Hi
Presume this is connected to the new Zwift racing score system just rolled out. I’m trying to join a Zwift club TT today but it won’t let me as it says I have to do some more rides. I have a zwift racing score, I’ve done a couple of these TTs in the last few weeks but only recently restarted Zwift after a summer break. I have a zwift racing score (59) on zwift power.
Seems a bit rubbish.
What’s the minimum I have to do ride wise. My IRL club does these TTs as a bit of fun/motivation.
The FAQ says three activities. I’ve heard someone say it required three 10 minute activities but the FAQ doesn’t mention that. There was a racing score reset in late September so you might need three after that point?
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Thanks, can you just zone 1 three 10 minutes rides or ??
3x10min+ rides of any effort will do the job.
Which begs the question, why bother with making everyone do these three 10min+ rides.
I’m not going to do a 10min freeride at anything like full effort and I doubt I’m in the minority on this approach.
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Thanks, yes all seems a bit pointless!
Well presumably it needs data to create a racing score from. That’s the way the FAQ reads - that they need recent activity data if you’ve not used zwift either at all, or for a while.
If you want to give it junk data that’s up to you. If your “real” racing score would put you in the lowest category that would be the same anyway.
Remember though that there’s a crowd of discontented people who aren’t happy unless they finish at the front of every race that will complain if they think you sandbagged into a lower category. Which is, effectively, what you’re doing if you soft pedal.
So I guess that’s the point. Maybe you think it could just chuck you in the lowest category and then after a few races it sorts itself out? But there are a bunch of people for whom said category is their category and if all their races are against people who hate cycling so much they don’t want to do 3 rides that’s going to suck. They want what they will see as a “proper” race against people who are really in the lowest category but what they will get is lots of people who have just started zwift or come back from summer trouncing them because they’re in the wrong category. Especially if they are in this set of people who, oddly, expect to win or finish at the front.
Of course it makes no sense : my sister runs, when people join a running race, like a marathon, there can be thousands of people and most of them have no expectation of winning nor finishing near the front. They seem happy and content putting on a chicken costume and running and arriving at the finish line whenever they do.
Cycling, by contrast, seems to be full of people who, even the ones who know they aren’t good enough to win, they still expect to win or to finish at the front and complain bitterly if they don’t. It’s weird - I guess you can argue that some of this has to do with the nature of cycling being groups of people riding in a bunch which doesn’t exist as much in running.
IRL, of course there really isn’t any cycle racing equivalent to running, the closest is the mass participation events like Ride London etc.
Maybe zwift should rethink and come up with some events that are more like running. Meantime though, for zwift’s attempt to emulate cycle racing they are trying to appease a lot of people who expect to win and part of that is you not being in their category if you are faster than them. That’s what the data is for.
Bottom line here : If you don’t enjoy doing activities that involve pedalling then, long term, zwift won’t be a good fit.
In my particular case, I was trying to take part in TT race that day as we’re using them within our IRL club to generate a bit of motivation.
I already had a race score showing, though apparently not a valid one as I’d just rejoined after a summer break.
I was unaware of the changes, I’d done a maximal effort 40km TT the week before and another TT a few weeks back, I have a history of other valid rides though over 90 days old.
I did a ten minute soft ride about 10 minutes before the TT start time, not even convinced that would be enough to let me in.
The message you get could be better rather than just a blanket you’ve not got enough ride history. It knows my history and I’m sure AI could have come up with a reasonable racing score.
Realise no system is perfect it was just bad timing as coincided with our club starting the block of TTs, a few of us not being able to get on and unsure why.
In the end I managed to join, entered the Cat I thought I should. Binned myself with a maximal effort and came last.
It doesn’t really because fitness is fleeting but I don’t think either of us care, the problem is some people do and they are upset.
But you’re right that it makes no sense at all to restrict access to a TT based on a racing score or anything else.
TT is the one cycling event where Alex Dowsett can turn up IRL and ride it along with everyone else, fit young men, mamils et al and none of them should care because you’re riding by yourself anyway.
I don’t know if the restriction is the club that creates the event or zwift, but if it’s the former then they could presumably change it?
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here’s the funny thing about virtual racing since you said something real good there. people are all really opinionated about what’s morally or ethically right, but the most opinionated guys are all doing the same stuff at the first sign of adversity, except now it’s everyone else’s fault that they’re doing it
me… i’m not in the habit of treating my neighbor as my enemy. i guess that’s why i enjoy it
edit: to answer the OP’s question: 3 activities of 10 minutes or longer in duration AND over 2km in distance travelled each activity, no other requirements as of yet