Did the 7th Stage of TDZ yesterday morning. Done all A's so far and enjoying it. I don't do a lot of races on there but one thing I have noticed throughout it in these large group rides is I can hang with a group on the flat relatively comfortably, 7/10 sort of effort at 42 - 45kmh. I lose them a bit if I drop my concentration then find I can grab onto the back again and have no trouble moving to the front. Thing is, as soon as the incline rises above 4% I am screwed. Effort is still there and pushing decent watts but I just fall miles behind.
On stage 6 I was 49/360 when we hit the first big climb 36 or so kms in. Between there and the end of the ride I was in the 200's. According to Zift power my average watts was 229 at 2.5w/kg. Ride duration was 1h41. Don't feel I could have went all that much harder. My FTP on Zwift is 254. I have both the 100kmh badge and the 1000w badge and don't feel like I am weak.
I'm getting on a bit now and haven't been keeping as fit as I usually do over the Christmas period but still, it was like I had the handbrake on. I'm 93kg (on Zwift, but actually 95 after xmas / new year so cheating a bit
) Is bodyweight the huge limiting factor here or am I missing something? Do I by chance keep finding elite groups to ride with who are sitting upright smoking fags and drinking a coffee at a casual 45kmh before dropping the hammer up the hills?
I'm looking to start getting more into the racing in next few months as moving into an apartment while we get some building works done so have had to abandon my home gym for now. Upping the cardio to lose a bit more BF but even when I was in prime shape when I did triathlons a coupe of years back I was never below 85kg. I wont get down that low again but even if I did, that's still going to limit me in races. I'm not expecting to win any and nor am I too bothered about it but would at least like to be competitive.
EDIT - I ride with a group of ex colleagues on a Thursday morning who only zwift once per week. I hammer them, both on the sprints and the hills. One of them I ride with IRL, he is 10 to 15KG lighter than me but we are usually pretty equally matched on the road.
