Part 2 continues as our hosts dig into the fascinating mind of Jim Miller, where the conversation turns to mindset and TrainingPeaks amongst other topics!
Matt and Kev also talk ‘detraining’ and how the pro peloton may come back stronger than ever after lockdown.
The Zwiftcasters are back – coinciding nicely with a game update. And Simon, Shane and Nathan have lots to discuss!
Quite significant changes to MeetUps, including changes to who sees chats should make this experience smoother and all three podcasters give the changes a thumbs up.
Simon chats to Steven Milliken, one of the founders of the WTRL race series which is making team time trialling into a massive thing on Zwift. The promoters’ difficulties with data privacy have now been resolved and Steven discusses how the small team manage the huge demands from Zwifters wanting to time trial together. The Zwiftcasters follow up Steven’s interview with discussions on how people who donate large amounts of time to the community may be able to get their costs covered.
We have a new powerup in game – the Steamroller. The chaps discuss how this might best be used.
Simon talks to Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, the standout rider from the Tour For All race series. Ashleigh has some fascinating thoughts on how Zwift racing can advance the cause of women’s racing.
In a fun spot, Simon asks Shane and Nathan to turn interviewers and find out why he’s spent the last few weeks stranded in Girona. The role switch experiment is not entirely successful!
In the final feature Simon talks to Tri coach Phil Ellison about how changes made to the coaching regimes as a result of Lockdown are likely to become permanent because they’ve been so successful.
There’s a few other bits of Zwifty chat – including the continuing saga of Simon’s lack of a Tron bike.
With so much happening in our virtual cycling paradise, it’s easy to miss some really cool rides! Here are 6 events this weekend you may want to check out.
Special thanks to Jesper at ZwiftHacks with his Events app which provides powerful event filtering tools that help us create this list each week.
Jensie Ride for Challenged Athletes
Join cycling legend Jens Voigt as he rides with Challenged Athletes Foundation. Jensie is hosting this virtual cycling event to raise awareness and funds for athletes with physical challenges. This 60-minute social ride will include Paralympians Oksana Masters and Mohamed Lahna along with other accomplished challenged athlete cyclists.
Those who donate will be entered in a raffle for a chance to win a signed jersey, CAF Swag Bag, a CAF Cycling Club membership, and more. Donate at http://support.challengedathletes.org/jensie
Still need some MTB miles to finish up the CeramicSpeed Mission? Want to simply ride in the jungle with some friends? Join Monica on the Jungle Circuit this Saturday! Ride whenever you’d like, or join Monica who is starting at 4pm BST / 11am EDT / 8am PDT. (Note: this is not an official Zwift event, so you won’t see it listed in Companion.)
Got a stage or two to make up in order to complete the Tour for All? Saturday is your last chance to check off those final stages and unlock the TfA kit!
Remember, this is a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, and Zwifters are encouraged to make a donation.
Have you ever tried a chase (or “handicap”) race? This fun event format releases categories starting with the slowest (D), with time gaps between each category calculated so the faster groups will come close to catching the slower groups near the finish line. It’s a wonderful mix of teamwork within your category, and competition with everyone. Here are five different chase race events this weekend:
DIRT Dadurday Chase Race (with early and later event times)
The women’s only “Join the Swarm” events have been very popular, with the series extended for an extra month through the end of May. That means Saturday is your last chance to get in on a swarm ride with other ladies and unlock the kit!
Team DIRT has organized a 6-stage race, with one stage happening each Sunday starting this weekend through July 5th. So this is the week to get involved!
The series includes a points competition as well as a time-based GC competition. Click “About” on the Point Competition and GC league pages on ZwiftPower for details on how those competitions work.
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments! And if you participate in any of these events, let us know how your ride went.
The latest Zwift update is now available on PC, Mac, and Android, with iOS and Apple TV releases coming quickly as usual. The update includes a change to Meetup messaging, a new training plan that targets Zwift race prep, a new FTP Ramp Test, improvements for minors, and more. Let’s dig into the details…
Meetup-Only View was introduced in early May, allowing any Zwifter to organize a Meetup where only the event participants were visible on course. With today’s update, Zwift further separates Meetup traffic from others on course, making it so all Meetup messaging is hidden to those outside of the Meetup.
So Meetup participants will see group messages sent from other participants of their Meetup. But those outside the Meetup won’t see those messages. Meetup users will only see messages from participants of their Meetup: they won’t see messages from anyone outside the Meetup.
On a related note: messages from group rides still appear to Zwifters who are free riding/running nearby. We’re not sure why Zwift has set it up this way, but we confirmed today that it’s still happening.
New “Zwift Racing” Training Plan
We’re seeing more and more riders deciding to only race indoors, due to a variety of factors like convenience, cost, and safety. Of course, the COVID-19 crisis has also driven numerous cyclists to Zwift racing, because there is simply no other place to race!
Today Zwift released its first training plan specifically targeting the demands of Zwift racing. Simply called “Zwift Racing”, this 6-week plan was created by coach Shayne Gaffney. Zwift says this about the new plan:
This plan was developed for beginner/intermediate Zwifters, since Advanced and Elite athletes likely have some form of coaching or personalized plan.
