Today I had the joy of dragging our GGCC team through the virtual streets of Scotland, otherwise known as the “Rolling Highlands” on the Zwift riding platform. The plan: a four-lap training ride with an optional mini-race at the end for anyone who still had functioning legs. Pace-wise I heroically *intended* to hold a 205W average before the minirace, though of course we started much lower during the lead-in, pretending that was always part of the strategy.
Big thanks to JC for piloting the red beacon group like an absolute pro and Jam for helping in the back 👍🏻

Thanks to the wonderful madness that is GGCC, we got to cruise through the gorgeous scenery of Scotland. The rolling Highlands aren’t just nice to look at – they’re also sneaky leg-destroyers on the bike. And if that’s not enough, there are even tougher courses waiting for the truly bike-obsessed 😉

For most of our three laps before the mini-race we actually looked like a real peloton — bikes in a line, no one in a ditch, very professional. Most of the riders stuck together, which gave us a nice draft and an even nicer excuse to pretend we weren’t tired. Still, it was a tough ride thanks to the course profile, which apparently was designed by someone who hates flat roads. We ended up with a strong peloton, plus a few riders flirting with the fence like it was a safety rail in a theme park. On the last lap everyone somehow made it back to the peloton, and we rolled into the final kilometers as one big, happily exhausted group.

This course may not have the usual sprint banner fanfare, but it does come with a pint-sized KOM, “Breakaway Brae.” Hardly anyone bothered to go full gas there during our laps—until our mini-race showed up and spiced up the leaderboard. Let’s rummage through the damage from the first two laps:

Let’s see the climbing results from the race:

On the last lap, with 5.1 km to go, I yelled GO GO GO for our optional mini-race—because who doesn’t love suffering *just a bit more* at the end? The two “climbs” add a nice pinch of chaos to the mix, and the Breakaway Brae KOM is basically a spicy little uphill sprint straight into the pain cave at the finish line. And boy did we race until some made the decision to fully hit the gas.
Now, let’s see who cooked and who got cooked in the race results:

Congrats to K. Andi 🥇, T. Renholm 🥈 and Martin B. 🥉 for the podium.

Thanks to all for coming and riding with us today.

For more details check out Zwift Power.