In case you aren’t closely following my riveting tales of Zwift racing, I raced Watopia’s newish Going Coastal route for the first time recently in a massive event with over 500 riders of all categories (read how that went here). It was also my first time going head-to-head with Youtuber Erik Lee (Don’t Get Dropped Cycling), and he came out the victor.
Several days later, looking for a race in my available timeslot, I decided to hop into another event on this same route. But this one would be altogether different! There was a much smaller crowd (around 40 B riders), and without category enforcement in place, which meant we might have some high-powered sandbaggers to keep it interesting.
Part 1: The Start
The race began with 43 B riders, and our pace stayed very steady through this first section, which I say ends in the Fuego Flats oasis at the 5.3km mark. Just how steady was the effort? We started with 43 riders, and hit the end of this section with 42! An easy pace with nearly zero attrition.
- Averages for this section: 42.6 kph, 266W
- Averages for this section in my L’Etape Race: 45.5 kph, 303W
Best of all, just after the race began I noticed Erik Lee was also in the race. This was becoming our timeslot! It was time for a rematch.
Part 2: The “Easy” Middle
In my L’Etape race, this next section was the easiest. Not so today! Our effort out of the Oasis stayed high thanks at least in part to some sus riders attacking, including one “M. Axisa” and a “Mora” whose zFTP according to Sauce was 375W! (Unsurprisingly, neither was signed up for ZwiftPower…)
But that’s what you get when your race doesn’t use category enforcement.
Carl Dyson was in the mix on the front as well, and I know he’s a strong and smart B. So I kept my eye on his moves.
- Averages for this section: 45.3 kph, 283W
- Averages for this section in my L’Etape Race: 46 kph, 278W
Part 3: The Tough Finish
The final half of this course is where the real work happens. You leave the nearly pan-flat desert and hit the Southern Coast’s rolling road which is tailor-made for intermittent attacks, and that’s exactly what happens.
Some big attacks came heading into the sandy Woodland Sprint, and our front pack of 36 broke up into a few groups. I was in the first chase pack with Erik Lee (who was clearly marking me… or was I marking him?) and eventually we got dropped by a strong group off the front of Axisa + 4 legit B riders (these 4 were some of the strongest in the race – they would finish 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th overall). The pack behind caught us, and now it was 24 chasing 4.
I was feeling the chase effort, so I decided to gamble and play the numbers game, sitting in the wheels in hopes that we’d reel in the breakaway. And it worked! With 3.5km to go, it all came back together. Then as we hit that magic 2.5km mark, the pace eased palpably.
Everyone was taking a breath and preparing for the final push. It felt almost comically slow as we twisted down the short descent at 1.7km. One rider (Akparaov) pushed off the front in a halfhearted breakaway effort. I sat on his wheel in the draft, and Erik Lee was right there with me, both of us steering into the optimal line.
Akparov was pulling us at 5-6 W/kg, but we were easily sitting in at 3 W/kg. (Great work by Akparov if you’re a domestique, but if you’re trying to win the race, it’s not a winning strategy.) I kicked for a few seconds in a fake attack to see if I could get anyone to go early and provide me a sprint leadout, but no such luck.
Now it was just a matter of timing and power. The Sasquatch Sprint Reverse is one where I’m familiar with the layout, but not familiar enough with how to time things. Where do you trigger a 15s powerup, for example?
I kept myself near the front of the group but out of the wind as we began the quick descent toward Harry’s and the sprint start line, then I activated my aero powerup (too early, it turns out) as I saw other powerups fly and riders accelerate. We all began to hammer as the road tilted upward with 300m to go…
My legs felt strong, and I stayed seated, hammering out 850W+ for the final 15s of the sprint. On my screen I could see it was going to be close – there were four of us within a bike length of each other across the line!
Alas, I was the 4th.
But Erik was 10th!
- Averages for this section: 44.9 kph, 333W
- Averages for this section in my L’Etape Race: 47.7 kph, 317W
See activity on Strava >
See results on ZwiftPower >
Watch My Video
Watch Erik’s Video
Takeaways
It’s been a while since I raced a B event that wasn’t category enforced. Always a bit of a Wild West experience! I’ve found I have the best experience when I go into these races expecting some sandbaggers and knowing that keeping up with them will make me push extra hard. (There’s nothing you can do to stop them, so if you’re going to race the event you might as well embrace it, right?)
That strategy worked today. The strong riders kept it spicy (look at my average power on that final Southern Coast road section!), but not so spicy that it blew apart the race. Medium spicy.
Often, larger group sizes on Zwift lead to harder races. Why is this? Because a larger group means a higher probability of strong riders. So I was expecting today’s race to be significantly easier than the massive L’Etape event.
It definitely was not.
As always: the racers make the race. A smaller pack can make for a very challenging and strategic race, if they’re willing. And that’s what happened in today’s race.
My big mistake in this race was powerup timing. I activated my aero about 5s too early, and it’s possible that cost me a podium spot in the end. Next time I’ll remember: activate the aero right as the road tilts upward at 1%.
Still, I’m happy with the overall result. It brought my battle with Erik to an even 1-1, and also earned me a small points upgrade in ZwiftPower! Better than a kick in the pants.
Questions or Comments?
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