This is a question on category selection for group rides and races.
With a current FTP at 235 and weight of 69kg, my watts/kg is right around 3.4 which places me in the lower level of B Category.
I normally ride events/races on Zwift for 3, sometimes 4 times per week. I find I can put an all-out FTP effort perhaps once or maximum twice per week. For races, I have been entering in B Category and find I can sometimes hold on to the lead group for 4-5 km and then settle in, normally finishing in bottom 3rd around 3.3 w/kg while lead group finishes a few minutes ahead at 3.8-3.9 w/kg.
For my other weekly rides, I like to ride at a more relaxed pace, say around 2.9 - 3 watts/kg. If I enter the B Category for these, I am immediately off the back and have very few to ride with.
For these rides, should I be entering category C? This means I am regularly in the lead group throughout and keeps things much more interesting than floating at the back on my own in the B. My sprint is quite pathetic so I very rarely podium these events, but do periodically get lucky if there are DQ’s or under the right circumstances with power-ups.
So, my questions are:
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Am I OK to continue entering 2 different category events depending on my daily level of fitness and goals?
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Or will this cause other riders to get peeved that I am possibly stealing their place in the results?
Thanks,
@Kid
I think maybe you answered your own question Derek. You’re a Cat B rider, you should ride in all events as a Cat B.
I may be in danger of teaching you to suck eggs here but,
Think of an outdoor ride, you have days where you may be in the Sunday B, slower, club ride as a means of active recovery. Some, not all, of your fellow riders know you’re normally a Sunday ‘A’ on a rest day with the ‘B’ ride.
Ride On!
No, you are a B please ride B.
If you want to relax pic a group ride or just ride (ie not race)
Paul: Thanks for your feedback. As suggested, I’ll enter races as B rider going forward.
Gerrie: Thanks for your input - great suggestion about using group rides on the easier days.
Ride On!
You are welcome Derek.
I hope to see you in a B race at some time. I’m currently a high C and train my butt off to be a B rider.
I’m in the same situation. I’m very new to riding and struggle deciding between C and B. It seems I can’t hang with the B leaders for very long before I blow up and feel like I fit in very well with the C riders even though my FTP is tested around 3.6. I’m not trying to cheat or dominate any given ride or race, I just want to be in the mix with a group. When I’m in with the B group (even group rides) I always end up riding solo just shy of the pack. I hope to increase over time so I can hang with the B’s but right now I don’t feel I belong there even know my FTP might say I do. After reading this I guess the answer is to accept being one of the slowest B riders and use that as motivation to get faster. Time to go ride!