Victories on Zwift are likes buses – you can wait an eternity, then two turn up at the same time. That is certainly what happened to me.
Tour of Watopia – April 18
Like many other riders, I have been participating in the Tour of Watopia. It’s been an excellent event with a wide ranges of courses, some events I have raced, whilst others I have used as recovery rides. There was one Stage I had my eye on, all month – Stage 5: Mountain 8. Due to the Epic KOM reverse climb, this is easily my favourite route and even forms the basis of my new weekly event, the Monday Mountain Massif TT, a brutal 12.15km time trial up the Epic KOM reverse, with the finish at the Radio Tower.
I decided to race this event. Full gas. Due to racing the Epic KOM reverse on a weekly basis, I have learned how to tackle the climb, where to push to gain those extra important seconds, and where to ease off to catch my breath. This knowledge helped me take the lead in the ToW event when we hit the slopes of the climb. Well, sort of. You see, I was at the front of the race, pushing hard up the mountain and one minute I was in 1st position, then suddenly in 3rd, then 4th – yet no rider had passed me. Clearly there was a glitch in the system, or more likely there were some late joins that got catapulted to the front of the event.
I kept climbing and found myself alone out front with the nearest challenger 15 seconds behind. I crested the Radio Tower with the same gap which disappeared immediately on the descent of the mountain. I have to confess, I don’t understand how descending works in Zwift. I try everything:, pedaling, supertucking… whatever tactic I try, I can’t descend and I am always caught or lose the group I am in. This was no exception. The 15 seconds disappeared and by the valley floor I was with this rider out front but somehow it was still showing 4th place, which changed to 2nd and with 1km to go, to 1st. I was battling it out for the win. Over the last twists and turns before the finish line, my fellow escapee and I were trading 500-watt digs to try and break the other, punch and counter-punch, both determined not to yield. We approached the final 200 meters and they unleashed an early sprint, combined with a feather powerup which I could not respond to.
I was disappointed to take 2nd but out of 851 riders, I wasn’t overly so. I logged on to see my power data for 20 minutes on ZwiftPower and was surprised to see a golden trophy by my name. I’d won! But had I? I’m having trouble reconciling the fact you can lose on the road but win on ZwiftPower, exactly the same experience I faced several weeks ago with my ride up Alpe du Zwift.
Monday’s Mountain Massif TT – April 19
Mondays are quickly becoming my favourite day for cycling, simply because I really enjoy racing my own event. The 12.15km time trial up the Epic KOM is intense, no doubt about it. But it’s actually making me a stronger rider. My power output has started increasing marginally and I am currently outputting my biggest wattage.
The event itself has seen many strong riders participate, with Ed Laverack currently holding the record of 26 minutes flat. I took my position on the start line in a somewhat reduced field the day after my ToW win. The nice spring weather had clearly tempted many to take to the roads outside, however one rider joined quite late and caught my eye. It was the green jersey next to his name that caught my attention, so I focussed on the name: J. Brownlee. It couldn’t be, could it? Could it be the two-time Triathlon World Champion Jonathan Brownlee? On closer inspection via the Companion app, I confirmed it was!
I felt very proud and privileged that he joined my event but at the same time I knew I would be now racing for second place as I could not compete with someone of that athletic pedigree. I thought “go full gas and hang on as long as you can.”
I spun up the legs and as the clock counted to zero, I exploded from the pen, but so did everyone else, including Jonny. He took the lead within the first 100 meters and so I made sure I took a photo on my Companion app, convinced I wouldn’t see him again and wanting a souvenir to show people that a two-time Triathlon World Champion attended my little event. But then something strange and unexpected happened.
I overtook Jonny.
I was in the lead of my own event. I was confused. It wasn’t meant to be like this. This wasn’t in the script. Jonny was supposed to be flashing past me, up the road and I would settle into a routine and try and fight my way up the mountain and battle for the top 10, at best.
But I was in the lead and we hadn’t even got to the climb. I started pushing, going as hard as I dared. I knew it would take between 6 and 7 minutes to get to the start of the climb, so focussed on trying to keep 5 watts per kilo until that point. But I started pulling away from Jonny. I’m sure he was just doing his own training programme, but in my world, I was flat out racing him, like a Triathlon World Championship title depended on it.
I like the start of the climb, just after the blue KOM line, that short steep section always explodes races and I use it as a springboard to get into my rhythm. I am able to push 6 watts up the first section before it plateaus. I think it’s the momentum from the flat that allows me to power up the first part of the climb, and I used that tactic to my advantage, pulling further away from the riders behind.
At the start of the mountain climb itself, Jonny had slipped to 3rd position and I had a 35-second lead. Had I pushed too early? Had I gotten overexcited and gone too hard? The next 20 minutes would reveal.
My legs were certainly not fresh as a consequence of the previous day’s all-out effort and I was in pain, but I was determined not to let the winning position I was in slip through my fingers. So I ignored the dull ache that was increasing and focussed instead on the time gap to the riders behind me. Despite my fatigue, I was eking out a slender lead and with 3.8km to the finish, I had a 1 minute 19 second advantage. I wasn’t confident of victory. I feared for a technical glitch as equally as I feared my legs failing on the final climb up the Radio Tower.
20 minutes into the event and I was now tired, but fortunately, so were the other riders as our watts per kilo were the same and I was starting to sense that I may be able to win. So I pushed, ignoring the pain in my thighs. I was able to increase my lead still further to 1 minute 50 seconds with 2km to go. I was pushing close to 5.1 watts and knew that if I was to be caught, someone would have to literally fly up that mountain or I suffer a mechanical.
Onto the Radio Tower climb! I was seriously fatigued, up and out of the saddle to relieve the strain on the legs, changing down to the lowest gear to keep the legs spinning – this was desperate stuff, and hilarious to watch I am sure. I certainly wouldn’t be good streaming on YouTube! With 500 meters to go and a lead of 2+ minutes, I started realising I was going to win and what was nice was that it was my own event! I didn’t relent, I kept pushing until the finish and I crossed the line in 29.03 – at long last, after 200 races, a legitimate win on the road, as well as on Zwift Power. Hallelujah!
Dare I say it, but Zwift is becoming more fun than cycling outside…
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