I leaned toward a bike ride outdoors until I looked at the weather. An unusual combination of conditions kept me inside on Zwift: 65 degrees, sunny, N wind at 22 mph gusts to 31 mph. The wind tipped the scale because I planned on biking north. Indoors the wind was calm and the temperature around 70.

Looking at the upcoming Zwift events I landed on the ZHCC Gravel Rash on the Watopia Serpentine 8 Course. The ride was for 60 minutes. Previously on January 1st I rode this course just after it was opened. Today I biked 14.55 miles climbing 696 feet in 1:01:00. Those miles put me 6 miles ahead of this time last year at 572 miles versus 566. When I opened the Zwift companion app before the bike ride began I noticed there 30,420 people using Zwift. A crowd but not near the peak.

I started with the group and hung with them for about 10 minutes until they pulled away. A smaller group came along side and I rode with them for awhile. Then I lost contact with them on a climb. During this I noticed the ride “sweep” getting closer from behind. When got close I made an effort to stay in front or close behind. I held that position for the rest of the bike ride until the finish. Two accomplishments during the bike ride: moved to level 19 and unlocked “Cool Shades”. 170 people signed up for the ride. Before the ride I went to my garage and selected my gravel bike but at the start the ride switched me to a mountain bike. With dust and rough surface the MTB worked but is slower. According to ZwiftPower.com I finished near the back of the group but not rankings for this ride. From the bike ride data Golden Cheetah calculated my average power at 117 watts and max at 229 watts. The suspension bridge is a tough climb from the bottom of the sway and the course went over it twice.

Since this course is only a month old the segments in Strava show one and I set a personal record on it.