tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56033101217840388182024-02-19T02:54:11.315-05:00Marshmallow Man to IronmanMy Journey from 235lbs to Ironman and Adventure RacerJon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.comBlogger687125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-46756521818909777092024-02-07T11:09:00.003-05:002024-02-07T11:13:57.951-05:00Racing (errr... Riding?) the Tour de Zwift<p>For those who Zwift - you will know that the Tour de Zwift is as much a race as a ride.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3D7TrOwS7uzyjP2aJJT8cFNIAfUeYMwYvu8r_yYikkQ5QmHx9j4seNfbU5K8DNtyf8gavWQ44a1YUECUxtJJxYVpGgrMuPT22A7CJb1h85j2Jx3p5BlSQ9wp2r6uAII_njX3Newc7Kjw1i3HiBu3WRH_q2l6zyils_PHKykgsCmZcosjPtrNdCZDZRKEP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="1156" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3D7TrOwS7uzyjP2aJJT8cFNIAfUeYMwYvu8r_yYikkQ5QmHx9j4seNfbU5K8DNtyf8gavWQ44a1YUECUxtJJxYVpGgrMuPT22A7CJb1h85j2Jx3p5BlSQ9wp2r6uAII_njX3Newc7Kjw1i3HiBu3WRH_q2l6zyils_PHKykgsCmZcosjPtrNdCZDZRKEP=w400-h119" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Sure, there's the odd message saying "it's not a race"... but there are standings, your position is displayed, and at the front it's 100% a race!</p><p>I've been watching some YouTube videos of people racing, like <a href="https://youtu.be/OG2ei9TNm7c?si=3uhYPvbntx9ah3ZG">Don't Get Dropped guy Erik</a>, and was inspired to give it another try - really hit it and see what I could do.</p><p>I'm currently in Category D (demoted from last year, womp womp) - so anything in the top 50% usually makes me pretty happy.</p><p><b>The Course</b></p><p><a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/richmond-rollercoaster/" target="_blank">Richmond Rollercoaster</a>... ugh! So much hill.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMAAADmc1RhTNY12Mcx1GO3Xsdepg3OoExGL4ata6Faw0a1Vw8E3R4FgDma6oykCmD2VxrUzQ5Q-_1r2AgbmAdBVOCyOwchrFEO07XmF_s70cOVoLAm9zFN78Bvs_Qbl7pnzRZjZcqqAacFlrjq0QES33_u0iGQ0ohL5zBXxB67vWzqD77lVrCwEKh4FwW" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="791" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMAAADmc1RhTNY12Mcx1GO3Xsdepg3OoExGL4ata6Faw0a1Vw8E3R4FgDma6oykCmD2VxrUzQ5Q-_1r2AgbmAdBVOCyOwchrFEO07XmF_s70cOVoLAm9zFN78Bvs_Qbl7pnzRZjZcqqAacFlrjq0QES33_u0iGQ0ohL5zBXxB67vWzqD77lVrCwEKh4FwW=w400-h118" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From zwiftinsider.com (click link) </td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'm big - 98kg right now (over 215lbs) so those hills are scary steep.<p></p><p>First rule of Zwift "racing" is to know the course, and have a plan. Mine was to give it stink out of the gate, get into the lead group, hang on for dear life up 23rd and KOM Reverse then hopefully find a big old blob to carry me through the rest of the ride.</p><p>I learned a few tricks from some of the videos... </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If you join the event early, then leave, you can warm up somewhere else but "reserve" a spot near the front for when you join back</li><li>Don't accelerate until about 2s before the start for the biggest "bump" out of the gate</li></ul>I did both of these... and I was still swarmed and passed early! But I got into a big enough group downhill at a zillion kilometers an hour that we caught back up - in fact I ended up blasting through the entire group and into 1st place!<p></p><p>Definitely not the plan.</p><p>Fortunately others again pushed forward and I drafted my way into 23rd street - and watched as the lighter riders scampered off, which was expected.</p><p>Topped the hill and managed to tag onto the back of a few riders downhill, got a feather power-up (yay!)... everything was going great! Held my own up the KOM Reverse and went way into the red, further than I really ever would normally go so early... </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgG4vryg6QXRqEufxdgkhfJaID1RjfyEuVYpAsQhjrZXB8n2Gpt7fiQiw-7eDM3Ol_UUiFbcFDY1V6rPL44MNNMPikcI9A9SNwtV5rrfr7MCnQbVu6UEpnHzaLrSeyhNmasPYamXYiutFcU4KeTWLkdFoVW-Kwpa8984W9DV3X5AyZryNZv2Fv5eunLAUav" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgG4vryg6QXRqEufxdgkhfJaID1RjfyEuVYpAsQhjrZXB8n2Gpt7fiQiw-7eDM3Ol_UUiFbcFDY1V6rPL44MNNMPikcI9A9SNwtV5rrfr7MCnQbVu6UEpnHzaLrSeyhNmasPYamXYiutFcU4KeTWLkdFoVW-Kwpa8984W9DV3X5AyZryNZv2Fv5eunLAUav" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recovering in the Draft!</td></tr></tbody></table><p>... but it all worked out famously, I ended up in a nice sized group at the crest of the hill.</p><p>I was able to do a bit of recovery at this point, but I knew there were more climbs ahead. Main Street is much lower gradient (3-6%) so there is some drafting which helped.</p><p>From there on it was hang in with the draft and don't get dropped.</p><p>Unfortunately I didn't have anything for the final sprint... ended up in 41st place on ZwiftPower of the 121 ZP riders, best in my finishing "group" was 30th - so still have a few lessons to learn about all of this.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikIP4yBsWsPOw35RY5SHfmcRnB_QMaHk0YrrLpjn4fFhGRhaxN1jE-AxeBUb_ys3_pyfaRRT3h3v5JhJ4XU4JOddUa0NLzaNY2fX7LJOLpBZ51eWwi5ujb6BunOLzxD9pI6e3v9OXif91GPlVVmseOjzmEFqfwq4hqGrj-UrvI1q4lYr_3hLY3_cgS_zhr" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikIP4yBsWsPOw35RY5SHfmcRnB_QMaHk0YrrLpjn4fFhGRhaxN1jE-AxeBUb_ys3_pyfaRRT3h3v5JhJ4XU4JOddUa0NLzaNY2fX7LJOLpBZ51eWwi5ujb6BunOLzxD9pI6e3v9OXif91GPlVVmseOjzmEFqfwq4hqGrj-UrvI1q4lYr_3hLY3_cgS_zhr" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>All in all it was a blast, and nice to have the legs again to be able to do something like this!</p><p>It's a great workout, really forces you into the red when you maybe don't feel like it - but you can see the wheel in front getting away and that extra blast is there!</p><p>Will definitely do this again.</p><p><br /></p><br /><p></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-23934101638333003582024-01-22T13:05:00.008-05:002024-01-22T13:12:21.204-05:00Ready for a Rucking Great Year!<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEPmWTkfl2cBE8VR0XoboG4VsUfmXfFxfrUMwCvQJs5yXIuJD_yzirBMMxgYS7HQa4m_7gT8AUZU2FuYoYgSPsFTRWUxSP3QlZQCoQbCQibtNS9_pY0sXKbA4n2LoH5WhANhGKgiA9itcdNU43PZqsSFlNyEV_I5uk6PnpmLByhCpcgdSXRieXDIPzbBKe" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="720" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEPmWTkfl2cBE8VR0XoboG4VsUfmXfFxfrUMwCvQJs5yXIuJD_yzirBMMxgYS7HQa4m_7gT8AUZU2FuYoYgSPsFTRWUxSP3QlZQCoQbCQibtNS9_pY0sXKbA4n2LoH5WhANhGKgiA9itcdNU43PZqsSFlNyEV_I5uk6PnpmLByhCpcgdSXRieXDIPzbBKe=w200-h100" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic stolen from GoRuck.com</td></tr></tbody></table>A friend of mine was posting his Rucks on Strava, and I was like "What the Ruck is that?".</p><p>"Carrying a heavy backpack"... is about the best description you'll ever need! That's really it - hiking around with weight - which turns a light cardio workout into something serious. </p><p>A stronger core! Stronger bones! Enjoying the outdoors! </p><p></p><p></p><p>Here's Dr. Peter Attia talking about it (jump to 12 minutes)</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/ORXHya4S_TA?t=708">https://youtu.be/ORXHya4S_TA?t=708</a></p><div>Rucking appealed to me instantly for a few reasons...</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The races I'm planning involve carrying stuff while hiking. Adventure Races aren't just simple running, you have a pack with supplies on your back and you're in rough terrain that requires some degree of core strength... and the canoe race I'm doing will definitely include portaging.</li><li>It's super easy to start (assuming you have weights and a sturdy backpack)</li><li>I can turn a normal activity like walking my dog into a better workout by adding the weight!</li></ol></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Equipment</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCck34RSUq90eCarkNT0ZvSNaxzzMc6NfzwbdKEXItN1wzpDAprfQsrZBJZSMYCQUQihmrnF2gEuqUb-3Tc9fWa4cxUHSA8yasD5aG1n2rsMsWI7B3SjvzV_BN-e_0ZRunjB5TneWDz3PJbjCBPw33kJoRSScWVfj23znCMjOaeg7NbV1GvcUm4OaMVyZh/s4032/20240122_123341.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCck34RSUq90eCarkNT0ZvSNaxzzMc6NfzwbdKEXItN1wzpDAprfQsrZBJZSMYCQUQihmrnF2gEuqUb-3Tc9fWa4cxUHSA8yasD5aG1n2rsMsWI7B3SjvzV_BN-e_0ZRunjB5TneWDz3PJbjCBPw33kJoRSScWVfj23znCMjOaeg7NbV1GvcUm4OaMVyZh/w150-h200/20240122_123341.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><br />I wanted to make sure it was something I would stick with before over investing, so I started with a backpack I already owned, put some weight plates from barbells we have into it, made it comfortable, and went! It's good enough for now.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I keep going with it, there is an opportunity to spend a lot of money on $200-300+ GoRuck branded rucksacks and weight plates - I'm a firm believer that the right tool for the activity helps you stick to it. But for now I'm good.</div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Speed</h2><div>I read on the internet (the source of all things factual and not as factual) that the army standard is 15 minutes per mile. That works out to something like 9:20/km, so trying to keep it in that low 9's as a target. I don't think going a bunch faster is a very worthwhile goal, I already run and bike for cardio after all!</div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Weight</h2><div>Dr. Attia says to work up to 1/3 your body weight, but I'm pretty big so that's a lot! Even at my ideal BMI that is 60lbs... I can't quite get my head around that.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started at 25lbs, then 30lbs, and was able to go very long without trouble at that weight - so will progress to 35lbs next. I'm starting to doubt my little starter backpack can handle much more than that.</div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Distance/Time</h2><div>I'm not to fussed about increasing this much beyond an hour - and I'll probably settle in closer to half an hour. I would rather get the weight increased than the time, seems like it would better align to my strength goals (I already have a ton of endurance).</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Results...</h2><div>I only just started, but I definitely feel the workout in my lower back and abs. Also gave a bit of soreness in the glutes. Hopefully it's doing all the good things load bearing exercise is supposed to do under the covers - bone density, increased resilience to injury, etc etc etc...</div><div><br /></div><div>Will keep everyone posted!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-7948816593915866942024-01-22T08:55:00.006-05:002024-01-22T08:56:04.992-05:00Hello 2024!<p> </p><p>Hi! I have let this blog go for awhile now, and I feel bad.</p><p>I actually let it go <u><i>because</i></u> I felt bad... my level of athleticism took a steep nosedive for a pretty long time now.</p><p>But I'm finally back. Back in control of my health, starting to get a handle on my weight, and feeling like myself again on the bike!</p><p>A few new things I'm going to post about eventually...</p><p>... Storm Adventure Race 2024!</p><p>... Muskoka River X 2024!</p><p>... Rucking!?</p><p>It's going to be a great year, buckle up!</p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-79755673003244927192023-05-29T11:53:00.002-04:002023-05-29T16:35:15.398-04:00Race Report: Storm Adventure Race 2023 (Long Course)<p>What a tough day. This race involved running/hiking, mountain biking, and paddling.</p><p>And... orienteering. A new organizer has taken over the race, so we weren't sure exactly what to expect - he's a tough dude in the Adventure Racing world! And it was tough. </p><p><b>The Start</b></p><p>Actually even before the start, I just wanted to mention how bad my spring has been... I've had recurring hamstring trouble when running that has kept me from doing much more than 5km. And 2 weeks ago I had a respiratory illness that hasn't entirely passed.</p><p>So I was not really looking forward to 5 hours of this, it was really uncertain how I'd manage...</p><p><b>Run/Hike #1</b></p><p>The start was 3km of hiking/running within the Albion Hills conservation area. We ran/hiked as much as I could tolerate through the first two checkpoints, navigation was reasonably easy (had a couple of minor snafus but nothing terrible). There were detailed trail maps, numbered markers, this was the easiest orienteering of the day!</p><p>My heart rate was through the roof, even at mild efforts... I had seen this on some of my last runs before this thing, but just crappy to be in trouble so early.</p><p><b>Bike #1</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX1O4aqVWYyXzYGXGnrWu9sofZajjMZ12o1CEhw25BX3lB1xcNUrzDxbP-OB9HynqV_1IMA61O2t8TzOs_refmgcllheP8C5CvtLFoa1N8Eq36T0wrltEqz7wQ8HjLBM_tbi5RDJinaw2G_0MuBl_orhp-nNfuhs-WEZIjB0TwGubv8HiZiXJptlNKQ/s2048/me_biking.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1884" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX1O4aqVWYyXzYGXGnrWu9sofZajjMZ12o1CEhw25BX3lB1xcNUrzDxbP-OB9HynqV_1IMA61O2t8TzOs_refmgcllheP8C5CvtLFoa1N8Eq36T0wrltEqz7wQ8HjLBM_tbi5RDJinaw2G_0MuBl_orhp-nNfuhs-WEZIjB0TwGubv8HiZiXJptlNKQ/s320/me_biking.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><br />The bike a marked course, still at Albion mostly, and was glorious - very much like the 24h course we had done years ago. A mix of double and single track around the property, much more trail than expected!<p></p><p>I had two problems at this point - I was in the red (high HR!). And trail kilometers take a lot longer than road kilometers! So by the time we finished this segment, we were a couple hours in and had a lot to go.</p><p>Finished on a long asphalt section which gave me a chance to cool down (it was getting steamy!) and recover a bit on some of the downhills.</p><p><b>Canoe </b></p><p>Portaging is always miserable but 600m downhill and I just couldn't get a decent grip on the boat, kept slipping. And by now we were in the full sun and it was getting hotttt. We managed to finally get into the boat but I was just cooked.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgip-_uPub0vsYhMVVebFNvcTyOvN6JEUWgjO1e_1dHAgvCYvi8d9sZMLM4kBKQA7YREX87X8cZMh_8j2hnSKlD5u3e-3Ab-Mkm-kG0ucMGd9h280Mk8g7pu3a51gexc5TMMqaspdZXoSnff0vWFwAa5xDZYob4mw8Lzv3VAe0EgK7SPk18DsB_hc0C2w/s2048/52934647843_6328d45cdc_k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgip-_uPub0vsYhMVVebFNvcTyOvN6JEUWgjO1e_1dHAgvCYvi8d9sZMLM4kBKQA7YREX87X8cZMh_8j2hnSKlD5u3e-3Ab-Mkm-kG0ucMGd9h280Mk8g7pu3a51gexc5TMMqaspdZXoSnff0vWFwAa5xDZYob4mw8Lzv3VAe0EgK7SPk18DsB_hc0C2w/s320/52934647843_6328d45cdc_k.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The paddle was ... something else. Previous years it has been on a lake, so we could really rock, always a place we make up time. This time was the twisty and shallow upper Humber River and it was more just steering and hoping we didn't bang into rocks or get beached! I felt a bit better by the end of the canoe, though, heart rate was back into a more reasonable place.<p></p><p>The final portage out of the river my arms felt like they were going to fall off.</p><p><b>Run/Hike #2</b></p><p>This is where it got very tricky. VERY tricky. We didn't expect this level of orienteering. Only one of the checkpoints was even close to a formal trail - the rest were ... not.</p><p>Fortunately we've done enough of these things to be able to read the maps well - clearings, contour lines, creeks, fences, it was all marked - and being able to generally take a bearing and go in the right direction.