Hi I’ve progressed quite well this year my race score going from 365 in Jan to 732 now. I’ve hit that stage now though where the only races I can enter are 650-1000. Most of the races I’ve looked at have very few participants and most of the ones I’ve seen have just had Cat A riders. My FTP is around 4w/kg so still a fair bit off Cat A, so feels like there is now a big jump to being able to stick with pack let alone be competitive in the races. I’ve really enjoyed racing this year but feels like I now need to make quite a significant improvement in order to be able to race effectively again. Not sure what others have done when they hit this stage, I’m definitely motivated to improve but would still like to be able to race competitively over the next 6 months which is how long I think it will take until I can get to the cat A > 4.2w/kg level and be able to race without getting regularly dropped. Any advice appreciated !
Try to find races with bigger fields, A races can splinter quite a bit more than the lower categories, often a few A+ will blow the race apart (legitimately or not).
4wkg is normally enough to sit in the pack on the flat, it’s the hills and accelerations that will get you spat, so prioritise training 2-5 min intervals.
I recommend trying some mass start events where all categories start together and you can just fight anyone nearby. Don’t think about their category, just crush them if you can. Zwift Epic Race Club is one of those, though numbers can be small at some race times since the races are relatively long.
Another good option is events that don’t use racing score, such as Club Ladder team races. It’s not as convenient as dropping into a race any time you want, but it’s available all year. I do that with Rhino Racing (UK based club that mostly races weekday evenings) but there are many options for clubs to join. It’s fun and very engaging. Race times are negotiated between the two teams in each event so there is no fixed day/time and assuming the squad is large enough you don’t have to do every race.
You could search Zwifthacks site for races and TTs that don’t use the diabolical Zwift Racing Score, using the rules tag option.
You might doing some races sponsored by community clubs/organizations that use Zwift Racing App vELO system (https://www.zwiftracing.app/events) for categorization. These have narrower bands than Zwift HQ races (that use ZRS). A few are below. (Other forum users, please feel free to add to this if I missed you.) Some are ongoing now, others start in January or the Spring.
VirtuSlo - https://virtuslo.cc/zwift/
Ecro - Announcing ECRO: a Comprehensive Racing Platform for Virtual Cycling | Zwift Insider
Ladder (as mentioned by Paul above) - https://ladder.cycleracing.club/summary
FRR 6ix - 6IX Schedule – Flamme Rouge Racing
FRR Tours - Tour Schedule – Flamme Rouge Racing
DIRT Racing Series - https://www.dirtracingseries.com/
thx, really appreciate it
One more suggestion for weekend races is the Herd Winter Racing - front of the race is quite pointy, but I’m usually in the top half of the race as a pretty good “C” rider.
Events here: The at Home Cycling & Running Virtual Training App