As I ate breakfast I watched the Le Samyn Dames and Le Samyn races on GCN+. The weather looked warmer there than here with our forecasted high of 60. After I finished watching the races I checked Zwift for an event. I chose The HERD Tuesday Social Ride Group D. Today’s route followed the France R.G.V or as ZwiftInsider.com aptly describes it, ““R.G.V” stands for route grand vitesse, or “high speed road”. A fitting name, since this route is definitely one for the sprinters. Though only 24km in length, it includes three timed sprint segments!” Route Basics: Length: 24.1 km (15.0 miles), Elevation: 107 m (351‘), Lead-In: 1 km (0.6 miles). The ride was 60 minutes rather than distance based. I finished with 22.42 miles which put me at 45 miles towards my 75 Zwift miles goal for March. Road miles are zero but the weather is supposed to get above 60 tomorrow so I should get outdoors.

The ride began at 11:55 AM with a quick pace. I wasn’t sure how long I could stick with the front group, especially after we rode through the fence and away from the leader. I found a group that I kept up with for a long stretch. According to the ‘Nearby Zwifters” board my position ranged from 143 to 165 out of the 752 on course. As the timer moved passed the fractions of 60 minutes I thought I might drop back behind the fence because the pace was so quick but I told myself to wait until the next milestone and before I knew it the finish was coming up. This time I used my powerup but I don’t think it made much difference other than not letting it go to waste. Several stats pointed to a consistent ride helped by not too much climbing: average speed 21.7 mph, average power 144 watts, max power 290 watts. Only 18% of the 60 minutes was in power zones 1 and 2, a very low number for me. Zones 3 and 4 accounted for 59% of the 60 minutes. ZwiftPower.com results placed me at 142 out of 278 with profiles.

In Strava I notched 4 personal records, 3 on sprints and 1 on a KOM.