/kg)
2:22
61.1 kph (37.96 mph)
Conclusions
There are several conclusions to draw from the results of our tests:
The supertuck is much faster in race mode: our solo supertuck tests showed a difference of over 8kph between race-mode and non-race mode. And while this difference is magnified somewhat because the non-race supertuckers actually came out of the supertuck on slower portions of the descent, clearly race mode supertucking is significantly faster.
Supertucking works well in pack and solo race situations: it allows you to rest while staying in a pack of riders who are putting out significant wattage (see “Supertucking In a Mixed Group” below). In fact, if the race is strung out and riders are solo, our numbers show that supertucking will let you keep pace with a rider holding 300W. That’s huge!
Supertucking with others is faster than solo: by now smart Zwifters know this – that the “churn” of riders swapping places at the front makes a group go faster than a solo rider could in the same conditions. Here’s a quick video showing the supertuck churn in one of our tests.
Solo supertucking isn’t a fast strategy outside of races: in our test, a solo supertucking rider is 9 seconds slower than a rider holding just 150W (2 w/kg). This tells us that if you supertuck in a free ride or group ride, you’ll probably be slower than if you simply pedaled at a recovery pace. And you certainly won’t keep up with others who are putting out higher wattage – unless you’re sitting in their draft.
Although I didn’t test it here, it’s also worth noting that the steeper the road gets, the smarter it is to supertuck. We know from our w/kg tests that as a decline gets steeper, putting out higher wattage makes less and less of a speed difference. So the steeper the road gets, the more others would have to hammer to keep up with your supertuck.
Supertucking In a Mixed Group
The tests above give us some solid numbers to work from, but they don’t answer our final question: “If I’m supertucking, how hard do riders around me need to pedal in order to drop me from the group? Does this change in race vs non-race mode?”
Based on the race numbers above, we can see that a solo supertucking rider travels at the same speed as a solo rider holding 300W. And two supertucking riders will actually travel significantly faster than two riders holding 300W! So clearly, a supertucking rider can sit in with other riders who are putting out 300W (4 w/kg) on a descent like Fox Hill.
It is possible to supertuck behind one or more “powered” riders in a group ride or free ride situation as well, but the supertuck doesn’t offer as much of an advantage in this situation, due to Zwift’s modified physics for races. Still, we ran a simple test with two riders – on supertucking, and the other holding the highest power we could hold without dropping the supertucker. The results are far from perfect, but our “powered” rider was able to hold 275W with the supertucker still holding on all the way down Fox Hill.
If you’ve been following my “How the Race Was Lost” series, you know I lose a lot of races. Most of those losses are the most humbling sort, where I simply wasn’t strong enough to win. On Zwift I’m regularly reminded that there are many, many cyclists in the world who are much stronger than me!
This doesn’t discourage me though: I’m always looking for ways to race smarter, and of course I also train so I can keep getting stronger. In the end for me it’s not about winning – it’s about being fit, pushing myself to the limit, and enjoying the rush of competition.
While I typically lose because other riders were stronger, occasionally it’s due to a major mistake on my part. Today was one of those races.
I decided to jump into a Crit City race that had low signup numbers. Lately many of my races have had 100 or more B riders, and I wanted to try something different – racing against a small pack. In a low-numbers race you get to know each of the riders, and a solo attack can really make a difference. So I signed up, and headed out to warm up.
The Warm Up
I slept in a bit, but still managed to chew three pieces of caffeine gum and get PR lotion on the legs. Then it was out to Tempus Fugit for my warmup! I pulled my Specialized Epic MTB out of the garage so I could get some MTB miles logged towards completing the CeramicSpeed Mission. (Sidenote: that bike is one of the fastest MTBs on Zwift, but it sure is slow on pavement, especially if the road tilts up at all!)
After less than 15 minutes it was time to hit the pens. Let’s race!
