I joined Zwift in November 2019 after picking up a Wahoo Kickr Core during Black Friday sales. A series of knee surgeries over the last few years have put an end to any team sports or running aspirations I may have had. I have been riding on and off for the last 10 years, but my competitive edge brought me to Zwift racing!
Stage 4 of the Tour of Watopia headed to the dirt of the Jungle Circuit – a part of Watopia I had never actually explored. During the first three stages, I found that the pace was quite high and never really considered racing. I prefer handicapped races like ADHR’s Chop ride, but I really enjoyed the Jungle Circuit ToW group ride and thought it might be a fun but tough race as I felt the course suited my rider phenotype. According to my Zwift Power profile, my strengths are short/uphill sprints… which is just what this circuit has!
Route & Bike Choice
Two days later I headed into my pain cave ready to race. The Stage 4 race consisted of two 8km laps of the Jungle circuit, with a lead-in of 5.6km from the Jungle start pens.
Zwift levelled the playing field when it came to bike and wheel choice for this race, which was appreciated as a relative beginner at level 13, competing in my seventh race.
The Warmup
I’ve always preferred racing in the afternoon or evening – early starts are just not my thing! My usual routine consists of a late lunch at work, then a piece of toast about an hour before jumping on the bike. Nothing fancy, but it works for me.
I chose the Grand Central Circuit in NYC for my warm-up, a 7km 15-minute roll with a decent hill to get my climbing legs ready for the race ahead. Warming up for any longer than this usually results in me blowing up before the end of a race.
The Start
As an avid reader of the “How the race Was Lost” series, I have learned a lot (in theory) about Zwift racing but I’m still learning and slowly improving. Prior to this event, I put in the time to come up with a race strategy, and it felt like I had race director “Coach ZwiftInsider” in my internal race-radio…
The starting pen held a group of 88 riders in today’s C Grade event. I joined the ride about 15 minutes before the starting time to secure a spot in towards the front (thanks Coach). The start was fast as expected, 40 seconds of 280 – 360w with a peak of 400w was enough to form a group of about 25 riders off the front. Goal number one for today’s race achieved – get in the front group.
The Middle
The bunch settled into a fast but manageable pace descending towards the start of the main part of the course. The jungle climb has an average gradient of 2% with a couple of pitches at 4% so the pace was always going to be high enough that drafting would be important. I managed to stay with the first 10 riders until about 500 meters before the suspension bridge. I settled into a rhythm for the rest of the climb and joined the second group for the descent, figuring that the front group probably contained a good number of sandbaggers anyway.
A key strategy for me this race was to conserve as much energy as possible during the two descents to finishing banner. In my reconnaissance ride earlier in the week I was able to save at least 1-2 w/kg compared to other riders by positioning myself in the middle of the group. I recovered as best I could but needed to deploy my aero powerup after getting stuck behind a rider who was struggling to hold on to the wheel ahead. Was this going to hurt me, burning a useful powerup on lap one? Thankfully the powerup gods smiled on me a gifted me a drafting bonus.
The second climb was slightly slower than the first, 6:26 at 280w compared to 6:11 at 297w, mostly due to being in the second mix of riders with everyone on their limit causing several splits. A couple of 400w+ efforts kept me in touch with 3 other riders as we hit the suspension bridge and the lumps before the descent.
The Finish
The pace increased on the second descent to the finish, which made it challenging to hold on and tempting to deploy my draft power-up. But it also brought a group of 10-12 riders together by the bottom. As the road flattened out managing my position was a challenge, trying to maintain good rhythm and power but keeping my nose out of the wind was the aim.
Powerups started flying as soon as we hit the cave with about 1km to go, and then again on the wooden bridge at about 500m to go! But I held back as I kept hearing Coach ZwiftInsider telling me to wait until the last minute – so I did. I waited until 200m to go, just as the slight rise starts to hurt. Coming from the middle of the pack I put the hammer down and tried to catch as many wheels as possible to really maximize my draft. It worked perfectly! Jumping ahead of 8 or 10 riders in our group I finished a few seconds behind the small bunch ahead of us, placing 9th according to Zwift.
I was excited that I was able to execute a race plan well, and while I waited for ZwiftPower results to load, I thought I might have a chance at a top 5 or even podium finish. What I wasn’t expecting was that little gold trophy next to my name as a number of sandbaggers and non-ZP riders were removed. The race was won!
See my activity on Strava
See my ride on Zwift
See race results on ZwiftPower
Takeaways
- Ride smarter not harder. Conserve energy wherever possible but especially on descents! Mid-race recovery can provide a huge physical and mental boost. The how the race was lost series really got me thinking about the strategic aspects of racing on Zwift, rather than going full gas the whole way and trying to hold on to the end.
- Know the course, know your strengths. Knowing when to sprint/hold back/chase a wheel can make or break your race. Knowing your rider phenotype can help you find courses or events best suited to your strengths.
- You don’t have to win to win. The confidence I gained from planning my race well and winning the sprint in my group was just as great as winning the race. Zwift is an amazing platform to improve as a rider both on and off-screen.
What About You?
Have you raced in the Jungle lately? How did it go? Share below!
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