We want to give you an update related to our refreshed Crit Racing events which kicked off this week.
These events can be easily found in your Zwift Companion app with the bright pink Zwift Racing banner or by going to this link there to get the full schedule: https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/tag/zwiftracing
There are a few things we have changed with these events which we think will be great for all Zwifters:
We have moved away from being solely based in Crit City and have expanded to include other routes in other worlds! Joining the Downtown Dolphin and Bell Lap in Crit City we now have the Dutchy Estate in Yorkshire plus Rooftop Rendezvous and Neokyo Crit Course in Makuri Islands.
The events are scheduled at 10 minutes past the hour, so if you only have an hour free to get your racing fix, whether that is between meetings, family time, or another Zwift session then you can be expected to get ready, log on, clip in, race and finish before your next appointment.
Every week the events are at the same time so if you know you have a time slot free at 9-10 pm BST every Thursday for example - you can be sure to find a race there every week ready for you! This week it is 8 Laps of the Crit City Bell Lap so we may see some of you there!
The events will cycle through the routes every 5 days so you can be sure to have something fresh every day
We are currently working hard on an exciting racing calendar for next year, so watch this space for more exciting news in the near future!
Hi @OleKristian the events haven’t been configured within ZwiftPower.com so they are likely pulling the default. We will get this updated - hope you enjoy them! Ride On!
Any chance of a bit more variation in the distance (laps)?
8 laps of Bell Lap or Downtown Dolphin has been the usual for a long time, but the Arena Games series a few months ago ran 4 lap sprints that were very popular. Others might fancy a slightly longer race that would be say 12 laps.
Mixing things up a bit could be a good thing, ~10/20/30min crits at approx category A standard.
Hi, @Steve_Cl thanks for the feedback. We will look at making some events longer and shorter in future months.
Although we want to promote the ability to get your race activity completed within the hour for these events we also don’t want to be the exclusive option for racing and there are many great community event organizers who offer events at different durations.
I agree that 8 laps of the Bell Lap or Downtown Dolphin can be petty predictable and boring. Most riders will be able to hang on to the sprint and the best sprinter wins. For shorter races, the speed will be higher and it is not given that the one with the best 15 sec W/kg wins. For longer crits (12+ laps in Crit City), where aerobic abilities are challenged, there can be possible to apply some tactics to avoid the mass sprint. We need a variety of crit races. Crits are fun because of the dynamic courses. There should be short, medium, and long races to make crits exciting for all types of riders.
I don’t think you should put constraints on yourself to not create the most exciting races because there might be a community race organizer that might be doing what you want to do. As a racer, I don’t care who is hosting the race as long as it suits my preferences.
on the whole the changes are positive and I like the predicatble nature of when the races are happening, that way I can plan my work from home days and appointments around them more easily
yes it might be good to have occasional variety thru the week in terms of distance, but its not a deal breaker.
Ive been away from racing regularly for a little while, it seems to me that category enforement is having a positive impact in these crits.
I base that on the fact that, previously, to get near a win Id have to be absolutely on the rivet for the whole duration, and you’d still get some git who was clearly a cruiser smash away from you and the rest at the end. Now it seems to be possible to start fast, then sit in at the front group, and have a genuine sprint finish at the end, which is probably a bit more like crits should be.
And at the end you then see that most riders have not been right at the limit of cat C like they used to be for the whole race.
I know there is zero resource going into ZP but is there not some quick fix to allow these to be set up globally for all events that a club has, or at least at a league or series level? Or even just make no category enforcement the default setting for all events on Zwiftpower. If the majority of events are moving in that direction it seems much better that it is the default now.
Also, maybe it’s just me but changing these in advance never seems to “stick” in the settings, I always have to change it post event, as anything done beforehand just reverts to default.
Bit of a niggle with having to change daily events, albeit minor compared to your 500…though I’m not getting paid for it
[quote=“Douglas Cook [Electricspirit.co], post:15, topic:586003, username:Douglas_Cook”]
Also, maybe it’s just me but changing these in advance never seems to “stick” in the settings, I always have to change it post event, as anything done beforehand just reverts to default.
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