Tips for WTRL TTT #104 – Sand and Sequoias Once More

Since March I have become obsessed with the weekly WTRL Team Time Trial… so I asked Eric if I could share my obsession with you all, in weekly doses.

Each week 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 WTRL TTT #103 Harrogate Reverse

It was a sea of riders… parts of the ride felt more like a group ride than a TTT, particularly the last 5km. Unfortunately, I had a mechanical which needed a reboot, and I missed the pen by 5 seconds, leaving the already shorthanded Puffins with only 3 riders. Not an auspicious debut with a new club!

Not bad, even if I do say so myself. The only fail on my part was Espresso who really went to town beating the Doppio class by 4 seconds.

Only one Rider Review this week – from our Paris correspondent Mark, in the CICC Blast team. 

So with the spring weather now CICC consolidated down to two teams (forgetting that a good portion now live in Scotland where today’s spring weather was 50mph gusts). With the inclement and, for our lighter riders, downright dangerous conditions we were fielding a strong 7 (including a CICC vAmos conscript, Jan). We had made pace notes and studied Sherpa’s video, the videos are amazing (flattery will get you everywhere), had a plan and then concluded that the old Army adage ‘no plan survives first contact’ was likely to never be truer and a shambles was inevitable.

Off we set with the agreed strategy. Carlos dropped off (under-reporting turbo to blame) and sent us on with his regards. Really good tempo riding kept our team (with a spread of 17kg from light to heavy) together for the first lap, and we passed several teams cleanly. Phil unfortunately got caught up passing a team early in lap 2 and had to go red to get by. Since this course has nowhere to get unred, and despite briefly getting back on, the next hill came too quick and Phil sent the remaining 5 on. We stayed together and Jan paid Blast the ultimate compliment ‘I thought I was ‘dropping down’ for an easy ride, this is just as bad as vAmos!!!’

Jan and I got slightly distanced on the very last climb and couldn’t quite get back on for the run in. Slight schism in team but overall not the ‘shambles’ predicted and some fantastic performances. This is our ‘B’ team and we took a full minute out of our then ‘A’ team’s December time on this course… now all the Internet knows Blast beat vAmos! 

WTRL TTT #104 Sand and Sequoias (2 laps)

I thought London was the first leg in a three-week European vacation: France this week, and Italy (Bologna) next week. So sure was I that I wrote this week’s recce and sent it to Eric for publication! I have no clue when it changed – but we are actually heading back to Watopia this week. 

This week is two laps of Sand and Sequoias. This route is a regular on TTT – I have ridden it three times (once with CICC, twice with R&K). In fact, this was the route of my first TTT. Prior to that it was the route four times – #51, #39, #26, and #19! 

Two laps at 20km plus a lead in make this a 43km ride – add in a KOM and what we have here is one of the longest and hardest TTTs, at least until the TTT visits Alpe Du Zwift on New Year’s Eve. Even top-flight teams will be in the saddle for 55 minutes, and the rest of us should expect well over an hour. 

Essentially the route is out from the pens on the Fuego Flats desert then back via the Titans Grove sequoia forest – then repeat it all. This route ticks all the boxes – the flat of the desert, the KOM itself, and the rollers that bookend the KOM. And it’s long, too. 

From the desert pens we head straight for the Sprint then through the start/finish gate. Through the desert for 10km (including the lead-in) before heading up the hill and into Titans Grove. From here it’s a sequence of rollers before heading up the KOM (2.6km at a pretty steady 3%) then more rollers. It flattens out as you hit the desert again for the remaining 3.5km to the start/finish banner – then do it again. 

What to ride?

Bike recommendation on this route is tricky. For the Fuego Flats aero is king, but for Titans Grove the rollers give an edge to something more balanced. I will be on my Tron bike this week, leaving the Venge in the garage… although I did my recon ride on the Venge and it wasn’t awful.

Here are some recommendations on equipment at various levels:

• Level 6 Zwift Aero frame and DT Swiss ARC 62 wheels
• Level 13 Canyon Aeroad 2021 and Zipp 808s
• Level 18 Specialized Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 25 Cervelo S5 with Zipp 808s
• Level 33 S-Works Venge with ENVE SES 8.9
• Level 35 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808/Super 9
• Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge

In this case though, if you have a Tron, use it… it beats every other bike on this route hands down. I cannot stress highly enough that if you are racing you need to be working on Tron. It’ll take a while, but just set the Everest Challenge and forget about it for nine months… like having a baby. 

Route Recon Rides

The last couple of weeks I have struggled to find good recce rides – but Sand and Sequoias is everywhere! – check for yourself on the event listing on zwifthacks.com. 

BUT! As I do every week now, I rode the route (just one lap) and created a recce ride for you:

Race breakdown 

As you can see from the route map courtesy of VeloViewer, the route is divided into two parts – flat in the desert, hilly in Titans Grove. There is an official Zwift race recon – but i didn’t think this one translated well to a TTT.

Start through the end of the Flats

It’s 10k from the pens to the start of the rise into the Sequoias. There are a couple of tiny rises but you won’t notice them as you speed through. Practice your paceline here! 

Col du Saddle Springs

Some wag on Strava coined this term for a segment and I couldn’t resist using it. After 10km flat this is the first real rise – a perfect opportunity for your lighter, stronger climbers to jump ahead and create a split! Rein in those riders and keep everyone together. This first little hill is just 2% for 900m up to the turn into Titans Grove.

More up than down – the approach to the KOM

Rounding the bend from the Col you head into Titans Grove – a very pretty section, although you won’t have the energy for sightseeing. Before the KOM itself are a jagged series of bumps heading upwards before the descent that marks the approach to the KOM itself. This segment feels just like The Esses to me – plenty of opportunities to gain momentum and increase the team’s speed, but you also run the risk of splitting up.

Titan’s Grove KOM

On the face of it, this is a simple 2.5km pull at 2%, as it winds up and around the mountain with three beautiful switchbacks. But the top and the bottom are kinda flat, so the middle is steeper.

Think of this as a 1km at 4%. That’s enough height and distance to create a split – particularly on the second time around. I have raced this on the TTTs and both times we lost someone on this segment. Depending on your race strategy that might be fine on the second time through of course.

More down than up… after the KOM and back to the desert

Once you go through the KOM the grade heads downwards. There’s a 4% downhill for a 1.4 km where you will pick up speed, then a series of rollers. Tired legs after the KOM (particularly on lap 2), will put strain on the team. Keep an eye out for splits in the group.

After the rollers it flattens out as you speed back into the desert, through the sprint and on to the Start/Finish banner.

Target times

The WTRL splits here are at 10, 20 and 30 kilometers.

• Split 1 (10km) – Just before the Col du Saddle Springs
• Split 2 (20km) – As you reconnect to the Desert from Titans Grove on Lap 1
• Split 3 (30km) – Passing the LAX Control Tower in Saddle Springs on Lap 2

How have you done in the last few attempts on this course? Here are the PL time markers from the past three rides on this course.

Here are my split and finish predictions for everyone:

Wrap up

This race is all about team discipline. You will be flat out on the flat, and the hills will strain the team… people will get dropped. But for me the critical section are the rollers before and after the KOM… hold together on those and everything else will come together! Climbers… if you can stay with the team on the hilly stuff they will help you on the desert plains!