The plan features 4 to 5 workouts per week and includes race simulations, sweet spot, and race start work to prepare users for anything a Zwift race will throw at them. The plan builds throughout its course and features a rest week at the halfway point and a final taper week to ensure you are firing on all cylinders before a Zwift race.
It prepares you for all types of Zwift races, but more specifically longer/hilly courses.
Some workouts replicate the demands of particular popular race routes
Here’s a workout training you for the tough start of every Zwift race
A smart workout the day before your big race
Ramp Test Lite
Zwift released its original ramp test in March 2019. It has proven quite popular, allowing Zwifters to estimate their FTP without a soul-destroying all-out 20-minute effort. But some riders had issues with the ramp test – specifically, smaller, lower-power riders. This is because the ramp test begins at 100 watts and increases in increments of 20 watts every minute. If you’re a rider with an FTP of, say, 160 watts, that doesn’t give you much of a “ramp!”
Today’s newly-released “Ramp Test Lite” takes care of that problem. Zwift says this test is for lighter (under 60kg) and more novice riders. This test begins at 50 watts, and increases in increments of 10 watts. Much more doable!
Find it under the “FTP Tests” category in the workouts menu.
Minor Weight
Here’s a change that will make a lot of kids (and parents) happy. Zwift made a change so minor accounts can set their weight below 45kg and have their speed be accurately calculated in game!
Before this change, minor accounts were able to set their weight lower that 45kg, but game physics and the w/kg in the right-hand menu still calculated as if their weight was 45kg!
We’re not exactly sure how Zwift has set this up, but our test account (for a 13 year old) allowed us to move the weight down to 33kg with accurate w/kg displaying. It’s possible that the minimum weight scales based on age, so an 8 year old would have a lower minimum weight than a 13 year old. But without more test accounts on our end, we can’t confirm that. Comment below if you can help clarify how it’s working for your kid.
New Steamroller Powerup
A new event-only powerup has been released to “spice things up on dirt courses.” According to the release notes posted by Wes, “The Steamroller powerup will make any bike ride smoother on dirt for a short time.” But we’ve also heard from other sources within Zwift that this powerup optimizes rolling resistance regardless of what wheels/tires you are using and surface you are on.
So if you’re on a mountain or gravel bike riding on pavement, your tire will go as fast as a road bike tire on pavement. Conversely, if you are on a road bike riding on a dirt road, your road bike tire will go as fast as it would on regular paved roads.
It sounds like this powerup is targeted toward events in the Jungle, although it would also be useful on the dirt patches near the fishing village. This will add another interesting strategic choice to Zwift races!
Bike Choice
Before today’s update, events which forced riders onto a mountain bike or TT bike didn’t allow you to select which MTB or TT rig to ride. That’s changed now, so you can equip any mountain bike or TT bike in your garage for use in a MTB or TT bike only event. Just select the bike of your choosing while warming up in the pens.
Bug Fixes
Wes’ notes also include a lengthy list of bug fixes, which is always good to see. We won’t list them here, but you can click the link below to see the full list. Keep squashing those buys, HQ!
I have spent a lot more time on Zwift over the past 5 months than I ever planned to and initially at least, that had nothing to do with the pandemic. At the beginning of December just a day after arriving in sun-swept Tucson for winter training I had the worst crash of my life. I was riding on a straight section of road about 20 minutes from home when I hit “the perfect storm” crack in the bike lane just right and was catapulted onto the dusty tarmac. In the words of the selfless female cyclist who had been following behind and called the ambulance: “Your bike just stopped in that crack”. My body didn’t stop though, and ended up with six rib fractures, a punctured lung, broken hand, and lights-out concussion as recompense for being on inertia’s bad side.
It was a complete mess and despite excellent care from physicians in Tucson, I spent 22 days in the St Joseph’s and St Mary’s recovery units. When I finally got out for the final time, I couldn’t ride outside or even think about it. The vibrations caused too much pain and there was still a risk of internal re-injury if I had any mishap. Still, I was compelled to get moving. I had my last surgery on January 12th and by the 15th I had Zwift set up on the back patio in our Tucson rental house. The sun was shining, the season was only 6 weeks away and there I was pedaling slow circles and occasionally scolding our dog when he tried to dig new holes in the garden. I didn’t ride outside for 54 days (if I remember correctly) but thanks to Zwift I was still getting somewhere.
My Tuscon Zwift setup post-accident
With the help of my family, my team, and the limitless empathy of my wife Emily I got back into shape fairly quickly once my injuries healed and I thought I had a chance at my early season goal at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. We all know what happened next and that is what brought my Elevate-Webiplex teammates and me to the start line of the Zwift Virtual Tour of the Gila.
Catching Up
The whole COVID thing really took the wind out of our team’s sails motivationally. Virtual racing came up in conversation but I think the prevailing attitude was apprehension and confusion over the whole thing. Personally I hadn’t raced on Zwift in about 4 years after I began racing as a pro on the road and spending the bulk of my winters in warm weather camps. For me the light bulb went off when I watched the Zwift Redlands Bicycle Classic and saw almost all of my usual competitors trading virtual attacks with the familiar and iconic Dave Towle commentating the action. That sure looked like real racing and I knew I wanted in.
