1st Race I’m confused

I’m new to Zwift & enjoying it but my issue came today when entering my first race on a classic trainer elite Volare in setting 3 that I was dusted at the starting line & as I’m not sure my classic trainer is a Zwift registered trainer that I’m assured it is I dropped my gear setting from 3 to 2 & rode most of the race in top gear to still finish bottom end of the standings . My average speed was off the charts for me at 22mph average but still I got destroyed WTF!

Welcome to Zwift racing!

:rofl::+1:

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@Stuart_Williamson1 yes racing is all jacked up currently as there is no regulation you have to enter the correct category. Zwift has noted they are working on revamping the racing side to make it a better experience for everyone.

Looking at your activity on the companion app it shows a D race (< 2.4 w/kg) and there were 34 participants. Out of that the top 27 finishers were out of category (had higher than 2.4 w/kg).

Based on your result you should be racing in Cat C races technically.

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Hi Stuart, welcome to the forum.

I looked at your result and you did good power 304w and 3.05w/kg. With those numbers you should be in the front of the race.

All i can think of is that you used the TT bike or the mountain bike. The TT bike can’t draft so you can’t sit in the bunch and rest a bit. The mountain bike is slow and heavy.

But as most know it isn’t just the w/kg you put out but how you use those watts that wins races. And all the others with higher than category w/kg entered. Which shouldn’t be the case for a Cat D race. Can’t wait until the revamped racing is implemented cause as a legit Cat D racer it is frustrating coming in bottom 10% because people sign up for the wrong Cat, and yes I am on zwiftpower just annoying we have to use that to determine our “true” results.

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You are not the only one. I think my first post about it was in 2018.

Edit: 2016

also, the start of any zwift race is mega crazy. people push super hard to get a gap on slower riders

before the flag drops have your RPMs up and power up, start at least 5 seconds before the race starts so you can get a good jump. you’ll have to keep high power up for at least a couple minutes before things calm down a bit. learn the draft, and follow stronger riders. strategy plays a pretty good part in how well you do, the strongest riders aren’t always the winners.

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What Ward said…

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Hi it is what zwift racing is about lots of short sharp efforts and flat out for the whole race. It is completely different to road racing , if you continue you will get better and understand how to draft and sit in

Wow great news they are reworking the implementation of cats for racing. Massively overdue I haven’t raced in ages because of this.
I’m top end C and sometimes edging the low end of the B category but it would be ridiculous me entering a B as I get blown away in the C’s and I dare say a similar result in the D’s too.
Rendering the whole thing completely pointless

I’m hoping it’s as simple as whatever you put out over one race you end up squarely in the right category. Possibly better to use cumulative trending over a defined period
Fingers crossed!

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Is there more info on the revamped racing? Anyone know what will change and when?