AndyThomas 🎵🎻🎵

Week 8 - #zwift racing

I thought I'd try a race today, so I put myself in cat C (2.5-3.2w/kg) and thought I'd stick to around 3w/kg

Set-off fine and kept with the lead group and then dropped back as they were going way over 3.5w/kg

I seem to remember this from before, people don't go into the right categories

So I ended up on my own at 3.32w/kg and after 30mins decided it wasn't really racing

https://www.strava.com/activities/8222955235

#CyclingTwitter #cycling #strava #retirement #zwift #rouvy #BikeTooter

Zwift - Race: KISS Racing - Category Enforcement on Astoria Line 8 in New York - Andy T.'s 18.1 km bike ride

Just did the first 30mins to get a sense of zwift racing.

Strava
Dec 8, 2022 at 12:00pmWeb
Show threadJohn MuellerDec 8, 2022

@andythomas Categories are weird in Zwift; people get super-competitive, join lower category events, and judging from uphill-performance, they also tweak weights.

My strategy is not to care about ranking, and to find races with lots of people signed up, in the hope that at least there are bundles that work for me. I do these for myself anyway, high ranking is nice, but feeling dead afterwards is better.

Show threadAndyThomas 🎵🎻🎵Dec 8, 2022
@johnmu That was the problem with this one, not many people signed up so basically you can get left out on your own with no natural group
Show threadPaul ConveryDec 8, 2022
@andythomas I did a few of the Z Racing Race Like a Champ races after Zwift Academy finished, it restricted you from joining lower categories than what your FTP put you at but the people at the front still had people pushing 3.5w/kg even though Cat C was meant to be 2.8-3.2w/kg. My other problem was that even for people within the w/kg limits, some of them were averaging about 100 watts more than me.
Show threadAndyThomas 🎵🎻🎵Dec 8, 2022

@Ravenblade86

Yeah, I'm not sure the racing bit is for me to be honest although it does push you to ride harder (possibly)

I'll see if group rides are any different where at least there's a red bar that tells you if you're ahead of the pace

Show threadPaul ConveryDec 8, 2022
@andythomas I had fun doing the races, even if I was totally cooked at the end of them 😂 Depending on how serious you take them yourself, I think either races or group rides are a good change of pace if you can get into a group. Being stuck in no man's land and just suffering by yourself isn't much different than just doing a free ride or workout by yourself.
Show threadPaul SouthworthDec 8, 2022
@andythomas Assuming it's the event linked below, it had Category Enforcement enabled (an optional feature added in 2022) so it's not possible for a rider to enter below their category. The winner averaged 2.9W/kg, 211W for 1h13m (he's a top C rider, at 74kg and 257W FTP). The categories are too broad, and have other flaws, but entering below category isn't one of them. https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=3299176
ZwiftPower - Login

Zwift race results and statistics.

Show threadAndyThomas 🎵🎻🎵Dec 8, 2022

@pws

Interesting. I'm the same weight and was averaging 3.32 233w.

So maybe it's just all tactics 😀

I'll give it another bash. I obviously need to learn to keep with the group to take advantage of the drafting.

Show threadPaul SouthworthDec 8, 2022
@andythomas Longer C races like this often get easier later on. I'm in C with the same weight as the winner but much lower FTP and weak sprint, so I have to be ready to go super hard at the start and draft well to be anywhere near the leaders. I also need 2 light days before an event like that to be adequately recovered to pull out a good performance.
Show threadSteveo Dec 9, 2022
@andythomas so what is category enforcement if everyone is putting out way more watts than the category?
Show threadAndyThomas 🎵🎻🎵Dec 9, 2022

@SteveoA3D

I'm not sure.

I think the enforcement happens when you sign up. It looks at zwiftpower.com and checks where you should be.

I'm still a little new to the racing bit

@pws will probably know

Show threadPaul SouthworthDec 9, 2022
@andythomas @SteveoA3D Category Enforcement's pen restrictions are based on all previous efforts, so a rider with little historical data may do better than expected, but the next day they'll be in a higher category. Also Category Enforcement is based on a 2-50 minute power curve, not the 20 minute W/kg number used in ZwiftPower categories. The start (and climbs) will almost always be way above the 20 minute W/kg. C races often start at 4 W/kg but average ~3 W/kg
Show threadPaul SouthworthDec 9, 2022
@andythomas @SteveoA3D I should add that "all previous efforts" only looks back 60 days, so a rider who has been offline for a while may end up in a lower category if they haven't done a hard ride in the game recently. Also, bear in mind that Category Enforcement is not enabled for all events - some still use ZwiftPower categories and don't have pen restrictions, so sandbaggers still show up in those events.