Join The Singletrack Zwift Race Series This Autumn

Off the top, we claim no credit for this – we’d never be this organised – but forum regular robbo1234biking has started a thread on our forum inviting you to join in an Autumn Singletrack Zwift race series complete with clever algorithm to level things out.

Considering the state of the weather, the usual standard of a British autumn and the fact that we are all still under differing levels of anti-social lockdown, this could well turn out to be the safest way to ride with others in the coming months.

Yes, it’s riding indoors and normally that sort of thing is frowned upon. yes, it’s basically gaming with randoms while pedalling a bike, but lets consider the positives.

1. You don’t get muddy
2. You don’t fall off (well, it’s pretty hard to anyway)
3. You can wear that old Lycra that you just know is way more comfortable than your baggies and no one will know.
4. You can bail out any any point and blame it on the door bell going or the dog needed to go out for a crap.

There are probably more reasons to give it a go if you’ve got the requisite equipment and we look forward to your positive suggestions in the comments. Here’s what chief event organiser robbo1234biking had to say about it on the forum.

Details

Right bear with me on this one. I am going to try and organise a STW Zwift Race Series.
It will be based on 6 races across a 6-week period, with races taking place on a Tuesday evening at 19.30.

You can turn up to any race as the idea is for it to be fun and engaging and not too serious (see below for my attempt to level the playing field 😉) but I will try and determine a series winner for bragging rights.

I have chosen a subset of courses across the Zwift world. There is only one big climb across these. I have chosen routes that should take about 40 to 60 minutes to complete. The courses and dates are listed below:

Courses

1st September – RGV (France) 15 miles (24.1km)
8th September – 2018 UCI Worlds Course Short Lap Innsbruck 14.7 miles (23.6km)
15th September – 10 Laps – Volcano Circuit 2.5 miles (4.1km)
22nd September – Road to Ruins 18.4 miles (29.6km)
29th September – Royal Pump Room 8 17.2 miles (27.7km)
5th October – 8 Laps – London Classique 3.4 miles (5.4km)

In order to equalise things I am going to apply a handicap to the results. Zwift’s method of using w/kg doesn’t really work on flat courses so I am going to be more scientific (I am an engineer) so I will apply a time handicap based on your FTP and weight. I have done an example of how this would apply with 4 different rides below. You can see the time differences on each one and the handicap that would be applied. This would be applied post-race but I would also keep the original results as well. I won’t break it down to the individual seconds but round up to the nearest minute. The time difference are calculated in Best Bike Split based on a 0.9 intensity factor.

Example Handicap

220w FTP 90kg rider
220w FTP 70kg rider
350w FTP 90kg rider
350w FTP 70kg rider

2018 UCI Worlds Course Short Lap Innsbruck Example Handicap

Based on 0.9 Intensity Factor (90% of the FTP average for duration of the race)
220w FTP 90kg rider – 1hr 2 mins
220w FTP 70kg rider – 55 mins (7-minute handicap)
350w FTP 90kg rider – 46 mins (16-minute handicap)
350w FTP 70kg rider- 42 mins (20-minute handicap)

6 Laps – London Classique Example Handicap

Based on 0.9 Intensity Factor (90% of the FTP average for duration of the race)
220w FTP 90kg rider – 10 min 12 per lap – Total 61 mins 12 seconds
220w FTP 70kg rider – 9 min 53 per lap – Total 59 mins 18 seconds (2-minute handicap)
350w FTP 90kg rider – 8 min 32 per lap – Total 51 mins 12 seconds (10-minute handicap)
350w FTP 70kg rider- 8 min 20 per lap – Total 50 mins (11-minute handicap)

How do I enter?

1. Post on here saying you are interested.
2. Follow me on Zwift – R obbo1234biking (STW) (The space is important)
3. Send me a PM with your FTP and weight (FTP can be taken from Zwift or your chosen training program).

That’s it really! I will send out the invites a few days in advance of the meetings.

If anyone has another suggestion for the handicapping I am all ears! As you can see it makes a large difference on a hilly course but not such a difference on a flatter course and should allow people to remain competitive with your peers.

robbo1234biking

Check out the full thread here…

And find out who you could be riding with/against.

To show willing (maybe some staffers may turn up to race?) Singletrack will put up prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd from our merch store.

Mark Alker

Singletrack Owner/Publisher

What Mark doesn’t know about social media isn’t worth knowing and his ability to balance “The Stack” is bested only by his agility on a snowboard. Graphs are what gets his engine revving, at least they would if his car wasn’t electric, and data is what you’ll find him poring over in the office. Mark enjoys good whisky, sci-fi and the latest Apple gadget, he is also the best boss in the world (Yes, he is paying me to write this).

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