VTTA 10 mile Winter TT league - Event 4 30/1/24

Another Tuesday, another VTTA Zwift time trial.

Aead of this time trial, I decided to splurge some of the 40+ million drops I'd accumulated in Zwift and buy the best frame and wheel combination available. At least as suggested by Zwift Insider. Armed with a (virtually) shiny new (virtual) cadex TT frame with (virtual) DT Swiss wheels, I entered the fourth in the eight event VTTA series.

So, how did I get on?

As well as the Zwift kit upgrade, I had intended to try to keep a steadier pace through the event. This is something I find pretty hard on Zwift, where there isn't an input of the elements and fellow competitors. Additionally, the Tempus Fugit course is really flat, so the exercise becomes very abstract.

After the Tacx vx Assioma test, I was interested in aiming for a gear that kept me close to FTP at around 85rpm, and I spent part of my warmup getting that sorted out. With 5 minutes to go, I went to the start area and kept spinning - I was in a fairly cold garage and I didn't want to get cold.

From the start I kept to my planned gear and cadence. At least for the first 10 minutes, after which a combination of discomfort and boredom set in and I paused briefly before continuing at the same effort. From there on, I rode a pattern of that level with occasional pauses. My average and normalised power for the event seems to be creeping up, albeit at a glacial pace:

Event 1: avg 240W; NP 240W; 24:17

Event 2: avg 243W; NP 245W; 24:13

Event 3: avg 244W. NP 246W; 24:09

Event 4: avg 245W; NP 247W; 23:52

In view of the incremental improvements over the events and the gradual increase in Normalised Power, I think it's pretty clear that the jump in performance is largely due to the bike set up introduced prior to the fourth event - maybe at least half of that importance. Still, I see a gradual improvement through the events.