Zwift Chat

[CXRAndy]

Pete the guy who won your race was 106kg with ridiculous power!

 

[Norry1]

I smashed all my longer power records, took 5 minutes off last year's time and came 4th in my Cat.
Very pleased with that one. 240W (+4 to PR) for 20 minutes trying to hold onto the front pack from the Desert pens to the top of Titans fwd.
Only 1 in our category held. By the time we got to the Volcano I was 3rd in my Cat, I very quickly fell off the B group I was with on the climb, but there were four Cs about a minute behind me and there was no way I was catching the two ahead (Franny was in position 2 and she's 52kg and very strong - she was in the Champs Élysées Friday smash recently). So I went a bit easier on the climb and let the 4C + 1B catch me and we stayed together until the end. Picking up another B and one more C caught us near the end. Got outsprinted by one but managed to beat all the rest. It was VERY VERY hard going though. Those Bs made it hurt. Best long race I've ever done though, by far.


View: https://www.youtube.com/live/tlgbrYIzUTg?si=MrU9Nt2_GP8Fzr-7&t=330

Awesome job Alex 👏

 

[Whorty]

You're not dreaming - it certainly has been mentioned by a couple of others in the past few weeks:



I'm happy to organise another league, but I know we all have different preferences as to when we like to ride, so we might need to have a discussion around what times are best for everyone (perhaps each round is run twice if there's the demand?)

But the more important thing is getting larger numbers of people involved. Based on previous events it's very easy to get the A's and B's to sign up, but we do seem to lack motivation for the C's and D's, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as people like me (low C) who are usually keen to take part, suddenly become less keen when it's clear we're the back marker in every round and the next closest rider is a mid-B two miles up the road and you haven't seen another rider for 30+ minutes. So ideas are welcome on how we can make this a more inclusive event.

@alex_cycles gets it right for the Friday smash races ... short enough that everyone is within a minute or so of each other, but with a little lump to allow the stronger climbers to drop the pure sprinters so that it's not always a sprint blast at the end (although, I'm all up for a mass sprint blast at the end )

Quite short races, 10-15 minutes in length but I guess it depends what we're trying to do with the races/league. If it's to confirm what we know already, that the As/Bs are faster than the Cs/Ds then we don't need a league for that.

Which I think for me leads on to my observation on the arguments previously. Some As/Bs just wanted to their superiority over slower riders and as you say, that's not a great deal of fun if you get dropped early and end up having to ride solo for 30 mins. I'd much prefer shorter, smashier races, where the result is not so clear cut and makes for a more interesting race albeit shorter in time.

 

[steverob]

Last time we did do one round that was two shorter races (about 15-20 minutes) with a short break in-between them and I think that went down quite well by all accounts (I wasn't available that week, so had to rely on race reports). That's certainly an option for any league this year as well.

 

[Whorty]

Last time we did do one round that was two shorter races (about 15-20 minutes) with a short break in-between them and I think that went down quite well by all accounts (I wasn't available that week, so had to rely on race reports). That's certainly an option for any league this year as well.

Yes, that sounds like a sensible option. Something where the result isn't a foregone conclusion, and where the last rider isn't 10s of minutes behind the lead rider is better for the team/group inclusion

 

[alex_cycles]

@alex_cycles gets it right for the Friday smash races ... short enough that everyone is within a minute or so of each other, but with a little lump to allow the stronger climbers to drop the pure sprinters so that it's not always a sprint blast at the end (although, I'm all up for a mass sprint blast at the end )

Quite short races, 10-15 minutes in length but I guess it depends what we're trying to do with the races/league. If it's to confirm what we know already, that the As/Bs are faster than the Cs/Ds then we don't need a league for that.

Which I think for me leads on to my observation on the arguments previously. Some As/Bs just wanted to their superiority over slower riders and as you say, that's not a great deal of fun if you get dropped early and end up having to ride solo for 30 mins. I'd much prefer shorter, smashier races, where the result is not so clear cut and makes for a more interesting race albeit shorter in time.

So I do try to chuck in some flattish ones as well about half the time. Occasionally we do the Sgurr.

@steverob When I suggested a Chase race I was thinking along the lines of...

Ds go at the start gun
Cs wait 1m
Bs wait 2m
As wait 3m (or whatever is the best guesstimate of something that will work for the course chosen)

But if we have a few people in each Cat it might be possible to ask Zwift for a "proper" private event chase race.

Another thing if people are feeling experimental is that there's a lot of fun to be had on indieVelo with different race formats. Last two weeks on Tuesday mornings I've been running an Omnium which has been brilliant fun. If enough people want to try something on a new platform it's fairly easy to set up. https://cyclopathy.com/omnium/ <<<< description and video here.