Over the next 4 weeks we organized as a team and everyone dedicated a lot of energy, frustration, and four-letter words to figuring out the technology and tactics involved. We did several TTTs together to work out the draft effect and raced some smaller Zwift Tour for All races as a team using Discord voice chat. By the time Gila rolled around, we had come a very long way.
“This is so HARD!”
That phrase was yelled, muttered, and gasped more than once in our build-up and as we started Gila on Friday. The opening Team Time Trial was a virtual bloodbath. We had practiced well but it is an entirely different feeling when you add a full watt/kg to the effort. We ended up keeping 4 finishers together and turning in a fine 6th place result out of 25 teams. On the road, we might expect to win an event like that but with our lack of experience online and missing a few of our strongest IRL riders I was really proud of our effort.
The team rolling fast in the TTT
On the second stage the realities of a 150-rider pack, a hilly course, and racing with some of the best e-racers in the world hit home for us. I managed to hang on to the lead group and sprint for 14th, but the field had been decimated by the finish. We didn’t have many cards to play with as a team and it felt like we were at the mercy of the more experienced squads. I was happy with my own ride but I knew my teammates would have faired far better than my measly 700w sprint to the line. Next time.
How the Race was Lost.
On the final stage I felt from the start I was on a good day and I mentally rehearsed my move on the final climb to the Epic KOM. “Hit out early. Find some help. Build a gap.” Those were my directives to myself that rang over and over in my mind as we approached the 9km mountain pass. I knew the climb was steepest at the bottom and if I left it to the second half, the rolling terrain would favor the group over an attacker. I really didn’t want it to come down to a 1-minute sprint up the final ramp to the line.
On the attack
At first I didn’t hit it that hard at the bottom, punching into the orange numbers only as much as the eager field around me. But then as the peloton seemed to exhale and settle into a steadier climbing rhythm I decided to bear down and stay on the same pace. Soon I was joined by Chris McGlinchey of the Vitus team and we started to stretch the gap to 5 or 8s as the climb eased off to steadier 3-6% gradients. Parts 1 and 2 of the plan were complete and I was working furiously on part 3, building a gap.
Unfortunately, part 3 stalled out as we struggled on. McGlinchey mostly sat on, knowing that I was behind him on GC. And despite holding good power, the group kept us within 3-9s the rest of the way. I didn’t really see a choice other than to press on. Starting the final ramp to the line with a small advantage would still be better for my odds than going back to the group and sprinting.
Attacks flew, the group swarmed to within touching distance of our back wheels, but as we came off the short descent into the last kilometer there was still the smallest of separations between us and everyone else. I just went for it, trying to hold them off with a prolonged burst at 480-500w. I was still leading within 100m of the line! McGlinchey had played the smarter hand though, falling back into the chasing group for a moment, recouping energy in the draft, then launching again. He passed me like a rocket but I was able to hold off the rest. Second place.
Power data for stage 3
The final push on the Epic KOM
I guess I made it back…
I had turned in one of my better 20-minute power outputs, set a 4-year PR for max heart rate, fulfilled my game plan… and it just wasn’t quite enough. Still, I was beaming, my mind adrift in the pleasant wash of adrenaline, relief, and satisfaction that only comes with racing success. It sure felt like the real thing just then even if I collapsed onto a nearby futon and not into the arms of a waiting soigneur. And the pounding in my ears was gradually replaced by a new refrain: “I guess I made it back”.
I’d been struggling for months with the idea that I would never be the same rider again after my accident. COVID and a lack of racing only made the self-doubt worse as I couldn’t prove myself in competition. I didn’t know if virtual racing could fill that gap for me, but at least for a day it really did.
Zwift introduced the “Pride On” series of events in June 2019, rolling out the rainbow carpet for all. Weekly rides and runs were held each Tuesday hosted by members, friends, and allies of the LGBTQI+ community. Additional special events were also held, and a $20,000 donation was made to Athlete Ally.
This week Zwift announced Pride On 2020, an invitation for all Zwifters to celebrate our LGBTQI+ community during the month of June. It includes special events every Tuesday and Saturday, rainbow Pride Ons, more Athlete Ally support, and a kit to unlock! Here are all the details…
Events
Special rides and runs will be held on Tuesdays and Saturdays for the month of June. These events aren’t meant to be competitive races – they are an inclusive place for the community to run and ride together. Zwift says:
Pride On is about fun, diversity, and community. Everyone is welcome in Watopia. Athletes of all stripes, orientations, and VO2 maxes congregate here to get active and push one another to become their best selves, regardless of how they identify.
We like to think we celebrate this every day. On Tuesdays and Saturdays during June, we’re acknowledging that our diversity is a strength that transcends watts/kilogram. And that strength deserves loads of fun rides and runs.
