A new season, with new challenges

According to Zwift Power I have finished 115 Zwift races going way back to 2016. And yet even with completed races in the triple digits and several years of racing under my belt, I somehow still manage to commit some of the most basic rookie errors when it comes to Zwift racing. If the last ZRL finished with a comedy of technical challenges, WTRL ZRL Season 3 kicked off with more user error oriented mistakes.

But before getting into the opening race of Season 3, some important context: ZRL Season 2 was a blast. In the midst of NYC’s winter shut-down we felt fortunate to race ‘together’ (virtually) week in and week out in the B-division. However during the course of the season a few of our riders (cough, Scott and Russell, cough cough) decided to become watt monsters and get themselves upgraded to the A’s.

This meant that as we prepped for Season 3 we had a choice: split into two smaller A and B teams in separate divisions. Or stick together and roll the full squad up into the A’s. Despite our hard fought mid-pack B-division finish in Season 2, we choose the latter option in the spirit of good times and team comradery. Which meant for the Season 3 Week 1 TTT we lined up for the A division with a roster comprised of 1 A rider, 4 B riders, and 1 C rider bringing up the rear (me).

Which brings us back to my rookie mistakes. While I can blame getting home from work just 15 minutes before the race start, I still managed to commit two cardinal Zwift sins: racing without a proper fan setup and failure to warm up. Which meant that 10 minutes into the race, with the indoor temperature rapidly approaching 80 degrees and a puddle of sweat quickly forming on my trainer mat, I was in a world of hurt.

Of course, these were not the only mistakes from team TBD. With our Official TBD Zwift Coach (Tom) taking the week off, we also managed to flub the funky ZRL TTT start procedures and send both Alvaro and Russell off the start line early. But no matter because we regrouped from the false start and maintained a steady pace throughout the - very warm and at times painful - race. Our post race Slack chatter perhaps sums it up best:

The final results were not a huge surprise. With a mix of A, B, and C riders we lacked the pure horsepower to compete with our division rivals. But we were also far from DFL in the A’s across all WTRL divisions, and we had a blast racing together. So we’ll chalk that up as a win of sorts.

Up next week for ZRL Season 3: 38km of sprinting and suffering on the Beach Island Loop. This will officially be my first ever Zwift A race, so I am fully prepared for a painful night on the bike. “Don’t get dropped” will be my race mantra.

As usual, we streamed this week’s race live on both Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/tobedeterminedcc) and our Youtube channel:

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