- First out of 24 riders (I thought 30+ started) on Turf N Surf.
- Started with a Zwift Racing Score around 560 so I was in the lower middle of the 510-650 tier, not necessarily a favorite for the race. Zwift Racing Score now at 578.
- ZwiftPower ranking now at 166.3. Achieved best all time ZwiftPower race score: 143.50.
- Personal 5 Minute Record of 5.1w/kg to close the race uphill on a 2024 Aeroad + DT Swiss disc combo. 92.6% percentile score in w/kg for my 40-49 age group of 17K+ athletes on Intervals.icu.
- Intervals.icu FTP now predicted at 270w.
This is a snapshot of the power on the final climb to the finish line. I fluctuated from 4.6 to 6.9w/kg for those 5 minutes.
The approach to the race was pretty straight forward: hang in the group and see if I could separate on the two short climbs – you can see them roughly in the altitude map above at the 15km and 22km marks.
I don’t think there is much to Zwift strategy when you are riding by yourself. Do as little as possible until there’s a point where you can show your strengths. In a flat map, for example, there isn’t a particular strength for me, so that means I hang out to the fastest group I possibly can for as long as I can and then try to try to use momentum in pack dynamics for a strong finish at the sprint.
Turf N Surf is an ideal type of map for me, a climb towards the end where I can use my relatively light weight and high power to weight to separate myself from people who have bigger builds and more power.
You can see this recording of the race, taken from another competitor’s perspective (1hr:05:14), to see the start of the deciding climb. I am “M.Nguyen” wearing a gray jersey with squirrel in back pocket.
In this race, almost the entire race group stayed together, perhaps until the second and last sustained climb. There was an early breakaway, but I let that go. Two riders built such a big lead so quickly, I didn’t think there was any way I could catch up without killing myself in the process and bringing the rest of the group with me so I just stayed in the group, conserving energy. Surprisingly, those lead riders were brought back quickly.
As we hit some small rolling hills, I just had to make sure I adjusted my power so I wouldn’t get dropped off the back of the group and did a good job. When we hit the first climb, I accelerated through the group and realized I was going to pass everyone, but didn’t think that was a good idea with a descent and second climb coming, so I slowed down to stay with the lead riders. I wasn’t sure whether everyone else was taking it easy and waiting for the second climb, or whether I had a good advantage in climbing. Even if it were the latter, I didn’t want to risk using all my energy and not having a final burst for the second climb.
As we hit the final climb, I went all out. From early research, I knew that this final part would take me about 5 minutes. I didn’t sprint up but I went really hard out of the saddle and just tried to sustain power. I had a feather power up (to reduce my weight and improve my speed up the climb) but used it towards the end of the climb to give my avatar a boost towards the end. I would rather end strongly with a boost then begin with it, to discourage anyone who goes all out at the beginning.
As I got close to the end of the climb, with about 1km to the finish line, I noticed I had a two second gap on the group. Otherwise, I wasn’t even looking at the screen – I just wanted to put power down and not worry about what anyone else was doing. I didn’t think two seconds was going to be enough as I neared the crest and would have a final .6km slight downhill left so I just kept the power and decided to put as much power down as I possibly could until I finished the race because the other riders could have some reserves available for a sprint. I needed to do what I could to discourage other riders from thinking they could make up the gap back to me – this was a push until I broke apart move.
In the end, that was enough, and I won by over 4 seconds, which is a lot considering almost all the riders were together with 5 minutes left in the race.
I Spit Hot Fire 