AHDR began as the “Aussie Hump Day Ride” and quickly grew to be the most popular weekly ride on Zwift. Today, AHDR’s selfless group of leaders facilitates several rides each week.
But today is the start of an important and special ride effort. AHDR is calling it the “Australian Bush Fire Appeal”. Here’s what leader Tim Searle told me about the Zwiftathon:
Having seen the impact the current Bush Fire Crisis is having on Australia firsthand for the three months leading up to Christmas I was hoping that the situation would ease and the fires would not spread. Unfortunately this has not proved to be the case.
Our country is on fire, with every State and Territory now impacted by bushfires. We rely on volunteer firefighters through these events, some of whom have been out day after day for months.
The bushfires not only impact humans though, the toll on our wildlife has been catastrophic, and again we rely on volunteers to care for the injured.
We as cyclists have a natural affinity to help people whenever we can. I felt that we could do something to help, and what better way than a Zwiftathon ride to help raise some much-needed funds for the Rural Fire Service that are fighting so hard to protect us, and to the RSPCA who are doing what they can for our decimated wildlife.
Join us this Saturday 11/1 from 6.15AM AEDT for a day of fundraising to help support some of these volunteers.
Schedule
This is a 12-hour Zwiftathon which begins with the “AHDR Fab Roll” event starting 6:15am AEDT Saturday, Jan 11. (In other time zones that is 11:15am PST/7:15pm GMT Friday, Jan 10th). This is a 2-hour ride rolling at 2.5-3w/kg on Watopia’s “Out and Back Again” route.
The idea here is that riders will reach out to their networks of family and friends, seeking donations as the riders put in long ride efforts. You may also simply donate funds yourself.
AHDR’s goal is to raise $50k in this effort. That’s $25k for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and $25k for Rural Fire Service (RFS).
Tour de Zwift 2020 Pro-Am Invitational Race Series Details
Tour de Zwift 2020 is shaping up to be the biggest, most exciting series of Zwift events in history. The group rides will be gigantic and fun as always, but the biggest news of this tour is Zwift is running races alongside the typical TdZ group rides.
And it’s not just open, categorized community races being held. Zwift has also organized a Pro-Am Invitational Race Series where each stage’s world will be raced by top pros and amateurs the day before the stage opens for the rest of the Zwift community.
Schedule
The Pro-Am Series races will happen at 11am PST/7pm GMT the day before each new stage begins. There will men’s races and women’s races alternatively between each stage.
Here are the rules in the event description for the first race of the series:
NAME FORMAT
Racer’s team name must be placed in square brackets after the racer’s last name and can be entered into the last name field in-game. For instance, Mary Wilkinson racing for Team Turbo may use the name M. Wilkinson [TRBO] or Mary Wilkinson [TRBO]. Riders who do not use this format will be disqualified.
TEAM KIT
It is mandatory to race in your team kit. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.
Zwift National Champion kits are not allowed. All riders must race in their team kit.
Time trial helmets are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Time Trial helmet.
BICYCLES // WHEELS
Zwift concept bicycles (aka “Tron” bicycle) are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Zwift concept bicycle.
Time Trial bicycles are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Time Trial bicycle.
Disc wheels are not allowed. Disqualification for using a disc wheel.
Zwift Insider’s Comments about the Rules
The most interesting rules in the list above are those restricting the use of certain bikes, wheels, and helmets. Most of those rules simply prevent riders from using equipment normally seen only in TT events: disc wheels, TT helmets, and TT frames.
The TT helmets, in our tests, haven’t impacted speed at all. But the disc wheels certainly do, with the Zipp 858/Super9 wheelset being the fastest wheelset on Zwift for flat/rolling routes, and the Zipp 808/Super9 being the second-fastest.
The TT frames, likewise, are more aero than standard road frames, and thus faster in a solo effort. But they don’t let you draft, so winning in a Pro-Am race with a TT frame is going to be challenging.
It’s possible some of these rules (the TT helmet rule especially) are because of the optics: that is, it just looks silly to have someone wearing a TT helmet (or using a disc wheel, or riding on TT bars) in a road race.
Eliminating the Tron makes sense as well, since the only way to keep pace with a Tron bike on flat races is with one of the fastest frames coupled with a disc wheelset.
The net effect of these rules is to level the playing field significantly in terms of virtual equipment. The fastest setups available for flat races under these rules will use one of these frames:
Specialized Venge S-Works (level 33+)
Felt AR (level 34+)
Cervelo S5 (level 25+)
Trek Madone (level 20+)
Coupled with one of the fastest wheelsets:
Zipp 858 (level 37+)
ENVE SES 7.8 (level 39+)
ENVE SES 8.9 (level 31+)
Zipp 808 (level 13+)
The 4 frames listed turn in essentially the same times on our flat tests. The 4 wheelsets listed are separated by only 4 seconds on a ~50 minute flat test.
Any Zwift racer worth their chamois should be at a high enough level (20+) to access a fast setup, so no racers will be at a significant disadvantage due to their virtual bike.
Scoring
The Pro-Am Series isn’t just about who crosses the finish line first. It includes a points-based team and individual competition which includes sprint and K/QOM arches.
Here’s how the scoring works:
First 20 riders score points at the finish. Points are awarded as follows: 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
First 10 riders score points at each K/QOM and Sprint arch. Points are awarded as follows: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Teams
This is an invitation-only race, so Zwift has reached out to amateur and pro teams. Here are the women’s teams who participated in the Jan 19th race:
Zwift’s latest update included a new bike frame: the “Ribble Endurance”. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:
With its impeccable performance and versatility, the Ribble Endurance SL R series can be fine-tuned for riders of all levels of experience and ability. This high-performance frameset is superlight and the truncated aerofoil profile of the tubes makes it both the lightest and one of the fastest packages available.
Sounds pretty snazzy. And at a cost of 390,500 Drops it’s one of the more affordable frames in the Shop, plus it’s available at level 7+ so it’s quite accessible. But how does it perform?
Performance
The Ribble Endurance is rated 3 stars for weight and 3 stars for aero by Zwift, meaning it’s not going to be a top performer on the flats or the climbs.
That said, it performs quite well where aero matters: on flat/rolling courses.
Comparisons
The Ribble Endurance turns in times within 1-2 seconds of the Zwift Aero frame on our climb and flat tests. To be specific, the Endurance is 2 seconds faster up the Alpe, and 1 second slower on the flat test.
The Zwift Aero frame is a bit cheaper (319,500) and unlocked at level 6.
Zwift Aero taking on the Alpe
Newbies, Take Note
While it won’t make our shortlist of fastest frames for flat races, the Endurance is only 5 seconds behind the last bike on that list, which is great considering you can get it as a level 7 Zwifter.
If you’re just getting started on Zwift and want a zippy racing rig for flat/hilly routes, the Ribble Endurance or Zwift Aero are your two best options until you get to level 13 where you can buy the Cervelo S3D, or level 14 with the Specialized Allez Sprint.
Custom Colors
The Endurance also includes a color slider, which not all frames in the Drop Shop support. This lets you dial in the look to just what you want.
Your Thoughts
Have you tried the Ribble Endurance yet, indoors or out? What did you think? Share your thoughts below!
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
With 284 Zwift races under my belt, you could say I’m pretty experienced. What has all that experience taught me? Quite a bit, really. Mostly the same things over and over again. I’m not a climber. I’ve got a decent sprint, but can’t attack and stay away to save my life. I can dig deeper than my mind says.
But today I want to talk about one race that stands out as a wholly unique experience against the background of my other 283 races: the DADurday Chase Race of November 23, 2019.
DADurday: an Introduction
The DIRT DADurday Chase Race is one of Zwift’s most popular weekly handicap races. (Not sure what a “handicap race” is? Read the beginning of this post.) Held on Saturdays in two different time slots, these events have become legendary for pushing riders to their limit as they work with their category for most of the race, then go all-in for the finish.
It was Saturday, which is my long ride day, so my goal was to get a hard race effort in, followed by some additional miles on tired legs to really push the fatigue.
So I began with my typical pre-race ritual: a piece of caffeine gum and some PR lotion on the legs. Hopped on early and put in ~8 miles to warm up, then headed over to NYC for the 6:45am DADurday. Seven laps of NYC’s LaGuardia Loop–this was going to be a short race!
I checked the rider list in Zwift Companion before the race began, and noticed one name I recognized in the A group: Ben Swift. British National Road Race champion. Team Ineos rider. Yes, that Ben Swift.
We were going to have our work cut out for us in the B’s…
The Undeserving Beacon
Months ago I’d been asked by DIRT organizers if I could be a leader for the DADurday B’s on the weeks I showed up. I said yes–and promptly neglected to show up. (The problem is, I really enjoy the P Race, which begins 15 minutes after DADurday…)
I’m still on the leader list even though I’ve only raced a few DADurdays–so when I popped into the start pin, there was the leader beacon above my head. It screamed “Follow me, I’ll lead you to glory!” when in fact I had no idea if I’d even be able to hang with the front group, let alone wisely direct the group on its optimal pacing.
Oh well–it is what it is! Let’s race.
The Start
Early in every chase race, someone always asks, “What’s our target pace?”
I never know how to answer. Our goal is simple: to catch the C’s and D’s ahead of us, and stay away from the A’s behind. But the pace? I have no idea what pace is required in order to achieve that goal. Nobody does!
So I usually say something like, “4 w/kg+ if you’re on the front. Then sit in the pack to recover.” But really what that means is, go as hard as you can. Get on the front and hammer to pull the group along, then recover in the draft a bit, then hammer again. And if you really want to be a team player, use your aero powerup off the front to pull the group extra fast!
Unlike a typical Zwift race, chase races start more gently, since everyone knows the group has to stay together to stand a chance at winning. So that’s how we started–a tame but solid ramp up to race speed (~28mph), where we would sit for the rest of the event.
The Middle
Here’s the tricky thing about chase races: it’s hard to keep tabs on the other groups from within Zwift. I already talked about pacing a bit above, but here’s my more detailed pacing strategy for chase races: give only what is required to catch the riders ahead, while staying away from the chasers. Because you’ll need everything you’ve got left for the final sprint if you make it to the front pack.
With this strategy in mind, it becomes obvious that knowing the positions of the other categories is really helpful. But the only way to do that reliably is by having ZwiftPower’s Live event results up on another screen–and I hadn’t done that.
I told you I was a bad beacon!
So this is where things got messy. On a long route it’s easier to spot groups on the map and see who’s ahead and by how far. But on a 1.7 mile LaGuardia loop, things get confusing really quickly. I was leading the B riders, and while we could see some clusters of D and C riders ahead, it was hard to figure out where the front of the race was. Was that the front group? Or maybe it’s that one?
And the A’s were gaining ground, but it was hard to figure out just how quickly. I imagined Ben Swift on the front of the peloton, just smashing it.
The Case of the Missing A’s
As we entered the final lap, we passed what I thought was the leading C group. Then we passed what I thought was the lead D group.
Behind us I could see some A’s chasing. Very close. Or was it just one A? Hard to tell, but just when I thought we’d get caught by the A riders, they seemed to slow down and hang with the group behind my hard-charging B squad.
That was odd. Typically at this point in the race, the B’s are tired and the A’s have the stamina to blow through the pack and keep charging.
To this day, I’m still not sure what happened to those A riders. But I have a theory: I think Ben was pulling a small group of A’s, but he didn’t want to contend for the overall win. That’s a non-uncommon pro move in low-level Zwift and outdoor races, because a pro rider basically has two options in these situations:
Fight for the win and possibly lose. Losing looks really bad if you’re the only pro on course. And sometimes, winning against a bunch of amateurs looks worse!
Sit up at the end and let others fight it out. You get a good workout, and everyone knows you weren’t really trying to win, so your reputation doesn’t suffer in any way.
It’s also possible that he and/or some of the other A’s, unlike myself, realized the A’s didn’t stand a chance of being in the mix for the overall podium, so they all sat up.
The Finish
Whatever the reason, in the end it was my pack of 18 B’s (we started with 49) going all-out up the final kicker and into the downhill sprint finish. Every man for himself!
The powerup gods had smiled upon me with an aero helmet, so I popped that and gave it all I had. Which wasn’t much. But it was enough for 3rd place in the B’s:
The Hammer Drops
I headed over to ZwiftPower to check results, and that’s where I got the bad news: we never caught the front of the race.
Oops. Who gave this guy the leader beacon, anyway?
Yes, according to ZwiftPower, 12 D’s and 7 C’s had finished ahead of our B group. Well ahead, in fact: David Ramsey, a D who took the overall first place, finished 3 minutes and 37 seconds ahead!
Without attacking anyone personally, I want to discuss how this race perfectly spotlights the way sandbaggers (riders who race in a lower category than they should) have made a shambles of chase race results on Zwift.
For chase races to work, categories must be separated by time gaps which allow the categories to come together near the very end of the race, so everyone is sprinting together for the win. It doesn’t always work out perfectly (setting those gaps can be a challenge!), but experienced race organizers have it figured out pretty well at this point.
In our case, the B’s started 8 minutes behind the D group and 3 minutes behind the C group. In the end, ZwiftPower shows the front D’s finishing 3:37 ahead of us, while the front C’s finished 1:17 ahead.
But ZwiftPower doesn’t tell the whole story.
A look at the results in Zwift Companion shows that the C and D groups were stuffed full of sandbaggers. Here are screenshots of the top finishers in each category, with names crossed out if the rider was DQ’d or not signed up for ZwiftPower (remember, I said no personal attacks).
(The red X denotes obvious sandbaggers–those who exceeded category limits by 0.3w/kg or more.)
Crazy, right? 5 of the top 10 C’s were sandbagging. And 8 of the top 10 D’s!
What this means is, the C and D groups were pulled along at much higher speeds than they should have been, because riders in those groups were putting out efforts above C and D levels. This basically made it impossible for the B and A riders to catch the front of the race.
The solution to this problem is for Zwift to figure out a workable system that places riders in the correct category when signing up. I’ve written more about this in my “Enforcing Race Categories” series.
Obviously this doesn’t diminish the results of the legit C’s and D’s who took the win. I say chapeau to them! Again, I just think it’s worth highlighting how sandbagging affects chase races.
Interestingly, the B’s had no obvious sandbaggers in the group. And the A’s? Well… look who took the win:
Nice work, Mr. Swift! In the end, Ben completed the race 26 seconds faster than me. But since the A’s started 1 minute after the B’s, we finished ahead of him.
My main takeaway for this race is simply that I need to use ZwiftPower’s live feed in future chase races, especially those on smaller loops, and especially DADurday races where I’ve got the leader beacon.
This will let me easily see where the other categories are in relation to mine, so I can decide if I want to go faster, or conserve energy for the finish.
Your Thoughts
Ever beat a pro in a Zwift race? Enjoyed a solid DADurday, ZHR, or Lamb Chop chase effort? Share your thoughts below!
Last year on January 8th, 2019 Zwift recorded a new personal best: 13,064 active Zwifters. The previous year’s record was somewhere in the 8,500 range.
Today we hit a new high, just confirmed by Zwift HQ: 14,812 concurrent users on Zwift!
Typically the weekly high traffic points are on Tuesdays around 11am PST, and that’s exactly when we saw today’s traffic spike. Of course, this is also the busiest time of Zwift’s year, with much of the northern hemisphere dealing with cold temperatures, poor weather, and shortened daylight hours.
But next week kicks off Tour de Zwift, where we’ll see thousands of riders signing up for each event. Our guess is next week’s number will blow away this week’s.
Care to Make a Bet?
Zwiftcast hosts Simon, Nathan, and Shane have been wagering on what the winter season’s high point will be, and they’ve invited some guests to place their bets as well. What do you think? What will be this season’s “peak Zwift”? Here are the current guesses:
DC Rainmaker: 21,000
Nathan Guerra: 20,000
Eric Schlange: 18,289
Simon Schofield: 18,000
Shane Miller: 16,666
More Numbers
Obviously, there are better stats to track Zwift’s growth than “Peak Zwift”. We would love to see some numbers like:
Total number of Zwifting hours over a specific period
Number of unique Zwifters who were active over a specific period
Number of active subscribers
And of course, Zwift has all this data. But we’re not sure they would want it publicized! We’ll reach out and see if we can get more numbers, though.
This isn’t an exciting post about Zwift, but it’s worth mentioning since it affects the Zwift Insider site in a big way.
Around two weeks ago, we moved to an improved commenting system for Zwift Insider posts.
For the nerds who want to know: our old system used Jetpack, which was an improvement over WordPress’ rather weak built-in system. But it was still far from ideal, with the most annoying problem being that visitors would attempt to reply to a particular comment, but end up commenting on the main post.
Our new system uses wpDiscuz, and we’re pretty stoked on its features and functionality. Some of the upgrades wpDiscuz delivers are:
AJAX-enabled commenting, so the page isn’t refreshed each time you comment
Improved interface for more intuitive commenting
Faster load times
No more comment count bug, where the newest comment was often not shown on the page (that was a fun one!)
Voting: give comments a thumbs up or down to show your approval
Easy comment moderating on the front end (nice for us admins)
User and comment tagging: use @user or #comment-id to reference a particular person or comment in your comment. They will be notified via email of your comment.
Emoticons: need a smilie? We’ve got smilies.
We’ve already seen an uptick in user comments since the rollout, and have received only positive feedback from visitors. This is a big win in our book, because it’s the community’s comments that really make our posts come to life. And it’s your feedback and questions that help us choose which posts to write next!
So thanks, everyone, for joining in the discussion. Write on!
The “Fake Exit” Hack: See Average Watts, TSS, and more Mid-Ride
Cyclists are a data-hungry bunch, and with Zwift we have more numbers in front of us than ever before! But some Zwifters want more metrics than the in-game display shows. Numbers like:
Average power
TSS
Calories burned
etc…
And while we can hit “G” to get a power and heartrate graph while we ride, what if we could access additional useful graphs or maps? Perhaps:
Power curve
A map showing the route ridden
HR distribution
etc…
Here’s how to access these numbers and graphs mid-ride.
More Details
The Fake Exit hack works just how it says: you pretend to end your ride, without actually ending it. To do this, just click Menu>End Ride while riding. This brings up your ride summary screen which shows some handy metrics in addition to an animated map of your ride and a list of Zwifters who interacted with you.
Click “Timeline” or “Critical Power” at the top to access additional charts and show your TSS.
Read to get back to your ride? If you have a keyboard, hit your Esc key, then the “Back” button. All other devices will need to hit the “OK” button, then tap the Back arrow, then hit the Back button.
Here is a complete list of metrics and charts available via the Fake Exit hack:
Average wattage
TSS
Pizza slice count
Calories burned
Ride On count
List of riders who gave you a ride on (with quick link to follow that rider)
List of riders who rode with you (with quick link to follow that rider)
Power distribution graph
Heart rate distribution graph
Critical Power Curve
Here are the screens you can access with a fake exit:
Using Your Bike Computer
It may seem odd to use your bike computer while Zwifting, but many riders use their Garmin, Elemnt, etc to track metrics like average power, normalized power, calories, etc.
Quality bike computers allow you to modify your displays to almost an infinite degree, giving you access to the specific data views you find most useful. If you’re wanting to easily see specific numbers Zwift doesn’t provide, this may be an even better approach than the Fake Exit hack.
What About You?
Do you find yourself wanting more data while Zwifting? What solutions have you used to access to the numbers you seek? Share below!
15 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Riding on Zwift
Like any worthwhile endeavor, Zwift has a learning curve. Even experienced cyclists will find they have new equipment to set up and software settings to understand. Less experienced cyclists have even more to learn, as they must also wrap their minds around new training terms, group ride etiquette, and more.
Here’s our first in a series of posts with real tips from real Zwifters. Thanks to the Zwift Riders Facebook group for supplying their best tips!
Get a fan with a remote control or voice-activated start. Trust me.
Christina Json
We like wifi power strips which allow you to turn each socket on and off from a phone app. Here’s one we recommend.
Always always check for an update before you do a group ride or suffer maybe not being able to see chat, be sent on a completely different route from everyone else, or get kicked out of the ride.
Christina Json
Running an outdated version of Zwift can lead to unpredictable behavior. PC & Mac users typically get updates installed automatically, but iOS or Android users may want to check for updates just to be safe. Learn more about updating Zwift from this post on their blog >
How to turn off the blurry vision mode for workouts and turn on the power and heart rate graph.
Michael Flanagan
The blurry vision mode is under Menu>Settings>Workout Pain Effect. Power/HR graph can be enabled by hitting “G” on the keyboard, or clicking in the middle-bottom of your screen and clicking the graph icon.
To sign up for the Everest challenge right away. I rode for over a year with no challenge selected.
Greg Johnson
If we had a nickel for every time we’ve heard a Zwifter lamenting their lost elevation! Entering the Everest Challenge is smart, because completing that challenge is a necessary first step toward unlocking the Tron bike.
How to give out the mega-thumbs up in the Companion App. I rely on Zwift heavily for the social aspect, and that’s the easiest way possible to show support for other riders.
I wish I hadn’t taken so long to realize that I didn’t just have to start riding in Watopia or Guest Worlds without choosing one of the many available Route options. Guided exploring of where I go (and completing route badges) is so much more satisfying than just riding somewhat aimlessly as a noob. Select a Route and go!
Jeffrey Cory
Many new Zwifters don’t grasp the guest world setup and/or their ability to select a route. Poke around on the main join screen (the one you see just before beginning your activity) and learn how to select which world and route you’ll be riding!
Use 3 second average power.
Erik Wolfe
This option is under Menu>Power Display. It doesn’t change your power numbers at all (that’s up to your legs!) but displays your power averages across 3 seconds, instead of instantaneous numbers. This provides a more stable and useful number since instantaneous power will jump all over the place.
zwifthacks.com will show you if a ride has the fence, late join, and other super useful information.
Christina Json
There are actually several tools for browsing Zwift events and filtering/searching them to find just what you want. ZwiftHacks is one of our favorites, but read “6 Tools for Finding Your Perfect Zwift Event” for more tips!
I wish I had known how insanely corrosive sweat was.
With the Northern Hemisphere winter in full force, we’re seeing lots of new Zwifters on course. Many have little or no experience riding with power–that is, measuring wattage output and understanding how watts affect speed in solo and group ride situations.
Fortunately, Zwift behaves very much like the real world in terms of physics, so any understanding you may have of outdoor cycling physics will translate to Zwift, and any additional understanding you may gain from Zwifting will transfer outside.
One common question people ask, especially in race situations, is “Why am I getting beat by people who are putting out lower watts per kilogram?”
There are several answers to this question, but first make sure you understand how Zwift is calculating your speed. Secondly, understand that watts per kilogram (w/kg), or power to weight ratio, is your current wattage (the power you’re putting into the pedals) divided by your body weight in kilograms.
Example: I weigh 84kg, so if I’m putting out 300 watts my w/kg is 300/84=3.57
Now, back to the question. Here are the two top reasons why you’re getting beat by people who are putting out lower watts per kilogram.
#1: You Aren’t Staying in the Draft
Drafting in Zwift results in a power savings of approximately 25% (more in large groups or with double draft.) In other words, all other things being equal, a drafting rider only needs to put out 75% of the power a non-drafting rider is putting out to maintain the same speed.
If you’re “in the wind” on the front or off the back of a group, you will need to hold much more power than those who are drafting.
Tools like kreuzotter.de’s calculator can give you good numbers here which reflect outdoor and Zwift physics quite well.
Example from kreuzotter.de: a 75kg rider holding 225 watts will travel at 35kph. Another 75kg rider will be able to hold their wheel putting out 25% less power, or 169 watts.
Note: you cannot draft in Zwift on a TT frame. Others may draft behind you, but you will not receive any draft benefit.
Watts per kilogram is a good pace metric for climbs, where gravity is the main thing slowing you down. But pure wattage is a better metric for flat roads because once you get moving on the flat your speed is mostly determined by wind resistance and your wattage.
Because of this, when we take drafting out of the equation on a flat course, a heavier rider will always be faster than a light rider when both are doing the same w/kg–because the heavier rider is putting out more watts. This is true outdoors as well.
Example from kreuzotter.de: a 60kg rider and a 80kg rider both hold 4w/kg on flat ground. How fast are they traveling?
60kg rider holding 240 watts travels at 37kph
80kg rider holding 320 watts travels at 39.5kph
The 60kg rider would need to hold 288 watts (4.8w/kg) in order to keep up with the 80kg rider, if drafting isn’t taken into the equation.
The One-Two Punch
Where things really get tough is when #1 and #2 above both apply to you. If you’re a lighter rider who gets dropped from the pack on a flat course, you’ll have to hold a much higher w/kg than the group in order to catch that group again!
Here’s a simplified example with numbers pulled from kreuzotter.de’s calculator: let’s say you are a 60kg rider racing in a pack being pulled by a 90kg rider who is putting out 360w (4w/kg). The pack would be traveling at 40.6kph. Since you are drafting, you only need to put out 75% of the 312w it would take you to travel that same speed solo. That’s 234w, which is 3.9w/kg. Don’t miss this!Just to maintain your position in the draft your w/kg must basically match the heavier rider who is pulling in the wind.
Then if you get dropped and lose the draft’s 25% power savings, you’ll need to put out 312w just to keep pace with the group. That’s a whopping 5.2w/kg, while the guy pulling in the pack is still just doing 4w/kg. Couple this with the fact that others in the group can rotate through and take pulls so everyone stays fresh, and you’re going to have a very hard time catching the pack in this situation!
The Takeaway
Just like riding outdoors, lighter riders will be challenged to keep up with heavier, more powerful riders on flat courses. Stay in the draft to conserve energy so you can use it when it counts. And remember: you’ll get ’em in the hills!
Zwift has just rolled out the first events in the new women’s “PowerUp” group workout series.
For 12 weeks, Olympic gold medalists Kristin Armstrong and Dani Rowe will bring key workouts they’ve used throughout their careers to Zwifters around the world.
Each week’s workout will be offered at several time zones throughout the week, with Kristin and Dani joining live twice a month.
Most of the events are for ladies only, but there are some unisex events mixed in.
Who’s Kristin?
Kristin Armstrong is the most decorated U.S. women’s cyclist of all time and the best time-trialist in sports history. A three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time World Champ, Armstrong is the only female athlete to win the same event in three consecutive Olympic Summer Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016).
These days, she’s in Boise, Idaho, where she’s started a business called PIVOT Lifestyle + Fitness that focuses on health and fitness. And, some days, she pops into the Zwift studio to offer insight with the PowerUp Cycling Podcast.
Who’s Dani?
As a three-time World Champion, two-time European Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and the World Record holder for the 3km Team Pursuit, Dani Rowe (nee King) was an absolute legend in the saddle.
In 2018, at age 28, Rowe retired from professional cycling, and now spends her time working with sponsors, partners, and making media appearances. And that’s not even getting into her very own coaching business, Rowe and King. Like Kristin, some days she pops into the Zwift studio to offer insight with the PowerUp Cycling Podcast.