Zwift is inviting all event participants to get into the start pens early to meet fellow Zwifters and shower the group with event-specific Pride Ons. You can do this during the event as well, of course, although typing a message is a challenge on the treadmill!
Pride Rides
Expect a mellow 1.5 w/kg group ride that’s perfect for chatting. Held on the flat Tick Tock loop, these events are 60 minutes long.
Guest leaders include Olympian and goalkeeper for Canada’s Women’s National Team, Stephanie Labbé, as well as multisport Olympian (alpine skiing, skiercross, and track cycling) Georgia Simmerling!
Pride Runs
Join LGBTQI+ Zwifters and community allies for a light group run workout. Held on the Chili Pepper route, these events are 5 kilometers long.
Guest leaders include Team USA runner at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, Matt Llano, as well as Pan American Games gold medalist and Adidas athlete, Nikki Hiltz.
Complete a single Pride On ride to unlock the cycling kit. Finish a Pride On run to unlock the tech t-shirt. After that, you can fly the Pride On flag whenever you like.
About the Pride On Design
This year’s Pride On is a more colorful version of last year’s. Inspired by Daniel Quasar’s “Progress Flag”, Zwift added black and brown stripes to represent communities of color and also represents those living with AIDS, and those no longer living.
Additionally, the pink, blue, and white stripes are a nod to Monica Helms’s Transgender Pride flag.
The colorful Pride On will replace the standard Ride On in all of June’s Pride On events.
About Athlete Ally
Athlete Ally is a non-profit that educates athletic communities at all levels—governing bodies, teams, and individuals—about inclusion for LGBTQI+ people in sports. Athlete Ally also offers guidance on building inclusive communities, teams, and organizations.
Zwift has already made a donation of $25,000 to Athlete Ally, and they’re inviting all Zwifters who are feeling the love to share a few dollars as well. You may donate directly to Athlete Ally from zwift.com/prideon2020.
Last week I signed up for another Crit City 8-lapper, shooting for a short race that wouldn’t fatigue me too much. I was in a taper mode, you see: looking down the barrel of a massive 4-day bike IRL tour with my brother on California’s central coast (more on that in another post). But taking it easy for a few days had driven me stir-crazy, and I wanted to get one last little hard effort in before the next day’s 9-hour drive to SoCal.
Like most Zwift races, this would be near an all-out effort for me. But since it was only ~20 minutes long, my legs would be recovered by the time I climbed onto my real Venge and start pedaling south from Monterey 48 hours later. Perfect! Let’s race.
The Warmup
Despite a crazy busy day – you know, those “day before vacation” days – I was able to get on the bike early enough to have an unrushed warmup. I spun around Tick Tock, slowly ramping up my pace then putting in a few harder efforts to bring my heart rate up to 160bpm.
Of course, I had already chewed two pieces of caffeine gum and put PR lotion on the legs. And since my last three days of riding had been relatively easy, I was feeling good! This was going to be fun.
Since I had a bit of extra time, I popped over to ZwiftPower to survey the competition. Here’s what I saw when I sorted the signup sheet by rider rank:
Based on rank, then, I was favored to win the race, once you removed the two A dudes who were signed up. I tried to take note of their names, as well as those ranked near me, so I would know who my strongest competitors might be.
Note: this seems like a smart strategy, but in practice, I have a really hard time remembering names once the race begins. I need to just set up a second dedicated monitor for ZwiftPower!
The Start
A hard, fast start: classic Zwift!
Our starting group of 35 jumped out of the pens quickly, as expected. Once we crested the bricked climb for the first time, things settled down. Two minutes at ~360 watts was enough to keep me in the first selection of ~15 riders.
We had three zPowered riders pushing hard near the front early on, but not so hard that it was blowing apart the race. That’s an acceptable situation, in my book: if they want to rotate on the front and be a part of the overall peloton (even though their power probably isn’t very accurate), no problem. It’s only when those riders attack off the front and destroy the authentic race dynamics that I take issue.
The Middle
Things were quite settled by the third lap, and my legs were feeling good. So I decided to try shaking things up a bit with an attack! I had an aero helmet powerup, so I activated it near the top of the prime climb, hammering away from the group as they eased up after pushing hard up the bricks.
Just once I’d like to make an attack like this and have several strong riders join me so we could work together in a breakaway. But that never seems to happen! Instead, everyone is content to let the attacker hang off the front, knowing a lone rider is no match for a group of 15. Smart racing, I suppose, if you trust your ability to sprint against the pack or your legs aren’t feeling great. I know I’ve let the attacker sizzle on the front in many a Zwift race!
Attacking on lap 3
Even though these sorts of attacks rarely result in a dramatic breakaway group, they do stretch the pack out as those on the front hammer to catch the attacker. This often drops a rider or two who are barely hanging on, which further whittles down the competition. And that’s what happened with my attack – I was caught by the pack before hitting the start/finish, but we dropped at least one rider from our group.
The Finish
No significant moves were made for the rest of the race, and I took the chance to sit in the draft, keeping my legs as fresh as possible for the final effort. I had been striking out in terms of powerups ($#@% bonuses!) but managed to score a draft van on my last trip through the banner. It didn’t really matter what I got, though – I had already formulated my finishing plan.