</p><p>The maps were really great and detailed, though, and we pretty much nailed each one, taking close to the shortest path between them (using trails where they existed!).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3ja-JqfKQ6tUsuDFuMyiPPl63A0gRVAkDktJIAEBYw6ErodWO1cPp4ioVFdzkDS6dQFPCsQJurXzOPoyQBEoR-G3akDCy1zoUBJ2_1P-av4zRVi4xOe7gEh1BAl2yLfHY1Pex8B0J0yy-Om4Wvq6V7e02qH8BeROmNaCUfFts1Ik0Pqgkp1FoDTiQnQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="1339" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi3ja-JqfKQ6tUsuDFuMyiPPl63A0gRVAkDktJIAEBYw6ErodWO1cPp4ioVFdzkDS6dQFPCsQJurXzOPoyQBEoR-G3akDCy1zoUBJ2_1P-av4zRVi4xOe7gEh1BAl2yLfHY1Pex8B0J0yy-Om4Wvq6V7e02qH8BeROmNaCUfFts1Ik0Pqgkp1FoDTiQnQ=w400-h160" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Other than going pretty well straight(ish) from CP to CP (orange stars), we made a few big decisions that really helped (in pink).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The first was to take two river crossings and bushwhack between the 4th and 5th CP. This was a bit risky and the terrain was dicey at times, but we would have had to bushwhack back to the trail anyway so I'm pretty sure we saved big time here - and it was much longer to use the trail.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The second was even better - after the last CP, to get back to the transition, crossing the field instead of taking the trail. We had seen a lot of people returning on the trail, but that saved us a huge amount of distance.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>The bad part about all if this was that I was completely gassed. I was running out of fluids (my partner helped me out, thankfully he was well stocked!) and all the breathing trouble caught up to me. And the heat. By the end of the run I was stopping and gasping even when we were just hiking (it was hilly, though, but yeah). Just an all around not great athletic performance from me. I only stay on the team because I can read maps!<p></p><p><b>Bike #2</b></p><p>I didn't know how much I had left in me to do another 3 checkpoints around Albion Hills - it would have been a very similar distance to what we had already covered.</p><p>But I was kind of saved... by the cut-off. We had to be back at the Finish by 4:30pm. So we hit one checkpoint then headed back, missing the last 2 checkpoints.</p><p>That's the first time at Storm we've ever missed checkpoints - but this course was longer and tougher than the previous organizer's! I think he overestimated our ability somewhat... only 7 teams managed to get to all of the checkpoints in the allotted time.</p><p><b>Results</b></p><p>We finished 3rd in Masters and 18th overall (of 65 teams). Not terrible, but we could have done so much better if it weren't for my athletic inability. I was slow, and slowed us down as a result, by a lot.</p><p>Almost 7 <u>hours</u>. I was not expecting that, at all, looking at the distances! Last year we finished in 5h41 and completed everything (and I wasn't in allll that much better shape, but definitely better).</p><p>Everything just took time... lots of slower more technical trails, tough hills/terrain, even the portage was hellish. And the 9km of bushwhacking wasn't fast!! It was a much tougher course in every respect (except less mud).</p><p>I'm sore and tired and didn't have fun... but I'm ready to put it behind me and do it again.</p><p><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-60373461193408991222023-05-27T14:27:00.001-04:002023-05-27T14:27:10.528-04:00Race Preview: Storm Adventure Race 2023<p> </p><p><b>The Race</b></p><p>Storm is back! (yay!).</p><p>This is one of the more fun Adventure Races out there - new organizer (with a lot of experience though), new location. Albion Hills.</p><p>We've biked there in the 24 Hour race which was great, lots of amazing trails! 25% "paved roads" though, so I'm still going to stick with my 29" hardtail rather than the full suspension fancy (but heavy and squishy) bike.</p><p>The paddle looks... different. Normally we've paddled small lakes or wide slow rivers, but this time it's a windy narrow section of the Humber that will be quite shallow. I expect we'll be running aground a bit and having to use our savvy creekin' skills (honed on Duffin's Creek in Ajax!) rather than super efficient stroke and brute strength. Looking kind of forward to it. Even a few portages!</p><p><b>Me</b></p><p>I'm a mess and have been for while. My running is a disaster, had a recurring hamstring thing that's really bugged me throughout the spring.</p><p>Then a couple weeks ago I got a respiratory illness that shall not be named, again. I'm mostly recovered but in the last couple weeks I haven't done much. Lingering fatigue and snot and such.</p><p>I might be OK? I might not be. I don't know.</p><p>Oh and it's going to be super hot, +27C. Definitely not acclimated for that! </p><p>Let's see, I guess? Sometimes things go better than expected.</p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-20574474655561101962022-10-03T12:41:00.000-04:002022-10-03T12:41:17.889-04:00Race Report: Storm the Trent 2022 (Trek)<p>Let's jump to the finish.........</p><p>2nd in our division! Team of 2 Male, Masters.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNItE0xveCIklHD_phZDklg5LExU8dooe7KmS79bceMHw_TcTQw_vjRxzgLz1SWcdqIPEQQ7FeRTxEx9ukGg548BYuIYDbO2AtSu8rVLaOvtTwtMLwrjL9DeS8oN_KgG74Ftq9ioUzr15Mj0-YEu1MBVaABGwEpW79fhNYHkaTmXz6D-oJg8QaIr7Nbw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="628" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNItE0xveCIklHD_phZDklg5LExU8dooe7KmS79bceMHw_TcTQw_vjRxzgLz1SWcdqIPEQQ7FeRTxEx9ukGg548BYuIYDbO2AtSu8rVLaOvtTwtMLwrjL9DeS8oN_KgG74Ftq9ioUzr15Mj0-YEu1MBVaABGwEpW79fhNYHkaTmXz6D-oJg8QaIr7Nbw" width="180" /></a></div><br />In any year, this would be super exciting for us, but this year has been hell.<p></p><p>More on that... now. Feel free to skip to the Race Stuff.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>My 2022</b></h3><p>I haven't been right, at all, all year. I had COVID twice (yes I was vaccinated, don't judge me!) and a serious blood clot in my leg likely from the first COVID infection.</p><p>Despite that, I've pushed and pushed and trained and trained - but at just a lower level of intensity than ever. Any bump in intensity, especially on the run, and I'm left gasping.</p><p>Biking has got better and better to the point that I'm closer to normal</p><p>Running still not.</p><p>So I was not looking forward to this race until about a week ago. In fact I was dreading being the "slow guy" holding us back all day, it's a terrible feeling.</p><p>Last weekend we had a great ride, though. My riding hasn't been terrible and this one just felt great start to finish... back in the forest, lots of energy, so I started thinking maaaaybe it'll be OK???</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Race - Storm the Trent</b></h3><p>I have to also say a bit about this race, and the series - it has been a big part of our lives and goals since we first <a href="http://www.marshmallowman2ironman.com/2015/05/the-result-2nd-place-team-of-2-men-4th.html">tried the Hike Course in 2015</a>. Every year we'd line up with maps and a desire to improve on what we did the year before. Get better at orienteering, faster transitions, etc.</p><p>This is the "Final Edition"... for now! But it was announced at the race that "Storm Racing" will have a new owner, so hopefully something emerges from the ashes that's equally awesome!</p><p>Thank-you to Sean for all the years of really fun and challenging courses and races!</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Our Race - Storm The Trent - Trek</b></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Prep</h4><div>Unlike pre-pandemic, the course maps and instructions were published ahead of time. This takes some of the fun out of the race to be perfectly honest... I used to love getting those maps on race day and having an hour to strategize and mark things before hitting the course!</div><div><br /></div><div>We met a few days earlier and went through all the instructions, meticulously marking distances and directions and points of interest / possible confusion / etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the years of doing this race, we knew mistakes kill, and even obvious checkpoints can be overlooked if you're not careful! Knowing "it's at the end of this lake" or "at the top of the hill" based on the elevation lines is really key, no chances taken.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's also just general strategy on the free runs - what order you hit the checkpoints in, for example. Generally better to hit a checkpoint within a short distance of some obvious landmark (ie. a trail junction) than go the other way and have to figure out which boulder they mean 2.5km later - it can be pretty ambiguous and confusing.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Race Day</h4><div>Did the normal check-in, dropped off the boat and bikes, everything ready to go... now it was time to carry the canoe down to the start.</div><div><br /></div><div>And... disaster strikes. Where are my run maps??? I had my meticulously planned run maps in a separate bag to easily hold them during the runs. Couldn't find them anywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div>Panic. Freak-out. Thankfully we had maps the organizers had given us the day of and very good memories......... but with no time left to get ourselves down to the water, we had to make the painful decision to somewhat wing it. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was gutted - I figured I would let down my partner due to my conditioning, but here I was screwing up something I had control over!!! </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Start - Canoe</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The paddle was pretty simple, but I hadn't paddled a single stroke all year so I wasn't sure how that would go. Fortunately it went great, we hit the two checkpoints and passed a few teams (and were passed by a few others).</div><div><br /></div><div>We were using our cedar strip canoe, it's pretty heavy but with the new coat of epoxy it glided through the water really nicely!</div><div><br /></div><div>The worst part was the portage... carrying that heavy thing up a steep hill, I was gassed within a few hundred meters. My partner took his turn and I managed to recover, then take another short stint at the end of the portage to the transition zone.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bike 1</h4><div>We dumped the canoe and hit the bikes - fast transition, no fuss no muss. Easy bike on roads to the first run.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Run 1</h4><div>This was the longest run, and used a lot of the trails we had seen the previous year.</div><div><br /></div><div>We used the not-zoomed-in-map for this and our memories - fortunately obsessing about the course for a week before paid off. All the checkpoints were pretty easy to find (although somehow we saw teams doubling back who had missed them?? - I don't get it).</div><div><br /></div><div>We alternated running and hiking/walking across some of the hills and tough terrain, but overall it wasn't as muddy as last year and just went fine!</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bike 2</h4><div>This was another easy on-road bike to the next run. Other than hill after hill. After hill.</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Run 2</h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfCtDkqIvJFzTX8bX_1mCj3F1OV_lZ5l4EgPtL819gUCogqn80NqHB76BfZ0NawELNwO60lBWpy4Twrc0hn_Xlrz5VBVWloHtvtp3wWHT-kDKmbGbzZkKHm3ze_sbIvNlbmeEgvoTn8XUT4TmKi-mIWALw4g1qNpayYgU_WTuq5NLYCc_ymoVqP97qcg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="621" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfCtDkqIvJFzTX8bX_1mCj3F1OV_lZ5l4EgPtL819gUCogqn80NqHB76BfZ0NawELNwO60lBWpy4Twrc0hn_Xlrz5VBVWloHtvtp3wWHT-kDKmbGbzZkKHm3ze_sbIvNlbmeEgvoTn8XUT4TmKi-mIWALw4g1qNpayYgU_WTuq5NLYCc_ymoVqP97qcg" width="217" /></a></div><br />There were two checkpoints to get to (CP40 and CP41), each on what looked like significant trails on the map, with a not significant trail connecting them. We weren't sure how obvious that less significant trail would be... but it ended up being very obvious.</div><div><br /></div><div>We took a less popular clockwise route to CP41, taking on the worst climbs at the start of the run. This was probably the right call, as the decent down the other trail was more runnable this way? Hard to know for certain, but it worked out alright, felt really good and strong at the end of it!</div><div><br /></div><div>The climbs made these "runs" much more like "hikes", though... so steep, very hard to actually "run" up them.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bike 3</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, a lot of biking! This was the meat of the bike route, a bunch of checkpoints across a long distance with climbs and trails before the next run.</div><div><br /></div><div>We're cyclists, not runners, and once we hit this bike section it really paid off. We were picking off earlier starting teams one by one, up hills, down hills, on more technical trails - it was awesome.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first segment was mostly road with some big sweeping kind of sketchy at times descents - it was so much fun. Easily found the next checkpoint at a bridge, then it was onto the trail.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPLYWtjy9A0x54A8QaQvW1dyCSOEFZ1ShcNR53Ak-y5JEFZb0QdFkGKFJwDJgCa4y7C14BtLnpdPm4ZcDR-FIYyPBM27Y4ErPyeiqcsxTf63iqzOIi7ZMhIG1l00BTMp3XC0WDl9oaOPsN2B4U42n1Joo1hchMpZANu7gB3FZ5hqFMX7OzOkJel9rZhw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="378" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPLYWtjy9A0x54A8QaQvW1dyCSOEFZ1ShcNR53Ak-y5JEFZb0QdFkGKFJwDJgCa4y7C14BtLnpdPm4ZcDR-FIYyPBM27Y4ErPyeiqcsxTf63iqzOIi7ZMhIG1l00BTMp3XC0WDl9oaOPsN2B4U42n1Joo1hchMpZANu7gB3FZ5hqFMX7OzOkJel9rZhw" width="203" /></a></div>This was the section that had kept me up at night before the race... last year, we had trudged up "Outlook Trail" on a run section, and it was horrible. Steep, rocky, muddy, hellish.</div><div><br /></div><div>So when I saw "Lookout Trail" was on the bike route, I was thinking this was going to be several kilometers of "pushing a bike".</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately... most of it was rideable! There was one long climb section that I just couldn't do (nobody around us could either). And we missed the little lollipop section that went to the top, so all in all it was alright. We flew pretty quickly down the "Rugged Descent", again being capable mountain bike guys paid off.</div><div><br /></div><div>I forgot to mention - due to all the road, I chose my hardtail 29'er instead of my full suspension Enduro bike. That was the right call, I think I paid a big price last year with the heavier bike, for not much technical stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div>From there we made our way to "Greg Trail", which was pretty mixed - some sections were a hoot, some had water literally flowing across the trail making a muddy/soupy mess. We passed a co-ed team in there who had passed us previously on the first run, which was great! (But temporary)</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Run 3</h4><div>This one had reasonably simple navigation of road-then-trail, but we managed to first go down the wrong road (fortunately for only about 100m). The co-ed team that we passed passed us during that oopsie, then we passed them on foot (I think the guy had an injury - guy if you're reading this, you can confirm!)