Last week’s Tiny Races returned with a bang on 4 flatter routes, which kept the competition tight. Many of the overall winners (below) only won by a margin of 5-10 points, which could have been changed by finishing just one place lower in a single race!
We’ve got another themed week this time around, with four dirty courses on the docket. We’re also testing the latest version of Zwift’s new Pack Dynamics, so be prepared for the races to “feel” a bit different than a standard Zwift race.
Last Week’s Results
Overall Winners
A: J Bruhn (NeXT pb Enshored)
B: Lee Warburton
C: Adam Woby (ZSUNR)
D: Richard Johnston (WTF)
A: Joe Chudyk (Turbo)
B: Rainer Beckers (WattFabrik)
C: David Hivey (ART)
D: PapaBroda
A: Daniel Erman (AHDR)
B: Sam Atkinson (TBR)
C: Craig Olman
D: Andrew Milling (EVO)
Women’s Winners
A: Florence Nakaggwa (MASAKA)*
B: Mikiton Nakaji (EVO)
C: Kirsty Kennedy (HERD)
D: Manon Holtman (HERD)
A: none
B: Amanda Wendorff (IRACELIKEAGIRL)
C: Donna Watts (S4W SBR)
D: Linn Björgvik (SZR)
A: none
B: Kinsey Remien (ATP)
C: Vanessa Curtis (IOWA)
D: Lee Darling (BRT)
*Florence: we need you to verify your power numbers, otherwise you may be disqualified from future Tiny Race events. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
This Week: New Pack Dynamics!
Zwift rolled out phase 3 of Pack Dynamics 4 in late January, and it has been tested in various races and group rides over the past month. This weekend we’ll use it in the Tiny Races, with the goal of letting hundreds of racers experience the latest iteration of Pack Dynamics, so you all can provide feedback to Zwift on this forum topic.
(Feel free to comment on this post after your race, and share your thoughts on the new Pack Dynamics.)
This Week’s Route(s): The Dirt Hurt
Each race this week features one or more key dirt sections. This does not mean you should use a gravel bike for every race. You’ll need to check out the routes and make the best decision for you!
- Race 1: Mech Isle Loop (4km, 1 lap)
The shortest Makuri Island route makes for a great short race with its climb section and mixture of dirt and paved roads. What bike will you use?- Powerup: none
- Race 2: Valley to Mountaintop (3.5km, ends at Temple entrance partway up KOM)
This route’s key climbs are dirt, beginning with the beautiful Golden Forest which will stretch the pack out and create gaps, then ending partway up the Temple KOM after a bit of pavement in between.- Powerup: none
- Race 3: Beach Island Loop (6.166km, ends at JWB Sprint)
This will be a wild finish! Everything will kick off when we hurt the Dirty Sorpressa snaking up to the Italian Villas. But wait – you’ve got some cobbled road following the Sorpressa, plus the JWB Sprint! Where do you use your powerup? Where do you attack?- Powerup: Aero Boost
- Race 4: Jungle Circuit Reverse (6.289km, ends at Jungle Arch)
This mostly downhill race covers just the lead-in of the Jungle Circuit Reverse route, which includes the rope bridge.- Powerup: none
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces
ZwiftPower Results
Zwift displays preliminary race results in game when you cross the line, but points are computed after all four races are finished, with final results on ZwiftPower. (We have to do some data processing on our side to compute results, so if your rankings don’t show up right away, be patient.)
Riders will earn points based on finish position in each of the 4 Tiny Races. The category winner of each week’s series is the rider with the most points across their timezone’s 4 races. Here are the links for each timezone’s results on ZwiftPower:
- Zone 1 (9am GMT/4am EST/1am PST)
- Zone 2 (3pm GMT/10am EST/7am PST)
- Zone 3 (9pm GMT/4pm EST/1pm PST/Sunday 8am AEDT)
Rules
Tiny Race rules are simple. Four races, four rules:
- You must have a ZwiftPower account, because final results are processed by ZwiftPower (learn how to sign up)
- No skipping then returning. These races are meant to be raced as a set of 4. If you need to leave early, that’s fine… but once you miss a race in your hour’s set of 4, don’t come back and race another or you’ll be disqualified from that race since you rested while others were racing! (Example: racing only races 1 and 2 is fine. Racing 1, 2, and 4 is not – you will be DQ from race 4. And if you race 2, 3, and 4, you’ll be DQ from all those races, since you skipped race 1!)
- Heart rate monitors are required for podium finishers
- ZPower/Virtual power is not allowed. Smart trainer/smart bike or power meter required.
Join a Chat & Chill Cooldown
Immediately following each hour’s racing, we’ve scheduled 30-minute “Chat & Chill” events where riders from all categories can spin their legs together and chat about how it all went down. Find them at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces.
Questions or Comments
Post below!
After a quick read, I’m a bit torn…
These races will be my first experience of PD4, trying to evaluate PD4 while racers will be split between road and gravel bikes, has the potential for a really messy race weekend and poor PD4 feedback.
Eric, my instinct is to ask you to consider forcing specific frames and wheels for each race.💡
good call … the multiple gravel sections and the riders’ different frame choices will change the “normal” race feeling so much that it’s nearly impossible to give a fair feedback to the PD4 … I think it would make more sense to test this on flat or slightly undulating tarmac routes
I agree – changing surfaces and a mix of bikes means you have no idea how this would feel normally, so evaluating PD4 in these races is not possible. It might be an extra factor to make for some unpredictable results, but there will be no usable feedback for the PD4-team.
I’m not buying Daniel Erman (AHDR) 940 watts for 1 min here: https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=3507587
His trainer either needs adjustment, or he’s setting a world record.
LOL! With age cometh power!
Fair and legitimate racing on Zwift is dead and long gone. May as well mess with your trainer and fudge your weight because everyone else is at this point. Fast is fun! RIDE ON!
If you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin
Seriously?
For the record, Ethan’s comment was somehow attached to me (showed my profile pic). But I didn’t make that comment, that was all Ethan.
These Races are so much fun and one of the highlights of the week on Zwift
Mello aka Megatron (DMTQ)
Saw some crazy C power numbers in zone 2 series, averages close to the 4.2W/Kg zMAP promotion to B! Made me wonder if riders can get a promotion part way through the four races (in this case) that they signed up for beforehand? Zone 1 C was a good workout, set a few duration power bests for year so far, using gravel setup except for race 3. Had to go very deep to try and keep with (or catch) groups on tarmac flying along on Tron bikes. At my limits on mixed surface routes with mixed bike types, with no… Read more »
I’ve wondered the same, actually. My hunch is, if you’re already signed up for an event, Zwift won’t change you to another category or remove your signup based on upgrading your cat enforcement category.