Started cycling around 5 years ago. Got Zwift shortly after that, found it pretty cool for training. Then started Zwift racing in the spring of 2023, and so far loving it. So, most of my videos will be Zwift races or challenges.
Nice work, Lee! You gave those A+ guys a good fight right up to the top. Beat one of them too and re-upped your A cat card. Congratulations on the podium.
Thanks Jonathan. 👊 So, this is what Melnikov did before that really strong riding in the Castle to Castle crit you raced him in. Pretty crazily strong dude.
That climb looked brutal with all those red parts and you were smashing the watts out and making it look easy! Congrats on the power PRs too. 👊💪💪💪 My one criticism is that you climbed it too quickly so the last song didn't finish 😂🤘🤘🤘
Top stuff! Great battle with Zimmerman, looks like he maybe completely cracked? I don’t think the lack of scenery matters much at all. Congrats on finding a great cover of one of the few Genesis songs I like.
Whoah! Great power and tenacity. Keeping up with the big dogs for most of the climb, even though you didn't get too lucky with the power-ups. Seems like you're loving the intensive climbing efforts most of all these days. Are the KOM times all that matter in these, or are they scratch races including the lead-in?
@@MrPedel thanks Thomas. These are really interesting, I think. I did plan on putting a commentary on this to talk about it, but couldn't be motivated to get it done. So, they're basically just scratch races, from the start line to the top of the KoM. On a climb like this where there's not so much draft, it's basically a TT after the lead in, but if it's on a climb with draftable sections, these could be really tactical and interesting. The first one I did was more like that and was good fun. They use the regular Climb Portal schedule, and take place every Friday on whatever climb happens to be on the schedule, so you can see well in advance what's coming up.
@@lee-cycling Cheers, Friday isn't the best day for racing with me, but I'll keep a lookout and see if I can sneak one in at some point. Looks like good and wholesome fun
Not bad for an East End bar maid!!! Great effort fella. Doesn’t seem all that long ago when I would have been competitive with you, but I think those days have gone now 😢. Keep up the great work, and hope to see you soon (maybe FRR when I get back from my hols).
Frank! I think those days will come back if you take a rest day every now and then, which I hope you're getting whilst on holiday! Be great to see you if we both do FRR again.
@@RyanCondon Thanks Ryan, and lol you may say that. I'm the lightest I've been for a very long time. It's not been planned (or wanted really), just happen to have dropped a few kilos in the last few months.
"Doesnt seem any of the A riders are pushing and Im not having to kill myself" - whilst casually doing 300 watts off the front. 😅 Whats the group above A called? 🤔 Awesome work Lee. Love watching your races. 👍
@@appleseeds11 thanks Jonathan 👊 Definitely benefited from a light field. Some of the fields you and I have gone up against wouldn't have let me get away with this. But, still, this was good fun to try.
That was awesome mate, congrats on the win! I haven't seen a breakaway as awesome as that since Chris Froome won that stage of the Giro a few years back, and 4wkg for nearly 40mins 👊💪💪💪
Thanks Mark, but that's not quite true. We both witnessed Simon pulling off a brilliant breakaway near the tail end of our ride when we stopped for that first selfie lol
This is my favourite course, best on Zwift for my style of racing. Going hard on that last bump is defo the way forward. Great effort Lee. Your progress is inspiring. 💪 Keep the vids comeing mate. 🙏
@@RyanCondon Cheers Ryan, mate. Quite something coming from Mr Inspiration himself! I love this course, too. I've got a couple of wins here, but I think I've always enjoyed it even when I haven't.
Great push to get the split, not so hard as to be left solo. Not that it would’ve beaten someone as strong as he, but if repeating the finish, try to drop off a bit beforehand for surprise and slingshot.
@@ZwiftyZwifter yeah, in retrospect, that would have been a better approach to the finish. Like you say, he was too strong, though. And it was a nervy approach to the finish. I've won here by going from the back of a pack a few times now, but never done it in just a pair. Will keep that in mind for next time.
Great racing Lee, that was a monster effort at the end. It looks like Kato saved his feather for the downhill and sprint 🤯. Congrats on the podium, looking strong! 👊💪💪💪
@@MarkyMarkZwifts Cheers Mark. Yeah, he used that well. And I think he was a lot stronger than me. Few more like him in the race and I wouldn't have stood a chance.
Thanks Simon. Yeah, I think the only thing that could have helped me keep/beat him was either a virtual police stinger or a virtual bucket of nails. Neither of which those lazy so-and-so devs at Zwift are working on.
Thanks Ryan 😅 I have! I did one event so far, stage 2. I am in the second category (score is 680 I think). It was just crazy fast. I got a top ten finish, but I was 20 seconds behind the winner. Just checked, and looks like you haven't raced for a short while (understandable!). Be interesting to hear what you make of it.
Nice! I don't know if you saw the other comments here, but the surface near the top has changed, so you should be able to knock a chunk of time off that. I think maybe even close to one minute.
@@lee-cycling I’ll chunk off the time when I can get the weight down and FTP up again. I only did it to determine a starting FTP after some lazy months. The % done gives you a false sense of security on the first ramp….
This was a great session, great job. I’ve only had one attempt at the grade and essentially made exactly the same mistakes, though nowhere near your numbers, only 197W@65kg here, but think I can eek another 10W or so with a proper warm up and improved tekkers! Will be trying next week
Thanks 👍 Warm up for this is definitely advised lol. I did at least have a good hour long warm up before this. You should check out @ridewithgerben channel and watch his guide to riding this. Great info. Wish I'd seen that before doing this, but I will come back at it soon. And good luck for your attempt! 💪
@@lee-cycling I did a steady state power recon of the climb when when snow/ice effect on power was in place. The last 1/10 appeared to be the most difficult. That effect was removed and now that section reacts as normal tarmac.
@@jamesmckenzie3532 that's good to know, thanks! I read some details on the Zwift forum that said they'd removed the resistance changes back on Epic, but wasn't sure what that meant for The Grade.
@@lee-cycling They removed the change for all areas where there is snow/ice per their own posting for 1.68. They are looking at how best to implement the effect of riding on snow covered roads without causing issues with The Grade power testing l.
Thanks Adam. 14 minutes is a great time. What do you think of the climb? I really like it. I like how, even when there aren't too many changes in it, there's still room for some strategy to it. And the sections really help to break it up and pace yourself.