</div><div><br /></div><div>We went up the road... up... UP... then hit the trail and it was just a wall ahead of us. Rocky, steep, no way to run most of it, straight up to a lookout.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ran most of the way back down and to the checkpoint - and the co-ed team passed us again! For those keeping score that's the 3rd time. </div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Bike To Finish!</h4><div>We passed the co-ed team in transition, because we do that really fast and most teams... don't! We don't fiddle with anything, just punch out and go... lessons learned over the years.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had a huge second wind here and felt really strong on the last bike, first from being chased but even as we distanced the other teams I just felt really good! At 5h in that's a big win, right??</div><div><br /></div><div>Then... we missed a turn. Somehow. It was a really strange trail junction, unmarked, but going straight looked right - until it petered out to nothing. It was only a 50-100m mistake, but in the process another team caught right up to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately we had enough to fend them off and get to the finish!</div><div><br /></div><div>Whew. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Done!</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, the missing maps maybe cost us that one miscue on the run, but not much else. We still had maps, just not annotated, so it wasn't the end of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then we get back to the van, and what is sitting on the ground? The run maps.</div><div><br /></div><div>How. HOW!? We looked everywhere and they were definitely NOT on the ground next to the van!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>The only thing I can think of is maybe I set them on the roof, and they blew off??? Or someone else found them? But how would they know they were ours?</div><div><br /></div><div>Mysteries of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm incredibly happy with finishing 2nd in the division - it was a brutal year, and just overcoming it all to have any kind of athletic achievement blows me away. I'm 100% reenergized for next year - ready to start training now and kick ass!!!</div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-32029336023166969902022-01-20T17:17:00.001-05:002022-01-20T17:18:37.988-05:00Zwift: Completing All the Routes - COMPLETE! - Part 2 - Route Ranking<p>Part 2!</p><p>Before I started trying to do all of the routes, I didn't really use... routes. Which is kind of a shame, given the really do give you a great overview of all that the worlds have to offer!</p><p>So without further ado, here are the Best and Worst Routes of each world, according to... me! </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Watopia</b></h2><h4 style="text-align: left;">Best: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/the-mega-pretzel/">The Mega Pretzel</a> </h4><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhNtDrcbKYKcdHCiJmzWVR93bJHsJ9vPO-FhVJviePgcGjaz5u5ukzjtl-H0cv4VgvTjB2jye8UdM0LOGqIn8JqjG7TXnqa8GhyphenhyphenYpWjxBP-8QV8zAWu9W47ne58yvBt5Nnz4pYgRJmcKj/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="687" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhNtDrcbKYKcdHCiJmzWVR93bJHsJ9vPO-FhVJviePgcGjaz5u5ukzjtl-H0cv4VgvTjB2jye8UdM0LOGqIn8JqjG7TXnqa8GhyphenhyphenYpWjxBP-8QV8zAWu9W47ne58yvBt5Nnz4pYgRJmcKj/w400-h397/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div>I am going to confess right now - I love the Jungle, and the Mega Pretzel hits it twice. Switch to the mountain bike, pass everyone, weeeeeee!</div><div><br /></div><div>This route also avoids the dreadfully boring Tempus Fugit, has plenty of climbing (but nothing silly like the Alpe!), and is constantly throwing different things at you. A great tour of the world.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/tempus-fugit/">Tempus Fugit</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>This one is so popular I'm surely the odd one out, but gawd how do people stand doing mind-numbing flat laps on repeat. Zzzzz. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you love riding in a pack through deathly boring terrain and never having to get out of the saddle, this is the route I guess. Good for tallying up a lot of miles, not much else.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Makuri Islands</b></h2><div><b>Best: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/castle-to-castle/">Castle to Castle</a></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotLgzFF3P1_5BDSQGt2_WjSDY3pkmVQsWJagF9WGYsNpsBGp2QxQbryvndV27p22rjMk9BcbdaW0PR15I5pmlRZ4_UgGD9YSLIE68bWvTs7Line3D4oX-9OlEUK13IoonUBuWF0ghc7u5/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="698" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotLgzFF3P1_5BDSQGt2_WjSDY3pkmVQsWJagF9WGYsNpsBGp2QxQbryvndV27p22rjMk9BcbdaW0PR15I5pmlRZ4_UgGD9YSLIE68bWvTs7Line3D4oX-9OlEUK13IoonUBuWF0ghc7u5/w400-h392/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div>A new addition and longer route (22.4km) that spans Neokyo and Yumezi (the countryside) - with a decent climb and lots of riders around to mingle and draft off. Showcases the world well, without the gravely bits that can be a bit annoying (not long enough to switch bikes, long enough to slow you down). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/sea-to-tree/">Sea To Tree</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>A 3.2km route to nowhere, not even a loop, why does this exist?</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">London</h2><div><b>Best:</b> <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/greater-london-loop/">Greater London Loop</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Lovely tour of the flat parts of London and, of course, Box Hill!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst:</b> <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/the-london-pretzel/">London Pretzel</a></div><div><br /></div><div>No, it's not the PRL Full - that at least has a purpose (to be really long) and a vibe (loops!).</div><div><br /></div><div>The London Pretzel meanders without purpose, duplicating flat sections for no apparent reason other than to maybe beef up the mileage?</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">New York</h2><div><b>Best</b>: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/park-perimeter-loop/">Park Perimeter Loop</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTIp5k03HyPKW6h2K5bC_RPIBA5gHXRLmsQoSW2EKa0XN0nZkHZ4KuLE5F9-UEUp-qCpWAmUgZnValVrbUUXPxPEQqX88ZenVrQ4dCv_KGM23gzFKl3nEOq6KvZsFo1GpofDZTTxJ7az1/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtTIp5k03HyPKW6h2K5bC_RPIBA5gHXRLmsQoSW2EKa0XN0nZkHZ4KuLE5F9-UEUp-qCpWAmUgZnValVrbUUXPxPEQqX88ZenVrQ4dCv_KGM23gzFKl3nEOq6KvZsFo1GpofDZTTxJ7az1/" width="320" /></a></div>Stays on the ground, where New York looks like New York! Always lots of traffic, enough hills and terrain changes to keep a person interested. Timed loop if you want to challenge yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: Most Of Them</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Most of the NYC routes are indifferentiable from each other - just some silly doodle with the KOM in one direction or the other, or both. I intensely dislike the skyway thing, and they almost all use it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stick with Park Perimeter Loop or Astoria 8 Line IMO.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Paris</h2><div>Not really worth ranking - there are 2 routes, both flat and not terribly interesting.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">France</h2><div><b>Best: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/rgv/">R.G.V.</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is one of my favourite routes in the entire game - flat and fast, but still fun! When you ride it in an Event it's a challenge to stay with the pack, with the little tough climb mid-lap and some quick accelerations when you may not expect it as you blast through little ups and downs and S-bends near the end of the lap.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/tire-bouchon/">Tire-Bouchon</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's not <i>terrible</i>, but the 3km uphill lead-in is annoying. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Richmond</h2><div><b>Best: 2015 UCI Worlds Course</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Lots of fun on this one! A great little varied course, some stiff climbs, quick descents and fast flats.</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Innsbruck</h2><div><b>Best: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/innsbruckring/">Innsbruckring</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>It's short, it's fast, and it has a wicked "Leg Snapper" climb to separate the men from the boys! A lot of fun in a race (except for fatties like me!) as the group gets blown apart and re-assembles in time for the next loop of getting blown apart again!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/lutscher/">Lutscher and Lutscher CCW</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Whose brilliant idea was it to have a huge climb and over 10km <i>Lead In</i>???</div><div><br /></div><div>Dumb. If you do it as a meet-up you can skip that, but for some reason the regular route includes this silliness. </div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Yorkshire</h2><div><b>Best: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/royal-pump-room-8/">Royal Pump Room 8</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>You're here, might as well do all the roads in both directions, right? Nice climbs and little town roads.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Worst: <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/queens-highway/">Queen's Highway</a> </b></div><div><br /></div><div>3km? 1.7km Lead-in?? Why bother?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-42240856537863224252022-01-20T10:57:00.002-05:002022-01-20T10:57:20.760-05:00Zwift: Completing All the Routes - COMPLETE!<p> </p><p>Who-hoo! All 105 Zwift Routes complete!</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlxeidB-fKyJep7N31nb23zDnlu-53FRRXGUrckU8jYmL0t90hECZaCl0vyyQeOxryoJO9HXrxMhR7BZzybc-mk8EVzN2ObtftdUBjYO9wVB6MCs_Fd3FsYx6NbJtsn3faVPhLZ_2iNd4/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3940" data-original-width="1230" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJlxeidB-fKyJep7N31nb23zDnlu-53FRRXGUrckU8jYmL0t90hECZaCl0vyyQeOxryoJO9HXrxMhR7BZzybc-mk8EVzN2ObtftdUBjYO9wVB6MCs_Fd3FsYx6NbJtsn3faVPhLZ_2iNd4/w125-h400/image.png" width="125" /></a>2,670km!</p><p>132,409 feet of climbing!</p><p>52,257 XP!</p><p>I started targeting this after most of last year, when I realized I had already done a bunch and it would be an interesting challenge.</p><p>It was. Here's what I learned along the way.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Best Way To Do A Route</b></h2><p><b>Events</b></p><p>There are good events, great events, and terrible events... and which you choose makes a huge difference!</p><p>Most events don't have alllll that many people, so they're only useful if the pace of the main group is something you can maintain comfortably. If you can, they can be a huge boost to your speed and motivation.</p><p>Great events include the Tour de Zwift, or some of the Fondo series - where you have hundreds and hundreds of riders around of all different abilities. It's almost impossible to find yourself alone on these, groups will develop at every level of fitness. Find your match and thrive!</p><p>If you find yourself in a terrible event ... where you fly off the back and end up solo? Sometimes it's best to simply leave it. If the world is on the calendar, you might find more draft partners than tooling around miles behind the pack.</p><p><b>Solo</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Check the <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/schedule/">World Calendar</a>, select the route and ride!</p><p>Simple - except you still want company and most importantly draft partners. Weekends around noon Eastern Time seem to be the best - lots of evening Europe riders plus all the U.S./Canada timezones all at once! I recently did the PRL Full in London and there were between 4000-7000 riders in the "world" the entire ride - so many people to chase, draft, chat with (if that's your thing). It's often better than an Event, this is how I did most of my routes.</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"></ol><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">A Few Route Awards</h2><p>There's a bunch of things that can make a route tough - here's some of my thoughts. YMMV!</p><p><b>Toughest Climbing Route</b></p><p>Four Horsemen is my choice here. There are a bunch of routes that go up the Alpe du Zwift, but this one puts the Epic climb (PLUS the bonus climb!) right before it. No breaks, just Epic+ then Alpe.</p><p><b>Toughest Long Route</b></p><p>Uber Pretzel or PRL Full? Tough call. I had a tougher time with the PRL Full but it was probably the time of year and my fitness more than the route - the loops are actually quite digestible, and the climb not so tough. </p><p>The Alpe at the end of the Uber Pretzel, when you've already got 115km in your legs is hard... but you've also been tooling around on the Fuego Flats at 40-50km/h with an awesome draft (if you're free-riding it!) so you have a lot of time to recover and chill between climbs.</p><p>I'm giving the edge to PRL Full, it's just so long.</p><p><b>Worst World for Routes</b></p><p>New York, and it's not even close.</p><p>Other worlds this size have 5 or 6 routes, for some reason they decided to have 11 routes that are pretty much carbon copies of each other in New York. Blurgh.</p><p>Don't get me wrong - I love the Park Loop. But that elevated glass section is so repetitive, and it's in almost every route. How many times do I need to do the same bloody climb... I dreaded it every time.</p><h2><b><span style="font-size: small;">Best and Worst Routes By World</span></b></h2><p>I will do a follow-up post with this ... stay tuned!</p><p><b>What's Next?</b></p><p>I still have to earn my TRON bike so there's the climbing challenge - then I'm not sure!</p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-79392461320901926132022-01-16T11:56:00.004-05:002022-01-16T11:56:43.381-05:00Ride Report: Zwift "The PRL Full"<p><b>PRL Full</b></p><p>The distance (173km) is daunting, the total climbing (8,198 feet) is bananas.</p><p>And the route... I mean there's nothing wrong with the "London Loop" or Box Hill, but... 11 times??</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizA8_j4spoDgQ1ruPrnsJ_rtB4NYeJmxYYgqPn2e2oWMXuhGHMvX9wMi2mzQfcRh4vnIfQvVviyPXy71ruwl24qDHcF3jUxL0qTwvTXQ-W6B95gWArNcg1JJAY0dEQBYCGx8_-EuKxSU2m/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizA8_j4spoDgQ1ruPrnsJ_rtB4NYeJmxYYgqPn2e2oWMXuhGHMvX9wMi2mzQfcRh4vnIfQvVviyPXy71ruwl24qDHcF3jUxL0qTwvTXQ-W6B95gWArNcg1JJAY0dEQBYCGx8_-EuKxSU2m/" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up Box Hill the first time, 10 more to go!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p>Mentally challenging!</p><p>There are two options for this one - try find an organized ride or free ride it on a London day. I had previously done the Half PRL in an organized ride, got dropped a couple loops in and had a rough day - so figured I would have better luck free riding it.