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😆Its not watt power, but when. There's a couple of pinch points on that route where I need to produce sustained 30s to 1min anaerobic power at about 160% of FTP. So I made sure to take every opportunity to rest on the downhills and in the draft. 1st person view really helps me judge momentum and the speed of riders around me, if I'm moving too far forward I ease off. I think my normalised power was 312w and I was above VO2max power for 25% of the race.

Yep, its one of the great things about Zwift, that you can casually bump into pros of his calibre and ride along sharing the virtual experience. Although I was likely suffering a little bit more than him on the jungle climbs. I wasn't sure whether I should say hello, but I expect he has messaging turned off anyway.

Thanks Marco, when we grouped up with him I was frantically trying to start the screen recording in case he sprinted.

And that was one heck of a sprint you put in. Nice one.

Thank you kind Sir

I was watching the gap to my team mates behind and encouraging them to get back on, but at the same time I couldn't let you get away. Earlier on, I wasn't sure whether to close the gap or sit in with you and Jesse. In the end I went to close it, but didn't have the stamina which allowed Jesse to counter over the top. Fun but tiring race mentally and physically. 😆

@@stevej_on_a_mtb Yeah, on the last lap I was definitely keeping an eye on that gap and had to spend some energy to not lose too much time. Got pretty close towards the end.

Thanks, looks good. Will try and do a few.

Thanks Thomas, yep that little bump was a now or never moment. Arctic did great. He was just behind me going into the last time up the leg snapper. The pack attacked it hard from the bottom. I was trying to build power, but didn't go orange quick enough. I was closing in on them by the top and was so close to locking on to DFS wheel.

😄thanks, yep wasn't sure about the finish. I started the sprint, then had second thoughts and we were auto-braked on that final corner so I was able to sprint again. More luck than planning.

Damn, you and the green ninja went at it... orange for so long. Amazing!

@@doomguyzwifting we had some recovery time once we were on our own. Although he almost got the jump on me in the cave. With your raw power, you should try giving some of the more rolling courses a go in Cat A.

@@stevej_on_a_mtbyeah I think I should. Problem is, cat A pens are often empty 😢

yep, I got away with that. It was amazing how quickly the speed I dropped when I eased off. It was more out of necessity though.

It certainly made for an entertaining race. was concentrating so much to stay in the draft

Thanks, Alan. Having to concentrate on those attacks whilst also steering to staying in the draft made it surprisingly good fun. I think it helped mask the pain - until the climb.

yep and you can choose your chain line. I'm still using a 9 speed cassette with virtual shifting. It means I can ride indieVelo too

You would think I would be used to it be now, I just didn't have it in me the first time over to keep pedalling.

Thanks Lee, my 5 min power has really come on in the past couple of months.

I think so. 😀 So many times I wanted to drop from the group to stop the pain and it was touch and go through the desert as the As finally broke away. I was able to recover and went for a longer effort. I like camera 3 for judging momentum, but had no idea how close you were until you came roaring past before the finish line.

yep, I did too. One slipped away with the front As early on, but we bought him back at some point.

I hope so, I mentally gave up around that bend thinking we had we had 300m more climbing to come and I might be able to recover enough to power through the banner. If I had taken note that the road dipped down to -4% around that corner I think I would have found the watts to stay attached,

it certainly cost me some places. I was able to bridge when we got back to the flat and caught some stragglers for 11th, but it was all fairly needless. "Shut up legs" 😆

thanks, a couple of laps too many for me to hold on. Watching it back, it looks like I just needed one more push to stay in the group, but I just couldn't find it.

yeah, hadn't noticed the differential was that big. It could be the updated physics reacting to my gear selection and cadence, I started the sprint mid ~85rpm and wound up to 115rpm. I also had nice draft when I applied the torque

@@stevej_on_a_mtb yeah you definitely had better draft benefit when you accelerated, I was relying on the single wheel in front and a bit far off it

He was using the crest of hills and sprinting hard over the top to pick up speed. But the route is so punchy its not too hard to bring solo riders back on the next small climb.

Thanks, Paul. He really was. Van Caenegem also held 5.8wkg for the race but not in ZP

Thanks Luke, good to see you racing B again. Think you were in Cat A for a while. I wasn't expecting that to be so relentless. We had a nice selection and it didn't ease up. Great effort getting off the front, its hard to stay away solo from the chasers up the bumps.

@@stevej_on_a_mtb I had ONE good climbing session in a race 90 days ago, and got kicked right into the A category. Ha! Took a long time, and string of very humbling races in the A's, before Zwift realized who I truly was, and sent me back where I belong. Honestly, I find the B races harder. Much more attacking. In the A's, it's more set it at 5 wkg and slowly everyone falls off. Way less exciting. Not to mention, each B race has 50 people, when you're lucky to get 10 in the A. Anyway, all this is to say, happy to be back racing alongside and against you!

Good idea. I can give that a go.

Thanks, Racing on Zwift as it was the first platform I used, and I value the race field sizes, community, and zwiftPower stats. I would definitely race some more in organised IV events. I would like to see elite sterzo integration to make the most of steering.

I've got some fond memories of the Mech Isle climb from my Cat C days and when the gravel bike made a larger difference. 8x in one race is a bit much though.

Thanks, Adam. I did hesitate when you went early. I was trying to get further back so there was a bit of a gap, but I thought I might have left it too late. The ice-cream/food stand on the right was my marker.

I wasn't sure if I would cause a split there, but was also aware someone else might try something on the last lap so I thought I would put the pressure on early and recover back in the pack. You, Jon, and Adam marked it excellently.

Thanks, Rob. The rolling profile is great for me, the climbs are just within my power range. Although I was worried when we were chasing As again and there were a few dicey moments.

Thanks Thomas after getting dropped I decided to try and record a PB. Starting the dirt climb in the village on lap 1 was too much. I got to the lake and needed to release some pressure on the legs which scrubbed loads of speed and that was that. I need to build my 5min power up a bit more in races.