My plan is to race each Tour of Watopia stage, so today it was stage 3 at 6:10am. One lap of Whole Lotta Lava, a route which I must confess I’d never ridden! But I knew this would be the toughest ToW race for me, since the Volcano KOM is just long and steep enough to drop an “overmuscled cyclist” like myself.
Because of this, I wasn’t foreseeing a podium. But my legs felt good so I wanted to test them and see what sort of a result I could get.
About the Route
Whole Lotta Lava (see route details) is a short route which divides nicely into thirds, distance-wise. The first third is flat, the next is a climb, and the final is a descent and flat to the finish. It begins with a lead-in from the start pier, then a lap around the Volcano Circuit in the counter-clockwise direction. The second time you pass the turn off to the volcano KOM you take it, riding up to the top then descending down. After the descent it’s a short, mostly-flat run-in to the finish line at the Volcano Circuit start/finish banner.
Many races here are 2-3 laps long, but ToW races are short, so we only raced one lap, meaning our race was only ~17.5km (10.9 miles).
While the KOM is the key part of this route, it’s important to understand that it’s not a steep climb, so speeds stay high enough that drafting still makes a big difference. (Example: I averaged 19.2mph up the KOM in today’s race.)
Bike + Wheel Choice
Lots of folks haved asked me what the best bike frame and wheelset is for this route. The answer is simple if you’re looking at what is fastest over the entire course: use the most aero setup you’ve got, just like a flat race. That’s what I did for today’s race, because I hadn’t looked closely at the segment timings until after the race.
Zwift’s best climbing bike frame (the Specialized Tarmac Pro) beats the most aero frame (Specialized Venge S-Works) by 4 seconds up the Volcano KOM. But that difference is taken back on the descent, and take back even more so on the flats.
Interestingly, the best climbing wheels (Lightweight Meilensteins) are actually 1-2 seconds slower up the KOM compared to the best aero wheels (disc, Zipp 858, ENVE 7.8 or 8.9, etc).
But here’s where it gets interesting. The Specialized Tarmac Pro will get you up the KOM faster than any other frame. What if you coupled it with the most aero wheels? You would have the fastest climber for the route, but would take a slight hit on the flats and descents.
For a rider like myself, this is absolutely the better solution. Why? Because I can sit in the front pack on the flats and descents just fine, while I know I’ll struggle to stay with the front up the KOM. So I can afford to take a slight hit on the flats and descents, if it means some advantage on the climb.
Warmup
I rolled out of bed at 5:15am, chewed a piece of caffeine gum, put some PR lotion on the legs, and kitted up. Then I hit Tempus Fugit for a 10-mile warmup, getting my heart rate up to 160bpm via a combination of longer seated efforts and a few shorter out of the saddle sprints. My legs were feeling pretty good today, despite 55 miles of Zwift yesterday. Let’s race!
The Start
Today’s race started off with a tough but doable 90 seconds at 350 watts to hang with the front group. The lead-in takes you quickly up the ramp toward the volcano, pushing watts higher than you’d get on a flat start. But our group settled into a typical B-race pace by the time we hit the glass tunnel bridge to the volcano.
We chugged our way around the Volcano Circuit quickly, and before we even crossed the start/finish banner our group of 64 was reduced to 35. Ten minutes into the race we made the left-hand turn onto the Volcano KOM. It was go time!
The Climb
The Volcano KOM isn’t a particularly hard climb, as climbs go. At 3.7km (2.3 miles) long, with an average gradient of 3.2%, B riders will typically finish it in 7-9 minutes at race pace. Mentally, I break this climb up into 4 parts. Here’s how each part went for me in today’s race:
Part 1 – Initial Climb
The first third of the climb is a fairly steady climb, with two small downhill bumps. I hammered hard here to stay with the stretching-out front group, averaging 358 watts for 2-1/2 minutes. I could tell I was pushing over my limit, but I knew that holding the front group’s wheels was the only chance I had at winning the race, so I kept pushing.
Part 2 – Flat Through the Volcano
We turn to ride through the volcano, and the road flattens out for a bit. Our group’s speed surged here, as it always does when the road flattens out. I pushed hard to get back in touch with the group across this section then tried to take a couple good breaths, knowing the next big push was just around the corner. Our group of 35 had been reduced to 26 at this point.
Part 3 – Long Climb
This is the longest continuous climb section on the Volcano KOM, and it can feel like forever. It’s around 1 mile long, but it always feels longer! This is where the more serious attacks happen, and that is exactly what happened in our race – it strung out even more, to the point where I wasn’t sure just where the front was anymore.
