Zwift Chat

[alex_cycles]

Signed up to the 18:10 Pinarello ride tonight - I'm hoping I'm back in time although it's 50/50

They're using the new ZRS scores with high and low pens - I'm placed in Pen B in the low end, so of 10 pens I'm pen 7. This is for ZRS 350-400

Looking at times so far for peeps in that pen, unless I can hold on to someone's wheel and get dragged around like yesterday, it could end up as an iTT for me. My incentive to finish will be another correction to the ZRS score.

I think the narrower pens of the evening races are a bit better. It was pointed out to me that 95% of all Zwift Racers are between 350 and 650.
That definitely shaped the decision how to set the initial thresholds for Cyclopathon.

Also - as Venod just pointed out - it looks as if they are hoping to tweak the seeding to make it better.
Hopefully they will succeed (suck seed pun intended).

 

[Whorty]

Looks as if there are some changes coming to calculating the score.

https://zwiftinsider.com/zrs-update...AkfqItzmorC1_ddDrA_aem_MS4dC0JB_F-dvFPhLwXNWQ

That's really interesting and backs up what I've been saying the last few days that seeding, for some, is way out. And further, the algorithm is not allowing the score to go low enough that sees riders go into their correct race pen.

Also interesting that they're not just using race position/results for the ZRS but also power. We thought this was the case the other day and I think disincentives and fight for every position in a race. I mean, why should i do a sprint at the end of a race for 42nd place when I find that would have me score higher than someone a minute further ahead of me who didn't need to sprint for 35th position?

I know I won't be making that mistake again unless it's a league race or I'm fighting for a podium. Anything else and I'll just tempo in

 

[alex_cycles]

That's really interesting and backs up what I've been saying the last few days that seeding, for some, is way out. And further, the algorithm is not allowing the score to go low enough that sees riders go into their correct race pen.

Also interesting that they're not just using race position/results for the ZRS but also power. We thought this was the case the other day and I think disincentives and fight for every position in a race. I mean, why should i do a sprint at the end of a race for 42nd place when I find that would have me score higher than someone a minute further ahead of me who didn't need to sprint for 35th position?

I know I won't be making that mistake again unless it's a league race or I'm fighting for a podium. Anything else and I'll just tempo in

I think once you get some recovery fitness back you'll be able to forget about all that and just race to win. Honestly all the feedback I'm getting on Cyclopathon (we had >200 racers) was that very few people got dropped and most people found it a really good, competitive race. You may be a special case because of your extended time out. BUT - I would expect you to bounce back fairly quickly because the body doesn't completely forget how to adapt if you've "been there before".

 

[bridgy]

Looks as if there are some changes coming to calculating the score.

https://zwiftinsider.com/zrs-update...AkfqItzmorC1_ddDrA_aem_MS4dC0JB_F-dvFPhLwXNWQ

Sound like some good improvements

 

[Whorty]

I think once you get some recovery fitness back you'll be able to forget about all that and just race to win. Honestly all the feedback I'm getting on Cyclopathon (we had >200 racers) was that very few people got dropped and most people found it a really good, competitive race. You may be a special case because of your extended time out. BUT - I would expect you to bounce back fairly quickly because the body doesn't completely forget how to adapt if you've "been there before".

I saw that too in the race I was in with Phil and Del - of the 30 odd riders only 3 of us were dropped, and Phil was racing up anyway so not a surprise he was dropped. So for most the seeding has worked, but for some it hasn't yet for various reasons - I know it will normalise out it was just interesting to try to understand a bit about why the seeding was as is.

I'll still join the Tuesday races in whichever pen I need to go into. The more support for these races the better the turnout and experience for all - nothing worse than a race with only a couple of others in the pen!

I'm always a special case

My on/off riding the past 18 months hasn't helped the algorithm as it's used metrics that are not relevant currently, but as we know, it has to use something and start somewhere.

