Week 1 Results: NCC Zwift Fall Hill Climb/Time Trial, 10/3/23

By Michael Bello
Published 10/03/2023; Updated 10/03/2023

The NCC Zwift Hill Climb/Time Trial Series commenced today. Some years, the first Zwift hill climb has had cold and miserable weather outside, but today the real world was absolutely gorgeous. So it was not a surprise that we had a small crowd.

The challenge for the day was Box Hill in London. This hill is 1.87 miles with an average gradient of 4% (446 feet of climbing).

Melissa rode solo earlier in the day, but joined the Discord video chat. It was obvious that she was just trying to scare her competition.

Andy picked up where his outdoor hill climb/time trial season ended. He took first by 26 seconds. Jonathan finished second, while Melissa rounded out the podium. Tim comfortably took fourth.

Henry was on his recumbent bike this evening. He and I both rode steady zone two paces with virtually equal power. I only realized how much lighter Henry is after we finished the climb and he somehow finished 68 seconds ahead of me. I supposed I should be happy just missing the wide angle podium finish.

Here are today’s results:

Place, Name,Time,Speed,Points

1. MacDonald, Andy; Time: 0:07:29; 15 mph; 6 points
2. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Time: 0:07:55; 14.2 mph; 5 points
3. Warwick, Melissa; Time: 0:08:14; 13.6 mph; 4 points
4. Downey, Tim; Time: 0:09:15; 12.1 mph; 3 points
5. Wheaton, Henry; Time: 0:13:00; 11.8 mph; 2 points
6. Bello, Michael; Time: 0:14:08; 7.9 mph; 1 points

*Strava PR

Here are the series standings:

Place, Name, Events, Points
1. MacDonald, Andy; Event(s) 1; Points: 6
2. O’Keeffe, Jonathan; Event(s) 1; Points: 5
3. Warwick, Melissa; Event(s) 1; Points: 4
4. Downey, Tim; Event(s) 1; Points: 3
5. Wheaton, Henry; Event(s) 1; Points: 2
6. Bello, Michael; Event(s) 1; Points: 1

Next week, we will do a time trial on the 2019 UCI Worlds Harrogate Circuit.

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: