How can I improve my racing in Zwift?
Somehow I’m in Cat B but I feel like I’m a Cat C or D rider and have no clue why I’m in Cat B
A really quick look at your zwiftpower stats, not a coach…
You are way too strong for Cat D and C too, your 5min ZRS seed score is ~404 for 300W at 75.2Kg.
You have a sprint I can only dream of, but I suspect you are being dropped way before you can try and sprint for top 10s.
I think you need to work on your 1-5min, both higher output and being able to repeat that.
Your 20min aerobic power could do with raising towards 300W, but IMO it’s less of a priority than not being dropped on sub 5min hills, like you appear to have been on Petit KOM on Peaky Pave.
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You are now below 450 ZRS which is the cut-off for C category in range 2 ZRacing events (and Zwift Games). That probably means you have exactly one opportunity to smash out a beautiful race in that category before you drift up over the threshold, at which point you should try the 390-510 events and hope for a mid-pack finish. Pick a good one, show up with your best legs and make it count.
I think you should check your Peak Power for 5 minutes (on your Zwift Profile Page) to see when you set your recent 90 day pb. From what I can see your ZwiftPower best 5 minute pb does not give you the seed score you have received. This means you are possibly having to race in a higher category than your true ability. Let’s know on which date your 5 min pb was set as this may indicate why your ZRS appears a little high.
Within your ZCA Activity reports you are showing some unusual very high spikes. These could very well be you doing sprint training but as you have 7 x 5 second pbs of exactly 1500w on ZwiftPower I think it likely that you are experiencing some trainer malfunctions. What set up are you using?
I would agree with Ian, something is up with your equipment; those ~1500w spikes aren’t real.
Looking at your race reports, I don’t understand why your power output is so consistent regardless of terrain. Flat terrain, around 250w; steep grade up, around 250w; sharp decent, around 250w. You can also see a steady decline in your avg power output over the course of a race, which is odd.
Looking at your last two races, your raw wattage and w/kg are very close if not better than the top 5 Cat B finishers. Yet, you are finishing at the back of the pack by yourself. This generally indicates that you are getting dropped early, riding by yourself, getting no draft help, which forces you to use more energy. Also, riding by yourself provides little motivation to push your effort levels, so you just pedal along, which could explain why your power output is so tightly banded. Does that sound accurate?
I’ve found that putting in the extra effort to stay with the lead group at the beginning and then drafting effectively makes a huge difference in my finish time.
As Ian mentioned, let us know about your setup, something is definitely up with your power output.
Cheers
The bike has a power meter in it, and it’s off by 2%.
I understand that most trainers are off by 1+/- and the bike I’m using is off by 2 -/+%.
I’m sprinting at 1500 watts, which is the maximum watts the bike can do.
Note I have a heart rate monitor at the same time.
If you see in Zwift power displays next to my name and not zpower.
What bike is it?
Techogym bike
I would not trust the power numbers from a Technogym product unless it compares well to a known good power meter. The DC Rainmaker review indicated accuracy was poor, but there have probably been some firmware updates since that time. I would assume nothing about it without proof. If I were to hazard a guess, it’s probably better than most spin bikes and worse than a $400 trainer.
are you Mark Cavendish in disguise??
sure_jan.gif
Matthew, respectfully, your “1500W” sprints scream sticky watts or technical glitch. Mainly because they last for about 3-4 secs and then drop back to ~300W immediately. The power levels for real sprints don’t do that, they stay high and then drop off after 10-20 secs depending on the rider as their leg muscles run out of energy. Your sprints are ~300w, immediate spike to 1500w for 3s, and then immediate drop back to ~300w, that’s just simply not how muscle fatigue works.
I looked at the Techogym webpage and the bikes look very nice, a good alternative to a Peleton. Sadly, spin bikes like this are notorious for not working well with programs like Zwift because of issues with how they report power to the game.
