The Competition
Knowing that I was competing against 90 strong AF racers, I had no idea how I’d do. My goal was to hold on for as long as I could. It’s disappointing not to be able to realistically have the goal of winning. The racer who won averaged 4.2 w/kg which was 245 watts for the hour-long race. Scroll all the way down to my name and you’ll see I averaged 3.5 w/kg which was 213 watts.
Looking at the 45 racers ahead of me, I was the only one who held 3.5 w/kg. The rest were all higher. Sure, there was some strategy involved — not riding at the front, going into the supertuck once I hit 35 mph — but the rest was my legs and they aren’t as strong as the other 45 riders ahead of me.
Actually, my goal was to get 40th, so at least I’d get our team one point.
Holding Watts
I went off WAY too hard, something like 7.35 w/kg at the start which was about 440 watts. I assumed that’s what elite Zwift racers did but luckily I was wrong. I was at the front of the group right at the start which was not where I wanted to be. I eased off the pedals so I could sit in the pack instead.
Daniela had warned us that the first hill would likely knock us back to another group and that we had to hold on with all our might at the start until things settled. Well, they never settled but I did hold on for as long as I could.
I held on to the front pack for 12 minutes. Yep. That’s all I could do. When I felt my legs giving out and when my brain told them that they couldn’t sustain this effort for 60 minutes, I looked to see how many minutes we were into the race. I was both in shock and in awe that I only lasted 12 minutes.
I didn’t feel like I belonged in this race with people who were WAY stronger than me.
I settled in with a group that was also dropped from the main pack. And when I say “settled,” I mean I barely hung on to this group. It started as a group of three but racers caught up to us creating a group of about 10. One of my ex-IRL teammates was in this group who’s a strong racer. It encouraged me a bit to know that I could at least hang with people who race at this level regularly.
Climbing
On a smart trainer in Zwift, the hills feel like real hills. And there were a couple of them. I didn’t have a chance to preview this course before the race. Mostly, I didn’t know the tricks to get into other Zwift worlds when they were the default options (later, I looked it up so I could preview the second stage, Champs-Élysées).
I didn’t realize how many hills there hill in the 2019 UCI Worlds Harrogate Circuit course but there was one kicker, Forward Climb, that totally destroyed my legs. I had to dig so god damn deep to not get dropped and even then, the numbers were laughable.
It averages 6% grade with pitchier sections and lasts .7 miles but long enough to drop people.
There was another climb, a more sustained haul, that averaged 4% and was .86 miles long. Neither sound like a lot, especially if you’re going at a chill pace. But this pace was very unchill. I averaged 269 watts up the first climb which is 4.48 w/kg.
Every climb, I reminded myself of the advice that was given to me by Daniela, an ex-REVO-teammate, about treating it as if it was the finish line. I think that was the only way I was able to hold on for as long as I did.
I ended up in 46th out of 80 racers (100 or so started), only 6 away from getting @revoveloracing points in order to race the Zwift Invitational League. I also ended up PR’ing my 5-, 10-, 20-, and 60-minute powers so I’ll take it. Funny enough, when I was saving the race, Zwift increased my FTP to 219 because of my 20-minute PR. Wouldn’t have thought that would happen based on my outside FTP test and a disappointing result.
There are two more qualifiers left so it’s not over until it’s over.
My Setup
Nutrition
I had a bottle of UCAN to help provide slow-release carbs. I drink half of it before the race and the other half during. It’s somewhat chalky but you get used to it and that’s because of the powder. I’ve been drinking UCAN for 5 years now. It comes in different flavors and I use lemon. It sort of tastes like lemon Pez. I love it and I know it gives me the energy I need to put out sustained efforts without bonking from a sugar crash.
I also had one of UCAN’s test gels halfway through the race for a little pick-me-up (off the floor because that’s where I felt like I was).
I had a bottle of nuun and two bottles of water. By the end of the race, I went through about three of them.
I try to eat my last biggest meal within 3-3.5 hours before a race. I don’t want to eat too far away because then I’ll be hungry again and I don’t want to eat too close because racing full gas on a full stomach is so freaking uncomfortable, not to mention, it’ll totally ruin your performance.
I had my typical Greek yogurt + berries + sliced almonds + unsweetened coconut flakes. Some people don’t do well with dairy and others are okay. I don’t notice a difference with or without dairy.
I also drank a Red Bull 90 minutes before the start of the race. I was either going to do that or drink pre-workout.
Goo, Gadgets, Gear
I also use Chamois Butt’r Her’ as my go-to chamois cream. It’s non-greasy, goes on super easy, and lasts way past my races.
I only wear bibs, socks, and a sports bra when I race on Zwift. It gets too hot with a jersey. Luckily, my computer is too old to livestream my Zwift races so no one has to see me in my getup.
These Zwift races require dual recordings so while I was connected to my CycleOps smart trainer, I also had my Garmin Edge 820 running as well along with my Garmin Vector 2S pedals running.
Heather and I talked only a couple of times on Discord which is a gaming app that you can chat with others from.
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