Tonight’s race took us to the longest course in Zwift’s new Scotland world, Muckle Yin, which covers almost all of the roads in both directions, featuring climbs of the Sgurr summit from both the north and the south. The powerup mix was a lot more favorable than last week’s burrito-fest, featuring an even combination of helmets and feathers, which helped a lot on this constantly-rolling course.
We started with about 60 riders, with a lead group of about 30 holding together until the northbound climb up the gravel side of the Sgurr. The climb shed about a third of the group, with the rest more or less holding together to the finish. Zinj said he was feeling “grand” at some point, but the constant mixed terrain was tough.
The finish rolled back into downtown Glasgow, where a sharp hill about a mile before the end shredded the group before the long run-in to the line. Mark timed his sprint well and ended up fourth, and Zinj, Dusty and I also secured places in the top ten, a very respectable NCC showing.
Results for Week 8:
- Mark Hewitt (B) – 4 of 44 – 93.2 points
- Zinj Guo (B) – 7 of 44 – 86.4 points
- Jonathan O’Keeffe (B) – 8 of 44 – 84.1 points
- Dusty King (B) – 9 of 44 – 81.8 points
- Melissa Warwick (B) – 27 of 44 – 53.2 points
- Henry van den Broek (B) – 40 of 44 – 11.4 points
Season Standings after Week 8:
- Jonathan O’Keeffe (7 races) – 595.0 points
- Zinj Guo (7 races) – 588.5 points
- Dusty King (7 races) – 566.4 points
- Tim Downey (6 races) – 553.8 points
- Melissa Warwick (6 races) – 520.2 points
- Henry van den Broek (5 races) – 380.5 points
- Scott Yarosh (2 races) – 198.3 points
- Mark Hewitt (2 races) – 173.9 points
- Chris Stratton (2 races) – 140.6 points
- Jay Gump (1 race) – 98.4 points
- Charlie Bailey (1 race) – 74.4 points
- Patrick Rondeau (1 race) – 39.3 points
