Week 5 Results: NCC Zwift Winter Road Race Series, 2/3/22

By Jonathan O'Keeffe
Published 02/03/2022; Updated 02/03/2022

Tonight’s race was pretty tough, a figure-eight loop around Yorkshire on the Royal Pump Room 8 course. No huge climbs, but a constant up-and-down with no flat sections, making it difficult to find a rhythm. There was a big group up front until the the first time up Otley Rd, which broke things up a bit. I hung on to the lead group until the KOM spat me out the back, to join up with Henry W and Patrick for a while. Our chase group was whittled down to about a half-dozen by the time we went back up the other side of the KOM, and then Henry and I ended up pretty much on our own after the last big 20% gradient approaching the finish.

Things were very spread out behind us, but I saw Henry vdB showing up frequently in a chase group just behind ours, and Patrick, Tim, and Melissa were also in that group or just behind. Dusty had a bunch of power dropouts that I swear I was not responsible for, resulting in an uncharacteristically low finishing place, but undoubtedly boosting his fitness for next week’s race. Michael got the Lanterne Rouge of the NCC contingent, but still unleashed a finishing sprint worthy of a CX race and pipped two racers at the line to bump up his finishing position. Melissa had the best race summary, which consisted of, in its entirety, “Ow”.

Many participants will be disappointed to learn that the TdZ series comes to its conclusion this week, forcing us back into regular community races for next week’s event, where we will re-learn the pleasures of all-out twenty-minute crit efforts.

Week Five Results

  1. Jonathan O’Keeffe (B) – 14 of 165 – 96.7 points
  2. Melissa Warwick (B) – 40 of 165 – 96.2 points
  3. Henry Weis (B) – 15 of 165 – 96.1 points
  4. Henry van den Broek (B) – 18 of 165 – 94.2 points
  5. Tim Downey (B) – 21 of 165 – 92.3 points
  6. Patrick Ryan (B) – 28 of 165 – 87.8 points
  7. Charlie Bailey (B) – 64 of 165 – 64.9 points
  8. Dusty King (B) – 65 of 165 – 64.3 points
  9. Michael Bello (C) – 109 of 165 – 44.9 points

Overall Series Standings After Week Five

  1. Jonathan O’Keeffe (5 races) – 471.8 points
  2. Tim Downey (5 races) – 459.4 points
  3. Dusty King (5 races) – 414.5 points
  4. Melissa Warwick (5 races) – 409.8 points
  5. Zinj Guo (3 races) – 278.4 points
  6. Henry Weis (3 races) – 269.5 points
  7. Michael Bello (4 races) – 243.6 points
  8. Henry van den Broek (3 races) – 221.4 points
  9. Jay Gump (2 races) – 197.0 points
  10. Patrick Ryan (3 races) – 186.7 points
  11. Charlie Bailey (3 races) – 162.3 points

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.