Stage 2 was more than twice as long as Stage 1 but this time I got to go downhill as a payback for riding 4.7 miles uphill. It took me 1:13:30 today to ride 14.58 miles against yesterday’s 1:04:28 to ride 6.83 miles. The difference: today I set the smart trainer to max in Zwift. Yesterday I set it about 50% and the result is the time it takes to ride a mile doubles. Today I was able to pedal up the mountain and my speed stayed above 4 mph, usually 6 mph or above, while yesterday using the same gears my speed dropped to 2 mph at times and sometimes while pedaling my avatar stopped. I think I will keep the smart trainer at the max setting for now.

The number of Zwifters in the 11:32 AM start totaled 1161 in all groups with 706 of those in Group B. I finished in 495th position. First place finisher, J. Hew2489 completed the course in 36:50, averaging 342 watts. Maybe J. should move up to Group A?

The course went up the mountain with total elevation gain of 1598 ft. Sometimes the incline hit 12% with some false flat appearing. Thank goodness for the false flats to give my legs somewhat of a break. I used the lowest gear the Blue Norcross possesses: 36×28. Sometimes my cadence fell below 50 rpm.

Sunday I plan on biking outdoors with the weather warming up into the 60’s.

Link to my Strava activity page.