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 Premier League (top-teams 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).
Thursday 20th May – UCI Yorkshire
This week we head north from Watopia to Yorkshire – and do a couple of laps of the 2019 UCI circuit. It’s a lumpy one! None of the hills are awful, but there are long drags up.
I believe this is one of Zwift’s most beautiful worlds, but you won’t have much time to watch the scenery float past. You’ll be suffering.
No lead-in from the pens: straight into the laps after 100 yards. Each lap is 13km with 240m of climbing – and you do two of them. There are no mountains here but plenty of ascending to sap the legs. Here are my DS Notes for you to print off and leave by you’re bike:
What to ride?
This is not a flat route, and it’s not a mountain – it’s best described as lumpy. My feeling is the up and down nature of this course favors the Tron over S-Works Venge (with 858/Super 9) but what do the numbers say?
Eric and I had a debate on the bike to use, which he settled in his usual way – by doing the science. He ran a set of tests for a common set of wheel/frame combinations to see where the edge is.
The answer is – Tron and Venge (with 858/Super9) perform identically – our rider got around a lap in exactly 22:38 with each bike. The Tron climbs slightly faster than the Venge+Discs, but the Venge is a bit more aero.
Of course, your performance is what matters, so unless you can output a consistent 4 w/kg your time may vary! Here are some choices for you at different levels.
But… I can’t let you go without another push for Tron – and this is for Simon Schofield as much as anyone since he famously still doesn’t have one – and he’s from Yorkshire! On a course like this, Tron matches the best bike you can buy at any level. As always, the ZwiftInsider reports on frames and wheels are superlative so if you want to find the perfect bike and wheel combo for you, check them out.
Route recon
This is a two-lap race with nowhere to hide. Here is my recon video that walks you through it all:
What to look out for on the ride
This is a technical ride – it’s all up hills and down dales. Winning this week is all about knowing your team, particularly where the weaker team members will crack and the headstrong will ride too hard. Both of those things will cause splits.
There’s no time to catch your thoughts here… 100m out of the pen you are at the start/finish and into the first hill – Otley Road.
Ninety degree right turn and it’s a 1.7km straight shot up Otley Road at a pleasant 3.5-4%. It’s a straight road with consistent rise, so take the first few meters to collect yourselves and get into formation. The descent is short and sharp, followed by another incline (see the profile picture). None of this is too bad – keep in formation and have fun.
Shortly after the hard right turn comes Pot Bank – the descent first, then the rise up. This down is fast and twisty, peaking at 16%, so watch out for lighter team members getting left behind. Back up the other side of Pot Bank averages 4% but it’s split into two parts – a sharp rise, which eases. Staying together over this section is critical.
At 7.5km (and around 21km) you will hit the KOM. It’s not a monster – 1.2km at 5.5% – but it drags on for far longer than it has any right to!
After that the ride just gets a bit messy but there’s nothing to worry about. The last 500m is a 2% climb up to the start/finish gate – just plow on through and do it all again.
One note on the finish: even though the second time is identical to the first time, that 500m at 2% will be hard. This is the time to know who’s got the legs for the sprint, and who to jettison! It takes a whole team to race, but only four to win.
Wrap up
This is a technical ride – there is nowhere on the route where you can stop paying attention or hide. Bike selection won’t make the difference here – but team communication will. When I did this ride last time I was with a crew I didn’t really know… but I certainly knew their strengths and weaknesses afterward – and they knew mine! This is a great course that puts the Team in Team Time Trial!