Another idea could be a TTR (Team Time Race) - Dirt Racing Series does this format one race per season. You have teams and the time of the 4th rider across the finish line is what matters. So you could mix the teams up so the stronger riders have to help the weaker ones. It can be awesome fun

 

[IrishAl]

You're not dreaming - it certainly has been mentioned by a couple of others in the past few weeks:



I'm happy to organise another league, but I know we all have different preferences as to when we like to ride, so we might need to have a discussion around what times are best for everyone (perhaps each round is run twice if there's the demand?)

But the more important thing is getting larger numbers of people involved. Based on previous events it's very easy to get the A's and B's to sign up, but we do seem to lack motivation for the C's and D's, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as people like me (low C) who are usually keen to take part, suddenly become less keen when it's clear we're the back marker in every round and the next closest rider is a mid-B two miles up the road and you haven't seen another rider for 30+ minutes. So ideas are welcome on how we can make this a more inclusive event.

Thanks Steve. I’m sure I had seen Pete’s post but all had gone quiet. A short league would be great. Happy to go with some simple chase races - we always managed before with the various groups waiting their allotted time at the start line. Maybe there was once where there was some confusion and the associated fall out.

 

[Peter Salt]

Always up for one of our series Whatever the format and courses.

 

[bridgy]

I'm up for some kind of Splitters race. We've tried various different formats over the years and it's always pretty much impossible to make everyone happy! Delayed starts for different Cats is a great idea in theory but it's just so hard to get the time gaps right. I think it only really works well if there's enough riders from each Cat so everyone has something to race for.

Ultimately, the best way to format the races probably depends on who wants to join in and the mix of categories of riders we end up having.

But either way, if someone wants to organise something I'll be up for joining if I can, whatever the format.

I'm hoping to do the DIRT Racing Series from next week so froma selfish point of view probably something like a Thursday night would work best for me if you're after scheduling suggestions!

 

[steverob]

We can have the discussion about race/league format over the next few days/weeks, but I'd like to see if we can at least narrow down a day of the week and timeslot where the most possible people are available first.

I have set up a poll where you can rank days and times in order of preference - that way you can put down multiple options for both but still make it clear which one would be your favourite. It'll be open until Sunday - https://www.rcv123.org/ballot/uWBJ2gm2xL3asrJdiviwW5

To try and reach as many people as possible, can I get someone to post the link in the various ZRL private conversations as well, as I don't have access to all of them.

 

[Peter Salt]

I think that some sort of delayed start is a good idea, but that's just to make sure that higher category riders work a bit more, rather than pootle around and smash everyone at the end. There's no chance we'll get the start gaps right for everyone to arrive at the finish at the same time but having to make up a minute or two, especially on shorter routes would make it a bit more exciting.

 

[HarryTheDog]

Invite @HarryTheDog

I am happy to race but I am vey day restricted due to my other hobby of Latin/ballroom dancing, I can only make Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I go to 2 different dance clubs one Tuesday one Friday. My missus would be most miffed if I did not as its her only hobby which she loves and she needs me to do it.

 

[bridgy]

We can have the discussion about race/league format over the next few days/weeks, but I'd like to see if we can at least narrow down a day of the week and timeslot where the most possible people are available first.

I have set up a poll where you can rank days and times in order of preference - that way you can put down multiple options for both but still make it clear which one would be your favourite. It'll be open until Sunday - https://www.rcv123.org/ballot/uWBJ2gm2xL3asrJdiviwW5

To try and reach as many people as possible, can I get someone to post the link in the various ZRL private conversations as well, as I don't have access to all of them.

Great work!

 

[steverob]

I think that some sort of delayed start is a good idea, but that's just to make sure that higher category riders work a bit more, rather than pootle around and smash everyone at the end. There's no chance we'll get the start gaps right for everyone to arrive at the finish at the same time but having to make up a minute or two, especially on shorter routes would make it a bit more exciting.

I don't think you even need to get time gaps "right" to be honest. One of my favourite previous races we've done on here, we basically ranked everyone in order of ability and set them off at 30 second intervals regardless of whether the gap between each rider was 0.1 w/kg or 1.5 w/kg.

I was the weakest rider at the time and went off first and still finished one from last, but the fact that I didn't get overtaken by anyone for a good ten minutes (the early part of the course was VERY flat and suited my TT efforts perfectly) and it took until we were at least halfway through the course before the actual favourites came past me, gave me something to fight for. Obviously when we took the stage times at the end we subtracted the handicaps, so the finishing order was as expected, but the event felt like it had some challenge to it.

 

[Joffey]

We can have the discussion about race/league format over the next few days/weeks, but I'd like to see if we can at least narrow down a day of the week and timeslot where the most possible people are available first.

I have set up a poll where you can rank days and times in order of preference - that way you can put down multiple options for both but still make it clear which one would be your favourite. It'll be open until Sunday - https://www.rcv123.org/ballot/uWBJ2gm2xL3asrJdiviwW5

To try and reach as many people as possible, can I get someone to post the link in the various ZRL private conversations as well, as I don't have access to all of them.

I quite enjoyed completing that poll. New format is very good!