The Start
With only 11 riders signed up for the B category, this would be (by far) the smallest pack I’d ever raced in Crit City. Amazing how Zwift has grown. When I first started in October 2015, a pack of 11 racers was pretty normal, and many races had combined fields because we just didn’t have the numbers or infrastructure to support individual categories. I remember the first time I was able to race in a pack of 30+ riders of similar ability (a TFC C race), and what a different and cool experience that was!
This was an 8-lap race around Crit City’s Bell Lap route. As soon as the clock hit zero, our pack stretched out. One zPowered “J. Munday” was on the front holding 7+ w/kg, but happily nobody chased him so he rode away, never to be seen again until the orange cone of shame showed up a few laps later.
A little helpful in-game messaging…
Before the first lap was completed, our group was reduced to just six riders: Adby (a U16 rider), Toader, Bone, Jones, Angelescu, and myself. I knew from a quick glance at the signup list on ZwiftPower that Adby and Jones were the highest-ranked riders in the group, apart from myself. But I was ranked significantly higher than anyone in the pack, so on paper, this was my race to lose.
The Middle
At the end of lap three, Jones put in a hard attack – the first real attack of the race. That showed me he had a strong sprint and was feeling good! I should have grabbed his wheel, but I responded too slowly. (I have the same problem outdoors – I struggled to jump quickly when I see an attack happening.) So I waited too long, then had to work to catch him, while the riders behind me benefited at least a bit from my draft. Dumb move – I should have sat in and let the pack catch him.
Following Jones, a bit late
We got into the typical Bell Lap rhythm, with effort ramping up on the twisty climb section each lap. Twice I pushed especially hard there, trying to drop anyone who was barely hanging on. Jones and his big avatar were struggling up the climb, but he always managed to claw his way back before we could drop him. Lightweight U16 Adby did well on the climb, which wasn’t surprising. While they were very different riders, Jones and Adby seemed to be my strongest competition. I made a mental note to follow any attacks they attempted.
Our pack of six would stay together until Toader got dropped on the 5th lap.
The Finish
I had a draft boost powerup for the final lap, which really wasn’t what I wanted – an aero helmet would have been welcome, but the powerup gods had not been helpful in this race. Why did I want the aero helmet? Because I wanted to be the aggressor in the final sprint. That sprint is short and fast, and I didn’t want to wait for someone else to jump.
I used my draft boost well before the final sprint, timing it so I could enjoy the 30 seconds of relief it gave as I sat in the wheels. Then just as it ended I shifted, got out of the saddle, and went all in for the final sprint. Glancing up at the screen mid-sprint I saw riders trying to grab my wheel, then it seemed like they gave up, dropping a couple seconds back as I crossed the line. Victory!
Except nothing happened. Where was the results list? All I saw was this:
The realization took a moment to register in my race-addled brain: I had sprinted on the penultimate lap. And there were four riders charging quickly from behind!
My heart rate was high, my legs were burning, but I knew the pack just behind would catch and drop me quickly if I didn’t keep my speed up. So I gave it all I had to keep my power high, barely grabbing onto their wheels as they flew past and we made our way up the twisties for the real final lap.
If anyone in the group had been strong enough to attack hard at this point, I wouldn’t have been able to follow. Lucky for me, nobody pushed the pace, and I tried to breathe deeply and recover as quickly as possible before my second finishing sprint.
Jones jumped hard at the end with his strong sprint, and Adby followed. I gave it all I had, but wasn’t able to beat either of them over the line. Third place! I kicked myself all the way to the shower.
My first takeaway was that this “small pack” race was a fun changeup. It really was a different race experience, competing against a small pack of riders on a small loop where you could begin to see their strengths and weaknesses. In a small pack, you can clearly see who is on the front holding higher power and who is sitting in. You can also see where riders struggle and excel, which helps you understand their strengths and how to best compete against them.
I set new critical power bests in the 2:55-6:35 range (390-346W), so that was good to see. And I broke 1000 watts on my faux finish sprint, which I was also happy about, since I’ve been training to improve my race-ending sprints. (I’ve also begun taking Beta Alanine again, which should be helping those sprint efforts.)