I was just trying to survive at this point, pushing harder than I’ve pushed in a race in a long time. I averaged 338 watts for 3-1/2 minutes on this section. Then came the final push.
Part 4: The Kicker
The climb ends with a final steep kicker. If you’ve got anything left, a hard push here can gain vital seconds. A feather powerup would be a big help – but I didn’t have one. My oxygen-deprived brain had me thinking the front of the race was just up the road, so I went all-in to grab onto the wheels of the small group ahead of me.
457 watts average for 90 seconds got me in touch with that group, but when I crossed the KOM banner I realized the front was blown apart, and our group was several seconds behind the group ahead, which was several seconds behind the front group. Dang!
Post-race bonus: I set a new PR of 7:18 on the Volcano Climb. My previous best was 8:14!
The Finish
My small group of four riders zipped down the KOM. We all needed a little recovery after the climb, it seemed. Once I caught my breath I decided to push the pace a bit to catch a rider up the road, which we did. I ended up with a PR on the Volcano descent as well!
When we reached the end of the descent, with less than a mile to go, there were four groups of riders I cared about. One group was the front of the race: too far away to catch. The next group was just 6 seconds up the road – and I wanted to catch them. Then there was my group of 5 riders. And behind us, another group was quickly gaining ground! Could we stay away?
As we hit the ramp into the Volcano my group caught the group ahead, then the group behind us caught the churning mass of avatars. It was mayhem, and I had pushed so hard to catch the group ahead that I didn’t have much left! I emptied what I had into the pedals, but was passed by several riders, resulting in an 18th-place finish according to Zwift. ZwiftPower would award me 11th.
See the ride on Strava >
See the ride on Zwift.com >
See the results on ZwiftPower >
Baggers of Sand
As it turns out, the front group of 6 was composed of 5 sandbaggers and one legit rider. Kudos to “JAJA” for hanging with the sandbaggers and taking the win – their pace was no joke, with an average w/kg of 4.4.
Until Zwift finds a way to enforce category limits, sandbaggers will do what sandbaggers do, especially in C and D races. Most of the B races I’ve done aren’t significantly affected by sandbagging, but today’s certainly was. Think about it: without that group pushing the pace at A-level w/kg up the climb, could I have hung with the front group and been in the mix for the podium at the finish? Maybe, maybe not.
It’s not worth thinking about too much, since it’s a situation that can’t be changed. But I do think it’s worth talking about, which is why I mention it here!
Takeaways
My only takeaway from this race is “I don’t like climbing races, but they sure push me to my limits.”
Flat races aren’t easy, of course, but I usually don’t feel like I’m truly giving it everything until the final sprint. In today’s race, I truly gave everything I had over the top of the volcano. That’s a good thing, in terms of training to get stronger. I should do more races on the Volcano. Even though I don’t want to.
What About You?
Have you raced stage 3 yet? How did it go? Share below!
Lol. Brilliant to see you write up my race again Eric
(I’m Killing Joke again). I was gobsmacked that my group of 5 caught your group just before the final ramp after I had lost your wheel at the top of the Volcano KOM. I had wondered whether you thought the finish line was downtown. I wish I had changed my wheels from ENVE 3.4 to Zipp 454 or 858. I really didn’t realise these were a serious option up the VOLKOM.
Saw you in the race – well done!
My group didn’t really want to work, it seemed. I was pushing hard on the front to catch the group ahead, but nobody else really was. When I pulled off, you guys caught us and it was all over!
Bizarre how they worked hard at the top of the Volcano KOM but not half a mile from the finish. Fascinating to see the different dynamics of each group. Thanks very much for all your advice on equipment and the brilliant articles.
Thanks for the write up. I was on the wrong setup Trek Emolda with Light weight wheels, I should have stayed on my TRON, It felt slow on the flat. I did not go full out in the downhill because I was not on the front, only to discover that 32 of the first 49 in C was over Cat limits (I used 3.36w/kg as the upper limit). I ended up 12th on ZP, If I knew that at the top I would have gone full gas going down.
I almost always just assume everyone is legit. Takes less thought that way!
I did that today, I did not even look at ZP to see who signed up. But sprinting for 45th is not as motivating as sprinting for 10th.
On a flat C race I can sometimes podium on ZP. I’ve found lately that finishing in the third group, sometimes in the mid-teens, will be in the 2nd to 4th place range On ZwiftPower. So agree that there is lots of weirdly pointless sandbagging in C.
Thanks Eric for these write-ups. Enjoy every one and they inspire me to give racing a shot. Even if I know I’m gonna get killed on the climb.