Not sure if we can help you beyond this. You could contact Zwift support and try to get your racing score lowered, or just tank a bunch of races. But given the power reporting issues with your equipment, you’ll quickly set another high 5 min power, which will drive your seed score back up into Cat B.
I still recommend my original suggestion, stick with the pack as best you can, surf the wheels and draft like a madman so you can conserve energy for the climbs.
Sorry
I would take this a bit further and say you, @matthew_close, should not be racing at all until you can confirm the accuracy of this technogym bike or obtain a secondary power source such as power meter pedals. Racing with known inaccurate equipment is seen as cheating.
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I would agree with you 99% of the time on this, especially since he’s racing in Cat B, but as he’s pointed out, he’s coming in at the very back of the pack. If he was smoking everyone in Cat C or D, yea, I’d call foul, but in this case, ehhhh?
Hmm, can you put power pedals like the Favero Assioma’s on a spin bike like that? Would definitely solve the problem.
but you told him to tank a bunch of races and/or contact support to lower his race score… so he could start blowing up C cat races.
if they have standard size pedal threads, then yes… buyer beware obviously and they better check first before dropping a couple hundered dollars on power pedals.
Matthew,
To better explain what I'm talking about look at the picture I've attached, it's a comparison between one of my sprints and one of yours. For both graphs, the total time frame is one minute. There are a number of odd things going on. While it's hard to see because of how the vertical scale is getting skewed, right before you start sprinting, you're only doing 150w and then in 4s you hit 1500w, that 1500w lasts for exactly 3s (text book example of sticky watts), and then plummets back down to 250w after 5s for no particular reason (ie you didn't crest the hill or pass a finish line). Your entire sprint cycle, from start to stop, lasts 11s which is very short for a sprint.
If you look at my graph, there is a longer build up before I hit max power and a much slower degradation of power over time. My power drops to zero because I hit the finish line and was inside a pacer ride and had to slow down so I wouldn't drop out of the group. This is more what a natural sprint looks like, yours are just too short and spiky to be natural.
To better understand my point, go out and try to do a longer sprint, see what sort of average power you can get in a 20 - 30s long sprint.
Cheers
If obtaining a secondary power source, such as power-meter pedals, is required, then this requirement should apply to everyone racing.
I have a contract with Technogym, and the Group Cycle bikes have been tested to provide ±2% accuracy in power measurement.
I have also tested my power output using a friend’s power-meter pedals. During sprint efforts lasting around five seconds, I was able to produce over 1500 watts, which confirms that the peak power values recorded are achievable (it was 1635 watts)
Maybe after review I should go harder on Hills and use less power going down hills or when been drop the, go harder at it.
Note, I was 5 secs better than first place D winner :
Me: 53:53 3.3w/kg 20mins : 3.7w/kg
1st Place :53:58 2.9w/kg 20mins : 3.0w/kg
Note the bike has Ant+
Rule number 1 dont do Power down hill. #noob.
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Ditch that 20kg of ballast you’re carrying and say that! 
I don’t know exactly what Technogym’s thing is, but I’d definitely call the thing BS as a trainer.
Listen, the 1500W isn’t the thing for me. Absolutely plausible, very strong but not ridiculous. The bike is doing something weird. It almost looks like 250W is the maximum the brake can do on that bike and the rest of the power readout is flywheel acceleration? Just speculation on what mechanism could make your power look like that. I guess you might just be a very weird cyclist.
As far as why you’re in Cat B - your power levels support it. You’re in the right place power-wise anyway, my theory is your bike just doesn’t give you a resistance curve to let you have a normal power curve in zwift, your curve is very flat like a long-TT athlete until you have an amazing sprint.
Our 20min power is nearly identical, my 6min is 50W more than you (I’m a little heavier at the moment), my 1min is likewise a lot higher - but by 30s our power is the same, then your sprint is 500W more than mine. Assuming your power curve in ZwiftPower for the last 90 days is good efforts.
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