Originally Posted by
Hermes
ridethecliche You may want to consider Zwift racing. My wife is doing quite a bit and likes it a lot. And I am doing more on Zwift including structured workouts and endurance as well as meet ups. When I get my endurance back, I will start racing Zwift as well.
I am not throwing outdoor real racing under the bus just saying that Zwift offers a lot with less time commitment and cost (driving to and from races plus fees) and less risky.
I find Zwift racing pretty rewarding. I think part of it is that it's easier, because it's related to my actual strength/fitness rather than my category. On Zwift I'm a D, because I'm a 2.5 w/kg FTP person. In real life that's a huge limiter, and in fact I don't think I've finished a proper race for a few years (track and a half-way-through-the-crit-finish notwithstanding).
Also, there's very little skin in the game, so I can race whenever I want, within reason. Can't do the 8pm? I can do the 9pm. Can't do the 9pm? I can do the Big Spin ride at 9:15pm. etc etc. I even did some of the long Epic races for my long rides (two of them took me 3 hours to finish). And in Zwift I can be a hero and actually take a pull or chase a bit, where in real life that's not possible.
For the most organized racing, the ZTRL racing league is great. As a D racer I'm shelled in most of the races, but I can get points for segments (like a points race for the uninitiated).