This is actually the second race where I’ve sprinted for the wrong line (here is the first). Clearly, my biggest takeaway needs to be a reminder that my brain, when racing, simply doesn’t function well. Because of that, I have to keep things simple and take steps to reduce mistakes wherever possible. First step: know the finish line. Racing 101!
(Looking at the screenshots, it’s interesting to note that this race didn’t have a lap counter – neither in in-game lap sign or the lap counter in the HUD were working. Not sure why, but I bet I wouldn’t have made my silly mistake if they’d been visible!)
Your Comments
Please tell me you’ve sprinted on the wrong lap. Or perhaps share other race mistakes you’ve made, so I can feel better about myself!
Yesterday was my 41st birthday. Fairly fresh legs and a free Saturday morning meant a Zwift race was going to happen. But which race to ride? I scanned the schedule:
WTRL iTT Series: ugh. A TT on my birthday? That’s no gift.
Tour for All Stage 2 Race: I’d be racing against the top A racers thanks to how these event categories are structured. Nope!
DIRT Dadurday Chase Race: not a bad option, but a bit shorter than I’m looking for.
OCA Indoor Race Series: never heard of it. But it’s 36 miles long, and on a challenging route. Let’s do it!
When I checked the signup list it was stuffed full of Canadians, which made me wonder: what exactly is OCA? It turns out they’re the Ontario Cycling Association and they, like many local cycling associations, are holding a race series on Zwift to help keep their members active during this time. (A note to event organizers: the Zwift world may not know who you are. Help us out and include links and other details about your organization in your event description.)
My B category would be racing 5 laps of NYC’s Astoria Line 8 route – a course I’ve found both fun and challenging in the past. Fun because it’s a rolling course where you go fast but work hard. Challenging because the various short climbs require repeated big efforts for the “overmuscled” cyclist.
The Warm Up
I got on the trainer about 45 minutes early, after my pre-race ritual of three pieces of caffeine gum and PR lotion on the legs. This time I’d be using my new Garmin Vector 3 pedals on my trusty Wahoo KICKR. I spun my way around the Tick Tock route, put in a few digs to get my heart rate up to 160, then it was time to hit the start pens.
The Start
The clock hit zero, and 80+ B’s boiled out of the start pens. But wait, what’s this? A, C, D, and E riders were merging with us from other pens! Noooooo!!
I’ve really got to start paying attention to how these races are set up. That’s two races in a row I’ve joined with combined categories, and I’m just not a fan. Maybe in certain situations I wouldn’t mind jumping in with the A’s and trying to hold on, but I’m not good at switching my race outlook in the middle of a pell-mell start. And I really dislike seeing riders up the road, but not easily knowing if they’re even in my category. In short: I like the simplicity of racing against just my category.
Note: OCA race organizers contacted me after I published this post to let me know that the combined categories were a surprise to everyone, including themselves! Apparently Zwift HQ set up this even incorrectly, and categories will be separated in the future.
This race also had an “E” category, just for the ladies. That was interesting – I’ve never done a mixed race that included a dedicated women’s category. To make it more interesting, each category was racing a different number of laps!
So the A’s were on the front of our strung-out group, pinning it at 31mph, and I just tried to hold on as long as I could. Eventually the elastic snapped, and I found myself in the second group on the road, made up most of B’s and A’s.
New Goals
There’s the front of the race, riding away!
Racing without a goal is tough for me. And I can’t just have a goal of “doing my best” or “finishing the race.” I need something more tangible.
When you’ve been dropped from the front pack of a Zwift race, what’s your goal? For me, I usually try to work with my chase group to keep the pace high and vacuum up riders who are being dropped from the front group. If I’m feeling feisty I’ll even try to attack through the riders we catch, making it hard for them to grab our wheels.
It’s fulfilling to see my ranking improve as we catch more and more riders, and setting my sights on the riders just up the road gives me something tangible to work toward.
Is this the smartest approach? Perhaps not. It’s a better workout, for sure! But if you’re just going for a top finish, you may be better served by sitting in and conserving energy for the final sprint. It really depends on the race situation – and this was a double draft race, with small packs of riders up the road. That meant our pack could catch these riders if we kept working together. The front of our chase group was 122nd place out of 386 riders. Where could we finish if we kept pushing?
