So this morning (UK) I took part in the stage 1 “Outta 25” race and killed myself to come second. At the start my racing score was 450. But after my 2nd place I was boosted by 75 points to 525! That’s daft enough but for some reason my racing score is now showing as 618!!! How on earth can this be right? Since I’ve been racing I’ve had a couple of wins, two 2nd places and finished in the top ten a few times. Everything else has been middling at best. There’s no way I can remotely compete in the top category.
Almost has to be a 5min power PB.
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New 90-day 5min best boosting your seed score?
Yeah, looks like a 5min PB. Held 4.83w/kg for 5mins, 4.35w/kg for 20mins which were both recent PBs.
Not sure what those should work out to in terms of racing score.
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I didn’t really out pace the field and only held on to 2nd by a couple of seconds. Surely boosting from 450 to 618 can’t be justified for that?
ZRS is a combination of your race results (basically top half from pen sign up total increase, lower half decrease, even if lots of signups don’t turn up for event), a small bonus for a podium finish and your best 5mins effort of the last 90 days to give you a seed score…
ZRS is a diabolical racing system with so many flaws, despite a few band aids thrown here and there.
I’ve not found your zwiftpower profile, but if you are 75Kg and did ~363W for 5mins (4.83W/Kg) , that would give you a seed score of ~594.
If your pen had a small number of signups, point increases for finishing in top half of signup number are higher.
Plus bonus points for 2nd (out of everyone, not just zwiftpower registered racers).
Could easily end up with ~618 after processing.
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Using the link Steve sent, and your in-game weight I calculated a 613 ZRS from the site he linked to. So it was definitely your 5min PB that made the difference. (assuming I’m looking at the correct profile that is).
But if I’m looking at the correct profile the 4.35w/kg for 20mins I ‘think’ should have promoted you to A cat as well (from a category enforcement perspective) unless the boundary has changed.
Out of curiosity, if you refresh your ZP profile on Zwift Power does it still show “B” cat?
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It still shows as B for pace group (though I thought it was wrong placing me in the B group a while back. Looking at available races though, only the A category is now open to me. I can see the logic mathematically - I did rack up several PB’s trying to catch back up to the group after i got dropped on the hill at the end of the first lap but didn’t think much of it. It really didn’t feel like I was destroying myself in the process. My FTP remains unchanged at just shy of 300.
Maybe the change is justified but it really doesn’t feel right. I very much feel like a C grade rider! Thanks for looking into it! Appreciated
I’m wondering if it just hasn’t updated yet. What the profile shows is 361W for 20 mins, and typically the FTP is around 95% of that number which would be 342W.
Edit: Did you manually hit the “refresh profile” button? If not you should try that, sometimes there’s a pretty sizable lag in terms of profile update.
Thanks for looking at it. I think diabolical is an excellent word for it! Whatever the maths says I just don’t feel I’m anywhere near 618! Racing in the new category is just going to be embarrasing. I have a feeling going down the ladder will be more difficult if personal bests are so important.
Yep - did it manually (and again just now). It’s still showing B. I did The Grade the other day and it came out at 297 which is pretty consistent with where I’ve been the last three months or so.
I had a susprising seed score increase at the weekend that’s excluded me from pen E Tiny Races for at least 30 days, which I’m laying blame for to my new Jetblack Victory turbo rather than actual fitness gains, pretty sure it’s reading approx +10W higher than either my 4iiii and my now dead Saris H3.
The step up in ability at any pen level is massive and it’s hard to find motivation to take part, because chances are, we’re destined to be “also rans” for some time… Need to treat races like alternative workouts for a while!
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Well, what power did you average in the grade and for how long to get an eFTP of 297W? It must have been way lower than 361W for 20 mins right? I would think you’d be done the grade in under 20 mins at that power.
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Oh and I’m 83kg
you’ve set new all time power 30s, 1m, 5m and 20m pbs so i’m not surprised your score has jumped with a power increase of 49w for 20m and and also 49w for 5min
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4.35 for 20 mins and you think your not near 600 ZRS.
As someone has stated that’s A cat threshold. Take it as it is, your stronger than you thought.
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That’s big Watts then for 5mins 4.83W/Kg (~401W), before long covid in ‘22 I was 80Kg with a 5mins best of ~360W.
I’m saving for the Zwift Ride + kickr combo and actually hoping for a sensible reality check when I get it!
I’ll stick with it but racing at near maximum to just finish bottom of the heap will be daunting! Cheers
Well, another possibility is the trainer was not calibrated properly for your new PB ride. If you really did just go all-out on the grade and got an eFTP of under 300W, then being able to hold 361W for 20mins shortly after (indicating closer to a 340W FTP) is somewhat of a big jump in power that people train years to get to (and most never do).
I’ve noticed some big improvements - particularly over the last three months when I seem to have hit a bit of a “purple patch”. I’ve been focussed on upgrading my Aethos which has involved a ton of climbing (which I usually avoid like the plague). Maybe that has improved my form more than I thought it would
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