zacster

I was doing the Tour de Zwift and today was the last day to do the last segment. I've done only the group rides up until now, but those often turned into adhoc races for the front of the pack, and I would just settle into the middle. Today though for some reason the group ride was at odd times for me, so I signed up for the "D" race figuring all I have to do is finish to get the bonus.

I figure everyone would just take off, and they did, but yet I was able to hold on to the front pack long enough that I separated myself pretty well from the back. Overall I finished 34 out of 81. Not bad for a 65 year old racing against an all-age group. I also saw the sprint and went for it and came in 3rd, and at some point it said I was in first place for the sprint. I also did pretty good on the KOM, but I don't remember where I placed.

One thing that bothered me though after the fact. I checked the results and found that my average watts/kg was 2.5, and that is over the range for the D group. And if I averaged 2.5 the people in front were even higher. Some were over 3w/kg. So here we are with the Zwift cheating. Even I exceeded the limit but didn't think I'd even be able to keep up. What's the point of the handicap if people just abuse it?

Machka 

I rode my first one about 10 days ago. I might ride again this coming week.

As for people going over the power range for the D group ... maybe they were all first timers who didn't really know their own power. I know my power was MUCH higher than I usually ride. It was still within the limit, but the race scenario had me putting out more effort than I usually do.

It happens in real life too. Someone who doesn't race much and doesn't really know where they stand joins one of the lower category races and wins by a long way.

zacster

You're probably right considering this was the Tour de Zwift and there are probably a lot of newbies doing it. It is still a common complaint. Another complaint I have is with the sprint results. There is always someone that is 2 seconds faster than everyone else, at a pace that just seems impossible. I've managed to be third two stages in a row on the sprint, and these are all results from the group so I believe them. But when I'm just open riding it is near impossible to get anywhere close to number one even when I go all out. Now, I'm not that fast IRL, but I also know how to kick it in for an indoor sprint.

Thomas15

Zacaster, I'm a Zwift newb. I do the Herd's Alpe Dash every Sunday, yesterday was my 11th Ride up the Alpe. I'm assuming that you are linked to Strava and Zwift Power? Usually Zwift Power will DQ at least 1 or 2 riders every race I've been in. It is true that a lot of riders cheat, as you have noticed there are D racers with 3.0 w/kg average.


It doesn't really bother me. I race the Alpe against myself no one else. At 61 and with about a year of cycling in I think just making it to the top is a major achievement. My first Alpe Dash I rode as an E class rider, last week was my first as a C rider. When I was D, I won several times, now as C I'm lucky if I'm not in last. But I've been getting almost weekly FTP boosts. My time on strictly the Alpe sectors (less the lead in), 8.8 miles and 8-14% grades is about 82 minutes, my overall score with handicap is about 1:40:00 I'm making the entire climb in about an hour and 28 minutes which I think is ok. This is a 15 minute+ improvement from just 9 weeks ago.


So my advice is don't sweat your placing, At our age both of us are doing great. Just ride for yourself and watch the improvements.

zacster

I'm not on Strava nor do I follow Zwift Power. I use RidewithGPS to track all of my rides, and that is less social than Strava. I never looked at Zwift Power so I don't even know what it is about. My RWGPS tells me what I need to know about myself and it combines all of my riding whether Zwift, Sufferfest or Outdoors into a consistent view. Strava does too but I just never got into it. My wife swears by it for her running.

I don't sweat my placing. I'm happy to still be riding hard, even if it isn't as hard as it used to be. For that matter, 2 years ago I trained all winter and when I went outside in the spring I was faster than ever. But really faster. Only the real racers were keeping up, all the weekend warriors would struggle against me. Even on my commuter bike I was blowing people away. It was fun but I just don't think I'll get there again. Age does have a way of slowing you down even if you believe that you're immune to it.