The Middle
Our group worked well together, swelling as the miles piled on. The Astoria Line 8 route has a particular rhythm to it, defined by the longer inclines you encounter. First you have the northern loop, which begins with a climb, then a supertuck-able descent into the twistiest, steepest climb of the route. Despite the climb, I find this section of the route to be pretty fun – supertucking is always a hoot, and the climb afterward is short enough that I can punch it without getting dropped.
The tougher section for me comes just after that northern loop, when you turn left and begin to travel south, encountering a couple of longer rises. Not steep enough to drop me, at least not in today’s race group… but steep and long enough to hurt.
We kept catching riders, and I found myself making calculated decisions on the front of the group. Do I use my powerup to pull us to the next pack? This is a long race, do we just wait to catch them on the next rise? This is one reason I enjoy longer races – the race has more time to evolve, and every move isn’t an emergency.
Disaster Strikes
25 miles into the 36-mile race, I was near the front of our sizable chase group, in 86th place with a group to catch just up the road. And that’s when it happened: my watts suddenly dropped to zero. Nooooo!!!
The moment disaster struck
I hurriedly hit the “A” key to bring up my pairing screen, noting that my cadence (which was from the same Garmin Vector 3 pedals which were currently reading 0) was displaying properly. Very strange. But I couldn’t fiddle around with it – I needed to get moving! I swapped my power source to my KICKR, got back to the game, and assessed the situation as I pedaled up to speed.
My group was already 30 seconds up the road, and I had two riders come up from behind, with no one around me. I wasn’t going to rejoin my big group. #$%&!
The three lonely musketeers
Death before DNF
What is your DNF philosophy? I have friends who race (indoors and out) who will pull the plug as soon as they know they can’t win it. This seems silly to me. I once went to a race with a local buddy. We drove two hours to get there, and halfway through the race he got dropped from our front group, turned around, and rode back to his truck. This seems especially silly to me.
I was out of this race. But I was going to finish it! Because I don’t DNF. And certainly not on my birthday.
The Finish
The remaining miles of the race were mostly unremarkable – our small group lacked the legs or gumption to attempt any sort of bridge to the large group which was now minutes ahead. In double draft mode, large groups move so much faster than packs of 2 or 3 – it just isn’t doable without a superhuman effort. So we road together, staying away from those behind, but not working particularly hard, either. You can see in my power chart how my average wattage and speed dropped after my dropout.
Apparently we were lulled into a sense of complacency, because with 2 miles to go we hit one of the cross streets, merging with traffic coming from another section of the course. Suddenly, from behind a pack of riders flew through us! I glanced at the rider list and noticed some of those riders were B’s and A’s, with the same mileage as myself. We’d been caught by a group from behind! Game on.
I sat in with this group, holding onto my feather powerup for the final finish up Cat’s Paw Hill. I stayed within a couple wheels of the front, then gave it all I had to the line, sprinting against two others for a “far from the podium” finish. In the end, one rider from our group beat me over the line. I finished 38th in the B’s, according to Zwift’s results. 22nd according to ZwiftPower.
Without the power drop, I would have finished with the group 3 minutes up the road: somewhere between 10th-20th on ZwiftPower. C’est la vie!
I had one takeaway from this race: to figure out what the heck happened to my power pedals. And I spent the next hour fixing it.
As it turns out, the pedals had a firmware update available which I hadn’t yet applied. (I won’t go into detail about why I didn’t update the firmware when I first got these pedals a week ago – suffice it to say, Garmin’s app isn’t the best. But let’s save that for another post.)
Firmware version 3.68: “Fixed issue where power would go to 0 over BLE”. Well there you go. Hopefully this issue is resolved for good now!
I’ll be posting a review of the Garmin Vector 3’s, along with a review of the Favero Assiomas, sometime in the future here on Zwift Insider. I will, of course, include the advice to update your firmware!