</p><p>So when I saw London on the schedule for a Saturday? I circled it.</p><p><b>My Ride</b></p><p>One hot tip - if you set your last name in Zwift to include (PRL Full) - people cheer you on, give you Ride Ons, etc. Also saw a few others doing the same ride which was neat!</p><p>At one point there were over 7,000 riders in London!!! Lots of folks to interact with, draft off (especially on the flat parts!), be inspired by. </p><div><b>First Few Laps</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It hard to not get excited starting out something like this... so I probably went out a little hot. Fastest climb up Box Hill was Lap 1!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlln1l4CgPr2MiHvFkD5IxxQjS6QF7P2BSveUGEaipYoBcMPA5UPgsBoWrBNXJMLRiuuR2K1-ZhZbyyswK4k9bGCVlL5vySn3thyphenhyphenssgX8zJX0UkXldg0bauXm-LN6Y6tr-itxLCtR3Gba/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="642" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlln1l4CgPr2MiHvFkD5IxxQjS6QF7P2BSveUGEaipYoBcMPA5UPgsBoWrBNXJMLRiuuR2K1-ZhZbyyswK4k9bGCVlL5vySn3thyphenhyphenssgX8zJX0UkXldg0bauXm-LN6Y6tr-itxLCtR3Gba/" width="312" /></a></div>A little over an hour in - disaster! Complete power drop-out. What a time for a battery to die!</div><div><br /></div><div>I stopped, messed with it for a bunch, found a spare battery... about 5 minutes to get going again, and another 15 or 20 to get back into a groove.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that every lap was kind of the same</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Easy on the London flats</li><li>2.5-2.9w/kg on Box Hill (~11 minutes)</li><li>Easy (or off entirely!) down Fox Hill - snack, lube, stretch</li><li>Up that damn subway escalator thing</li><li>Easy back to the London Loop Start/Finish</li></ul></div><div><b>Laps 9, 10 and 11 </b></div><div><br /></div><div>... were pretty death-marchy, as you can see from my Box Hill lap times. I'm not in summer shape here so almost 6 hours on the bike was hard. Had a tough time holding 2.5w/kg even on Box Hill climb, just kept giving what I could. Stuffed myself as full as my stomach would allow for!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Last 8km</b></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the goofy things about this ride is that after you've done 11 London Loop laps, there's still 8km to go... for some reason you cross over the Thames again to do a loop near the Box Hill start then return to London and finish at The Mall. I'm assuming this is to match the distance of the "IRL" PRL ride??</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a bit diabolical, but I mostly used it as a cool down. Spin spin spin, survive, finish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Never again.</div><div> </div><div><b>Final Thoughts</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Honestly, doing laps wasn't that bad - it was nice to know the course and use some of that knowledge to have a strategy the next lap. Knowing where the Power Ups were and when to use them (save the feather for the escalator!!!) was nice. </div><div><br /></div><div>First couple laps I tried to get into a pack on the way down Fox Hill, but realized there were always other riders joining in at the bottom from other routes - so didn't need to worry to set up a draft up to the escalator.</div><div><br /></div><div>People said this was easier than the Uber Pretzel - I'm not sure. Maybe!? For me that extra hour really hurt, even though the Uber Pretzel ends up the Alpe... Uber also has the long Fuego Flats sections in the middle, so lots of easy recovery riding. YMMV!</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm pretty sure I'll never do this again, though... I might Uber it up someday though.</div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-74514488830992947202022-01-14T17:04:00.001-05:002022-01-14T17:04:03.121-05:00Zwift: Completing All the Routes - Update #6 and the FULL PRL STILL looms<p> </p><p><b>More Routes!</b></p><p>Since my last update, the number of Badge-Earning Routes has grown from 101 to 106!</p><p>I managed to get in the ones they added last update (even the Event-Only one) and then ... they added 2 more!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXAtztKtWtx_d6ubRHbB0PvPtrm7MWXFIErMFMZ-Yjsvd-TnqEHjg_iEY-Zj_vCNRTS7ONHm1N9QaYoSrOEoPzmtbA2CfdB_REIY6F_TodbNQ2VF3qZUBMELPYXR-_HvV_U3q0fsNZtj3/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="525" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXAtztKtWtx_d6ubRHbB0PvPtrm7MWXFIErMFMZ-Yjsvd-TnqEHjg_iEY-Zj_vCNRTS7ONHm1N9QaYoSrOEoPzmtbA2CfdB_REIY6F_TodbNQ2VF3qZUBMELPYXR-_HvV_U3q0fsNZtj3/" width="320" /></a></div><p>So I thought this weekend would bring my quest to an end, but alas, I will still have a couple to go.</p><p></p><p>(I'm not <i>really </i>complaining - I love having more routes to tackle, keep it going Zwift!)<br /><br /></p><p><b>Full PRL</b></p><p>173km. 6+ hours. Shudder.</p><p>I tried the Full PRL before Christmas, but just didn't have it that day and cut it short very early.</p><p>Bright side - I learned that doing it as part of an event wasn't great. Too much pressure to keep with a group, and it wasn't a large enough event to be super choosey on one's pace. Worse, it wasn't on a day where London was one of the worlds, so even if you left the event you were all alone!</p><p>So this time I'm doing it on just a regular Saturday "London" Day. There should be plenty of people to draft off when I need it, and I can do it at my own pace.</p><p>Tomorrow's the Big Day! Wish me luck. I will need it. </p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-11781365295372970552021-12-08T17:08:00.002-05:002021-12-08T17:08:30.187-05:00Zwift: Completing All the Routes - Update #5 and the FULL PRL looms<p> </p><p>91 done, 10 to go! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y6oWqFWeB4lSklaD-jQ6kTxH2-iTwe3QnK_82xAZxf44DKO5QKBiVk2yctDLISAxUZz5-K17M9ABLuQ6AQO334p4OrwYlrnxpAGrDovnfjwpO978cSsOzQQdmrqdM-wv2ENfR80VIdeE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="798" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Y6oWqFWeB4lSklaD-jQ6kTxH2-iTwe3QnK_82xAZxf44DKO5QKBiVk2yctDLISAxUZz5-K17M9ABLuQ6AQO334p4OrwYlrnxpAGrDovnfjwpO978cSsOzQQdmrqdM-wv2ENfR80VIdeE/w400-h94/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I hit Ven-Top this weekend, the longest climb in the game - that was pretty cool. It wasn't as steep as Alpe de Zwift, and it was busy that day in France so lots of company.<p></p><p>Three big rides still loom - and this Saturday it's time for The PRL Full.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidN_WgBJpdBBz3W7s3HttoU6aodunCqeJijDfAl515GaB3yNr4HogZHyrjSK1PbPNQeBFpdk0p_gjUm27Xq0vJQX9HOwxP6NCihwYkRhLfvLinFSzYS44dVXTbvjnfbu1Zog-RFBiXgqW7/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="433" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidN_WgBJpdBBz3W7s3HttoU6aodunCqeJijDfAl515GaB3yNr4HogZHyrjSK1PbPNQeBFpdk0p_gjUm27Xq0vJQX9HOwxP6NCihwYkRhLfvLinFSzYS44dVXTbvjnfbu1Zog-RFBiXgqW7/w400-h285/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><b>PRL Full</b><p></p><p>173km on the trainer sounds horrible... but so did the Uber Pretzel, and that ended up being kind of fun.</p><p><a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/the-prl-full/">Box Hill 11 times, though</a>?? The same London Loop, 11 times? </p><p>I was originally planning to do it on a weekend when London was on the Guest World calendar, but then it popped up in this <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/prl-full-z-badge-hunt/">Badge Hunters Series</a> for Saturday. Misery loves company!</p><p>Bike choice - I'm going to go with a mixed set-up here, I think drafting will be important but so will climbing. Aeroroad with Zipp 454s. </p><p>Lots of water, calories, coasting, try find a few friends to draft when I can... and keep them pedals turning!</p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-37371413750267287502021-11-28T16:51:00.002-05:002021-11-29T11:00:10.822-05:00Ride Report: Zwift Uber Pretzel <p> I have been working on completing all the routes on Zwift, which is all fun and games...</p><p>... except for a few torture rides.</p><p>The Uber Pretzel is one of those.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTeqvzX8MAGVv8B5IxGXqxVlG84dJaJTwzlZ4agnG8i1R5JIFIggwa-jJlgm4hqfFkq_pRKXyQ3ltP9YZ-R7FJ3eMEJ5ZSM4JSFlqxzaYkvBVgX6Kr24fugmKaqpW6Lk4-tWout8Zcl6c/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTeqvzX8MAGVv8B5IxGXqxVlG84dJaJTwzlZ4agnG8i1R5JIFIggwa-jJlgm4hqfFkq_pRKXyQ3ltP9YZ-R7FJ3eMEJ5ZSM4JSFlqxzaYkvBVgX6Kr24fugmKaqpW6Lk4-tWout8Zcl6c/w400-h225/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />128km and it includes the Epic KOM (with the bonus radar tour!) and finishes with the grueling Alpe du Zwift!<div><br /></div><div>Or, put another way, about 5 hours on the indoor trainer for me turning around 2.5w/kg.</div><div><br /><div>There's a really great route description at <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/route/the-uber-pretzel/">Zwift Insider</a> if you want to get a broad idea of what this ride is, but I'll give you some of the nitty-gritty.<p></p><p><b>When To Do It</b></p><p>The two choices you really have are an Event or Freeride and choose the route.</p><p>I decided to Freeride it, for the simple reason that the events were reasonably under-subscribed. If there are only a handful of riders doing it together, you don't get the benefit of the draft - and there are a lot of opportunities on this one to draft!</p><p>I chose a Saturday morning as it seemed like when Zwift has the most active riders.</p><p>This worked out great - I had company most of the ride!</p><p><b>What Bike To Use</b></p><p>This was a bit trickier because this route visits almost every corner of Watopia.</p><p>Some people are allergic to bike switching, but I always hate having the wrong bike for the job... a bad climber or bad aero for hours sucks. And there's nothing worse than a road bike in the Jungle! Other than maybe a TT bike haha.</p><p>Here is what I ultimately decided... </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqseGes8DBc9-XRWR__jTrx2pDz4kLfM4ONVDIPV3a_BGsPMSURjPngEGm8nMuy9WuzdKt_pRNdlvupxy5pGSEe4-7BZV-n-cHZ1GNSd0NCrX2zxHxU6EOqmdFUf7krRxif3pHvDqMd1Ui/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="1180" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqseGes8DBc9-XRWR__jTrx2pDz4kLfM4ONVDIPV3a_BGsPMSURjPngEGm8nMuy9WuzdKt_pRNdlvupxy5pGSEe4-7BZV-n-cHZ1GNSd0NCrX2zxHxU6EOqmdFUf7krRxif3pHvDqMd1Ui/w400-h106/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I had planned to do the Optional bike switches as well, but when it came down to it... I didn't bother. Went Climber-MTB-Aero-Climber, so only 3 switches.<p></p><p>My lightest climbing bike was the Cannondale Evo with the Lightweight Meilensteins.</p><p>My best mountain bike is the Trek Super Caliber.</p><p>My best aero setup is the Cervelo S5 2020 with the Zipp 808's.</p><p>Is switching the fastest way to cover the course? I mean, who cares... it's 5 hours!!! Taking 20 seconds to switch bikes won't ruin your day, it just made it a lot more enjoyable for me. I suspect it's well worth it given the long stretches you spend on each, and the Jungle for sure favours a MTB by almost a minute over the full loop.</p><p><b>Keys To Success</b></p><p>Like any long ride on the road - hydrate, eat, take a pee break... have lube handy... </p><p>Careful with pushing too hard at any point just to keep up - although I found it worth burning a few matches here and there to grab a good Fuego Flats wheel!</p><p>Rest when you are by yourself but take advantage of a good wheel when you can.</p><p>And most of all... save something - a LOT of something - for the Alpe du Zwift. At my power output (2.5-3w/kg) it took about 1h10 and at the end of a 5h ride it was tough... mentally and physically.</p><p>Good luck!</p></div></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-1606419287155578302021-11-19T12:49:00.003-05:002021-11-19T12:49:35.598-05:00Zwift: Completing All The Routes - Update #4<p><br /></p><p>Just when I thought I was making progress... they added more routes!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9lpvfcnFt_bwMGYPEGAjH331gRkxUxrOzTcLzt8_1s6zq60_gVMBbCd25bKh6CSka6eHhWwx7HelWxXYmAh8Qnxm_aduRRNIVNdsuuW9s11wm-YaX3gCCCG7T8HPQ5GgMuPt1AUPv9Ex/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="797" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9lpvfcnFt_bwMGYPEGAjH331gRkxUxrOzTcLzt8_1s6zq60_gVMBbCd25bKh6CSka6eHhWwx7HelWxXYmAh8Qnxm_aduRRNIVNdsuuW9s11wm-YaX3gCCCG7T8HPQ5GgMuPt1AUPv9Ex/w400-h95/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />These 8 new routes are part of the Neokyo area of the Makuri Islands in Zwift.<p></p><p>I'm pretty excited to ride them, so I won't complain! And they're all pretty short so great for those mid-week hour long rides.</p><p>There are now 100 routes on Zwift plus the Volcano "On Fire!" Badge (has to be done in one ride so figured it's as good as a route!).</p><p>30 to go, including the toughest (Full PRL and Uber Pretzel)! Should be able to get 'er done this winter.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-46602980159235851682021-11-15T10:51:00.002-05:002021-11-19T11:24:11.202-05:00Race Report: Raid the Hammer (Half Raid)<p><b>The Race</b></p><p>Raid The Hammer, by Don't Get Lost Adventure Racing. <a href="https://www.dontgetlost.org/raid-the-hammer">Linky</a>. </p><p>This is an Orienteering / Adventure Race on foot in Dundas, Ontario!</p><p>It's a blast - you get to run around trails and neighbourhoods and bushwack and read maps and such. We had never done a run-only Adventure Race so this was new to us!</p><p><b>Our Race</b></p><p>The start was in waves, we were in the last wave at 11:15am.</p><p>Quite a mix of people at the start - the running jackrabbits and the hiking orienteer types! As usual the start is crazy, and our goal was just to stay within ourselves and not get carried away trying to beat everyone up the first hill.</p><p>We didn't beat everyone up the first hill. Success!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv9UyAdsJ9rxrVD6xVV3Dv_N8Wv2A5yjoim_1gWEOMlR2-iymAM80VCidkIICFA2umfKcA8aAKtpnbNld4CRH5JxNlTV5BaKCjcAXJLyHEqkZ4VQKuNxdZ8Fn4EZEOreGj7-D3bg09jex/s4032/20211114_090520.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv9UyAdsJ9rxrVD6xVV3Dv_N8Wv2A5yjoim_1gWEOMlR2-iymAM80VCidkIICFA2umfKcA8aAKtpnbNld4CRH5JxNlTV5BaKCjcAXJLyHEqkZ4VQKuNxdZ8Fn4EZEOreGj7-D3bg09jex/w400-h300/20211114_090520.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>We had a pretty good plan laid out and I had pretty much memorized the first few turns, being city streets and simple paths. As usual we passed people stopped looking at their maps early on... on city streets... so yeah, if you're lost there? It might be a long day for you! </p><p>The key to the orienteering part of it is always knowing where you are on the map and what direction you're meant to be going.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaESecsJh75G-t5Vc9Qcnf9bA78v2sXeheCeF99qF6yBWZs1-OvA273NEOtmWuvGZVcbggjjUWz6J3eFpIdgZKdDPk5XNov5BveJ9S0cBA4DM8tt8spCHaah_5-n-dykAv4DnEVRUaY6K/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyaESecsJh75G-t5Vc9Qcnf9bA78v2sXeheCeF99qF6yBWZs1-OvA273NEOtmWuvGZVcbggjjUWz6J3eFpIdgZKdDPk5XNov5BveJ9S0cBA4DM8tt8spCHaah_5-n-dykAv4DnEVRUaY6K/" width="300" /></a></div><p></p><p>This is hard. Knowing the distance between points is one thing, but everything is approximate. Knowing how far you've gone? Really tricky. Some folks count steps, but when you're alternating running and hiking (up hills) or slipping on mud or whatever, it's always going to be a bit of a wild ass guess.