First: I would follow any early attacks, sitting on the wheels and being willing to go from a long way out if we were able to gap the main group. It felt like this might happen early on in the final lap, as the three zPowered riders all showed up on the front, hammering away. I even caught it in a screenshot (see above)! But their increased effort merely stretched the group out, perhaps dropping a rider or two in the process.
Second: I would move near the front for the brick prime, so if anyone tried to jump there, I could follow their wheel. I was even willing to use my draft van powerup to hold their wheel, if it looked like it meant we could drop the chasing pack and stay away.
The attack on the bricks happens on the last lap of every Crit City race, it seems – it’s just a question of how hard that jump is, and how long the attacker can hold it! You’ve basically got 60 seconds from the top of the bricks to the finish line, so if you’re blessed with strong 1-minute power and perhaps a helpful feather or aero powerup, you may just be able to get away and stay away. That’s the hope, anyway. A hope that is almost always swallowed up in defeat as the chasing pack catches the attacker just before the final hairpin.
No big jump happened on our last time up the bricks, so it was time for the third and final part of my plan: to jump hard and early, then try to stay away with a long sprint! The van powerup only helps while you’re drafting, so I activated it early, using it to ease the effort required to sit in with the hard-charging pack. Then, with a few seconds left on my draft boost, I shifted, stood up, and began hammering with everything I had through the pack and off the front!
I glanced up to see I was ahead of the group going into the final hairpin, then it was a head-down, all-in sprint for the final few seconds. I looked up as I crossed the line. First place!
It’s been a long time since I actually crossed the line in first place in a Zwift race. I can’t remember when it last happened, actually. Sure, I recently won a points race. And I ended up first in a Crit City race back in January. But neither of those races had me crossing the finish line first – I won by accumulating points, or because the rider(s) who finished ahead weren’t on ZwiftPower. It really is a special feeling to cross the line first. More of that, please!
Writing this review, it struck me that overpowered zPowered riders did affect this race. I was just able to hang onto their wheels this time! But of course, other riders probably got dropped by the efforts of the zPowered three who averaged 318W (5.3 w/kg), 321W (4.7 w/kg), and 327W (4.7 w/kg). So once again, just a reminder that we need better doping controls. A simple green cone of shame probably would have sent these riders off the back quickly.
I’ve got a surprise for you: it seems I’m able to hold higher power on fresh legs! This ride gave me new PB’s on my power curve for 2020 between 1 minute and 2:30. And I averaged 758W over 21 seconds in the final sprint, peaking at 884W. That’s certainly higher than most of my race finishes, where I’m too knackered to get close to my “fresh max” of around 1000W.
ZwiftPower scouting doesn’t always work well. Looking at the four riders who finished just behind me, three of them weren’t signed up when I checked ZwiftPower, and the fourth was ranked quite low on the list! So I’d say checking the competition on ZwiftPower can be a good tool in my race-belt, but only if I change how I use it. More on this in future posts.
British pro triathlete David McNamee has been crushing it on Twitter the last few months. Why? Well, he’s locked down in Girona and has been churning out some fun, clever content to document his time indoors.
A two-time podium finisher in Kona with a best time of 8:01, David is in the prime of his career. Not being able to train outdoors for six weeks was undoubtedly tough, but what he actually found hardest might just surprise you!
About the Podcast:
The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.
Hi Zwift Insider readers! Long time listener, first time caller.
Yesterday I decided to compete in a short Crit City race. Why should you care about this? Because this race was when I realized exactly what I and Zwift itself is really made of.
You see, I’m a total cycling noob. And it turns out, my experience is nothing like those of Eric, or any of the other ZI contributors. I’m slow and overweight, and even in the lowly D race I enrolled in, I got smoked. This got me thinking: I can’t be the only old, heavy, slow person on Zwift. Maybe my perspective would be useful to other users, and just maybe the developers making the software and hardware too.
So today I’m sharing my first race story, from the blunt end of Zwift.
The Backstory
Recently I decided to find a new form of exercise to be passionate about, and chose cycling. I’m 37, so a bit old for starting a new sport, but I needed to do something new to keep me fit and healthy. I’m young enough, however, that I don’t just want to amble around looking at the view. I want to ride fast and hopefully race too! I don’t even have a road bike, just a straight handlebar hybrid bike in a Tacx Bushido trainer. Start small and upgrade when I can.
I’m 194cm (6’ 4″), which doesn’t make me the most aero of riders. Aero doesn’t matter indoors though, except Zwift asks the question and my mother taught me to be honest, so height is a disadvantage. At least I don’t need to tuck inside.
The bigger issue is the other measurement Zwift requests. I’m currently 102kg (225lbs). I call it fat, but there is some muscle too. I’ve always worked in gyms and while I’ve neglected cardio, I used to lift weights and there is a decent amount of muscle mass. (That said, a few years ago I was a lot heavier, something an improved diet has helped with. You can’t out-train bad eating, after all.)
I’m well aware that speed on Zwift is calculated based on your watts per kilogram, and my ‘per kilogram’ is a big issue. Unfortunately, my ‘watts per’ isn’t much better with my FTP sitting at around 200. Simple maths informs me that a small number divided by a big number equals a tiny number. My 2 w/kg output is quite shoddy indeed, but I love seeing improvements over time, and I figured there is plenty of improvement on the horizon, so I’m able to stay positive on this for now.
I’m also very motivated. It may be due to my recent ride with fellow Welshman Geraint Thomas on his fundraising efforts for medical services in the UK. To be honest though, I didn’t even see G on the ride, I started too far back and despite blasting out of the gates, I couldn’t catch him. I did get a photo of myself riding past Alex Dowsett though. Ok, ok… it was actually him who flew past me up the Surrey Hills on a ride to gather PPE equipment for Israeli medical teams. Dan Martin was also on this ride as the sweeper, I had planned to keep falling off the back so I could have a personal ride with him, but turns out he’s a terrible sweeper and led the ride almost all the way around with Alex in the chasing peloton.
I began my Zwift journey with this site and read everything I could find to start me on my way, from equipment recommendations and setup guides, to choosing the best bike and powerup tips. I’ve been following Monica’s quest for conquering every route, and recently joined in the 25 laps ride. I’m getting to the point where the routes left are increasingly long, and I’m not very quick so they take considerable time out of my day. The Alpe took me 3 hours, and hurt quite a lot, the volcano ride was 40 minutes longer. This is quite a large part of my day at the moment; add in a shower and recovery nap, and it’s a full day’s work.
I made a decision that before I resumed any longer routes, I wanted to be quicker, and that meant lighter and fitter. So yesterday I decided to try something different and do a race. A race would be a good workout, a good test of fitness, and I’d probably lose some weight. Perfect… or so I thought.
The Plan
Races come in categories, A thru D. And the D category is typically for riders with an average w/kg of 1.0-2.49. This is where I am right now, a solid 2.0. I know I’ve held 200W for long periods before, and a 200W FTP theoretically means it should be possible to keep that up for an hour. But I wanted to be towards the sharp end of this blunt end race. I didn’t want to get dropped after 5 minutes and complete a solo ride. So I opted for a short Crit City race, 8 laps and about 15km. Worst case scenario, at 30kph, this would take me 30 minutes. Crit City is largely flat, too, with less than 150m of climbing for the whole race. I know I can easily hold over 30kph on the flat, and if I can stay in the bunch and get a good draft too…
Attack the start – races start quick but it will settle into a rhythm.
Pack position – too far ahead and you’ll have no draft, too far back and you’ll be dropped with a surge.
Don’t get dropped – without the draft it’s impossible.
Ramp up for the hills – everyone attacks on the hills. Crit City doesn’t have many, but if you don’t attack them you’ll get dropped.
Don’t get dropped – I put it in twice, as it seemed important.
Time your boosts – and hope for a good aero for the sprint finish.
Sounds simple enough, it’s basically pedal hard until the line, but not too hard to give others your draft. It’s like the old Alain Prost quote, “Win the race at the slowest speed possible.” I don’t want to be towing others around for free.
The Preparation
I warmed up with a quick lap of Richmond’s Fan Flats. I chucked in a little sprint here and there. Could I have warmed up for longer? Probably. Would it have helped? Probably not. If anything a longer warm-up would have been reclassified as a workout for me and fatigued me for the race. My warm-up was 10 minutes long at an average of 124w and 119 hr.
Unlike Eric, I don’t have any caffeine gum, and don’t have any magic leg gel either. Just man and machine for this one. I joined the race 5 minutes early and kept my legs warm with some low-resistance spinning. I remembered Kevin telling Ted to light up the watts before the start, so I ramped up slowly at 30 seconds out, increased the ramp at 10 seconds, and when the race started was pushing a respectable 485w. (I think Kevin and Ted kept around this power for the whole of their race, which I find inconceivable based on where I am.
The Race
It’s worth pointing out here that I’m hyper-competitive once the event starts. I’ve played basketball, although not very well and not for several years, but I coach at a decent level and I hate losing. It infuriates me. If there’s one thing I wasn’t worried about it was getting off the bike thinking I didn’t try hard. It was far more likely I would burn out after one lap and I’d get off the bike for an early shower and pretend the whole thing didn’t happen.
My initial 485w is nearly 5 w/kg. That’s double the average for this race. I was happy I could output this amount, and my little (quite large compared to the other riders) avatar pushed forwards through the pack. This was as positive as the race got for me. Kevin said to push at the start, it would settle into a rhythm, and that rhythm should now be under 2.5 w/kg.
It didn’t settle. There was a rhythm, and it was very high.
I tried to keep up with the leaders, “Don’t get dropped!” I had listed twice. Apparently in the draft I could save 1 w/kg. I’m sure that scales once you’re as slow as me, but if I could have half of that I would be happy. Don’t get dropped.
I’m dropped. I keep my watts as high as I can for as long as I can, but there is no let up. I’ve been dropped from the lead group. With no draft to help I’m quickly caught by the next group. Great, I’ll draft these good cyclis….. nope, they’ve flown past me too. Turns out when your speed is so different to theirs, by the time you catch the draft effect it’s gone and you don’t get any benefit at all. After being 30th after the first corner, I slipped to 60th by the time we hit the little rises, 100th by the end of the first lap, 150th pretty soon after this.
There were 270 in the race. My target went from sticking in the lead pack to not coming last in just a few minutes. Apart from point 1, the quick start, the game plan had gone out of the window.
There was no pack to have position in.
I had been dropped.
I was trying to ramp up for the hills, but these guys felt like 4 brutal gut punches compared to what I had prepared myself for.
I had been dropped by the second pack too.
I was not timing any powerup boosts well.
I was mostly getting the trucks to boost my drafting abilities. This would be great if I was in a pack, but even using this and a little burst of power when a rider came past me I still couldn’t catch a wheel.
Truth is, my legs were dead. That start was a huge overextension for me, and I realised from comments that they were sandbagging and I would never have been able to stay with them. They were simply too strong for the D race. With no chance to recover, my power dropped to around 150w with small spikes as I hit the gradients. I was still slipping too, back to 200th place now, only 70 behind me… ominous! There was one cyclist zipping past occasionally on what I would guess was a rocket bike. He was either cheating or glitching.
By the last lap I found a little extra in my legs to increase back to over 200w, which renewed a little lost pride. Then with a few corners left I realised I was catching someone; very slowly, but catching none the less. Cadence up, gear changed, this was now my whole purpose. This was now my Champs Elysees sprint finish, my Alpe stage victory bid, my Olympic time trial race. I was 226th, but I could smell 225th. Three corners to go, I was quicker, he was slower. Two corners to go and I passed him easily, not quite the photo finish glory moment but 225th place was mine. Victory!!!
Oh wait, I’m being caught by someone else, catching me quickly too, I could see the gap in meters disappear. Out of the saddle, I wind up with power to a race-high 532 watts. Start fast, finish fast, I guess it was just the middle 90% that was a disaster. He caught me on the line for his own photo finish glory, and sent me backward to 226th. Furious!
Race Results
I finished the race with an average of 174w/kg. I know I can do better, just need to ride my race and not get distracted by the riders out of my league. A lesson learned. Average cadence was 90 which is always my target. Average HR was 156 with a max of 175. At 37 my max HR should be 183, and I certainly felt it was my legs that failed me on this one, not my CV system. Combined with my 226th finish, my stats left me wanting a do-over with my new knowledge. But it’s my first race and not a bad place to start. Hungry for more is a good sign.
But wait, this isn’t over. The official results pop up on the Companion app and seem to filter out some bad apples, and I’m up to 215th. I check the list to see who won and this is where I start to realise that all is not as it seems. If we discount Mr Glitch, the race winner of the sub 2.5w/kg D race, averaged 5.34w/kg. This seems a tad unfair. Worse still, you have to drop to 104th position before you find anyone who kept within the prescribed wattage. I accept that some people may tip over the limit a little bit, but over double is quite annoying. The winner of the A race finished with a 5.4w/kg, albeit with a slightly faster time, but still not far ahead of the D race winner. Clearly trying to stick with this group early on negatively impacted my own race.
My finishing position in Zwift’s results
The “winners” of my D race
A race results (compare to D race times/power)
Time to head to ZwiftPower! That’s right, I’ve all the gear and no idea. But as Eric says, if it’s not on ZwiftPower it doesn’t count, and here’s hoping for 215 disqualifications and a champagne moment on the top of the podium as I’m presented with my blue D race jersey. Now I’m suddenly 44th place. New race winner was a Canadian rider who crossed the line in 40th in the game.
At first, I thought about how happy they must be to see that. But then I thought about how they were robbed of the feeling of crossing the line in first place. I understand Zwift is introducing new rules to prevent this behaviour, and it can’t come soon enough.
The new race winner held an average of 2.75w/kg. While this is over the race limits, it’s not much, and it seems achievable to me. I want to win a D race after all, so here is my plan:
Retest my FTP: I’ve not tested for a while and it would be good to know exactly where I am now.
Get fitter: I always knew this would be on the horizon, I need to start using workouts instead of free rides to push my FTP up. I did an FTP builder last November/December, but then I got married, Christmas happened, and I toured Italy on our honeymoon, so it’s probably all lost progress now.
Lose weight: I dropped 35kg a few years ago. I’m never going to be a 60kg climbing specialist, but if I can drop to 90kg that would make a big difference. Diet review needed.
Losing 10% weight +
Increase FTP 10% =
Increase w/kg 22%
100kg -> 90kg
200w -> 220w
2.0w/kg -> 2.44w/kg
This 2.44w/kg seems achievable and puts me right at the upper end of the D category. This is my first target, and if Eric will have me, I plan to document this journey in the hopes it helps any other Zwifters in my position.
I also really hope that Zwift sort the sandbagging features out for the D races. Without the disqualified riders, there were only 48 riders left in my race. I can’t help but think D race participation would increase if it was more fun and fair. I certainly wasn’t thrilled about the idea of doing another right away.
Final Thoughts
I’ve been around sports development long enough to know that the bottom of the sports pyramid is far bigger than the top. There are more amateur cyclists in the world than pro cyclists, and more slow ones than quick ones. And since we all pay the same per person, it makes sense to ensure that Zwift appeals to the slow one just as much as the quick ones. I think they already do this better than other platforms, with a gamified and social experience.
This is not to say that faster and pro riders are not welcome – all sports pyramids are funded by the masses on the blunt end, while the sharp end provides the expertise and inspiration to ensure the blunt end is supported and developed. I’m very grateful for the expert knowledge from the likes of Eric, GPLama, DC Rainmaker, and the aforementioned video by Kevin. And I was equally inspired by Monica’s route quest, and chances to ride with pros like Geraint, Alex, and Dan.
I’m looking forward to what’s coming next. I hope you’ll join me on the journey… from the blunt end!
Categories are an integral part of Zwift racing, and it would seem that the boundary lines are clearly spelled out on ZwiftPower, where race results are verified and finalized:
But after observing many Crit City races, and the social media traffic they generate, I think there’s an interesting rabbit hole we can travel down together to see how Zwift’s race categorization system could be improved.
ZwiftPower Categorization Primer
First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page in understanding how categorization actually works in all the Zwift races which are run through ZwiftPower.
Numbers from my ZP profile
Every ZwiftPower-registered rider has a category assigned to them based on their race history. This category is defined as the “average of best 3 races in last 90 days”. To be specific, this is 95% of your best 20-minute power, which is the formula commonly used to estimate FTP. We’ll call this your “FTP Wattage”.
Example: according to ZwiftPower, my strongest three races in the last 90 days had the following FTP wattage:
304watts / 3.68wkg
302watts / 3.67wkg
301watts / 3.62wkg
This means my average FTP wattage is 302w, or 3.65w/kg. This places me squarely in the B category, which is for anyone with an FTP wattage of at least 200w and 3.2w/kg, but under 4w/kg.
Two Key Conditions
ZwiftPower categorization as described above works decently well, but only if two conditions are met:
Everyone is signed up for ZwiftPower: currently, any Zwifter can join any race, even if they aren’t signed up for ZwiftPower. If they aren’t signed up with ZwiftPower, they won’t show in the final results there. But they can still dramatically affect the race! This is a major concern, but outside the scope of this article.
Everyone races in their proper category in the Zwift event: currently, Zwifters can race in whatever category they’d like. That means an A-level pro can ride in a D race and blow away the field, if they so choose. This is what we call “sandbagging”, and relates somewhat to the topic at hand.
What Is Your FTP?
So, we understand now that ZwiftPower automatically detects your FTP based on race efforts as described above. That FTP then determines your ZwiftPower race category, which determines the category(s) you can legally race.
But here’s the thing: the length of races you enter will directly impact your 20-minute power numbers. For example, think of how your 20-minute max power would probably look in a 2+ hour 100km race compared to an 8-lap Crit City race lasting ~22 minutes.
In long events, riders must race at an average wattage well below their FTP, since it’s impossible to hold your FTP power for 2+ hours. Conversely, riders would be expected to ride slightly above FTP in a max effort 20-minute event.
Clearly, ZwiftPower’s computed FTP is very much a function of race length. If I only race long events, my computed FTP will logically be lower than if I only race 20-minute events. Let’s keep heading down this rabbit hole…
Game-Changing Short Races
Short races appeared on Zwift years ago, when WBR began holding regular “sprint” events. But the shorter race format truly exploded in December 2019/January 2020, when Crit City was unveiled and 8-lap races made their way onto the daily calendar. Suddenly, thousands of racers (myself included) were taking part in much shorter races than before.
Most of my races were 50-70 minutes long, before Crit City arrived. Now many of my races are only 20 minutes long! For myself and other riders, the 8-lap Crit City race has become a sort of “fun FTP test”.
Has this changed my computed FTP on ZwiftPower? Absolutely. Because I can remember only one time in my Zwift racing history that I joined a race with the specific goal of going all-out for the first 20 minutes, to treat it like an FTP test. But when I take on Crit City races (especially an A-level race!) it can be a 20-minute max effort every time.
And so we arrive at my thesis statement: that many racers have seen their ZwiftPower-computed FTP increase due to their involvement in short Crit City races, and this has, in turn, forced them to upgrade to the next category.
Earth-shattering conclusion? Not exactly. And I don’t have access to the data required to prove my thesis. But it seems to be a very logical and rational conclusion, and if it’s true, it’s a “game-changer” – at least for those forced to upgrade.
Your Comments
If my thesis is true, then two identical riders might now be categorized differently, regardless of race results, simply because one chooses to race Crit City 8-lappers, while the other does not.
My thoughts on some of the shortcomings of the current categorization scheme have been explained in previous posts, and I think this example may illustrate some additional weaknesses. But I will leave this discussion to you, dear reader. Thanks for jumping down the rabbit hole with me today. Please share your thoughts below!
