I was invited by the lovely and welcoming Team Fearless to be part of their wider racing group.  Not sure if I would make the cut to race for them in the 2020 Pro-Am Zwift Invitational I was stoked to be selected for the second event, the hilly route in Watopia.  I became pretty addicted to Zwift when I was pregnant with my second son, the addiction only grew when I started getting into some more serious sessions and races a few months after he was born. 

So, the race....

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super nervous leading into it.  I honestly hadn't felt this nervous since I did my last Ironman, when I'd qualified to race professionally in Kona.  A big part of this is that I was racing for a team and did not want to let them down, another part of me knew that I was going to be pushed to the absolute limit.  I am used to swimming before I jump on the bike, then locking in a pace for the next 90 or 180km, so much more is in your control in Triathlon.  I'd watched race 1 the week prior and knew the start would be hard and fast, was it what!!!!  I think I was holding 5watts/kg for the first 2-3mins, HR almost maxing out before we 'settled' in.  My team orders were to go for it on the first climb to try and get points, problem was there was a sprint before the climb and I gotta say my strength is not really 15sec sprints.  The group spread out after the sprint and I just could not find my way back to the front of the group before the climb.  I worked my arse off but 25 of us dropped into a chase pack in that first climb, I was one of them.

The rest of the race I worked with a group of 6-7, did a PR on the hilly loop of about 2.5mins, and even had a nice little sprint at the end with a fellow team mate to cross the line in 34th out of 80.  Would I do it again, OH YES!  It hurt like crazy but was such an amazing buzz to be out there racing with seriously some of the best cyclists in the World, a fellow New Zealander racing was at the Comm Games for Mountain Biking... what company!  Now a mum of 2 kids I just didn't think I'd be able to race at this level again, the logistics of training and racing at a high level IRL just involves too much travel and time away.  I can't thank Zwift and Team Fearless enough for this amazing opportunity!

Ride on all!