Whilst outdoor competition has been put on hold for some time now, there's still been plenty of other things to keep us active and entertained!
I've been getting my fix by doing the odd challenge and taking part in some virtual cycle racing on Zwift. Here's what I've been getting up to: -
Haute Route 3 Day Event (April 3rd-5th) - With about 11,000ft of climbing spread over 3 days this was never going to be easy. Day one felt particularly tough going, but day 2 took on Zwift's version of Alpe D' Huez and day 3 had the most ascent over-all. Over 25,000 took part in this event. With almost 6 hours riding it was certainly good training.
London International Classic (10th April) - A one day mass-start event over 10 miles. I got absolutely slaughtered and came in 80th but ended up 15th after loads of people got DQ'd for being in the wrong category or putting out waaaayyyy to much power!
Valhaller 100km Challenge (12th April) - Just a long group ride on a Sunday morning which ended up being 110km - good training and more long rides to come.
Zwift Fast Fridays Time Trial (17th April) - A tough 8km course with a massive great 2km climb at the end makes this difficult to pace. I felt good (kind of!) and hit my pre-shingles power which was pleasing. Despite going 30 seconds quicker than Boxing day on this course, I could only finish 53st in this all-category event.
Tri-Anglia Vuel TA (23rd-26th April) - An event kindly organised by one of the Tri-Anglia members piggy-backing on 4 Zwift races. It was a mix of a short leg buring criterium, a lung-busting time trial, a mountain climb and a longer road stage. Once again I got a good kicking and my legs hurt by day 4, but it's quality time on the bike (i'll keep telling myself that anyway!).
Can But Tri TT With A Twist (24th April) - Rather than the winner being the fastest we opted to base final results on who gets closest to their own threshold (how much power they can produce for about an hour). This way anyone could come out on top. We used the Bologna course on Zwift and I pretty much matched last week's effort despite having ridden a crit race the night before. Oh, yeah and embarrassingly I took top spot by the smallest of margins in my own little event!
CC Boucherville Fun Race (16th May): Things were looking up with a 3rd place finish in this 40km event, Should have won if it wasn't for some awful tactics though...a theme that would develop over the coming weeks:-)
British Cycling Time Trial Series (21st May): Only finished 14th but did OK considering I felt rubbish after sitting at a desk all day. Needed to find a minute for the win, oh well.
ZHR Morning Team Race (29th May, 5th and 12th June): Much to the amusement of my 'friends' I've races this event 3 times in a row and managed to finish 2nd on each occasion. It doesn't seem to matter what I do - sit in a wait for the sprint, attack from the start, attack with a few KM's to go - I always end up as first loser. Mind you the last one was by just 0.5 seconds, so i'm getting closer.
Round Norfolk Run (May-June): The brainchild of Tri-Anglia's Russell Clark (who once upon a time i'd see at Wymondham Pool when dipping in Chlorine was allowed). The idea was to virtually run the circumference of Norfolk - some 198 miles - as fast as possible. Some, like Russell took just a few weeks. Others like myself took a bit longer clocking 25-30 miles a week until the final 60 miles covered in 8 days. Great challenge that has helped get me out the door for regular runs even when I didn't feel like it.
Here's a few virtual snaps: -
There's a glimmer of hope that some end of season events could run, i'll probably keep doing some of these virtual bike races and perhaps challenge myself with some increasingly long runs...just for fun!
What's everyone else been doing?
Iain