</p><p>We mostly did great, though. Grabbed bearings on the fly using my buddy's new thumb compass (amazing!) and just generally knew where we were based on trail intersections, where the water was, elevation markings... we've done this kind of thing before but this was next level.</p><p>We did mess one up - followed a trail not on the map thinking it was the trail that was on the map and got thoroughly lost. Cost us about 5 minutes, which overall isn't the end of the world.</p><p>Our results are messed up right now but we think we finished 6th in Masters (of 18). Not bad for a first go at it, with minimal run training!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-26864163594280309712021-11-08T15:54:00.002-05:002021-11-08T15:54:33.748-05:00Zwift: Completing All The Routes - Update #3<p> </p><p>I've made a lot of progress on the Elevation front especially! I actually had one done (Muir and the Mountain) that I hadn't checked off - so free Route completion!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxiYPS2i_0wOeVcA4E0esQYvpVHs7fPvuxmsPrM22RERdlHtewSLVEMv6x6v5Kfl8V02qEKciMZjGSyWQ7FGGDMKOMOxHs-S6wxYFKwdoNWoY6jECvocjfjfxxtJACxoVUTZ3DgttZxY_/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="97" data-original-width="480" height="81" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxiYPS2i_0wOeVcA4E0esQYvpVHs7fPvuxmsPrM22RERdlHtewSLVEMv6x6v5Kfl8V02qEKciMZjGSyWQ7FGGDMKOMOxHs-S6wxYFKwdoNWoY6jECvocjfjfxxtJACxoVUTZ3DgttZxY_/w400-h81/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div>Hit the "Road to Sky" Route as part of an event the other day and lucky me... I unlocked the Meilensteins!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuACzy9IbKtk9PakXmBakD-Qp3vT8a7nsSGWzgMKA4sHwAGVJIXdJPhgys2imNUgpZTTJQv032QUsDaI_Yxe4oDV5z7s-JKkW1mpSSuLHhcaXO0mNAe9XHf9dX1ZZ8K2tgxSWu_-Qm4Rp/s1709/zwift.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1709" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeuACzy9IbKtk9PakXmBakD-Qp3vT8a7nsSGWzgMKA4sHwAGVJIXdJPhgys2imNUgpZTTJQv032QUsDaI_Yxe4oDV5z7s-JKkW1mpSSuLHhcaXO0mNAe9XHf9dX1ZZ8K2tgxSWu_-Qm4Rp/w400-h196/zwift.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><br /><br /></div>These are the lightest wheels in Zwift, and you have to "win" them at the top of Alpe du Zwift. For some people it takes 20+ times, for me... 2! Lucky ducky.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Makuri Islands</b></div><div><br /></div><div>They have 8 straight days of Makuri Islands and an entirely new area to explore... so I'm expecting the number of routes to also go up!</div><div><br /></div><div>Just when I thought he was close... </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-77004477744858869722021-10-30T21:24:00.001-04:002021-10-30T21:24:21.493-04:00Zwift: Volcano Circuit 25 times for the "On Fire!" Badge<p> </p><p>I added these badges to my list of Routes.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0DBw6vDGTOCqoC4NgIYbIiW2zHQ3d2mDAc8YtsqDCsOyPnc6lYDMYyx_fFm9Nnl6dIC9gN1EwHkZk-r_DLFd0_9Yr2JFLRJCknbU9fKZ81m4WGGGHBRuDLhpiThn0THMbhyphenhyphenZatSunLlY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="529" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0DBw6vDGTOCqoC4NgIYbIiW2zHQ3d2mDAc8YtsqDCsOyPnc6lYDMYyx_fFm9Nnl6dIC9gN1EwHkZk-r_DLFd0_9Yr2JFLRJCknbU9fKZ81m4WGGGHBRuDLhpiThn0THMbhyphenhyphenZatSunLlY/w400-h144/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Strictly speaking this is not a "Route"... it's a set of three "Cycling Achievement".</p><p>But since it can be done in a single ride and requires you to do a specific ... route... I'm counting it!</p><p>All of these involve laps of the 4.2km Volcano Circuit.</p><p><b>Warmed Up - 5 laps</b></p><p><b>Hothead - 10 laps</b></p><p><b>On Fire! - 25 laps</b></p><p>There are a few decisions you need to make...</p><p><b>Bike Choice</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUkgv6hbJ65qG7vX1k71csdrIWEC-GWRWm3QBoGWH6fy03NY9LzqFJJVUurQhKf_7nX4Gwf9WRJms6tGfF5P1Yfh-Lz1W3s_1KxFX-OKqq4Lh-xYMMEzi6OaRnfCMVObNxBxyYjhJbDXX/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1180" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilUkgv6hbJ65qG7vX1k71csdrIWEC-GWRWm3QBoGWH6fy03NY9LzqFJJVUurQhKf_7nX4Gwf9WRJms6tGfF5P1Yfh-Lz1W3s_1KxFX-OKqq4Lh-xYMMEzi6OaRnfCMVObNxBxyYjhJbDXX/w400-h219/image.png" width="400" /></a></div>I went with my most aero road bike, and the Zipp 808's - the most aero wheels in the game.<p></p><p>The other option is a TT bike, but as Zwifters know it doesn't get any of the benefits of drafting. Not terribly realistic, but hey a TT is meant to be a solo effort, right? </p><p>I was doing this on Saturday afternoon so I was counting on finding a few wheels to suck, and I did!</p><p>I noticed I did better out there than comparable (or stronger) riders on TT bikes, so if it's busy that's the right choice.</p><p>Caveat - there is some kind of XP bonus for passing under banners on a TT bike. So if that's important to you...</p><p><b>Direction and the U-Turn Bug</b></p><p>You can complete the Circuit either Clockwise or Counter Clockwise.</p><p>This ended up being a big disaster for me...</p><p>My plan was to start Clockwise, then switch to CCW every so often.</p><p>So after 4 laps, I crossed under the banner then hit the "U-Turn" button.</p><p>Nothing happened.</p><p>I had experienced this "bug" previously after a group ride, but I didn't realize the worst part of it... not only do you not U-Turn, your maximum speed becomes 24km/h!!!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH27RDYnT4S_NWJeADNTytGwkXxVV5kchr9l1mKZmxRKvpqlE_qVPb3xDLgnaM5e7jblrLJ_ROoRykj0e0wQ981iwqydD6WjzdE2b3RN-Vs9zuInBcvrlaV2TB1JCx3anEV-xVX8E4aCuo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="1059" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH27RDYnT4S_NWJeADNTytGwkXxVV5kchr9l1mKZmxRKvpqlE_qVPb3xDLgnaM5e7jblrLJ_ROoRykj0e0wQ981iwqydD6WjzdE2b3RN-Vs9zuInBcvrlaV2TB1JCx3anEV-xVX8E4aCuo/w400-h50/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I soldiered on for a bit not realizing this, then tried to change bikes to get it to snap out of it, but nothing worked... so I abandoned my first attempt.<p></p><p>After cursing and refilling some water bottles, I decided I would start over and do it today, rather than find something else to ride. In for a penny, in for a pound!</p><p><b>The Big Attempt</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y5f6ofg0IZbnTiSJl2feTLvNoUen_BWlcpURKXOPwzRieb7C0B60AVrYbfUfQIlp1EuIsS5sDZAE-FMCZz08TxQlqJGVVaqM2_XMI3-PPoJ6cQqKtw3Z4JqQ_TEm_SJf3rZ7oNyGpNIG/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="640" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y5f6ofg0IZbnTiSJl2feTLvNoUen_BWlcpURKXOPwzRieb7C0B60AVrYbfUfQIlp1EuIsS5sDZAE-FMCZz08TxQlqJGVVaqM2_XMI3-PPoJ6cQqKtw3Z4JqQ_TEm_SJf3rZ7oNyGpNIG/w400-h390/image.png" width="400" /></a></div>It was less boring than I might have expected, but this is largely due to drafting. I was always keeping an eye on riders around me, trying to maintain a pretty steady 2.5w/kg and then up the pace to grab a wheel when the opportunity arrived.<p></p><p>The blue in the image is the lead-in - it counts as kilometers, but you only do it once. Easy peasy!</p><p>The white section is the quietest section, hard to find a draft unless you're really lucky or tailing someone going the Cicruit.</p><p>Yellow is where you get some joiners from the other routes, cutting through the volcano edge but not hanging around. Lots of riders here, and they mostly continue to the orange section.</p><p>Orange is the best section - you get people coming down from climbing the Volcano KOM added to the mix - it's nice and busy, lots of wheels, at least until you pass the blue road again!</p><p>I got carried away a few times chasing down wheels - when you have a fast rider in front of you, it's tough to let it go! When that happened and eventually the wheel vanished on me, I would knock back my wattage to 2.2w/kg for a bit to recover before getting back to the 2.5 target.</p><p><b>Done!</b></p><p>Ended up doing a 26th lap to cool down - probably could have done that as a 25th lap if I had planned ahead!</p><p>With the other 4 laps I did in the aborted U-turn ride, that makes 30!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87vGu4ECwaaM5-RmLiJYPlPg92fYvAn7WTWh0Ucu9WJQeatU0aK-4OZbADUoQTTaYbTdg29eLT0uek24n03n95xHj0Qn3JTZzGH-CUsHVjMhAAt8BZtjNJYVDIh5lNDELujHSh7vojlil/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87vGu4ECwaaM5-RmLiJYPlPg92fYvAn7WTWh0Ucu9WJQeatU0aK-4OZbADUoQTTaYbTdg29eLT0uek24n03n95xHj0Qn3JTZzGH-CUsHVjMhAAt8BZtjNJYVDIh5lNDELujHSh7vojlil/w400-h225/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Not excited to do it again, but will take the learnings when I eventually try to tackle the 11 laps of the London Loop for the Full PRL... <br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-25520374694913966052021-10-27T09:19:00.002-04:002021-10-27T09:19:20.054-04:00Zwift: Completing All The Routes - Update #2<p> </p><p>Completed the "Achterbahn" route last night.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFKgC3uqnw88V-fC8El27uN_D134xYoDM45tfEAhe_WtYPg0sY8f-Q0UjV33qGaG1xIhRFAszdMEy03vQmimRr5sBKTr-H8BzyoGs2hwYH5iZS5f_Oq9P9LI7Vir8MtjXvUO1mdxTUj4Q/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFKgC3uqnw88V-fC8El27uN_D134xYoDM45tfEAhe_WtYPg0sY8f-Q0UjV33qGaG1xIhRFAszdMEy03vQmimRr5sBKTr-H8BzyoGs2hwYH5iZS5f_Oq9P9LI7Vir8MtjXvUO1mdxTUj4Q/w400-h225/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Achterbahning</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This route is tough - it does the same climb twice, first reverse of the "normal" flow, then forward.</p><p>The reverse route is especially difficult and spends a lot of time at 10%+! </p><p>This put a bit of a dent in the Elevation progress, but I still have a lot of climbing to go before the routes are done.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQr5SNH54W937_QfrelEqtCjGxlfMN9l-xNpYa0y3hW4V3daT3o5xqsSo5ua7mHpUTFdKB2hTAavvCB_gWSIhug45bwSyfysKSA3BkkcUYzHzGDL488F1gRDYJ75vfnBvj0Ya8ATyWDJg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="85" data-original-width="476" height="71" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQr5SNH54W937_QfrelEqtCjGxlfMN9l-xNpYa0y3hW4V3daT3o5xqsSo5ua7mHpUTFdKB2hTAavvCB_gWSIhug45bwSyfysKSA3BkkcUYzHzGDL488F1gRDYJ75vfnBvj0Ya8ATyWDJg/w400-h71/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I also took the time to bang out a short ride to finish up Yorkshire! The 3 easiest worlds are done at least. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefoM8WLgeUg7ySlVqMOJLbCaw9VSNnHb4Oq01EDSyTO1QVi1R5Q5aCnIry5MmSzGmPRI9wdTbAMF6PFJJi2_n6A1rbb2ovAlugG6oNH1aKUOk7dWPzF0Jsf8Tg-ce5fu5PdJ7HDRsOP9n/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="282" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefoM8WLgeUg7ySlVqMOJLbCaw9VSNnHb4Oq01EDSyTO1QVi1R5Q5aCnIry5MmSzGmPRI9wdTbAMF6PFJJi2_n6A1rbb2ovAlugG6oNH1aKUOk7dWPzF0Jsf8Tg-ce5fu5PdJ7HDRsOP9n/" width="289" /></a></div><br />Some very big intimidating rides (and climbs!) to go, though!<p></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-7262647865630480572021-10-12T12:46:00.002-04:002021-10-12T12:46:18.585-04:00Zwift: Completing All The Routes<p>It's that time of year in Canada, where the sun sets earlier and earlier and the dreaded <i>Indoor Trainer</i> comes back into one's life.</p><p>... except with Zwift, I no longer dread it.</p><p>It's ... fun. </p><p>Last year I started a quest to complete all the Route Badges.</p><p>While I was away, Zwift introduced a new world... <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/makuri-islands/">Makuri Islands</a>, and with it 12 new routes!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0JAbcWbCM55ls-J7S1dml9X9gcWnXT1CkAI58F0tBcRxC5xpexh20XGTichSRLF1ek8K4HRxTosPddHOx-updHIgWAuZJjSwXaAhY4PADy13IwdzVXfWvKjeGvv8MvPPomqvltQ-KHOd/s1000/391293-yumezi_pr_MTB_02-78434c-large-1621328821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht0JAbcWbCM55ls-J7S1dml9X9gcWnXT1CkAI58F0tBcRxC5xpexh20XGTichSRLF1ek8K4HRxTosPddHOx-updHIgWAuZJjSwXaAhY4PADy13IwdzVXfWvKjeGvv8MvPPomqvltQ-KHOd/w400-h226/391293-yumezi_pr_MTB_02-78434c-large-1621328821.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What Makuri Islands would look like if I had a better Zwift PC</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I dutifully added them to my master spreadsheet. I've completed 48 of 92 routes, representing 49.5% of all the distance - but only 26.85% of the total Elevation (climbing!).</p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBX10SQW_6tpdjo0ItXTp8bfmtrZZEenCNj100CZDZMhAv_mOHSn_ZAcA2iPFtTq1y8fwBCz-t96WjQdH3b01vP3jqcLeSuKGqUJ1o9woar5S0VVQ9RaqfgOi5AEhXRjdEcwIyL2NC6Vn/s729/zwift-routes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="729" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBX10SQW_6tpdjo0ItXTp8bfmtrZZEenCNj100CZDZMhAv_mOHSn_ZAcA2iPFtTq1y8fwBCz-t96WjQdH3b01vP3jqcLeSuKGqUJ1o9woar5S0VVQ9RaqfgOi5AEhXRjdEcwIyL2NC6Vn/w400-h251/zwift-routes.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Lots to do, still, should be a tough winter.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm especially nervous about "The PRL Full" in the London world. 173km and probably 6-7h on the trainer sounds like a special kind of hell, really need to find a group ride or something... The Mega Pretzel was plenty hard enough, thanks!</div><div><br /></div><div>Will keep the blog updated with some of my experience as I go.</div><div><p><br /></p></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-5508295830696571492021-09-26T17:57:00.004-04:002021-09-28T11:28:00.776-04:00Storm The Trent 2021: Trek Distance, Haliburton Edition, A Race Report<p> </p><p>Storm is finally back! </p><p>After COVID canceled 2020 and postponed 2021, we finally got to STORM again.</p><p>This race is an Adventure Race, and when Sean plans a route, Adventure is often big-A Adventure...</p><p><b>The Location</b></p><p>So first off I don't love the new location. His previous Haliburton courses were great, but we've raced at the Haliburton Forest & Wildlife Reserve "Wolf Centre" before in the old "Logs, Rocks and Steel" races... and it wasn't fun. The trails are muddy, rocky, poorly maintained, barely used... </p><p>Add to that torrential persistent rain allllll week and we knew it was going to be a muddy hell-fest.</p><p><b>The Start - Canoe!</b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgOdao7mSbeNw0ishMgszsL1lI2wbCowdBJkR5fzwo0bPtFuSINVChbR1cYKvE-PUtAPJGuwSc8YouytSYjIvuuHfyHWAX5Gi25PIdjH-ZGU1Vp0mtgbczvZlhLMe_guWD3xniKSPcoo4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEgOdao7mSbeNw0ishMgszsL1lI2wbCowdBJkR5fzwo0bPtFuSINVChbR1cYKvE-PUtAPJGuwSc8YouytSYjIvuuHfyHWAX5Gi25PIdjH-ZGU1Vp0mtgbczvZlhLMe_guWD3xniKSPcoo4/" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not us, taken before the wind kicked<br />up! Pretty scenery. Photo courtesy Storm,<br />Used without Permission.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Strava link: <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018851575">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018851575</a></p><p>First discipline was the Canoe - 6km paddle around a small lake with two checkpoints.</p><p>We just did 110km last weekend at the <a href="http://www.marshmallowman2ironman.com/2021/09/race-report-huntsville-110-by-muskoka.html">Huntsville 110</a>, but despite that I felt really strong. We were rocking the marathon-canoe-style paddles and our cedar strip boat, and made quick work of a bunch of better boats with kayak paddles.</p><p>I'm not convinced kayak paddles are superior for people who know how to really paddle a boat, and with the strong wind, they had a paddle in the breeze the entire time... </p><p>It's hard to know until results are posted but I think we really killed it. Averaged 8km/h in our 17 foot cedar strip!