In Crit City today for 12 laps of Downtown Dolphin. Zwift claimed > 100 racers in the pens, so I fully expected another high paced race. I wasn't disappointed.
As a late arrival, I was near the back of the pens, but thankfully it wasn't a huge effort to latch onto the lead group of ~25 and in fact it felt like we'd settled down reasonably well before the end of the first lap. On the second lap there must have been a dozen or more burritos flying before and on the little climb. Probably the first time I've ever seen that many at once and it broke up the lead group for a bit, but we did manage to regroup, but it certainly took an effort. It's probably worth remembering that in a large group if you're in the back, a flurry of burritos can be a real PITA.
At some point I got a PB as I briefly noticed the confetti and animation on my name. But I was really just trying to keep myself in the draft and the heart rate under control. No idea if it was a lap or on the little climb. By lap #6 I was feeling the pain and struggling to hang on. Somewhere in those middling laps I managed to use the "steamroller" power-up for the first time in a positive way. It really does help up that little cobble climb -- it lasts long enough that you can deploy before you hit the cobbles and you get the advantage all the way up. File that away for future reference.
As we wrapped up lap #8 I looked at the race clock. Nearly a full minute faster than my PB for 8 laps of Downtown Dophin, so, yea, we were carrying on at a hard pace and I think I lost the lead group shortly thereafter. I did a mix of solo riding and resting as I caught lapped riders. I'd been loosely watching a small group behind me, but on the same lap and as the gap kept closing I was pretty sure I was going to get caught. Sure enough they reeled me in on the last lap.
13th of 38 on ZP. I'll take it. I also noticed a familiar name for the first time in a while -- the infamous sandbagger Colossal Bath Salts finished about a minute ahead of me. It's been a couple years since I've seen him, but clearly he continues to bump up his weight to stay in cat limits -- he's damn strong and I wonder what his real weight and w/kg is.