For the fifth week of the NCC Zwift Winter Hill Climb/Time Trial Series, we ascended a volcano.
This week, our challenge was the Volcano KOM in Watopia. This 2.33 mile climb has a 3% average gradient (394 feet). This is a short climb but still very challenging.
Tonight was the largest NCC Zwift event to date. We had 20 participants, which bested our 17 participants from the New Year’s Day ride in 2021! We had 15 riders join us at 6 PM for the group ride version of the Hill Climb.
Zinj could not make the group ride event since it was Chinese New Year’s, but he put up a time of 7:41 earlier in the day. This helped motivate the group.
A lead pack formed during the 14 mile warm up. On the climb, this group drafted off each other as they ascended. Ben earned the victory but appears not to have saved his Zwift ride. I believe he broke the seven-minute mark. Henry finished at 7:02, while Patrick and Jonathan battled it out for third. Patrick bested Jonathan by 0.02 seconds in Zwift to earn the podium finish.
Melissa improved her NCC QOM for the Volcano KOM. Lauren is now second on the QOM list. She earned her Tron bike on the climb, which is always an accomplishment to celebrate.
Andy is the most relaxed hill climber in the club. For a while during warm ups, he unintentionally did an impression of Rodin’s The Thinker. It worked for Andy and he tied Zinj for 8th place with a time of 7:41.
Henry Weis recruited Jeb to join the group. After some technical difficulties, Jeb put up strong time in his first NCC event.
Patrick, Andrew, Melissa, Andy, Tim, Henry Wheaton, Lauren, Jeb, and Gary put up PRs this evening.
The series standings are extremely close up and down the ladder. We currently have a three-way tie for first between Henry Weis, Jonathan, and Dusty. We have six more weeks to settle this, but it may come down to the last event of the series.
Here are today’s results:
1. Weinberg, Ben; Time: 0:06:53 (estimate); 20 mph; 20 points
2. Weis, Henry; Time: 0:07:02; 19.9 mph; 19 points
3. Ryan, Patrick; Time: 0:07:13*; 19.4 mph; 18 points
4. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Time: 0:07:13; 19.4 mph; 17 points
5. King, Dusty; Time: 0:07:16; 19.3 mph; 16 points
6. Pazmany, Andrew; Time: 0:07:30; 18.7 mph; 15 points
7. Warwick, Melissa; Time: 0:07:35*; 18.5 mph; 14 points
8. Guo, Zinj; Time: 0:07:41; 18.2 mph; 12.5 points
8. MacDonald, Andy; Time: 0:07:41*; 18.2 mph; 12.5 points
10. Bailey, Charlie; Time: 0:07:47; 18 mph; 11 points
11. Downey, Tim; Time: 0:07:57*; 17.6 mph; 10 points
12. Eckman, Mark; Time: 0:08:00; 17.5 mph; 9 points
13. Wheaton, Henry; Time: 0:08:05*; 17.3 mph; 8 points
14. van den Broek, Henry; Time: 0:08:12; 17.1 mph; 7 points
15. Cunniffe, Lauren; Time: 0:08:42*; 16.1 mph; 6 points
16. Bello, Michael; Time: 0:08:55; 15.7 mph; 5 points
17. Clarke, Jeb; Time: 0:09:39*; 14.5 mph; 4 points
18. Krause, Ashley; Time: 0:10:21; 13.5 mph; 3 points
19. Fentin, Gary; Time: 0:10:22*; 13.5 mph; 2 points
20. Wilson, Donna; Time: 0:14:35; 9.6 mph; 1 points
*Strava PR
Here are the series standings:
1. Weis, Henry; Event(s) 5; Points: 67
1. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Event(s) 5; Points: 67
1. King, Dusty; Event(s) 5; Points: 67
4. Ryan, Patrick; Event(s) 5; Points: 60
5. Pazmany, Andrew; Event(s) 4; Points: 50
6. Warwick, Melissa; Event(s) 5; Points: 44.5
7. Guo, Zinj; Event(s) 4; Points: 39.5
8. Downey, Tim; Event(s) 4; Points: 32
9. van den Broek, Henry; Event(s) 5; Points: 31
10. MacDonald, Andy; Event(s) 3; Points: 29
10. Bailey, Charlie; Event(s) 5; Points: 29
12. Weinberg, Ben; Event(s) 1; Points: 20
12. Eckman, Mark; Event(s) 4; Points: 20
14. Bello, Michael; Event(s) 5; Points: 14
15. Krause, Ross; Event(s) 1; Points: 13
16. Wheaton, Henry; Event(s) 2; Points: 12
17. Cunniffe, Lauren; Event(s) 2; Points: 9
18. Krause, Ashley; Event(s) 3; Points: 7
19. Page, Zachariah; Event(s) 1; Points: 5
20. Goodwin, David; Event(s) 1; Points: 4
20. Clarke, Jeb; Event(s) 1; Points: 4
22. Fentin, Gary; Event(s) 2; Points: 3
23. Wilson, Donna; Event(s) 1; Points: 1
23. Tauscher, Julianne ; Event(s) 1; Points: 1
23. Streeter, Keith; Event(s) 1; Points: 1
Next week, we will do a time trial on the Park Perimeter Loop in New York City.
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.
