A solid start to the year – 889 miles ridden, the height of Mount Everest climbed, a new FTP, some brilliant group rides and a cheeky spin with Edvald Boasson Hagen! 🙂
Week 1
The first week of 2016 was a pretty cool week – As well as setting a new FTP of 279.3 watts (4.985 w/kg), I also had a solid spin with Edvald Boasson Hagen, a pro rider! I re-took a few KOMs too around Watopia, after someone decided that they were going to take them off me! No-one steals a KOM from me 😀
I raced in the ZTR-EB (Zwift Training Races – Early Bird Edition) on Tuesday evening. The race started well for me – I felt pretty comfortable, and I was in the lead group. Unfortunately, the internet connection between my laptop and the router decided enough was enough, and it threw me off course. I was riding across an ocean at one point, before some 20 seconds later, it threw me back on course. I was 40 seconds down on the leading group (the group I was in), and with a German speaking exam in a few days, I decided to pack the race in. Nevertheless, a solid workout.
Wicked Wednesday – 47 miles, averaging 25.1 mph! We had a nice team spin (Team dZi) around Watopia, before joining the WWR (Wednesday Watopia Ride) for some fast-paced bunch riding 🙂
Friday was a great day too – Another team spin, we rolled around the virtual streets of Richmond. I held the KOM jersey too! I averaged 7.2 w/kg for a little over 1 minute. We did some sprint training, and raced each other (which was a lot of fun and hard work). After our team ride ended, I joined the ZHQ (Zwift HeadQuarters) ride. I had managed to break the 70 and 80 kudos barrier for an activity for the first time, which was incredible. I appreciate every single kudos given 🙂
Saturday and Sunday: Chill Zwift spin and some trail running with Dad and Mike, on new trails around Messingham!
Mileage: 279.2 miles
Elevation gain: 9,074 ft
Time ridden: 12 hrs 03 mins
Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 279.2 miles
Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 9,074 ft
Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 12 hrs 03 mins
Week 2
Week 2 began with a Lincsquad Zwift Group Ride!!!
The first ever Lincsquad Zwift Group Ride, led by myself, comprised of 3 flat Watopia laps, featuring the underwater section. A great turnout! Thanks to all who joined 🙂
Wednesday Watopia Ride (WWR) with the Team dZi crew was great, although I was feeling a little rough, so I was taking it relatively easy. Nevertheless, I broke 100 KUDOS, yes, 100 KUDOS (basically a like) for this ride!!! I was very pleased! Thank you to everyone who has given me a kudos for any of my activities – I appreciate every single kudos given! 🙂
Friday 15th January – Aunty Barbara’s birthday! Went out for dinner in the evening, but rode a hard 42 miles on Zwift before to burn off the meal 😉
I rode for 5,338 seconds on Saturday 😀 A quick spin in the evening, it comprised of 3 x 3 minutes @ 295 watts and 3 x 3 minutes @ 265 watts 🙂
Sunday – Solid spin with the ESS (European Sunday Spin) crew! I took the Lap and Sprint Jersey! The start/finish banner was decorated with sponsors for the 2016 Tour Down Under! Feeling good 😉
Mileage: 201.5 miles
Elevation gain: 6,896 ft
Time ridden: 08 hrs 29 mins
Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 480.7 miles
Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 15,970 ft (height of Mt. Blanc)
Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 20 hrs 32 mins
Week 3
ZTR-EB (A) Race – Nuclear meltdown!
Tuesday night: Race night. What a night. My legs didn’t seem to work, you know what I mean?
As soon as the race began, my heart rate skyrocketed. My heart rate does rise very quickly during racing (because I’m fit ;)), however I was just simply unable to bring it back down. I averaged 193 bpm for the first 35 minutes, riding at a reasonable 250 watts. I believe it was indigestion that caused this, as I had eaten within an hour of racing. What a mistake – I had to back off a little during the latter half of the race, as I felt that my heart would would literally beat itself to death 😀
On a brighter note, someone (rogers1000) commented on Nathan Guerra’s live streaming of the race on his Twitch channel (www.twitch.tv/nathanguerra) that I would win! Thanks for having faith in me rogers1000! I would win by countering JT’s (Jernst Tempelaar) attack, one of my teammates – Jernst is an extremely strong rider of anyone’s calibre. I’ve come close to beating him in a few races, however it is going to take a lot of training for me to pip him to the line 😉
Wednesday – 50% to TRON BIKE! 40+ mile spin with Team dZi, WWR crew + strength and conditioning. Solid session 🙂
Thursday – A chill ride whilst doing my Physics homework 😀
Saturday – Led the RGR (Richmond Group Ride)! I successfully led 50+ riders around the virtual streets of Richmond, with many saying it was their best group ride yet on Zwift!
Sunday – A surprisingly warm and steady ride with dad! A really comfortable spin. Zwift has definitely made a big difference 🙂
Mileage: 203.7 miles
Elevation gain: 7,900 ft
Time ridden: 10 hrs 09 mins
Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 684.4 miles
Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 23,870 ft (height of Muztagh Tower)
Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 30 hrs 41 mins
Week 4
ZTR-EB (A) Race – Top 10 + House Pentathlon!
House Pentathlon was great – 1 boy and 1 girl from each house (Rawlinson, Hansard and Ascough) in each year (Year 7 – Year 11) would compete in an event. Fortunately, the event for Year 11s was cycling on a static bike, and so I decided to have a go. We had to ride 2k on resistance 11 (out of 25) – I rode the challenge in 2:54, 2 minutes and 36 seconds faster than second place! I won for Hansard 🙂
But that wasn’t it for Tuesday – I also decided to do the ZTR-EB (A) Race, where I finished in the top 10! A super hard race, we raced 2 Figure 8 laps, taking 1 hr 23 minutes in total. With no neutral this time, everyone shot off exactly on the start time, if not, slightly early! This led to a very intense first 5 minutes, as everyone nailed it to get into a leading group. Fortunately I did, and eventually averaged 4 w/kg throughout the race. Nathan Guerra, a rider who commentates racing on Zwift, created a live poll on his Twitch channel, regarding who would win the ZTR Race – I was in it, and even received some votes! Thanks for voting whoever you are 😉
Power meter batteries died on Wednesday (fortunately not in the ZTR Race on Tuesday) 
Nevertheless, I quickly replaced them and began a great ride with my Team dZi teammates and the WWR Crew 🙂
Friday – Chill spin with the CTWT.nl group – An excellent group ride. I felt a little ill, so was just taking it easy. An RSR (Regional School of Racing) session took up most of Saturday, as we practiced pretty much everything regarding the Elimination Race. Sunday was another steady day – Despite being ill, I managed to achieve a new resting heart rate of 44 bpm! 🙂
Mileage: 204.2 miles
Elevation gain: 5,105 ft
Time ridden: 10 hrs 30 mins
Cumulative mileage (since 1st January): 888.6 miles (London to Cannes)
Cumulative elevation gain (since 1st January): 28,975 ft (Height of Mt. Everest)
Cumulative time ridden (since 1st January): 41 hrs 11 mins
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Chris Durham - Cyclist 
That’s a lot of great cycling Chris xx,
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