Questions or Comments
Questions or comments? What’s your view of the dreaded DNF? Share below!
With more big events than ever in our virtual cycling paradise, it’s easy to miss some really cool rides! Here are 5 events this weekend that you won’t want to miss.
Special thanks to Jesper at ZwiftHacks with his Events app which provides powerful event filtering tools so we can narrow the weekend list from 400+ events to just a handful.
Climb with N.Quintana & W. Barguil // Arkea-Samsic p/b Canyon
Join the team Arkea-Samsic ride led by world-renowned climbers Nairo Quintana and Warren Barguil. Climb the epic KOM on your Canyon Ultimate with the two pros at an easy pace at the bottom ramping up to a race pace at the top of the climb. Try to hang on as long as possible! Arkea Pro Cycling Team women riders will be present too.
Zwift’s massive Tour for All fundraiser series is in full swing, and this weekend’s events are going to be a blast! Learn more about the Tour for All, then join a ride or run. You can make it an easy group ride, or go for a race effort.
The just-announced Wahoo Shred Sessions bring top MTB stars to Zwift to lead a special series of group rides centered around the Jungle Circuit. Events are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and tomorrow’s events are already showing hundreds of signups apiece. Get some!
Fondos are long, mass-start rides which you can ride at your pace. Many riders will race the event, but for some, simply finishing the challenging course is victory enough! We’ve selected two fondos to feature this weekend:
The BMTR Fundo: distance varies by category from 36-100 miles, on Watopia’s The Magnificent 8. Saturday @ 1:10 pm BST / 8:10 am EDT / 5:10 am PDT
OTAKAM Granfondo Series: a shorter fondo at 34.4 miles, this event has you cover 2 laps of Yorkshire’s Royal Pump Room 8. Sunday @ 1:30 pm BST / 8:30 am EDT / 5:30 am PDT
Movistar Team Charity Ride, in support of Red Cross
Unlock the achievement badge for Watopia’s Muir and the Mountain route while joining Movistar pros including Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas, Carlos Verona, Barbara Guarischi, Aude Biannic and many other big names from both men’s and women’s squads. This ride is in support of the Spanish Red Cross, to help health workers and those most affected by COVID-19.
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments! And if you participate in any of these events, let us know how your ride went.
A new MTB-focused group ride series has been announced for Zwifters, complete with a star-studded cast of ride leaders. Dubbed the “Wahoo Shred Sessions”, these group rides take place twice a week, with each ride hosted by one or more big names in the world of off-road.
“With trails closed in many places, or too crowded to allow safe riding, we wanted to give mountain bike athletes the chance to ride together and socialize in a safe environment,” says Colin Eustace, Vice President of Global Marketing for Wahoo. “For many mountain bikers, this is a special opportunity to ride with some of the sport’s biggest stars — the kind of interaction that would be singular and memorable, with or without a global pandemic.”
Schedule
Rides are scheduled for three different time slots each Wednesday and Saturday through May 30th:
The Jungle Circuit routes are best ridden on a MTB, but Road to Ruins and Dust In the Wind may call for a bike swap once riders hit the jungle – it’s up to you to decide! Read about bike performance on the Road to Ruins route >
Ride Hosts
Currently-scheduled ride hosts include Hans Becking & Leon Van Bon, Greg Callaghan, Troy Brosnan, Ben Cathro & Rab Wardell, Norco Factory Gravity Team, Keegan Wright, Iago Garay, Richie Rude & Shawn Neer, Miranda Miller, Jesse Melamed, Andreanne Lanthier Nadeau, Nathalie Schneitter & Jenn Jackson, Norco Factory XC Team, Andreane Lanthier Nadeau, Damien Oton & Christian Textor, Jesse Melamed & Remi Gauvin, Josh Carlson, Isabeau Courdurier, Brook Macdonald & Sam Blenkinsop, Junya Nagata & Yuki Kushima, Morgane Charre, Emilie Siegenthaler & Pivot Team, and Sam Hill.
Kit Unlock
Complete any of the rides to unlock the Rapha Wahoo Race kit.
