By Michael Bello
Published 01/18/2022; Updated 01/18/2022

For the third week of the NCC Zwift Winter Hill Climb/Time Trial Series, we rode in Austria.

The challenge for the day was the Innsbruck KOM. The climb is 4.61 miles with an average gradient of 5% (1,311 feet of climbing).

Henry W., who claims he is still working his way back into shape, took the top spot today by 33 seconds. We cannot wait to see how fast he goes when he returns to top form.

Ross and Jonathan battled for second. Despite tying on Strava, Jonathan conceded and e-mailed me that Ross finished 0.5 seconds ahead of him. If that margin wasn’t close enough, Zinj bested Melissa by 0.4 seconds!

It should be stated that Dusty, Henry vdB., and Patrick went skiing earlier today, so their times are that much more impressive.

Today was the first NCC Zwift Hill Climb for Ross and Gary. They each put up great times on a very challenging climb.

This was our first time doing the Innsbruck KOM from the starting pen (Zwift Club feature) opposed to a meetup. This shortened our warmup to a mere 2.1 miles, which is the shortest warm up for a hill climb or time trial we have ever done! Ross, Dusty, Patrick, Andy, Mark, and Gary did not mind. They earned PRs today.

The overall standings remain close. Jonathan maintains the series lead, but he cannot rest with Dusty and Henry W. close behind.

Here are today’s results:

1. Weis, Henry; Time: 0:20:44; 13.4 mph; 14 points
2. Krause, Ross; Time: 0:21:17*; 13 mph; 13 points
3. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Time: 0:21:17; 13 mph; 12 points
4. King, Dusty; Time: 0:21:20*; 13 mph; 11 points
5. Ryan, Patrick; Time: 0:21:45*; 12.7 mph; 10 points
6. MacDonald, Andy; Time: 0:21:50*; 12.7 mph; 9 points
7. Guo, Zinj; Time: 0:22:23; 12.4 mph; 8 points
8. Warwick, Melissa; Time: 0:22:24; 12.4 mph; 7 points
9. van den Broek, Henry; Time: 0:23:13; 11.9 mph; 6 points
10. Bailey, Charlie; Time: 0:23:57; 11.6 mph; 5 points
11. Eckman, Mark; Time: 0:27:28*; 10.1 mph; 4 points
12. Bello, Michael; Time: 0:27:48; 10 mph; 3 points
13. Krause, Ashley; Time: 0:29:41; 9.3 mph; 2 points
14. Fentin, Gary; Time: 0:33:24*; 8.3 mph; 1 points

*Strava PR

Here are the series standings:

1. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Event(s) 3; Points: 38
2. King, Dusty; Event(s) 3; Points: 37
3. Weis, Henry; Event(s) 3; Points: 35
4. Ryan, Patrick; Event(s) 3; Points: 33
5. Pazmany, Andrew; Event(s) 2; Points: 24
6. Warwick, Melissa; Event(s) 3; Points: 23
7. van den Broek, Henry; Event(s) 3; Points: 19
8. Guo, Zinj; Event(s) 2; Points: 17
9. Downey, Tim; Event(s) 2; Points: 16
9. Bailey, Charlie; Event(s) 3; Points: 16
11. Krause, Ross; Event(s) 1; Points: 13
12. MacDonald, Andy; Event(s) 1; Points: 9
13. Eckman, Mark; Event(s) 2; Points: 8
13. Bello, Michael; Event(s) 3; Points: 8
15. Page, Zachariah; Event(s) 1; Points: 5
16. Krause, Ashley; Event(s) 2; Points: 4
16. Goodwin, David; Event(s) 1; Points: 4
18. Cunniffe, Lauren; Event(s) 1; Points: 3
19. Tauscher, Julianne ; Event(s) 1; Points: 1
19. Streeter, Keith; Event(s) 1; Points: 1
19. Fentin, Gary; Event(s) 1; Points: 1

Next week, we will do a two lap time trial of the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Participants in the Hill Climb/TT series may ride any time during the day or participate in the group ride version at 6:00 PM. Please visit the NCC Zwift page for the series rules.

Here is the NCC Zwift schedule:

  • Tuesday 6:00 PM – Time Trial / Hill Climb (invite required)
  • Wednesday 8:00 PM – Social Ride (invite required)
  • Thursday Evenings – Road Race (times will vary between 5 PM and 7 PM EST)
  • Sat 9:00 AM – Social Ride (invite required)

Join the NCC Club on Zwift or select the link in the discussion board/calendar for invite-only rides.

Check the NCC calendar for full details on all events. To learn more about the NCC and Zwift rides, please visit our Zwift page.