All good

 

[CXRAndy]

Had a good Pinarello event, snatched top 10 place in C

New blend of HUD and Sauce works well. There are more new graphics in the pipeline

Swapped my cassette again, just need to dial in 'difficulty' setting to set my racing cadence


View: https://youtu.be/JI3PRFyQ860?si=WKmdVaA8-1YtyxJ3

 

[Cirrus]

Did a Pinarello race earlier, my first, cat D, (still trying to get my head around categories/racing scores etc), didn’t come last, which was an achievement in my eyes!

Managed to keep with a small group all the way around, quite enjoyed it but was puffing (bit more than puffing) at the end.

 

[CXRAndy]

Did a Pinarello race earlier, my first, cat D, (still trying to get my head around categories/racing scores etc), didn’t come last, which was an achievement in my eyes!

Managed to keep with a small group all the way around, quite enjoyed it but was puffing (bit more than puffing) at the end.

It really doesn't matter where you come in an event.

I find as long as I have a good bit of competition around me it makes for a good race

Well done

 

[Whorty]

It really doesn't matter where you come in an event.

I find as long as I have a good bit of competition around me it makes for a good race

Well done

Absolutely spot on - it's having riders around you pushing you on that is more important than position (unless it's a league race then it's beating everyone into submission and hoping they feel as sick as I do

Just saw your time - big kudos mate, 2 mins faster than me yesterday and I had a good group of 6-9 riders to wheel suck. Your group must have been flying along

 

[CXRAndy]

Just saw your time - big kudos mate, 2 mins faster than me yesterday and I had a good group of 6-9 riders to wheel suck

I was hanging on with the main lead group. They hit the hills pretty hard, fortunately I was able to hold on and recover by using my weight to freewheel or soft pedal on the downs

 

[Whorty]

I was hanging on with the main lead group. They hit the hills pretty hard, fortunately I was able to hold on and recover by using my weight to freewheel or soft pedal on the downs

In a race of 15 riders I managed to hang on to the group of 13 that broke away for the first 26 mins. I then lost the back wheel and didn’t have the legs to get back on. The last 13 mins of race was a solo roll in, legs were gone.

I think the winner in our race was still near 2 mins behind your race time 😳

 

[alex_cycles]

In a race of 15 riders I managed to hang on to the group of 13 that broke away for the first 26 mins. I then lost the back wheel and didn’t have the legs to get back on. The last 13 mins of race was a solo roll in, legs were gone.

I think the winner in our race was still near 2 mins behind your race time 😳

That's good. I can remember my early ZRL races with you guys the goal was "try to hang on as long as possible" and then one day I held on to the end and never looked back. It's getting dropped really quickly that is soul-destroying though 😭

 

[Whorty]

That's good. I can remember my early ZRL races with you guys the goal was "try to hang on as long as possible" and then one day I held on to the end and never looked back. It's getting dropped really quickly that is soul-destroying though 😭

That's always my goal, to keep hanging on until I can't. Twice today I got dropped and just managed to get back on, 3rd time I didn't have the legs. I've always found on zwift this is the best training for me.

Of course it all goes to pot once the road goes up, then it's every man for himself and w/kg becomes king. But then I avoid races with hills so I try not to make that an issue for me

 

[alex_cycles]

That's always my goal, to keep hanging on until I can't. Twice today I got dropped and just managed to get back on, 3rd time I didn't have the legs. I've always found on zwift this is the best training for me.

Of course it all goes to pot once the road goes up, then it's every man for himself and w/kg becomes king. But then I avoid races with hills so I try not to make that an issue for me

ISTR you don't mind Titan's Grove reverse or Hilly KoM but yeah anything over a couple of minutes is hard work for me.

 

[Whorty]

ISTR you don't mind Titan's Grove reverse or Hilly KoM but yeah anything over a couple of minutes is hard work for me.

True - 4 to 5 mins is my absolute limit in a race, i then need a good descent to rest and recover. The original KoMs in Watopia are just doable too, but volcano is a few minutes too far for me. I hate any race with a 30 minute climb, or even the London Surrey Hill climbs.

I definitely prefer the 30-60 second bursts, they match my style of riding and fitness and why when I was at my fittest I could score well in the ZRL league.