ZRL - muffed a gear shift on the steepest bit of the first climb and dropped from 20th to 40th by the time I got going again. And that was the front group gone. Fought back to finish 22nd out of a group going for 20-25 with a long one from about 0.8km out where it kicks up to 5%. Couldn’t quite hold it to the line and lost two places in the last 100m
That was a long solo ride, was never holding on from the foot of the first climb, southern league 1A1
Only thing comparable was chasing fruity up Bologna
Christ. I was supposed to be out with family, team was short so swapped life around.
First climb hr was up at 197 not long after the start line.
Gave it absolutely everything to hang on. Hated that last bit.
Second time just kept slipping, snapped with less than minute up to.
Came home 23rd and last for our team.
I could’ve not raced and they would’ve still won🤷
ZRL race 1
Bit of a shock to the system with twice up Fox and some rollers on the rest of the course and the sodding escalator.
Fitness showed when I got dropped on climb 1. Sat in with the second group picking off stragglers dropping off the front. Won the honours for 25th (I think) with a sprint up the final climb before using the anvil to the line.
Probably trying to secure income against the more organised people that cancel during summer
Cue everyone doing it after Christmas is out of the way
Anyone else have the ZRL pleasure tonight.
Knew it would be tough, last year I mostly scored in the second half, which arguably didn’t exist tonight in comparison.
Spat out after 6km … Before contesting for a top 50 and one single FTS point.
Worst ever ZRL score. 2 races in and nowhere near the front pack.
Better race for me tonight. Hung on to the front pack by the skin of my teeth for the first three laps, by which time it had been whittled down to 15 riders. That was a bit more manageable and got 8th or 9th on the last two times up the Clyde Kicker and 9th at the finish
Nearly got spat early on then realised you had to be quite far forward to stand a chance (especially with my pathetic sprint), picked up a few more points on the last few laps.
Couldn’t deploy my power up in the last lap as the phone screen had a bit of sweat on it
Ah FFS I’m back in Cat A again. It’s sucks becuase the fields are so much smaller in the daytime events.
What triggered that?
Im seeing what I’d class as decent Bs going up, and decent As coming down - it doesn’t seem a level playing field.
Zwift racing score deferred till at least January too
Yesterday’s Neokyo city race; two solid lumps and of course racing strong Bs with high power but also weight. Can’t just sit-in and remain competitive on that two bridges route.
I have added 0.5kg to reflect what I often weigh, but it will take a few weeks/months to maybe drop me down again now (and course selection).
But FFS I came 9th in B and it tipped me over
The silly thing is that I’ll be ‘reverse’ weight doping at this rate
Or just pull on your big boy and get stuck in at A
Been there; anyway sandBagger…
I’ve lost track a bit with what’s driving the cat designation these days. Whatever it is, it seems like the goalposts have moved a bit, I’m at a level where I definitely was cat B a few years ago, but still in cat C and although always near the front, still seems like there’s a load of C’s way stronger.
Not complaining as it means decent racing for me but no idea how close I might be to a move up, is there any way to tell?
How frowned upon is this? Asking for a friend
I’ve done it in the past