Tiny Race Series – July 22 Routes and Last Week’s Results

Wow… this is our 50th week of Tiny Races! Time flies.

Starting this week we’re instituting stricter rules requiring hardware (see below). We’ll also continue testing out Pack Dynamics 4.1.

But first, let’s look at last week’s winners…

New Rules: HRM + Power Meter Required

Beginning this week, we’re enforcing hardware requirements when joining the pens to get rid of bots and zPower rangers who have been affecting some of the A races.

A power meter or smart trainer/smart bike will be required to be paired as your power source, and a paired heart rate monitor will also be required in order to entire the pens. If you are on a “classic” trainer (using a speed sensor) or don’t have a heart rate monitor paired you will not be able to enter the start pens.

This Week’s Routes: 4 Routes, 4 Worlds

This week’s routes alternate between rolling profiles and climby stuff. Each route is in a different map, so be prepared to travel!

• Race 1: Downtown Dolphin (3 laps, 5.7km)
  Racers know this route well. The question is: who will go long, and can they stay away?
  • Powerup: Aero Boost (2x)
• 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: Park Perimeter Loop (7.434km, ends at sprint banner)
  The Harlem Hill climb will stretch and split the field. But with a few kilometers left until the line, some riders may be able to chase back onto the front.
  • Powerup: none
• Race 4: Watopia Mountain 8 (5.67km, ends between pier blocks)
  The climbiest of this week’s routes takes you through the Ocean Boulevard tunnel and past the windmills before attacking the base of the Epic KQOM Reverse climb. The finish line is on a false flat, on the bridge after the initial snaking climb (see photos).
  • Powerup: none

Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces

Pack Dynamics 4.1

Last week’s races used Pack Dynamics 4.1 for the first time ever. Feedback from racers ranged from positive (“As a lightweight rider it was easier for me to hang with the pack”) to neutral (“Was PD4.1 enabled for Tiny Races? I didn’t notice anything.”)

We’ll keep it on in the coming weeks, and will announce here if anything changes.

Read more about PD4.1 on this forum thread, and chime in there after your races to share your experience and help Zwift improve their pack dynamics!

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/5am EDT/2am PDT)
• Zone 2 (3pm GMT/11am EST/8am PDT)
• Zone 3 (9pm GMT/5pm EDT/2pm PDT/Sunday 7am AEST)

Rules

Tiny Race rules are simple, but still every week 6-8% of registered ZwiftPower racers get disqualified and removed from the final results. Don’t let that be you! 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.
• 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.

Zwift Insider Kit Unlock

Finish any Tiny Race or a Chat & Chill ride and unlock the Zwift Insider “Ride Smarter // Ride Harder” in-game kit.

Questions or Comments

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