Week 7 Results: NCC Zwift Winter Hill Climb/Time Trial, 2/14/23

By Michael Bello
Published 02/14/2023; Updated 02/14/2023

For the seventh week of the NCC Zwift Winter Hill Climb/Time Trial Series, we visited London.

This week, our challenge was Leith Hill. This 1.2 mile hill averages a gradient of 7% and includes 440 feet of climbing.

At the beginning, we all agreed that we were celebrating Valentine’s Day correctly. I may have misheard, but Dusty requested that all chocolate gifts be forwarded to him. I’m assuming it was for a “safety inspection.” Also during our warm up, we confirmed that the three Henry’s all have active lives. All three have been to clubs recently, including two in foreign lands, and regaled us with the tales.

Henry I played mind games with the group. He claims to be out of shape, but somehow took off when the hill began. Dusty chased him down and won by 11 seconds. Henry I finished second. Jonathan completed the podium by finishing ahead of Zinj.

After the climb, the competition was not over. The tube climb, which is very short but has a 15% incline, was the next challenge. Several riders put up incredible power displays. Zinj exceeded 15 w/kg!

Congrats to Dusty and Chris on their Strava PRs.

Here are today’s results:

1. King, Dusty; Time: 0:05:46*; 12.6 mph; 10 points
2. Weis, Henry; Time: 0:05:57; 12.2 mph; 9 points
3. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Time: 0:06:05; 12 mph; 8 points
4. Guo, Zinj; Time: 0:06:09; 11.8 mph; 7 points
5. Warwick, Melissa; Time: 0:06:11; 11.8 mph; 6 points
6. Wheaton, Henry; Time: 0:06:22; 11.4 mph; 5 points
7. van den Broek, Henry; Time: 0:06:23; 11.4 mph; 4 points
8. Wysk, Steve; Time: 0:08:35; 8.5 mph; 3 points
9. Stratton, Chris; Time: 0:09:36*; 7.6 mph; 2 points
10. Bello, Michael; Time: 0:12:04; 6 mph; 1 points

*Strava PR

Here are the series standings:

1. King, Dusty; Event(s) 7; Points: 87.5
2. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Event(s) 7; Points: 78.5
3. Guo, Zinj; Event(s) 7; Points: 72
4. Wheaton, Henry; Event(s) 7; Points: 61.5
5. Warwick, Melissa; Event(s) 7; Points: 56
6. van den Broek, Henry; Event(s) 5; Points: 42
7. Downey, Tim; Event(s) 5; Points: 38
8. MacDonald, Andy; Event(s) 6; Points: 37
9. Weinman, Kevin; Event(s) 3; Points: 29
10. Wysk, Steve; Event(s) 7; Points: 27
10. Cunniffe, Lauren; Event(s) 5; Points: 27
12. Stratton, Chris; Event(s) 7; Points: 21
13. Weis, Henry; Event(s) 2; Points: 16
14. Poe, Carson; Event(s) 1; Points: 15
15. Krause, Ross; Event(s) 1; Points: 12.5
16. Streeter, Keith; Event(s) 5; Points: 12
17. Bello, Michael; Event(s) 7; Points: 7
18. Lyons, Jim; Event(s) 1; Points: 4
19. Cole, Lloyd; Event(s) 1; Points: 2

Next week, we will do a time trial on the Richmond UCI Worlds course from 2015.

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: