Interview with ODZ race organizer Quan Nguyen

If you pay attention to Zwift group rides and races you have certainly seen those hosted by ODZ. They’re some of the most creative rides on the Zwift calendar: the Coffee Rides, Cat & Mouse, ODZentury, and a recent Game of Thrones-themed team race. 

Quan Nguyen is part of the ODZ group organizing these rides, and I chose to interview him because most of the other ODZ organizers like to remain anonymous. (Members of the group go by aliases including: Bond/James Bond, Baby Maker, Professor of everything Chamois cream, Le H4x0r, Lefty/Wannabe Pro, Numbers dude/Eye of Sauron, Sexy Secretary, El Chapo’s Fit Nephew, Pumpkin Patch Ging, Honey Badger, and Obligatory tri-guy.)

As you can see, the ODZ group has an excellent sense of humor and a creative flair for ride planning. Read on to learn more about Quan and ODZ!

Tell me a little about yourself–how long you’ve been riding, what sort of riding you do, when you discovered Zwift, where you live, etc.

I am an optometrist, husband, and father of a two year old. I live in Southern California where there is massive traffic in the mid day, and bro trucks will try to run you over. I started riding in 2005 working on old school road bikes, fixies, and finally made the switch to a Cannondale Caad 9 in 2010. In my past, I’ve participated in events such as the Wolfpack Marathon crash, El Dorado crits, but my favorite type of events are hilly 1 day road races like Boulevard and UCLA road race.

I first heard about Zwift in January 2015, which happened to be the same time that I bought a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine 2.0. It completely changed my life because I was finally able to work full time, train in the morning, and still have time for my family. I watched steadily as my wattage increased, and my HR was dropping. Everyday, I thank my wife for gifting me an avenue for getting in cycling without having to go outside.

How would you describe your philosophy as a race organizer? What is most important to you when organizing Zwift races?

I must add that I am just one of the many organizers of the ODZ rides. They wish to remain anonymous, but go along with several aliases. We have a co-founder and CEO, Bond/James Bond, Baby Maker, Professor of everything Chamois cream, Le H4x0r, Lefty/Wannabe Pro, Numbers dude/Eye of Sauron, Sexy Secretary, El Chapo’s Fit Nephew, Pumpkin Patch Ging, Honey Badger, and Obligatory tri-guy.

My personal philosophy is to challenge yourself, but in moderation so you can stay in the cycling game in the long run. Create a set of reasonable and flexible rules that like-minded people can follow. Have like-minded participants help you so you can control the chaos, because there will always be some sort of chaotic event in Zwift, just like in real races in real life.

As a whole, ODZ organizes races as a way to promote teamwork and develop members of Team ODZ. We want the C/D riders to count just as much as the A/B riders. Our A/B riders will sit on the start/finish line to cheer on the C/D riders at the end. Team ODZ also does a couple ODZentury rides during the week to develop endurance fitness. We have several variations depending on who is leading them, but there are quite a few 2.5 w/kg steady and 3.0 w/kg steady rides. These conversational “club rides”…..sometimes have a live gameshow thrown in!

What race(s) are you currently organizing on Zwift, and how long have you been doing them? What makes these races different than other Zwift races?

ODZ has been organizing the Coffee Rides, Cat & Mouse ride, ODZentury, and special events such as Star Wars and Game of Thrones. I believe the co-founders started with Coffee rides in August, and as we added regulars to the group, we thought of adding the other events to mix up training and provide options for riders in different time zones and abilities.

Coffee ride is our “Entry level” race for someone that is not familiar with ODZ racing to give it a try. The ride is pace controlled until the “expresso lap”, where anything goes. The Cat and Mouse ride uses rider segment times to “handicap” their start time based on segment time on Strava. You need to work as a group within your category to avoid being caught by the cat riders (A category)… it is very much like a group FTP test. We laugh on Teamspeak because the end of the race is very quiet because everyone is pushing their group so hard.

These races are a bit different from other groups because they’re not just individual time trials. Participants are beginning to get a feel for drafting, conservation of energy, and the added social aspect from TeamSpeak adds a huge benefit to “connecting” to our riders. We cheer each other on like real teammates/friends would in real life.

What suggestions would you give to someone interested in joining your races for the first time?

Show up to one of our coffee rides, and see what kind of pain you can dish out to some of our regular riders. After we recognize your name on Strava or Zwift, we will let you into our more exclusive ODZ group on Facebook where we plan special events, talk smack, etc.

If the folks at Zwift HQ could add one feature to Zwift to make your job easier, what would it be and why?

Personally, I would love to see a race module where one or more leaders can control timing, position, start/finish points, bonuses for KOM/sprint/lap jerseys. The current races have leaders who have labeled names (leader markers), and rely mainly on chatting (which can lag) or TeamSpeak (which not everyone utilizes). There is definitely room for innovation for group rides on Zwift.

ODZ would love to see a “Horse race” with starting gates that would allow the ride leader to release a category of riders at a time to start group event races. Neutral start races are tough because there is influence from other riders on course and folks get frustrated when there is a standing start race. Currently, race participants have a hard time latching onto their group because they can’t get into the draft of the target group.

Interview with ZTR-EB organizer James Gill

The ZTR races on Tuesdays and Thursdays have been the “cornerstone” races of Zwift for some time. James Gill runs the ZTR “Early Bird” (EB) race on Tuesdays at 1:30PM EST, and works with ZTR leader Christian Wiedmann on overall ZTR policies and procedures. As you’ll read below he stays busy between running the ZTR EB, other group rides, and his medical training.

James is another good example of a race organizer who continues to do a great job as a volunteer because he is passionate about what he does. He hails from Warwick in the UK.

Tell me a little about yourself–how long you’ve been riding, what sort of riding you do, when you discovered Zwift, where you live, etc.

I’ve been riding since medical school, so 2006. I started off in the rowing team, and would just cycle between the hospitals. One day I was riding and a friend passed me on his bikeg. I thought I’d stopped he was so fast, and for a chap who would hold 13-15kmph for an hour’s run, I didn’t like being beaten like that.

Next weekend, I found out why he was such much faster. He was on a race bike and I was on a third hand hybrid weighing at least twice as much. I went home with a Scott Sportster S60 and haven’t looked back since.

Although that said, if I ever find the person that stole that S60 from the hospital…

How would you describe your philosophy as a race organizer? What is most important to you when organizing Zwift races?

For race organising, my approach is about inclusivity. I’ve always resisted requests and calls for disqualification and other things when people shoot off or don’t stick to the race/ride guides.

From a ZTR point of view I like to see pack A groups, packed B groups even down to the D’s and E’s. Essentially the race is what you make of it. If you can hold 400watts and keep up with JT and F.Coppex great, but if you can’t, it’s about coming back every week, trying again, and hopefully beating the chap that pipped you to the line last time.

I’m VERY pro competition, and consider 2nd the first of the losers ?, but part of that is about giving it your all. The WWR (which I lead with other member of Team X) is a group ride, so that’s about keeping together and training. ZTR is about giving every last drop and collapsing in a heap on the floor after!

What race(s) are you currently organizing on Zwift, and how long have you been doing them? What makes these races different than other Zwift races?

I’ve been doing the ZTR since about March 2015 as part of my recovery from a bike crash.

I also get involved leading WWR, and the ARR, and later RSR, but I’ve got my medicine exit exam next month, so I’ve currently really trimmed back my involvement until after March 18th!

Those other rides are more group focused and look more to the training than flat out performance. When I lead those, I try to be very vocal, keeping the group together, and the riders on the ball. I’ve never known for certain if I give too much chat on the system, but never had any complaints.

What suggestions would you give to someone interested in joining your races for the first time?

Come back next week – simple as that. When I started Zwifting, I was the living dead at the end of a ZTR, but over weeks and months it gets better. Half of the time the challenge is with yourself: just because everyone gave you a kicking shouldn’t stop you. Work out what you need and try again, even if that means using a gel halfway through the race. You do improve, but only if you come back, and that day you hold onto a rival or even better beat them, then it all makes sense.

If the folks at Zwift HQ could add one feature to Zwift to make your job easier, what would it be and why?

• Timed starts, as in a big count down clock, and then the riders are off. No need for a neutral, which some people loathe, no issues with bikes moving around at the start. Lock down all the riders, everyone gets released at the same time, and off. Thankfully this is coming in the events module in a fashion.
• Leader identification – this is more important for neutrals or group rides with fixed/target paces. But again this is going to be addressed in the events module.

The Zwift community is an amazing bunch of people and I think it’s fair to say the beta release was pushed further than anyone had envisioned. The same thing WILL happen with the events module, from a personal side of things I’m darkly hoping it doesn’t get released until after my exam!!!!

Interview with Zwift Handicap Race (ZHR) race organizer Robert Baldi

From the perspective of the race organizers, the story of racing on Zwift is one of innovation, trial-by-error, and good old-fashioned elbow grease. This is certainly true for Robert Baldi, who has organized the innovative Zwift Handicap Race (ZHR) in an attempt to create a race where it’s possible for everyone to not only enter but even win. Read below to learn more about Robert as a person, as well as the motivations and philosophy behind the ZHR.

Tell me a little about yourself–how long you’ve been riding, what sort of riding you do, when you discovered Zwift, where you live, etc.

I have lived in London for 35 years now but I grew up near Florence in Tuscany, where cycling was a bigger sport than football (soccer). I’ve been riding since I can remember, always for pleasure but with a brief stint of competitive racing when I was in my late teens. Working life and the resulting lack of time meant that racing took a backseat to commuting 35kms a day and long weekend rides; the woeful state of competitive cycling in Britain at the time also didn’t help but I continued to take part in cyclosportives, running races and triathlons.

As I got older, I became more and more interested in sports science, particularly relating to endurance sports such as running and cycling. I discovered Spinning in 2000 and became an instructor soon after, taking that science to group training. I took voluntary redundancy when it was offered to me and I doubled my classes within a year to become a full-time instructor. That led me to become a personal trainer, a Wattbike coach, and an endurance sports coach.

I’ve always ridden almost exclusively outdoors but, when I used to race, I did have a go at training indoors on rollers but I didn’t like it and it felt like a chore. I much preferred riding outside even when there was snow on the ground. When I heard about Zwift through Jens Voigt in late 2014, I was dubious that it would do anything to change indoor training, given I had access to a Wattbike and that was sufficient. When the Mac version of Zwift was launched, I applied to be a Beta tester just to see what was getting Jensie so excited and I was hooked. I now barely look at the Wattbike’s computer, I use Zwift to gather the data for later analysis, and I much prefer indoor riding now for short rides than heading outside because it’s so much quicker to get ready and the time flies by when you’re riding in a group or racing against others.

How would you describe your philosophy as a race organizer? What is most important to you when organizing Zwift races?

When I started thinking of organizing races, there was a lot of heated discussion on the various Facebook groups about how people using zPower should be excluded from races or from official results because they were perceived to be cheating or riding with an inaccurate setup, even though some power-measuring devices can be just as inaccurate. I’ve always felt that Zwift, if anything, is more beneficial for those without power meters, as it is a great tool to bring them into the world of measurable training. Those with power meters could still achieve that measured training without the aid of Zwift and I felt that zPower users were being bullied somewhat.

The scheduled races at the time were also in a state of turmoil with arguments about rules, categorizations and people complaining that those not able to crank out 4+ W/Kg never stood a chance of winning anything. That was the catalyst for the opening of new races but the discussion went down the road of having to prove your FTP, using Bluetooth scales to verify your weight, enforced exclusion if a rider was too strong, etc. I saw this as anathema to the philosophy of cycling in general and of Zwift in particular.

After talking to members of Team dZi at a cycling weekend over a couple of bottles of Tuscany’s finest wines, I decided to organize a race where it mattered not whether one had a power meter or whether they were Cat A neo-pros or Cat D fighters, and to make it as accessible as possible for everyone to not only enter but also to win, without the need to jump through various hoops to be “allowed” to be at the start line.

What race(s) are you currently organizing on Zwift, and how long have you been doing them? What makes these races different than other Zwift races?

I currently organize the Zwift Handicap Race (ZHR) every Sunday at 18:00 GMT where all riders are given a time handicap according to their previous performances so that everyone has a chance to win. The slowest rider (the “Limit”) will set off first; the quickest rider (“Scratch”) chases everyone down; I set riders off at timed intervals but I post in advance a list of start times so that everyone knows their slot and can use a countdown timer to help them.

The handicaps work so that, in theory, everyone arrives at the finish line more or less at the same time, whatever your ability or FTP. There are two main winners in this event: the first across the line and the fastest time overall. I also mention other riders, especially those who have improve their PBs (personal bests).

I’m currently looking at running the ZHR in another timeslot, one more suited to those in the Australian and Asian timezones. I also have ideas for other types of races and group rides but I’m waiting for Zwift HQ’s next update before committing myself to one of them. I may decide to keep it simple and run a ZHR-type event on the soon-to-be-released Watopia mountain route.

What suggestions would you give to someone interested in joining your races for the first time?

Try it, at least once! It will help if you’ve ridden and have a PB for the three laps of Watopia Hills in Reverse but it’s not necessary, as I can estimate a handicap and a start time accordingly. It is essentially a time trial but the thrill of the chase (and being hunted!) brings out the best in everyone, both competitively during the race and with a bit of banter on our ZHR Facebook Group.

If you’ve never raced like this before, don’t get too excited at the start! A negative split, where a rider is faster each lap, is better than going too hard at the beginning and paying for it later. The key is making a measured, sustainable effort that will have you closing in on your “prey” on the final lap, giving you something in reserve to attack the last climb. We’ve had sprint finishes and even a dead heat, with most riders finishing within a two minute window.

If the folks at Zwift HQ could add one feature to Zwift to make your job easier, what would it be and why?

A clock! I know the holding pen is coming at the beginning of March, with an event countdown, but a simple in-game (accurate) clock would be great; better would be a countdown timer that can be set by each rider. The ideal would be a UCI official counting down each rider with hand signals: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO.

But, whatever they decide to give us, I’m sure we will adapt and use to our best advantage to make Zwift and even better experience!