</p><p><b>The Portage</b></p><p>Before we could grab our bikes, there was the small matter of an 800m portage.</p><p>My thought was to toss the 60lbs boat on my shoulders, which I did. I entirely underestimated the impact on the core muscles going up a hill especially! I made it 3/4 of the way, then my buddy offered to take over and I obliged... </p><p>We didn't lose time to anyone around us there, in fact picked up a bit on some, so while I'm sure some portaged faster we were pretty decent at it.</p><p><b>Bike #1</b></p><p>Strava link: <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828680">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828680</a></p><p>First bike was a quick whip on gravel roads from the transition area to the first run - nothing to it, settling in, life's good.</p><p><b>Run #1</b></p><p>Strava link: <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018852609">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018852609</a></p><p>This was the one run we actually ran, pretty close to start to finish (other than maybe a few hills along the way.</p><p>You could choose how to get to the two checkpoints - we went counter-clockwise, which didn't seem terribly popular (although you don't tend to catch as many people going the same direction as you so that can be deceiving!).</p><p>Neither checkpoint was terribly difficult to find, one was right on the trail, one was a little past a trail junction - may have been more complicated if there weren't so many people around, hard to say.</p><p><b>Bike #2</b></p><p><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828847">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828847</a></p><p>This was a tale of two rides, really.</p><p>The first 9km were gravel roads, some tough climbs but very reasonable and easy terrain.</p><p>Then there was a section the organizer had labelled as "Rugged Terrain".</p><p>Knowing this guy, if <i>he </i>think it's rugged? It's going to be pretty damn rugged.</p><p>And it was. Terrible trail, for some reason there were giant logs/ties laid across it with 8-12" gaps in between. With the rain everything was washed out and hellishly unrideable. Slog slog walk walk.</p><p>Finally there was a rideable section, and a chance to use our full-suspension bikes - even a downed tree we could hop!</p><p>But yeah, 22 minutes to go 3km, it wasn't great or fun... ADVENTURE!</p><p><b>Run #2</b></p><p><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018854503">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018854503</a></p><p>When we had mapped this out, we knew it was going to be tough - the trail was called "Outlook Trail", and it was over 2km straight up to space.</p><p>I have no idea what it was like a week ago - but with the crazy rain over the last week? It was a muddy hell climb.</p><p>We assumed we'd be walking the steeper slopes, but not almost all of it! It was really tough to get any momentum in the sloppy mud... </p><p>The view at the top was beautiful and almost worth it. </p><p>(Who am I kidding, it wasn't worth it!!!)</p><p>Saw at least one team cheating (one team member hoofing it to the top while the other guy turned around halfway) - if you're reading this, you know who you are and what you did. SHAME!!!</p><p>The downhill was moderately better, but still so tough with the slippy terrain... there was no making up time here.</p><p>26 minutes up, 21 down. Not great!</p><p><b>Bike #3</b></p><p><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828958">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018828958</a></p><p>This was a pretty fun gravel bike with a few killer climbs, but everything was rideable.</p><p>One section of it was completely flooded - but we knew the road under it was smooth so we bombed through with water over our axles!</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHC8J-4WhKhd1Kxr65GXQ_VpTMSCQ2YMoqR932LjvTKSRpLVLcp_Cu7XUC6B_GDIMvWEv66ATIxt6sj6oeJv1y6bxp7nx4V2jX7nrie_zFFdWiiv9lfgIMo0oymaszO7ojLboCazefTnb/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisHC8J-4WhKhd1Kxr65GXQ_VpTMSCQ2YMoqR932LjvTKSRpLVLcp_Cu7XUC6B_GDIMvWEv66ATIxt6sj6oeJv1y6bxp7nx4V2jX7nrie_zFFdWiiv9lfgIMo0oymaszO7ojLboCazefTnb/" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "puddle" - Pic Courtesy<br />of Storm, used without permission<br />(but they owe me for all they put me through)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Run #3 - the "Optional Advanced Section"</b><p></p><p><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018856656">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018856656</a></p><p>So the way this works... there are 3 checkpoints on the "Optional" section.</p><p>If you don't do them, you are ranked behind the teams that do them.</p><p>Is it optional? Not really... it's part of the course, and if we didn't do it we knew we'd feel like we hadn't done the full race.</p><p>By this point my legs were cooked. C-o-o-k-e-d. My partner too. We were both just struggling with a lot of different aches and pains, I had some cramps (that thankfully never got to the debilitating point, but were never a picnic!".</p><p>We did the first km super slow, once again finding ourselves slogging through mud bogs and up steep climbs. <b>These "trails" are absolutely terrible, never do them for any reason other than "a race organizer made me".</b></p><p>My favourite part of the "trail" was where someone had tried to make a little plank bridge with logs and cut timber to bypass a mud bog (one of about 50 we had to trudge through), but it was slippery as ice and half the timber was rotted out. Amazing. I don't consider myself a trail building and maintenance expert, but I can't imagine crafting worse trails than these... I don't know if it's just that nobody cares, or that the terrain is impossible (perma-mud)?</p><p>The only tricky checkpoint was the furthest point, it was near a pond that one could miss if one wasn't great at the maps. But there was a pretty big crowd there when we were around, and it had been pretty well trodden, so not that tough in the end.</p><p>We walked what we had to, ran what we could, I fell twice on slippy mud, but ultimately I think we probably did this faster than most of the teams out there. Calling it a win!</p><p><b>Ride #4 And The Finish!</b></p><p><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/6018829015">https://www.strava.com/activities/6018829015</a></p><p>This was a mercifully short ride - I was cooked times a hundred by now.</p><p>The only trick here was catching the last checkpoint along the trail back - but it was in plain sight.</p><p>Finish with nothing left in the tank - just the way we drew it up!</p><p><b>Results Are In!</b></p><p>We finished 4th out of 30 Men's Teams of 2!</p><p>I'm delighted, really good result for a really tough day. I certainly had nothing left.</p><p>Several teams missed the last checkpoint... Storm posted this with the results!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWe6qz_17ExdCmkY5_FYs35Ei3l4SCADyubRq3-Xg3zaFkbxRja_BYs1C4q83pWEBXfwGQ9NZ0QqyxV4kC1gspdoAvqyomNAvIYYVOJKEhHgIjjhIo8lZFCs3ZapjjHhpgtm8SqkbR94H/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="797" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWe6qz_17ExdCmkY5_FYs35Ei3l4SCADyubRq3-Xg3zaFkbxRja_BYs1C4q83pWEBXfwGQ9NZ0QqyxV4kC1gspdoAvqyomNAvIYYVOJKEhHgIjjhIo8lZFCs3ZapjjHhpgtm8SqkbR94H/w400-h338/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I was actually anticipating some would miss it when we were planning, my buddy missed it in the instructions. But no race day we saw it in plain sight from the trail... so I figured it was easy and nobody would skip it?? But somehow they still managed. Whoops! Following the race instructions and reading alllll the maps intently is part of the race, though!<p></p><p><b>Post-Race Navel Gazing</b></p><p>Usually we earn our keep with being clever and reading the maps well, but this one had minimal navigation and the trails were all really well marked. The checkpoints were mostly trivial, so it was hard to gain any advantage where others might have slipped up.</p><p>We paddled hard, we didn't mess up, we persevered and kept it going through all the misery, so I think we'll show pretty well in the end!</p><p>One last thing worth mentioning - I wasn't well trained for this (other than maybe the paddle!). The biking didn't go as well as it should have, I hadn't been running (and certainly hadn't been stair/hill climbing!), so this was a big shock to the old system... really need to purposefully train for something of this magnitude, and I didn't.</p><p>And if I never see these trails again? It'll be too soon. They're terrible. </p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-85137676920479092172021-09-20T16:34:00.001-04:002021-09-20T18:37:00.891-04:00Race Report: Huntsville 110 (by Muskoka River X)<p>Done! Longest paddle (actually, longest endurance event of any kind!) of my life, 110km straight, 15 1/2 hours... let's get to it!</p><p><b>The Race</b> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9liKc3g-jmoDTMbL3lJKLzUOEPJ3Y3M723H8RFTWsV5EQyrWM4fsSiEuubQKl8zMo6fa0Fdf2OT6nV0Q1KFfs55CUrqg8Yb1tR1j_4IP6cvB-kWDR6YxkhfMcFunuynjFgW4vEaK5lZY/s4032/20210917_154143.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9liKc3g-jmoDTMbL3lJKLzUOEPJ3Y3M723H8RFTWsV5EQyrWM4fsSiEuubQKl8zMo6fa0Fdf2OT6nV0Q1KFfs55CUrqg8Yb1tR1j_4IP6cvB-kWDR6YxkhfMcFunuynjFgW4vEaK5lZY/s320/20210917_154143.jpg" width="320" /></a> </td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hidden Valley Resort, The Start!</td></tr></tbody></table>There was once a race called the "Muskoka River X", we did it a bunch of times, but never managed to complete the full course.<div><br /></div><div>We failed <a href="http://www.marshmallowman2ironman.com/2019/09/race-report-muskoka-river-x-classic.html">quite spectacularly in 2019</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The race was folded after that, but returned as the Huntsville 110 this year!</div><div><br /></div><div>We had demons to slay, so we came back.</div><div><br /></div><div>The new race replaced the Muskoka River with the Big East, had fewer portages (only 2!) and more lake paddling.</div><div><br /></div><div>It also had a new handicap start format, where each boat class started at different times.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Prep</b></div><div><br /></div><div>After looking at when our C2 Stock boat would need to start (afternoon!) we decided to enter C2 Rec. It meant it would take longer, but we could start in the morning (930am) and finish earlier at night.</div><div><br /></div><div>We sought out and found a 17 foot boat, a nice cedar strip. I mean it wasn't <i>that </i>nice... could use a refinish and it's heavy (65lbs!) but it would do. The best thing is that it's stable as a rock in rough water, which we really needed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Race maps were released early, marked them up with bearings and distances and were ready to rock!</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgureDLfacUhcOUP0yhxaNrWamkKM7SS0Va2cMtNDAx0315_7K_E8zlhX9QZ7pUJU9NNQrAqgX4IrTM3TjSma7bq1UnUBwpjhgPJM0ZfsCXuldvOrr4dZKfs4CCEmyQtALXAwm-LPOdrjbq/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="836" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgureDLfacUhcOUP0yhxaNrWamkKM7SS0Va2cMtNDAx0315_7K_E8zlhX9QZ7pUJU9NNQrAqgX4IrTM3TjSma7bq1UnUBwpjhgPJM0ZfsCXuldvOrr4dZKfs4CCEmyQtALXAwm-LPOdrjbq/w400-h362/image.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Race, Numbered in Order!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Start (1)</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLaBHV92E1Efx-YWdEyyPUV1350gJbHlR4IEHSzBlYZlB08v81kNa_btgXQuCWS5VnqEahRgz-OwKX_lsKyVfJXI6vm7ACxUeK_tGUpzbE84ov30kE-tzDxzW-TnWNugIUVH4xVYi5DHB/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="692" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLaBHV92E1Efx-YWdEyyPUV1350gJbHlR4IEHSzBlYZlB08v81kNa_btgXQuCWS5VnqEahRgz-OwKX_lsKyVfJXI6vm7ACxUeK_tGUpzbE84ov30kE-tzDxzW-TnWNugIUVH4xVYi5DHB/" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /></b></div><div>We put in at 9:30am at Fairy Lake in clear calm water.</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfNJe4hyBM_Bv44rWcrNEnytT7Y1xdvTkh22JozSHSlqvunZPBxMidszfHGsXpV0Cca4SzgTJ86oO46fGqQE8NcHW3Hq7i-M4IdoCZH3CRf7_mxAPT9lJQhWYCPKDK0P_kBUEPYYNQGSp/s1080/FB_IMG_1632068159116.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1080" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfNJe4hyBM_Bv44rWcrNEnytT7Y1xdvTkh22JozSHSlqvunZPBxMidszfHGsXpV0Cca4SzgTJ86oO46fGqQE8NcHW3Hq7i-M4IdoCZH3CRf7_mxAPT9lJQhWYCPKDK0P_kBUEPYYNQGSp/s320/FB_IMG_1632068159116.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muskoka River in Huntsville, Upstream</td></tr></tbody></table>To our surprise, we were among the lead boats of our wave. A boat not in our category (C2 Stock Female) was with us at first, but we passed them in the canal and never saw them again...</div><div><br /></div><div>Fairy Lake (2) was easy peasy, the heading I had was perfect, we had a tailwind, and we showed up to Huntsville (3) ahead of schedule!</div><div><br /></div>There was a support team location there, but we didn't need to stop so early - skipped it.<div><br /></div><div>Everything was pretty uneventful, found the mouth of the Big East with ease, we were cruising!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Big East</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We have paddled this river a few times in previous races and training runs, but this was the worst its ever been. The water was so low, but there was remnants of high water damage everywhere. Fallen trees, floating or just under the surface. And the low water made every corner difficult, constantly searching for a channel with enough water to paddle through.</div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5tq9dVKTC39xv58r85aGx8vQ9h58oymy60EhW07WvWDfPOv7Jv2bzRvVKYE4IgYGIp0J9-BB5tdp5j3ncrVaZ0sjXBgUkkWmSn2dNDZeKDIhoeFNZqDJgVIM_Hp54ZCT1Y7dvqNXvvE-/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1153" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5tq9dVKTC39xv58r85aGx8vQ9h58oymy60EhW07WvWDfPOv7Jv2bzRvVKYE4IgYGIp0J9-BB5tdp5j3ncrVaZ0sjXBgUkkWmSn2dNDZeKDIhoeFNZqDJgVIM_Hp54ZCT1Y7dvqNXvvE-/" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big East Water Levels, Courtesy The Government of Canada<br />https://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/real_time_e.html?stn=02EB013</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CHoPZrjPoxOGpKjZdBTrY6D6GmS0KuJQNwDJb8qhJcZwZavBWjPKPgXlYDt1TpFmADWVOoaZPy7cJqqYAA3rWbXcjCzSE2X9PoBmlqrw3DqH0y_iSWAG-ogdr63O15zyjbhtXqEsxM6Y/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="692" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6CHoPZrjPoxOGpKjZdBTrY6D6GmS0KuJQNwDJb8qhJcZwZavBWjPKPgXlYDt1TpFmADWVOoaZPy7cJqqYAA3rWbXcjCzSE2X9PoBmlqrw3DqH0y_iSWAG-ogdr63O15zyjbhtXqEsxM6Y/" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tulip Inn, Top of Big East</td></tr></tbody></table>We did a fine job of it, though, but it took a lot out of me (and pretty sure it took a lot out of my partner!). We hit the top of the Big East still in the lead, ahead of our estimates.</div><div><br /></div><div><br />Our wonderful support team was there for our first stop. We replenished our liquids and were taking a bit of time, until... the second place team paddled up! Crap. Then the third place team! Double crap. We rushed out of there a little.