New Roads: Team OWL Takes on ZRL

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For five years, Team OWL has raced TTTs together—showing up week after week, learning each other’s rhythms, syncing our pulls, celebrating the perfect rotation, and yes, sharing a few good-natured groans when someone pops on a climb. Five years of teamwork. Five years of trust. Five years of knowing exactly what to expect when we clip in together.

And then, in November 2024, something extraordinary happened. We met in person for the very first time at Zwift HQ to race a TTT—not as avatars on a screen, but as real women in the same room, breathing the same air, hearing each other’s voices without headsets. After four years of virtual racing, we suddenly found ourselves doing what we’d done hundreds of times before… but in a completely new way.

That day reminded me of something important: even when you think you know exactly what something is, experiencing it differently can make it feel brand new.

Even when you think you know exactly what something is, experiencing it differently can make it feel brand new.

Which brings me to where we are now. We’re doing something different again—and I couldn’t be more excited.

The Same Team, A Whole New Race

Team OWL is racing ZRL for the first time. On paper, we’re experienced Zwift racers with hundreds of TTT events under our belts. In practice, ZRL is inviting us into something we haven’t done before:

The chance to be beginners again.

We know how to work together. We know how to lock into a steady, sustained effort and hold it as a team. That’s the heart of TTT racing. But ZRL? That’s a whole new language.

Points races. Strategy shifts mid-race. Who goes for the sprint? Who sits on? When do we burn matches, and when do we save them?

Scratch races. Pure positioning and timing. Reading the pack. Knowing when to cover a move and when to let it go.

As Team OWL’s DS, I suddenly get to pull from a different toolkit—the years I’ve spent watching pro racing, studying tactics, crunching numbers, and analyzing race dynamics. Now I’m translating that knowledge into a new way of racing for us: one that lets us compete as wise OWLs, one Tuesday ZRL race at a time.

This week, we’re lining up for our second ZRL race: a points race on the 2019 UCI Worlds Harrogate Circuit. We’ve raced this course many times as a TTT, but never like this. Same roads, completely different race. New tactics. New decisions. New opportunities to learn what works—and what absolutely doesn’t.

Sounds intimidating, right? But here’s the truth: it’s thrilling.

And there’s something else that makes this moment special: we’re the first all-women’s Grandmaster team age 65+ racing in ZRL.

Let that sink in. The first.

We’re not just showing up—we’re pioneering. We’re living proof that 65+ doesn’t mean stepping back. It means stepping into something new, challenging, and growth-filled.

Why Learning New Tactics Matters (Hint: It’s Not Just About Winning)

As an eSports cycling coach, I could tell you that learning points race and scratch race tactics will make us faster, sharper, and more competitive. And that’s absolutely true.

But there’s a deeper story unfolding every time we enter a new race format: we’re training our brains as much as our bodies.

The research on this is powerful. Studies show that learning new, complex skills—especially ones that require strategy, quick decision-making, and adaptation—helps protect our brains as we age. Neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to form new neural connections) doesn’t stop when we hit 50, 60, or 70. It continues throughout our lives, if we give it the right conditions.

And what are those conditions? Learning. Challenge. Novelty. Engagement.

Research on neuroplasticity and cognitive reserve shows that taking steps to maintain cognition through new learning is crucial for maintaining cognitive functioning in older age—and may even help prevent or delay the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

Think about what happens during a points race: you’re tracking the pack, watching multiple riders, monitoring your own effort, remembering where the next sprint is, communicating with teammates, and adjusting your plan in real time. That isn’t just a physical effort—it’s a full-on cognitive workout.

Racing ZRL isn’t just about placing higher. It’s about building cognitive resilience. It’s about intentionally stepping into situations that stretch us mentally, knowing that this kind of challenge helps us stay sharper, longer.

The Body-Mind Connection in Action

Cycling already keeps our bodies strong—every climb, sprint, and endurance ride reminds us of that. But when we layer in the challenge of learning new tactics and race formats, we’re training our minds with the same intention we bring to training our legs.

We’re not just maintaining fitness. We’re expanding capacity.

And we’re not doing it alone. We’re learning ZRL together—debriefing after races, sharing what we noticed, celebrating when someone nails a sprint, laughing when we misjudge a move or botch our positioning. That shared experience, that sense of community, is powerful. It feeds our motivation, our confidence, and yes, our brains.

Aging isn’t about fading—it’s about changing, adapting, and finding new ways to show up strong.

What This Means for Team OWL

So yes, we’re racing ZRL for the first time. Yes, we’re wrapping our minds around points races and scratch races. Yes, we’re going to make mistakes and have moments where we ask, “What just happened?”

And that’s exactly the point!

Every Tuesday when we line up for ZRL, we’re doing something radical: we’re choosing to be students again. We’re embracing the discomfort of not knowing. We’re proving that five years of experience racing TTT together doesn’t mean we stop growing—it means we have the confidence to try something new.

This is what OWL.BiKe is really about: showing up, learning, adapting, and staying fully engaged—with the ride and with our lives.

The body stays strong when we challenge it.

The mind stays sharp when we feed it something new.

And the spirit? The spirit thrives when we do both together.

Your Turn

Whether you’re racing ZRL with Team OWL, thinking about dipping a toe into Grandmasters racing, joining our Saturday OWL.BiKe Grey Zone Trivia rides, or trying your very first Zwift race—you’re doing far more than just turning the pedals.

You’re investing in your future self.

Every new skill, every unfamiliar format, every “wait, how does this work again?” moment is your brain building new pathways, your confidence expanding, your identity as a strong, capable rider deepening.

50+ doesn’t mean slowing down. It means becoming wiser, stronger, and more adaptable. Subtle doesn’t mean insignificant—it means intentional. It means wise OWL.

So clip in. Show up. Try something that makes you a little nervous. Learn something new.

So clip in. Show up. Say yes to something that makes you a little nervous. Let yourself be new at something again.

Team OWL will be right there with you, figuring it out one race at a time—and making history as the first all-women’s Grandmaster team 65+ in ZRL while we’re at it!

See you on Zwift!