Name: Edie Ojë
Hometown: Chester, England
How did you get into cycling: I came into cycling out of necessity. I was desperate to lose some weight for health reasons and started looking into ways to go about it. I’d tried running outdoors and found it totally awful, so my partner convinced me to take up cycling. Got my first bike and learnt to ride it on my street. Safe to say, it was a love-hate relationship… but here I am, 10 years later!
How many years have you been racing on Zwift: I’ve been on Zwift since January 2020 but didn’t start racing till a year later. I was initially only interested in the training aspect of Zwift but coming from a gaming background, was also curious about this other racing world within the platform. However, I found it all a bit intimidating y’know… like you had to be near pro-level experienced to race or really know your sh*t! And it didn’t help that at that time, there weren’t any black women racing on Zwift. Anyway, I eventually tried a Crit City race and to my surprise, I did very well and loved it! A few months later I decided to dip my toe in a couple of series… Iceni and later, HERd SHEries (now, Zwift Women’s Series). I made loads of new friends along the way while learning a lot more about racing. My first Zwift Racing League wasn’t until January 2022 with the lovely ladies of team RAVE so I think of that as my official start to Zwift racing. 😉
Are you part of a virtual team: Yes… I’m with the phenomenal Synergy Ladies Racing team!
What do you love most about racing? Honestly, everything! But I especially love that racing is as much mental as it is physical. At some point on Zwift, you WILL be humbled by a race. You come in with great legs, high hopes, perfectly fuelled, thinking, “this is my kinda course… I’ve got this one!” Then the race kicks off, you’re in your head, your legs are looking at you looking at them and you find yourself bumming super hard! 😉 But really, I love when I’m able to impress or surprise myself in a race. The pre-race and post-race banter with friends/competitors are always fun too. And… you’ve got to love Guerra and Towle! They make every race coverage come alive!
What is your favourite style of racing: Easily sprint points racing, no doubt! I absolutely love a good sprint and find a repeatability with them before tiring out.
I also love TTT with my Synergy teammates and while my physiology isn’t remotely suited to time trialing, I love the camaraderie of a TTT. It’s the support of one another, shared suffering, and the banter, for me.
What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series: Zwift Racing League (Women’s division) … there is virtually no greater buzz than ZRL! Even the lead-up to it is exciting: from the course announcements, endless debates over categorisation/sandbagging, old friends across time zones returning… even that temporary crash of WTRL’s site post-race cause everyone’s too eager to check placements. ☺ It’s its own kind of special, y’know. However, the start of a ZRL season is equally bittersweet cause it marks the beginning of winter… for me anyway. But yeah, aside from ZRL I do enjoy racing Zwift Women’s Series and Iceni.
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or both:
Hmm… I tend to remember something from every race and every interaction on Zwift, so this isn’t an easy question. But one that stands out is a points race I did last year.
It was a women’s series finale with a pretty small field of about eight or so women. Four laps of Innsbruckring with segments at play. Five of us broke away from the onset and I was busy sprinting my little legs out on Legsnapper and the sprint segment. But when we got to the final lap, I’d completely run out of steam and had nothing left to get to the finish line so found myself dropping back.
However, this one American lady racing for COALITION dropped all the way back, mid race to lend me her wheel. I messaged her to pls go on and win the race as I had no energy left but she insisted on hanging back, saying I’d been doing so well and still can win it. So, we rode together, caught up with the other riders ahead and as undeserving as it felt, I won that race!
This is what makes Zwift different. It’s the community spirit and kindness that sets it apart from other training platforms… even ones peddling free subscriptions and prize money! 😉
What is your favourite food to eat post-race: Earlier in the year, I kept getting weird cravings for foods I grew up eating… one especially – Efo Riro, a West African delicacy made with mixed vegetables (spinach, pumpkin leaves, kale etc) and spices. Turns out I needed more iron in my diet… lol. But anyway… in reality, I do most racing in the evenings on weekdays and finish around dinner time so it’s mostly straight to whatever (equally wholesome) meal we’re having. In any case, there’s always a tub of SiS Recovery powder (strawberry flavour) around the house for my other non-racing activities and workout. Blend that with some ice cubes and you’ve got yourself the perfect recovery smoothie.
What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race:
My advice would be to someone like me 3-4 years ago, and inexperienced cyclist who is completely clueless to Zwift racing.
Don’t sweat the small stuff! It’s okay if no one is of your ethnicity or background… we’re all just avatars on screen and the Zwift community is one of the friendliest corners of the Internet.
Start off with a scratch race like the Z-monthly races… they’re relatively short and a simple race-to-the-finish-line. Zwift is evolving so much that you’re now more likely to be paired with folks of similar racing ability.
Then try a few other styles of races such as the Zwift hill climb racing and sprint races like SNOW series or Meathead series… that way you give yourself every opportunity to know if you truly enjoy racing and where your strengths lie. If you think racing is for you, join some women’s groups/racing groups on Facebook and similar clubs on the Companion app. Some things will come to you organically the more races you do, but also ask questions. There’s a fountain of knowledge on Zwift and the ladies (and gents) are always super helpful. This website right here – Zwift Insider, is the holy grail of Zwift… use it! More importantly: make friends, cheer people on (in-game messages, ride-ons, emotes, activity comments etc) … do it with love and kindness, it’ll come back to you in folds!
And if racing is not for you, that’s okay too. But please stick around. Group rides/workouts and events are equally fun. Just keep the pedals turning when you can. You signed up to Zwift for a reason so whatever you do, my one take will be – do it consistently. No wahala!
Any upcoming race you are looking forward to: I haven’t ventured into the world of real-life racing (yet!), but I do have a couple of sportive events scheduled I’m looking forward to. The first is the London to Brighton ride and the following weekend, Femme Cheshire. I’ll also be raising some funds for a charity I work with. And on the virtual front, whatever community-level racing Zwift’s got planned for the new season, I’m down for it! Most especially ZRL!
Where can people follow your racing adventures: You can find me on Strava here.
