2019 Zwift racing stories!
02-23-19, 09:48 AM
#76
Cat 2
I've never seen more than ~7000 riders on zwift at any given time. Peak hours in peak indoor season. This number drops off massively in the winter. Yes, it's a big chunk, and yes it's growing. But by no means is it a majority of even all the bike commuters in cities like SF, NY, or SEA.
02-23-19, 06:03 PM
#77
Senior Member
You are probably right, but there is a definite reduction of people riding road. Its still probably like 10-1 road riders vs gravel and zwift riders but the latter is growing. Not all places are like the SF Peninsula where most of the west side is a giant undeveloped hillside. Many areas those empty country roads are being eliminated by large development. One of our main riding roads out here essentially having a city built (3,600 houses can be called a city right?).
02-24-19, 12:05 AM
#78
Senior Member
Zwift broke 10k recently. And 5-7k is somewhat normal for me to see, although with the worlds being selectable it's harder to get a quick feel for who's on.
I think the racing has some evolution to go through. Someone pointed out that Cofidis seems to be slacking in the pro Zwift races, and my thought was that pros don't race every race to win. There are races you do for training, races you do to win, and right now the Zwift weekday races aren't high on a "real" pro's priority list. To become significant the races have to offer something, and the easiest thing to offer would be money. $5000 weekly prize list, you bet the pros will be working hard. But then there's the mech doping, actual doping, tech issues, etc.
I have a feeling we'll see something similar to CounterStrike or similar LAN games. Although "clans" can race remotely, competitions were done in the same room, with pre-loaded computers. It's exciting enough that I watched some recordings of CS matches from the past. For Zwift I think the real racing will be in a controlled environment. Racers would be in one venue, or maybe two venues in different locales with independent judges. They'd ride calibrated trainers, weigh-in before the race (in full kit), with cameras and judges to make sure things are fair.
There was a woman that was on Zwift that would fly around the first world, whatever it was called, at insane w/kg. Yet when it came to doing anything for real, she disappeared. I don't see her now, or her name in social media, but I suspect her w/kg wasn't quite accurate. Once things got clamped down just a bit she disappeared. Apparently there are known weaknesses now, like certain smart training giving an extra 100-200w in a sprint, but if everyone is on the same trainer in a race then those brand-specific quirks no longer matter.
I think the racing has some evolution to go through. Someone pointed out that Cofidis seems to be slacking in the pro Zwift races, and my thought was that pros don't race every race to win. There are races you do for training, races you do to win, and right now the Zwift weekday races aren't high on a "real" pro's priority list. To become significant the races have to offer something, and the easiest thing to offer would be money. $5000 weekly prize list, you bet the pros will be working hard. But then there's the mech doping, actual doping, tech issues, etc.
I have a feeling we'll see something similar to CounterStrike or similar LAN games. Although "clans" can race remotely, competitions were done in the same room, with pre-loaded computers. It's exciting enough that I watched some recordings of CS matches from the past. For Zwift I think the real racing will be in a controlled environment. Racers would be in one venue, or maybe two venues in different locales with independent judges. They'd ride calibrated trainers, weigh-in before the race (in full kit), with cameras and judges to make sure things are fair.
There was a woman that was on Zwift that would fly around the first world, whatever it was called, at insane w/kg. Yet when it came to doing anything for real, she disappeared. I don't see her now, or her name in social media, but I suspect her w/kg wasn't quite accurate. Once things got clamped down just a bit she disappeared. Apparently there are known weaknesses now, like certain smart training giving an extra 100-200w in a sprint, but if everyone is on the same trainer in a race then those brand-specific quirks no longer matter.
__________________
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
02-24-19, 01:41 PM
#79
Senior Member
Well I "raced" in the US nationals today, placed 218/435. I've only been doing trainerroad for training so I was curious to test my legs before starting build this week. Didn't want to go too deep, my goal heading in was to average 3.8w/kg, ended up with a NP of 3.75, so close enough. For me it was a balance of staying with the group but not putting myself in a position where I was dragging the group along and being too thresholdy, especially with the race being 80mins and it being a very different type of riding compared to my 20-30 min sweet spot intervals where I get rest in between. It was fun change of scenery but yeah, I totally lack anything beyond sweet spot, so hopefully in 4 weeks after the first part of sustained power build I can have some more in me to do some other stuff.
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ill.clyde
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
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01-23-18 04:10 PM
