The New Season Begins! (On Zwift)

At Thursday’s practice, I already knew today’s race wasn’t in my plans.

As the 2022 cyclocross season begins, I am forced to confront two unpleasant realities. First is the tentative nature of the WCA schedule. The Sheboygan race originally scheduled for September 3 got moved to October 16 and the Milwaukee race originally scheduled for September 10 got cancelled altogether. Today’s race in Waterford went on as planned, so the season is finally in progress … but not for me. That’s because the second unpleasant reality is bad weather. And bad weather is a part of cyclocross many racers enjoy, but I don’t. When I saw that today was going to be an all-day soaker, it was an easy choice to stay home and stay dry. So, instead of being three races into my season, I’m still looking for my first. The promise of a seven-race September is long gone.

Staying home today meant staying inside. West Bend was wet too—the National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for most of southeastern Wisconsin, where some areas may see as much as 5 inches of rain by the time it stops on Monday—and West Bend also was nearly 20° below normal. Got to love summer afternoons that never get out of the 50s! Tomorrow is a planned rest day for me. I’m looking forward to getting back on the road Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, cyclocross practice at Royal Oaks Park will run on a hilly course as a test for next weekend’s hilly races in Manitowoc and Franklin. I’ll do something fairly light on Friday to make sure I’m not fatigued going into the weekend.

I did not intend for today to be a rest day, and it wasn’t. I put in a solid hour on Zwift, my first training ride on the virtual cycling platform since February 28. (Don’t worry: my account was on hold for much of the time I wasn’t using the service, so not all of those monthly fees went to waste!) Zwift calculated a new, higher FTP for me today. That felt good. I still haven’t done an actual FTP test, but that’s coming. I need to take those numbers seriously if I expect to compete on Zwift when winter arrives.

I have gone back to my original plan by using the Trek Boone on the smart trainer. When I bought the Framed Gravier, I thought I would use it instead. That’s not going to work out. The Gravier’s original wheelset, now relegated to backup duty, is too wide to allow me to mount my 25mm rear trainer tire properly. The setup I used today worked perfectly, the hour passed quickly, and I got a terrific workout. Not a bad Plan B on such an ugly day.