We had a guy who averaged 5.87 W/kg in our B race.
Froomie racing the B’s again?
Ha ha. After I posted this, I did a bit of Googling. Rides for a UCI Pro Continental team. Naughty boy, he should know better.
I guess with the current situation, we should get used to some Pros blowing our races apart.
Geeze. So bad!
Great write up as always Eric. I got tailed off the front group just before the summit too and had to go really deep to catch on the back of the second group over the top. I could see you driving the pace of your group just behind us on the decent and flat coming in to the finish. I did what I could to drive the pace of my group to stop you catching but I was gassed. Your group then caught us leading in to the sprint – I used an aero power up earlier than I normally… Read more »
3rd place with 126bpm, 197w and 4.9w/kg (rider weight an anorexic 40kg!). That’s some serious sandbagging right there. It does force you to ride beyond your limits to keep up with riders like this so it’s good training but doing it race after race does take away most of the fun. It would be nice, just once, to be able to race against equal competitors. I think I’ll just do the group ride for this stage.
@guest_36177, like I mentioned above, B races typically don’t have a lot of sandbagging. You see more of that in D and C. That said, these big tour events always bring out more sandbaggers than the established community races do.
That’s weird – I thought Zwift’s lower weight limit was 45kg.
It IS 45kg, which makes those numbers even more wacky!
Out of curiosity, I tried putting 10kg in as my weight. Both the game and companion app accepted it. Perhaps Zwift did an update to support children?
It will let you enter that, but if you look at your w/kg number you’ll see it’s “capped” at 45kg.
Another fellow race member here. I was hanging around the same group as you, Eric, until Zwift minimized (but kept running) on my PC for some unexplained reason. My best guess is that it minimized when a background app tried to open, but I’m not sure. I was out of reach of my computer, so I just rode the last 1.5 miles blind. Luckily I had the Zwift companion app up so I could tell when I crossed the line. I definitely got distracted a bit and lost a few spots because of situation. Ironically, I was saving the ghost… Read more »
Virtual mechanical, ouch, unlucky! I’m no expert but I think in Windows 10 you run it as a game then it takes priority over other apps. I thought Windows defaulted to those settings though.
Thanks. I’ll dig a little deeper into the settings to see if I can prevent future issues. Oh, and nice race btw!
A reverse ghost, hah! That sucks.
Yeah, I’m not sure what happened in your situation… best I can do is advise you to get a little bluetooth keyboard with touchpad so you can interact with your computer from a ways away. I’m a fan of this one: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Control-Touchpad/dp/B014EUQOGK/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=logitech+bluetooth+keyboard+touchpad&qid=1584481626&sr=8-2
Yeah, the wireless keyboard seems like a decent option. I’ve also thought about putting my wireless mouse in a little seatpost bag I use for snacks, etc. I could probably use my arm as the track pad in a bind. Also, if anyone is interested, I did a little testing (PC laptop running two external monitors). When in fullscreen mode, if I click on another window (or if anything happens in the background apparently), Zwift will minimize. I switched it to windowed mode, and it seems to allow me to interact with other apps without affecting Zwift. The minor loss… Read more »
If you get the window minimizing often then you can try running in windowed mode, and use a program like borderlessgaming to simulate full screen, it work like a charm. It is mostly virus protection that mess with the full screen games.
Does this suggestion have merit? Basically using a riders best 20 minute w/kg in the last 90 days to limit what racing class is available. It seems like a simple solution that wouldn’t require in-game checking for sandbagging. https://forums.zwift.com/t/simple-sandbagging-solution/211909
Sure. It certainly seems like a better solution than what’s currently in place.
Raced this yesterday. Rolled with the Tron. Wish I saw your bike selection as I fit that mold as well. Will say the sandbagging plays a huger part in these tour race events. Our 130 rider field saw the podium get sorted out after DQ and registered users. 28th in game earned silver in Zwiftpower.
Wow! Must have been a D or C race, @guest_36278?
It amazes me how similar you and I seem to perform in these races. We need to actually hook up for a race at the same time.
We should!
I did the group ride. In the version I did one of the guys in the top 10 averaged only 201 watts but somehow 5.1 watts / kg. Do the math! Makes you wonder how many out there are playing with a stacked deck. Oh well I only do it for myself but feel sorry for those who are serious and honest.
Take a look at Thursday 19th 16:11 GMT B race. The guy who won had 5.25w/kg!!
Let’s call that a win*
I love that final kick up to the KOM. Always get out of the saddle for that andoften pullback 3 or 4 places 😊