</div><div><br /></div><div>Downstream was a chance to recover a bit, although it was still stressful with all the obstacles and low water. At this point there was a lot more river traffic, with later starting teams coming up the river as we went downstream! Oh and flotilla of about a dozen cottager looking people (one of them smoking while kayaking, who does that??) ... we finally got through all of this traffic and the lower half was fine.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Lake Vernon (6)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We didn't anticipate much in terms of waves, but it was pretty gnarly when we hit Lake Vernon. These lakes really kick up with a breeze! Lots of motor boats and jetskis (<i>spit</i>) as well, so we had our hands full a few times.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we came around the end of the lake, we saw another team going the other way... somehow they had blown right by the Big East mouth! So no matter how rough our day was going to be, theirs was going to be worse - made me feel a little better.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once we got to the far end of Lake Vernon, the waves were better, and we settled in and were moving really well. The bottom (7) we weren't so lucky... back into open lake and some really rough waves, the worst of the day, and the worst motorized traffic. It really slowed us down.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>(Unbeknownst to us, between 6 and 7 if where we lost the race... more on this soon)</i></div><div><br /></div><div>We finally made to through the Narrows and to the next checkpoint in Huntsville (8).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Huntsville (8)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This was the next support team point, we rolled up in the lead of our category (yay!). Our wives got us all stocked up and what not, we emptied the boat of water, and just as we were being informed we were "8 minutes ahead"... the next team cruised up!</div><div><br /></div><div>Crap.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then the next team.</div><div><br /></div><div>Double crap.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not that we were that long at the support point, it's just that they had made up a ton of ground (water?) in that last stretch of Lake Vernon. Looking at the Check Point timing later, we did have an 8 minute lead, then we didn't.<div><br /></div></div><div>We managed to get through Fairy Lake (9) still in the lead, and rolled into the Brunel Locks (10) still there.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Brunel Lock Portage (10) and Muskoka River</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The portage was easy, but then my partner stopped to pee. Nature calls, you answer!</div><div><br /></div><div>We were about 10 seconds too slow and it cost us getting into the water first... in fact both teams chasing us passed us there. Then another team budded in front of us. They're old and fast, so we let them go, but we shouldn't have.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back in the water now in 3rd, we pushed extra hard downstream to catch the team in front - they took the bad line through some shallow stuff, we caught up, they tried to stay ahead, we managed to get them and put them behind us... that should be that, right!?</div><div><br /></div><div>We couldn't catch the 1st team though, they were strong and seemed fresh, like they'd just rolled out of bed.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mary Lake</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is where we flipped in 2019 in horrible conditions, wicked waves, and so I was happy to see it nice and calm.</div><div><br /></div><div>Uneventful paddle across the lake, but now it was getting dusky.</div><div><br /></div><div>We hit Port Sydney now in the dark.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>A Quick Word on Paddling In the Dark</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4pAi2tJI729fBZuFRrYPPhqYQv9pTLErzcmC9JPbrRIxehhY_WJbFUk2GrChbS9JITmFLYHoXSYRUEzstsvzPIc6qGY9utVVG6CTKjDV-kKKwlm8k51cyrQ0EE7AKuQp7Z99w_nThJVv/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="692" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4pAi2tJI729fBZuFRrYPPhqYQv9pTLErzcmC9JPbrRIxehhY_WJbFUk2GrChbS9JITmFLYHoXSYRUEzstsvzPIc6qGY9utVVG6CTKjDV-kKKwlm8k51cyrQ0EE7AKuQp7Z99w_nThJVv/" width="180" /></a></div><br />Everything looks different, deceiving. Distances are confusing. Things that you thought would be obvious (like how far the end of the lake is from where you are!) aren't. </div><div><br /></div><div>We had a good handle on the first few islands going back across Mary Lake, and I made the mistake of not looking at the map - and by the time I <i>did </i>need to look at it, I had lost all track of where we were!</div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately the navigation is pretty straightforward but that's a lesson for next time (if there is a next time). </div><div><br /></div><div>We found the mouth of the Muskoka River, so all good. Good riddance, Mary Lake, consider yourself revenged.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Muskoka River Upstream</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Just as we entered the river, the 3rd place team caught up and passed us.</div><div><br /></div><div>We were sad. Didn't expect that. We had been a bit clumsy across the lake, I was messing around with the maps a bit and such, but they clearly put in a solid effort while we were daydreaming.</div><div><br /></div><div>Upstream wasn't too terrible, except for the light fog that had set in... with the lighting it was really hard to see. We knew of one tricky dead-end to avoid, right after this really special tree - and we went right up the dead end, even though we saw the tree!</div><div><br /></div><div>We also beached ourselves coming into Brunel Lock, on a shallow section we knew about... it was just silly stuff, but with fatigue and darkness it happens.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fairy Lake and Penn Lake</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The lakes were pretty uneventful, we had our bearings, we stuck with them, we found what we needed to find. The GPS shows us going straight between points so it all worked out.</div><div><br /></div><div>We saw the 2nd place team light up every so often, presumably checking maps, and they were a bit more meandering than us - but we couldn't catch up.</div><div><br /></div><div>By this point I was pretty wiped, bit of brain fog, not sure we would have had the juice for a final sprint if it had come down to that!</div><div><br /></div><div>Finished just ahead of our schedule and just like that we'd paddled 110km!</div><div><br /></div><div>3rd place in our category, just under 5 mins behind 2nd place... but we'll take it for sure.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Reflections</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is the longest endurance event I've ever done, not counting the 24h MTB race (which I only was on the bike for half of, since we did it tag-team!).</div><div><br /></div><div>It's not the hardest thing I have ever done (that is Ironman by a lot) but it's definitely not easy to keep going for over 15h! Fortunately there were distractions most of the time, whether it was navigating or dealing with river obstacles, trying to find landmarks in the darkness... a lot to pay attention to.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am not a canoe racer - I'm an adventure racer and gravel rider who happens to paddle - so I don't know if we'll do this again. It really depends on the next race the come up with, if they go back to the old Muskoka River X course I'm in. For now, big success, demon slayed, on to the next thing!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-38537080451295567562021-09-07T15:57:00.001-04:002021-09-07T15:57:24.827-04:00Paddling "The Notty" - the Nottawasaga River<p> </p><p>Last weekend we paddled the Nottawasaga River near Wasaga Beach in Ontario.</p><p>Unsure of what current we'd face, we took two vehicles and went point to point - starting in Angus, Ontario and finishing in the town of Wasaga Beach.</p><p>GPS: https://www.strava.com/activities/5912373239</p><p>It was really a tale of two completely different experiences...</p><p><b>Angus - 0km</b></p><p>The river in Angus was really quite lovely, quiet, lots of fishermen and very few boats. </p><p>I was very excited at first! Scenic river, quiet lovely scenery... this was going to be a wonderful paddle!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEpvr8ncGPGZNEYrvpbA78JDEoe7mTiz3vDIKqkUnQCsjkobu78dGSruCSP2E5owA7wgIw3zFAOb9TM2pZ7p1ufbroCG9fQg66R9Ajzr1tvhSUoDdT_81rAlGmLj0KeHubyIAup9iHqfWL/s4032/20210905_102314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEpvr8ncGPGZNEYrvpbA78JDEoe7mTiz3vDIKqkUnQCsjkobu78dGSruCSP2E5owA7wgIw3zFAOb9TM2pZ7p1ufbroCG9fQg66R9Ajzr1tvhSUoDdT_81rAlGmLj0KeHubyIAup9iHqfWL/s320/20210905_102314.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Until... <div><br /></div><div><b>Log Jams - 5.5km<br /></b><div><br /></div><div>Not only were these big old log jams that were hundreds of meters long, but the portages around them were clearly not very well used. Lots of tall vegetation, if you guessed right you could get by but it was pretty hellish.</div><div><br /></div><div>And there wasn't just one - there were a bunch of these. Not to mention other just random tree falls...</div><div><br /></div><div>The worst was between 12km and 16.km or so, spent a lot of time out of the boat.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mouth of Willow Creek - 17km</b></div><div><br /></div><div>There is another canoe route along the Willow Creek - we didn't take it, but at that point we started to see signs that humans had taken chainsaws to trees that blocked the river.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, sustained time in the boat, paddling!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Edenvale - 21km</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This is where the Conservation Area begins - and the river widens. The current was very slow, you could easily paddle upstream (and many were doing just that!). <br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEo8lV_7HPWIjHJW518lB2B0Ey3JlZnUPMUh-Md3xwt-wJYmtDjBd3PcCMKyVgjEF7jC8x3K4pLtbuNl17vvu2MOwRhAPU3vGu0iRT2KklcLPSdhUlfWMpgjVUVRYCNha9nD9IEpPta_K/s4032/20210905_155648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEo8lV_7HPWIjHJW518lB2B0Ey3JlZnUPMUh-Md3xwt-wJYmtDjBd3PcCMKyVgjEF7jC8x3K4pLtbuNl17vvu2MOwRhAPU3vGu0iRT2KklcLPSdhUlfWMpgjVUVRYCNha9nD9IEpPta_K/s320/20210905_155648.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>Wasaga Sports Park - 36km</b></p><p>This was where we finally took out, at a purpose-built canoe/kayak launching spot.</p><p>You can continue further downstream, but apparently the current does pick up (swifts) and it makes it impossible to go back upstream... so that was our day.</p><p>I'm not in a rush to paddle the Nottawasaga River anytime again soon, but if I did I would skip upstream of Edenvale and stick to the lower part. </p><p>Finally the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Area posts maps and routes:</p><p>https://www.nvca.on.ca/recreation/canoeing-the-nottawasaga</p><p>Let's just say they make it sound a lot better than it is... it needs some serious TLC!</p><br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-9516069807898837292021-08-09T10:35:00.003-04:002021-08-09T10:44:04.033-04:00Paddling Rice Lake (and some bonus Rail History)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cSyhNVIF1-ybLDjP7cTQmlx04cWUs2Dcyy3YWX4E18LETnwCaq009iGLCQmN_iBUS3G1DZgY-SBwVDh6MdiZJGKekRBEnpm6vVQtxfX656QYaIo5gfBJonQ3ZBYw4TRVQKKr_fYuSEoT/s4032/20210808_142757.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6cSyhNVIF1-ybLDjP7cTQmlx04cWUs2Dcyy3YWX4E18LETnwCaq009iGLCQmN_iBUS3G1DZgY-SBwVDh6MdiZJGKekRBEnpm6vVQtxfX656QYaIo5gfBJonQ3ZBYw4TRVQKKr_fYuSEoT/w320-h240/20210808_142757.jpg" title="Rice Lake from the LCBO Parking Lot" width="320" /></a></div>We paddled Rice Lake this weekend as a training run for the Huntsville 110 in September!</div></div><div><br /></div>Things we found out:<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It's not as weedy/ricey as you might expect</li><li>There are a zillion motorized boats and they don't keep their distance 👎</li><li>The slightest wind causes the lake to rock and roll</li><li>Our new cedar strip is a nice stable boat in rough water!</li></ul><div><b>Launch</b><p></p></div></div><div>We put-in at the Bewdley lakefront.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a lot of parking, but it was mostly full, and limited to 2h! We launched at the LCBO dock ("for LCBO customers only", I'm a frequent customer!) then parked on a sidestreet to avoid the 2h limit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bonus: Next to the LCBO are public washrooms!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Our Route</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/5760855610">Strava Link</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had planned to hug the south shore expecting shelter from the wind from the South. Instead the wind was from the East, and it was pretty choppy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unpleasant? A little.</div><div><br /></div><div>Great chance for us to see how the boat handles chop, though, especially with boat after boat zipping by giving us rollers as well!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Boat</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We bought a 17' cedar strip for this year, very previously loved - handled the waves like a boss. Solid boat, didn't want to roll at all, a big change from our previous one.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't have a great picture of it, but here's my son rocking out the carbon paddle!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTtiiJnAU8HHQZaDom_kfWoalYVLcXW7Q6VT1EMY-s5EJB1q_iHzvJUSdRSRsBH0nvcA_rsjlr2s7WcvqV2g_a5NnmC04vr2L0nl1jP8x0Ew1kmj2KGhH8RaIczTkWuhKLeUkCdz9-P_L/s4032/20210722_160853.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTtiiJnAU8HHQZaDom_kfWoalYVLcXW7Q6VT1EMY-s5EJB1q_iHzvJUSdRSRsBH0nvcA_rsjlr2s7WcvqV2g_a5NnmC04vr2L0nl1jP8x0Ew1kmj2KGhH8RaIczTkWuhKLeUkCdz9-P_L/s320/20210722_160853.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><div><b>The Route Continued</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Without further ado - the map!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaf-Op8rTMf7vE5RsMGEqqSDOhTaL8lkkeXlgQOURxbdJagpNeAdxZf9FTSsfphH6-Frv66bg39VVdMSewacEYvnswyRMVhfublQfXf0Qt0Y9WsJRow6ZAYcpEDDOrjOy1TIuSQC9Qg_lR/s1062/Rice+Lake.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1062" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaf-Op8rTMf7vE5RsMGEqqSDOhTaL8lkkeXlgQOURxbdJagpNeAdxZf9FTSsfphH6-Frv66bg39VVdMSewacEYvnswyRMVhfublQfXf0Qt0Y9WsJRow6ZAYcpEDDOrjOy1TIuSQC9Qg_lR/s320/Rice+Lake.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><b>Moraine Relay Start</b></div><div><br /></div><div>There is a property near Gore's Landing where we used to start the <a href="https://www.oakridgestrail.org/adventure-relay/">Moraine Adventure Relay</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first leg was a canoe leg to Bewdley - then the race alternated between biking and running, mostly on trails, across the Oak Ridges Moraine trail. Very cool race, hope it comes back in 2022!