Today’s Zwift ride was the Tour of Makuri Islands Stage 2 on Suki’s Playground. This was the 3rd ride on this route in 2022. The other 2 were in January. I started at 11:37 AM and rode 11.71 miles, a little longer than the official distance of 11.4 miles. Of the rides this year this one had the highest average speed of 17.9 mph. I climbed 489 feet over the 11.4 miles. There was climb that briefly hit 10% but the other climbs maxed out at 7%. The Wahoo Kickr Core trainer let me know when I was riding up hill increasing the resistance to match. This is the first ride in awhile where my average speed was higher than previous rides on the same route. I was going to do a spin down calibration in Zwift but I couldn’t find it and once I signed into the ride any pedaling started the stage.

There were two route choices for stage 2 and I chose the longer one. ZwiftInsider.com describes the route: “This route begins at the main lap banner, traveling downhill. You’ll ride through the flat farmlands, then cut across to the Castle Area, where a bit of climbing takes you up to the marketplace before you head to the Fishing Village. Then it’s an easy descent down to Village Onsen and the Country Sprint before cutting across once more to the Castle Area, where you’ll keep going straight to ride through the lap banner once more.” Route basics: Length: 18.5 km (11.5 miles), Elevation: 150 m (492‘), Lead-In: 0 km ( miles).

Strava recognized my speed and awarded me the PR on Suki’s Playground (38:08).