The Last Stage of Tour de #Zwift...

but that's not me finished. As I've mention, I still have stages three and five to ride this weekend. I do find the official events give me an incentive to get on the saddle after a hard day at work. Which I think is why focusing on racing is going to help me get back into the running. Although I am struggling for a race this weekend - and no, don't mention the X word! The following weekend isn't much better. There is the Titterstone Clee but it's a 90 minute drive for a 4k race and then of course there's The Long Mynd Valley's Race the following day, which is the same 90 minute drive but for 18k of tough racing. It was my second ever fell race but I'm not sure I'd get past the pre-selection phase now it's gone all nobber on the entry system.

Ee Ba Gum That Wind Were Bloody Cold

There were a surprising amount of branches down along my route this morning - and feeling the strong wind chilling me to bone, I think there were probably more dropping all around me as I 'ran'. So yes, I did manage to get my arse out of bed and head out and I wasn't the only one out there in the cold either. I got overtaken on the climb and it's not often I come across anyone else following the convoluted routes I run in these parts. (Not to mention the fact that I haven't run much, decreasing the chances further).

The Golden Gate

Stage eight complete and I put down a bit more power than of late. Felt a bit pants at the start but pretty quickly found myself putting down decent power (for me). I think the London course helped as there are a few bumps on the flat section and I seem to find it easier to grind the power when ascending and struggle a bit on the flat as my legs won't fast enough! Grinding up Box Hill twice also helped... Enjoyed it.

Just stage nine of the Tour de Zwift to ride - and those two pesky stages I missed, which will be Saturday and Sunday next week. But before that, up tomorrow, I'm going to stay local and run my Longhope One and a Half Peaks loop, 9km and circa 300m ascent.

Today's ride with a few of the 900+ other riders

Tomorrow's planned run profile...

Stage Seven

So I'm just about keeping my hopes of completing the full tour alive - not that it means anything, but the goal definitely helps me keep the focus. I've missed two stages, 3 & 5, of the Tour de #Zwift which I can make up on the final weekend, when they re-run all the stages but if I miss another stage, it's game over. Must stay focused.

Tonight's stage was on the Innsbruck Short Course route, 24km, 500m ascent. I really like it but unfortunately doesn't get much airtime, which is a shame. I think this is the first time I've ridden it in a couple of months. Was nice to hit the 100 kph milestone, aided by the group draft.

Looking For Number Three...

So what do I do this weekend? Travelling north for the Ras Tarren Hendre Fell Race, a six hour round trip drive, seems a little excessive. Is there something closer? If not I might dress as a sheep and sneak along to the FoD Hatteral Hammer recce on Sunday...

Not A Bad Weekend of Exercise

I finished off the weekends exercise with another stage of the Tour de #Zwift. 28km and a whopping 1200m of ascent on Zwift's answer to Alpe d'Huez, the Road to the Sky, Stage 6.

The route started with 16km of undulations as myself and fourteen hundred other virtual riders headed to the start of the beast. From there, for me, it was an hour and ten minutes of grind on the 12km climb at an unrelenting elevation of 10% pretty much the entire way with no sections of respite. 1000m of ascent later I reached the summit and the completion of a decent training session.

Back For More

As threatened, that's race number two bagged - and inside a week to boot. And it was quite an appropriate one, apparently Craig yr Allt Winter is a beginners fell race....

For a race on a relatively small hill it was actually a more interesting route than I was expecting, with a good amount of up and down crammed in to the 6.5km, roughly 350m ascent. I really enjoyed it. I was pretty crap again but, I think, slightly less crap than last week. This weeks race was 1.5km longer with 50m more ascent and I managed a slight average pace increase. I'm happy with that - for a beginner.

Been A Lazy Git This Week

But my excuse is a stressy week at work trying to bring a new control system online and failing. The battle will commence Monday...

Putting that to the back of my mind, tomorrow I continue the return with another race - it's going to be a bit like the buses. Nothing for two and a half years and then three come along together.... So Craig yr Allt fell race it is. I've never run it before. Bring it on.

Thought I'd Got Away With It...

But I was wrong. My legs, more specifically, my quads have got more and more sore throughout the day - I suppose that's what you get after your first race for two and a half years!!! Yes, I've worked out (I think) my last race before yesterday was Fan-y-Big, July 2016.

I'm Back!

Yes, my first race in a long, long time is complete. The 5k, 300m ascent of the Mynydd Llangorse fell race and all the old racing feelings came flooding back. So I wasn't near the front - but I was far enough from the back that I was happy. Once the race was under way and after the initial argy-bargy was over, the race positions settled down and I began to start plotting when to work hard and when to ease back in order to keep ahead of the runner behind and capture the place ahead. It didn't matter that I was way back in the field. The important bit was beating the runner ahead... and then the next... and the next...

As expected I was bloody rubbish on the up. But I knew that would be the case and so I put in some effort along the first flat section before the main climb in order to gain a few places. Things were all pretty steady during the up and then came the down. I was nowhere near as reckless as once I could be but I still managed to pick up half a dozen places on the decent. I'll take that as a beginner!

So that's it. I'm back. Bring on the next one...

Warming Up For Tomorrow...

So tomorrow it is. My first race, in god knows how long. It's certainly been well over a year. I'm not fit. I'm certainly not going to be fast but if I wait till either of those happen I don't think I'll ever 'race' again....

Today I warmed up with a 5k #Zwift and now I'm all set to trundle around Mynydd Llangorse tomorrow. Once more into the real world, dear friends, once more....

Oops, Where Did Stage 3 Go...

Yes, I missed it. I managed to crack on with Stage 4 of the Tour du #Zwift tonight though. I'll have to use one of the catch up days at the end to get Stage 3 ridden. Today's ride was pretty good. Not all out but a pretty steady, consistent effort throughout. 40km, 285m ascent. Job done and bring on the weekend as I could do with a bloody good lie in.

Stage Two

Thirty five kilometres around the virtual Central Park to complete Stage Two of the Tour du #Zwift. A medium to hard effort. With over 2000 riders there was plenty of scope for bridging to the next group up the road. I started off around 1500th place and slowly moved up to towards 900th place. That meant for lots of efforts throughout the entire hours ride. Good workout.

Let The Tour Du Zwift Begin...

Stage 1 of 9. A relatively gentle introduction, just 28km on the Jungle route. Riding with over 1000 other riders online it was an enjoyable 45 minutes. I set off steady, still feeling lacking in the power department. Once we hit the jungle loop I started to feel competitive though... From there I started picking up places and gained almost 100 places to move from just inside to the top 500 to just inside the top 400 by the end. I really enjoyed grinding out the hill - probably because that's where I really cut through the field.

So The New Tack Began...

With a little jaunt around a small corner of the forest at the New Years Day Orienteering Score Event and in typical Creber style it had a few little surprises to set it apart from a normal score event... Not least of which was a fifty point bonus for those lucky enough to find - and then carry round the rest of the course - a small breeze-block. Bloody lucky them!

I had a pretty good outing and finished middle of the pack. I was happy with that as I wasn't expecting much. Could have been a top quarter finish if not for the second Creber surprise - roaming controls. After spending three or four minutes playing hide and seek with the sneaky Judith, aka the human tree, I decided I couldn't waste any more time trying to find the high point control and moved on. After that, I didn't bother with any more of the roaming controls and moved through the rest of the course to come home with just a minute to spare.

Good to be back...