Zwift Chat

[CXRAndy]

Must be a ZR.app issue. I'll DM you the direct link

Im the only D rider. Is it worth me jumping into C category?

 

[alex_cycles]

Im the only D rider. Is it worth me jumping into C category?

yes. It’s all cats visible and same time starts, so you can choose either. You’ll be racing the same people, it’s really only deciding where your result goes. Totally up to you.

 

[CXRAndy]

I'll stay in D as the the only D in the village

 

[alex_cycles]

I'll stay in D as the the only D in the village

I think @mjd1988 is signed up in B too

 

[alex_cycles]

I'll stay in D as the the only D in the village

THe other guy who WAS in D has now moved back to D, so you will have an opponent

 

[mjd1988]

I think @mjd1988 is signed up in B too

Sorry I keep signing up optimistically but have had to pull out again 😭 really do want to join

 

[steverob]

When I rode last Friday all the riders from all pens rode together for the first few miles (with the A's cruising and the D's having to give it full beans to keep up) until the attacks started. Even after everything split up there were two D's and a C still in a little pack at the back having their own race.

 

[alex_cycles]

took me a while to work out the league thing

and my stream failed 😭

 

[CXRAndy]

THe other guy who WAS in D has now moved back to D, so you will have an opponent

Enjoyed the little blast. I had set my mind what power I was aiming for up the climb and pretty much stuck to it. My Belgium pen buddy tried and failed to bridge across to you Alex.

I thought-
The pens are a little too far apart for a rider to bridge across easily. Maybe send the D group off 1 min earlier like a mini hare n hounds. You were around a minute faster so would make for and interesting finish


View: https://youtu.be/2jzZlOI8R3w?si=HuO0D3A3Q2eKssCL

 

[steverob]

I thought-
The pens are a little too far apart for a rider to bridge across easily. Maybe send the D group off 1 min earlier like a mini hare n hounds. You were around a minute faster so would make for and interesting finish

You were unlucky to be in one of the rear pens, which meant you had no chance of bridging. On the Innsbruck race the D's happened to get a front pen and even then really had to push hard to latch on to the other groups. In fact I was quite happy to ease up and only race my pen rivals, but one of them wanted to push hard to get on the A's wheels and so I had to follow or I'd never see him again.

 

[CXRAndy]

You were unlucky to be in one of the rear pens, which meant you had no chance of bridging. On the Innsbruck race the D's happened to get a front pen and even then really had to push hard to latch on to the other groups. In fact I was quite happy to ease up and only race my pen rivals, but one of them wanted to push hard to get on the A's wheels and so I had to follow or I'd never see him again.

Once I quickly realised I wasn't going to bridge across, I backed off knowing the short descents were only option to catch my breath for the short but tough climb. My D buddy stayed with me on the first ascent, but I suspect he burnt 🔥 his matches trying to bridge the gap. I quite easily gapped him without going into the red on the second loop

 

[alex_cycles]

Once I quickly realised I wasn't going to bridge across, I backed off knowing the short descents were only option to catch my breath for the short but tough climb. My D buddy stayed with me on the first ascent, but I suspect he burnt 🔥 his matches trying to bridge the gap. I quite easily gapped him without going into the red on the second loop

Yes it's a shame that pen locations on Zwift are somewhat random and not controlled by the organiser.
Your 1-minute idea is a good one for the future. For the moment I'm just trying to get a few people together. Once there's a few more regulars, I may tweak the format a bit.

I think I figured out why my stream failed. Hopefully will be OK now, going forward. A Zwift update had switched on Video Screen shots, which I think was causing a conflict with my OBS. Switched that off and it now seems to work again.

 

[steverob]

Yes it's a shame that pen locations on Zwift are somewhat random and not controlled by the organiser.

This is just a theory, but I think that the pen allocation may be done when the first person of each category joins the event.

I'm one of those people who tends to join as soon as the 30 minute clock appears and so am usually the first/only person in the pens - sometimes I warm up in the pens, other times I quit and launch a free-ride in a different world. However I can't remember any time recently when I haven't been in one of the front-most pens (will check some of my recent race videos tonight to be sure) which makes me think that this has something to do with it.

 

[alex_cycles]

This is just a theory, but I think that the pen allocation may be done when the first person of each category joins the event.

I'm one of those people who tends to join as soon as the 30 minute clock appears and so am usually the first/only person in the pens - sometimes I warm up in the pens, other times I quit and launch a free-ride in a different world. However I can't remember any time recently when I haven't been in one of the front-most pens (will check some of my recent race videos tonight to be sure) which makes me think that this has something to do with it.

You may well be right. I think I was first today, but C and B were together. There was no A or E though, so nobody had to go to A & E.
It has seemed to combine pens when there are fairly low numbers.

 

[CXRAndy]

You may well be right. I think I was first today, but C and B were together. There was no A or E though, so nobody had to go to A & E.
It has seemed to combine pens when there are fairly low numbers.

I think you only need one pen (for the moment), everyone starts together, unless you decide to try handicap starts. This gives the lower cats an opportunity (if they want) to push hard to stay with the higher cats. Those who don't want that early opportunity, are no worse than being in another pen either alone or just a couple of riders