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Former Rail Bridge</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I had read about this but totally forgot, until we came up on this weird straight line of rocks near Harwood.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-TS3oy5aVP9GmOEbdqBbb1HaC8hedcgmNy-bvpnwe1gJhiZnuOp6FybHFHfax4Dsd1zPyXre3XxDdY5kRWpDumSRiR7-qAskdmKmEVP3oS9eG28aIRxAx1Whl1a4pvLKRWfoE6G7k-0x/s4032/20210808_121349.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI-TS3oy5aVP9GmOEbdqBbb1HaC8hedcgmNy-bvpnwe1gJhiZnuOp6FybHFHfax4Dsd1zPyXre3XxDdY5kRWpDumSRiR7-qAskdmKmEVP3oS9eG28aIRxAx1Whl1a4pvLKRWfoE6G7k-0x/s320/20210808_121349.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Back in the 1800's, someone tried to build a causeway/bridge across the lake.</div><div><br /></div><div>I say "tried" because they briefly succeeded, only to have ice destroy the bridge just a few short years later... </div><div><br /></div><div>You can read more about it <a href="https://www.cobourghistory.ca/histories/harwood-station-museum/67-part-3-the-rice-lake-bridge">here</a>!</div><div><br /></div><div>The causeway is right under the surface of the water in most parts, just above in others, and doesn't look like much more than piles of rocks out to the island... but pretty cool that it's still there!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Island Hopping</b></div><div><br /></div><div>We went out to the island, where you can find this lighthouse.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfTf3uGmaCL_zSMhdIwhHCEkYZDZHAw82wR1eUkK5bjbD6fC2vmia5jnmwGnuJajHmgWHsNCx_iaYeMPWmLLWMFSFAMMYJR3113U7pY7hOkplvwYZE4RHQrw6d6nKeV7uxiCvK-iJmel7/s4032/20210808_121913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfTf3uGmaCL_zSMhdIwhHCEkYZDZHAw82wR1eUkK5bjbD6fC2vmia5jnmwGnuJajHmgWHsNCx_iaYeMPWmLLWMFSFAMMYJR3113U7pY7hOkplvwYZE4RHQrw6d6nKeV7uxiCvK-iJmel7/s320/20210808_121913.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Our plan was to skip island-to-island across the lake on the way back. At first it was completely calm - water was like glass.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then a breeze started, and the lake transformed in the blink of an eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>I recall people saying it was a shallow lake, which is why it kicks up so quickly! I'm not sure, but it definitely happened quick - we abandoned our initial plan and headed back to the safety of shore.</div><div><br /></div><div>Never any danger, though, the boat is a rock. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the LCBO which was now open - got the stink-eye from the manager, they definitely don't love people using their lot... it was almost entirely empty and we weren't "parking" so much as loading/unloading, but probably better to use the public dock to the south.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Verdict</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I wouldn't rush back to paddle there again, the boat traffic was excessive (fishing boats in the morning, jet skis, speedboats, pleasure boats). But neat to check out some old history things along the way!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bonus Info: Onotabee River</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I marked it on the map - but you can also head from Rice Lake up the Onotabee River! It's very paddlable both up and down stream. It's <i>relatively </i>high boat traffic, as it's part of the Trent-Severn.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a paddle we did further upstream: <a href="https://www.strava.com/activities/401729954">https://www.strava.com/activities/401729954</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Lots to explore.</div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-16557693347261373112021-02-06T16:35:00.001-05:002021-02-06T16:35:31.108-05:00Zwift Fondo Series: Ultima Fondo, aka The Mega Pretzel<p> </p><p>I just spent almost 4 hours on my indoor trainer...</p><p>... and it was a lot of fun.</p><p>Such is life with Zwift - the gamification of indoor workouts is the most exciting thing I've discovered in years!</p><p>Today was the <b>Mega Pretzel</b>!</p><p>It has climbs, it has gravel, and oh yeah it has climbs... </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBO10Af5p_xUCnOC-BCGN6F7nOgoO5XIWYxXfqBNKGojweyP1se4dWKQIFLDl-sQemf9BE5FaGnSfniR0vM6OVOJhv5XPPBdyzzCJmhJmhjA6mi6YVf7wVBii5JzYDojoI3CPOP0TLo44e/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="936" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBO10Af5p_xUCnOC-BCGN6F7nOgoO5XIWYxXfqBNKGojweyP1se4dWKQIFLDl-sQemf9BE5FaGnSfniR0vM6OVOJhv5XPPBdyzzCJmhJmhjA6mi6YVf7wVBii5JzYDojoI3CPOP0TLo44e/w640-h98/image.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I found a few guides about it, but I found them all a bit lacking especially on strategy... so here goes.<p></p><p><b>Find An Organized Ride</b></p><p>I did this as part of the Zwift Fondo Series - having people around to draft helped a lot, not sure I'd want to do this solo. People do it, but isn't 4 hours on the indoor trainer torture enough?</p><p>zwiftpower.com has the best search, you can filter by route, start there.</p><p><b>Bike Selection, Bike Selection, Bike Selection!!!</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWkDRLpkKUGK_oldpq5vsJvhd8UZVIHbYArrU0GPcgwfaXGheSfqc2yfVZTA5PwfbqIpnx0DyVjOGariPHx5h3FxGKaZLDaRIz7hWOUSglO0GSS_zgH2zoH1pO1T-wQRl1W2x0U7HM6Po5/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img data-original-height="994" data-original-width="2048" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWkDRLpkKUGK_oldpq5vsJvhd8UZVIHbYArrU0GPcgwfaXGheSfqc2yfVZTA5PwfbqIpnx0DyVjOGariPHx5h3FxGKaZLDaRIz7hWOUSglO0GSS_zgH2zoH1pO1T-wQRl1W2x0U7HM6Po5/w400-h194/image.png" title="Run to The Jungle!" width="400" /></a></div>The course is mostly paved (or the little gravel sections are short) so get a nice light road bike to start...<p></p><p>... <i>except</i> The Jungle.</p><p>You hit it twice - at about 11km for a single reverse loop, and again at around 85km going the normal direction. It is almost entirely gravel, and road bikes have a massive disadvantage.</p><p>Very few people switched bikes (except for the 2 in this picture!) but they were absolutely fodder for those who did. I picked up 50 placings the first trip through the Jungle, and retook ~5 positions from people who were stronger than me the second loop.</p><p><b>Where to switch?</b> </p><p>Don't wait for the gravel - it's at the bottom of a hill, and to switch bikes you need to be stopped... takes forever and you lose precious time.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dL6do9ttpfpkbNl8CDOMSuWKuJSmTFwtivqgCzxVXHE3JuPvAmgXwLHBjaQJk2jsXW1x63Rl5t_W3PHfJhqTb-wnONuETSBQ6QmBkykS_EcLDabbgo3-arXnjG0VM7FjxWmrfC5-uW1Q/s1200/Screenshot_20210206-161026%257E2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7dL6do9ttpfpkbNl8CDOMSuWKuJSmTFwtivqgCzxVXHE3JuPvAmgXwLHBjaQJk2jsXW1x63Rl5t_W3PHfJhqTb-wnONuETSBQ6QmBkykS_EcLDabbgo3-arXnjG0VM7FjxWmrfC5-uW1Q/s320/Screenshot_20210206-161026%257E2.png" width="320" /></a></div>On your way up to the jungle, you pass a windmill... right around there are the start pens (the weird angled roads you see here).<p></p><p>You can either do it right there, or at the top of the next rise (but don't get onto the descent or stopping takes forever!).</p><p>You exit The Jungle the same way you entered - as soon as the gravel ends, swap back to your roadie, and pat yourself on the back at how many places you made up!</p><p>I'd suggest practising going into the Garage mid-ride when you're moving on a less important ride. Careful not to hit "End Ride" by mistake! You can be in the Garage before you're stopped, but the icon to switch bikes will be disabled until you are.</p><p><b>The Route</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Start / Lead-In - a few hills, find friends, be careful not to get dropped</li><li>8.5km - Steep Climb </li><li>11km - The Jungle (reverse)</li><li>23km - Epic KOM (reverse) - steeper! Killer! Ouch!</li><li>Bunch of random nonsense</li><li>52km - Volcano KOM </li><li>70km - Epic KOM - help I can't take anymore!</li><li>86km - The Jungle</li><li>103km - Hilly KOM - are you shitting me!?</li><li>111km - Beer.</li></ul><div>I really enjoyed it, but there are definitely easier ways to pile up 100km+ on Zwift! Hit the desert and draft at 50km/h in circles for a couple hours, for example!</div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-1282332079545362272021-02-05T15:28:00.000-05:002021-02-05T15:28:06.732-05:00Tour de Zwift Stage 7: Welcome To the Jungle<div><br /></div><div>The Jungle gets a lot of hate on Zwift.</div><div><br /></div><div>I love it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Mostly I think people just don't understand it!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcE__NyX0_gun0YeYuJ3JoAWGUtSU7mZ-XM0nhTitzAGT1JwjUhjJU2dVWzBH_vFdr_juU0syqhE6Ib5ZlJEhCe4looEP1raFvW4VWI_dIJ7HOnvWWRBDx_ZHfg-eTXsLS2uh9V4q51iJ/s1200/Screenshot_20210205-150236.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1200" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdcE__NyX0_gun0YeYuJ3JoAWGUtSU7mZ-XM0nhTitzAGT1JwjUhjJU2dVWzBH_vFdr_juU0syqhE6Ib5ZlJEhCe4looEP1raFvW4VWI_dIJ7HOnvWWRBDx_ZHfg-eTXsLS2uh9V4q51iJ/w400-h194/Screenshot_20210205-150236.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>So when I saw The Jungle on the Tour de Zwift list, I was giddy... </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Big Mistake...</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Two words: Bike. Selection.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is really only one choice for the Jungle - a mountain bike.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used the plain old Zwift Mountain Bike. There are other options if you have the drops and level, they're within a few seconds of each other over a full lap according to <a href="https://zwiftinsider.com/mountain-bike-results/" target="_blank">Zwift Insider</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>How much faster vs a road bike? 13m54s vs 15m!!! That's enormous, wouldn't you like to be over a minute a head a lap?</div><div><br /></div><div>And what about gravel bikes? 13m54s vs 14m11s... so it's at least <i>close</i>... but it's just not faster for almost the entire lap.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Race</b></div><div><br /></div><div>All of these people making different (wrong?) bike choices made for a fantastically fun race. The very start (lead-in) was paved, I quickly fell back in the standings... but we only did that once - then onto gravel, and it was all making up spots from there on.</div><div><br /></div><div>The difference seemed most obvious on the downhill - as the speed increased, the MTB flew. I'm a heavier rider as well, so the combined effect meant picking up a LOT of places. I pushed to make sure nobody could grab my wheel as I blew by, it was a hoot!</div><div><br /></div><div>Right at the end of the lap was the paved(ish) tunnel... suddenly those road and gravel bikes I had just flew by were on my tail, catching up and sometimes blowing by. It was short, so only those within about 10 seconds could catch before back to gravel...</div><div><br /></div><div>The first one I did (C race, 2 laps) was amazing - right at that last section on the last lap, I was caught by 2 guys working together - only to then charged up the gravel hill with less w/kg and pip them at the finish.</div><div><br /></div><div>So much fun! </div><div><br /></div><div>Pick a Mountain Bike and enjoy!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5603310121784038818.post-57563256465678598322020-12-20T15:11:00.002-05:002020-12-20T15:11:06.600-05:00I Finally Zwifted and It's Awesome<p> </p><p>I am very late to this party, but ...</p><p>... COVID... </p><p>... new indoor trainer with power (finally!)... </p><p>... broken wrist that is keeping me from riding outdoors...</p><p>Zwift!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxiKr4Brow0xf9QanfZ1Y36QPEvJNq85zioHo1bXpP1Bqg1ooDKYR4i7UFTPa0c52heI5z5tN9nug4A05hm49dV1xboKF_NXOGgo6h3ywkoheojk7pjkHJm5L0xmsfLfcsfN61V7mrjHC-/s1024/zwift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="1024" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxiKr4Brow0xf9QanfZ1Y36QPEvJNq85zioHo1bXpP1Bqg1ooDKYR4i7UFTPa0c52heI5z5tN9nug4A05hm49dV1xboKF_NXOGgo6h3ywkoheojk7pjkHJm5L0xmsfLfcsfN61V7mrjHC-/w400-h194/zwift.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>They give you a free trial, so I checked it out before buying.</p><p>Honestly at first I didn't really get it. I rode, on virtual courses, but kind of mindlessly. It didn't have the social element I was expecting. I went up some stupid hill, didn't know when it would end, and finished my ride.</p><p>$17.99 CDN / months for this? Nah.</p><p>Then I joined a group ride and it all made sense.</p><p>Then I raced and it blew me away!</p><p><b>Group Rides and Workouts</b></p><p>These are pretty cool, you're in a group, usually there's a leader who keeps everyone together. Everything is expressed in "w/kg" - basically your power output divided by your weight (or at least the weight you told Zwift!)</p><p>Depending on the ride, the leader can be cool, annoying, the groups can be fun or you can end up alone if you're too fast or too slow... but it's pretty easy once you have a handle on your w/kg to find rides that match your ability and desired workout that day.</p><p>I use these for easier days, when I want some company and someone to hold me in check.</p><p><b>Races</b></p><p>For me, this is where things got so much more fascinating.</p><p>Now it's worth noting these are far far far from structured workouts... they are legit races, and people take them seriously. </p><p>The biggest benefit of Zwift races - you don't have to be that fast, and unlike real road races there is no danger! There are categories all the way from A to D, and in each category there's typically a several groups that form.</p><p>The drafting is the one element you have to get a bit used to - following riders gives you a speed boost. Zwift steers for you, but you need to understand at the front you need more power to break the wind than when you're in the pack. </p><p>Most importantly you have to understand <b><u>the draft effect decreases to almost nothing on hills</u></b>.</p><p>And as a big guy, this is where I need to really pay attention... one minute I'm soft pedalling in the pack, next minute and off the back and busting my ass to try catch up!!! </p><p>The result is that I'm paying attention constantly, the minutes don't crawl by they fly by.</p><p>The other thing is just like real life there are attacks - and usually on that final climb, or there's a sprint to the finish, and a palpable increase in pace leading up to it...</p><p>It's just a hoot. Like playing a game for an hour (or less, or more!).</p><p><b>What Zwift Is Not</b></p><p>So they do have structure workouts as well for those who prefer to do ... that.</p><p>I don't, and from what I understand Trainer Road is better suited to that kind of thing.</p><p>I decided awhile ago that I have minimal interest in really improving to my full ability. I know that sounds crazy, but honestly the biggest gains I've ever had were when I loved what I was doing and did it more. Indoor especially that's a challenge - so fun trumps perfect training regiments. </p><p>(Honestly I haven't done structured training of any kind since Ironman 2014 - I push myself but not in any kind of methodical way. And that's how I like it.)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jon Phttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16194112285903636442noreply@blogger.com0