STW Zwift Autumn Series 2

After the success of Race Series 1 it is time to register interest for Series 2 which will take place between the beginning of November and Christmas.

It will be based on 6 races across a 6-week period, with races taking place on a Tuesday evening at 19.30. I know Tuesday evenings don’t always work for everyone but if you would like to get involved but aren’t sure if you can due to family commitments etc I would still encourage you to register your interest as it is likely that we will all be facing additional restrictions this winter making clubs etc less likely to take place.

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.

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. From the data gathered on Series 1 which worked pretty well for B and C riders the handicap will be adjusted slightly to hopefully enable the A and D cat riders to be a bit more competitive.

We will stick to the rolling starts from the previous series. It isn’t perfect but it is better than a mass start straight from the off. I did want to get a TT into the series but I don’t know what is planned on the Zwift general races and admin of a TT will be difficult (getting people to ride TT bikes or set of at staggered times). I did contact Zwift to see about getting a proper race start but no contact I am afraid (I even tried myrealchrisfroome gmail account).

A new addition to this series will be the addition of points for sprints. 5 of the 6 races will include at least one sprint segment and points will be awarded for the first 5 riders across the line (10, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points respectively). Anyone can win a sprint as it is down to timing, powerups and working in the group you are in. Being out the front on your own wont necessary yield the best sprint times! Points will be awarded for the top 30 finishers from each race from 50 points down to 1 as per the previous series.

If you want to take part message me on here or just post up on the thread. If you took parts in Series 1 I probably already have your details. If you don’t mind me sharing your zwift name on the results let me know as well. You will need to follow me on Zwift in order for me to invite you to the meetups (R obbo1234biking STW is my Zwift name).

Race Courses

Race 1 – 3rd November – New York Perimeter Loop (3 laps)
29.8km distance , 381m of climbing
A mix of places to attack on each lap. 1 sprint to pick up the sprint points.

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Race 2 – 10th November – Roule Ma Poule
27.2km distance, 263m of climbing
A summit finish and a go up the hill first from the spawn point (race profile doesn’t include this). 2 sprints to pick up the sprint points.

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Race 3 – 17th November – Greater London Flat (3 laps)
40.8km distance, 164m of climbing
Something a little flatter but also a little longer. Fast speeds should mean that this just goes over the hour mark. 1 place to pick up sprint points.

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Race 4 – 24th November – Watopia Figure of 8
32.2km distance, 254m of climbing
A couple of short sharp shocks to split up the field on the climbs, 2 places to pick up sprint points.

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Race 5 – 1st December – Richmond UCI Worlds Course (2 laps)
32.9km distance, 314m of climbing
Time to recreate Peter Sagan’s win. 2 sprint sections to pick up some sprint points.

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Race 6 – 8th December – Quatch Quest (Don’t PANIC – see below)
20.8km distance, at least 600m of climbing
The Queen stage of the race, a summit finish atop the Epic KOM, after tackling the Titans Grove Reverse KOM. The race will finish on the plateau after the banner somewhere before the descent. No sprint points for this stage. Plenty of places to split the field here. The short downhill section near the top followed by the final ascent should make for an interesting finish! Bonus point if anyone wears a Santa Suit for the whole race!

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Race profile images courtesy of Zwifthub.

Lovely job sir.

Registering interest but still nursing the hip injury.

I don’t want to take up a place if oversubscribed though!

The max is 100 participants so don’t worry – I don’t think we will hit that high.

I’m in after a fashion robbo, not sure if I’ll make any, all or none given a few other things going on but with a bit of luck…

Silly question – sprint points on each lap or just once per race?

Sprint points are just once for the whole race as I will use the table that generates on the left of the screen to get the results once everyone has been through that sprint section. On some courses this means you may get an opportunity to improve on your time.

robbo1234biking
Full Member
The max is 100 participants so don’t worry – I don’t think we will hit that high.

That’s great then Rob and thanks for organising again.

Count me in, prob won’t be able to make all the races but I’ll do what I can.

Are the sprints based on time not relative position through them? Ie I could go through the sprint last but nail it and take the points?

Could the same be done for KOM points – we could effectively end up with a GC race, points jersey and climbers jersey? Actually, if we said everyone was to race in bumblebee kit we could have leaders jerseys on the road.

Cheers Robbo count me in and thanks for organising again.

@ivandobski I wanted to do KOM points but I cant differentiate between the different Cats on the road. The sprints I think anyone has a chance of winning but the KOMs will likely only be won by a Cat A rider.

Sprint points are added to the overall total but I will keep a separate tally for a separate Sprint jersey.

I did think that but I also thought some of the lighter riders who struggle on the flats might target the climbs as a potentially more efficient tactic than just hanging on to the As for as long as possible?

I’m in Robbo, might not be able to make all but I’ll definitely try to make them. Not sure about Roule Ma Poule though…that’s a horror start and finish! 😱😱

Looking forward to it again and thanks for taking it on once more!

I’ll register interest but it may get kyboshed by Mrs Hoppy doing ZRL now.

Yes please Robbo ! I work late on alternate Tuesdays so will miss at least half of these – once again, happy to be left out of the points reckoning. (I also don’t really know my FTP and no plans to test it).

Count me in please Robbo. Thanks for organising another round. Thoroughly enjoyed t he first one.

Looks like a whole new world of pain.

Please count me in.

I doubt I’ll be as lucky this time staying dads taxi duty or Illness free for a whole six weeks.

In 👍

Me too

Yes please. Again not sure I make them all but all the routes picked suit me.

Have you considered the overall being based on best 5 events so there can be more in the running at the end?

I’m in! Absolute hoot last time. Cheers Robbo!

I’d like to join in on this. Hopefully I can actually participate this time. Between starting a new job, the trainer developing a fault and a slight injury September was a bit of a bust.

Good point Nixie. The total will be decided on the best 5 races at the end of the series to give people the opportunity to miss one race without it impacting the scores. Sprint points will be for every race though.

oooh, count me in again too please.

Thanks for organising Robbo

go on…pop my name down (stats the same as of today) so I’m on the list…will see how ‘real world B3ta’ pans out for me though…

DrP

Cool. Nice one robbo 👍.

Hi Robbo

Stick me down for entry into series 2, looking forward to Tuesday evenings again..

Could you put my name down too please. Not sure my ankle injury is going to let me play this time but if I can I will. Happy for both usernames to appear on the spreadsheet. Thanks again Robbo.

Great that there’s going to be a second series. Thanks for all your hard work Robbo. Count me in please.

It’s a weird one..

I think it’s a great series
Tuesday’s about 5pm I get filled with a sense of dread of the suffering I’ll soon be enduring
About half way through the race I am wondering why I am doing this as it’s not remotely enjoyable
10 min after finishing I’m looking forward to the next one..

It’s like some horrible addiction I’m not sure if I remotely enjoy or not..

Anyhow, count me in.

Shame we can’t have a tt in there, couldn’t we just have all just entered one of the many tt races that are already organised?

I’m in. Looks great, again. Thanks Robbo.

I think Zwift should make “Quatch Quest (Don’t PANIC)” an official route, with that very name.

I’m reasonably sure that the person who suggested using a custom distance to create a summit finish had something more modest than the Epic KOM in mind though!

couldn’t we just have all just entered one of the many tt races that are already organised?

I would like to but cant guarantee that one will hit one of the Tuesday evening slots that we have available and the schedule is published that far ahead.

I’m reasonably sure that the person who suggested using a custom distance to create a summit finish had something more modest than the Epic KOM in mind though!

Its the easier side though and you need at least one big hill in the series. You shouldn’t have suggested it! 🙂

Count me in, should be good for 3 races. Can you clear up the sprint points though-is it literally the first to cross the sprint line or is it the fastest time over the Zwift sprint zones (green line to green line)? If it’s the latter is there effectively a green jersey race where you can pootle along and just attack the sprints? And, are the sprint points separate to the finishing position points or a combination of the two?

Great work robbo.

I’ll be in, can you stick me name down please.

Fastest time over the sprint zones (so top 5 fastest time in the whole race takes the sprint points). Sprint points are added to the other point totals to determine the overall winner as well as having a separate sprint jersey competition.

Go on, I’ll have a go… CAT D, at the back 🙂

I’ll join in. Not sure what my work shift pattern will be but hopefully I’ll be able to do at least 3 of the races. 👍

Count me in again please ftp same as before but weighing an extra 4kg.

For the TT could you perhaps do it as an open slot event. I.e. to log an entry for that weeks ‘race’ each rider must do an official TT event on xyz course (Tempus Fugit I’m assuming) and provide a link to the ZP results. Yeah not as nice as joining an event en mass but gives some flexibility. There seem to be a good number of TTs showing in the forthcoming schedule in ZP.

Could even be limited to take part in one of the official ‘Time Trial Tuesday’ or ‘Zwift Fast Friday’ events (any slot).

Yeah not as nice as joining an event en mass but gives some flexibility. it wouldn’t be a TT if it was nice

FTFY

The Tuesday ZRL ride should finish at 7:15 – I’m in !.

I shall act as Broom Wagon. Wednesday will become the day of the dead.