I know no big deal but being 59 and off the bike for long time and decided I had enough miles in to do a low level group ride. Did WEDU Wednesday as I am off today and it was actually fun. Pushed as hard as I could with too much time running solo to catch the lead group. Finished 16th.
What do you folks think a good watts/kg is good enough to try a D level race?
-John
If you want to race don’t make the mistake of entering the ‘D’ or Yellow pen.
You have a ZRS score of 158 which will put you in the ‘E’ pen or the 0-180 pen.
Although there obviously is an element of W/kg in respect to how well you might do your ZRS score of 158 would suggest you should do ok.
Just be prepared for a fast start which should last no longer than around 1 minute before the pace settles down.
If you want to consider some slightly shorter races whilst you get used to racing possibly look up the Rhino Short Crit races, plenty throughout the week, including weekends. Their pen range is 0-160 so possibly even easier for your first race.
Perfect and thank you for the details.
I may do more group rides first. I made the mistake of just trying a race too early.
Certainly a few more group rides would be a good idea.
Just a little group ride information for you as group ride speeds are different and the ‘E’ pen in group rides is not the same as ‘E’ pen in racing.
I said avoid ‘D’ pen in races as the ‘E’ pen is easier. Unfortunately in group rides the ‘E’ group ride is generally quicker (higher W/kg) than the ‘D’ group rides.
The Wedu Wednesday group ride is advertised as 2.0 - 3.0 W/kg and looks like the group ride leader rides at around 3.0 W/kg.
This group ride might have felt like a race to you because most participants were riding at 3.0 W/kg with the leader and this pace was too fast for your 2.4 W/kg.
Next time you choose a group ride try and choose a ‘D’ (yellow) option and check the event description to see if their advertised pace/power is around 2 - 2.5 W/kg. This should provide a more enjoyable group ride where you are able to ride with the main group.
And further to this, look closely at the event description and duration, work out what that would mean for you and make sure that aligns with what you want to get out of the ride.
A 45-minute ride at about 70% of your FTP would probably be comfortable enough. A 90-minute ride at that wattage might be a bit tough.
Also, bear in mind that rides paced at wkg will vary based on the weight of the ride leader and your own weight. If you’re significantly heavier than the ride leader you’ll find it relatively easier on the flats and harder on the uphills, and vice versa.
Got it so basically when it comes to racing look at the race score but rides focus more on Cat and watts/kg.
Just started to get back to cycling as part of my training as more than 10 years ago all I did was cycling. Funny thing it was many hours on the computrainer in erg mode and I was actually better with that than races/group rides. Wish Zwift existed back than I can see me never going out.
Now my goal for my 60th is a duathlon.
The wedu while tough as you predicted was fun. I like sweating and feeling exhausted. My output had me riding between G1 and G2 till two riders came up and we pretty much caught G1 at the end.
In the day I could 220 for couple hours erg and my ftp was 260 with lots of sst training and coggan would be on the boards.
Need to get closer to those numbers before I go for a race maybe. I alway was heavy as I like weight lifting and still so so weigh 180 or so.
Let’s see where this all goes.
For this ride I just wanted to see how I would hang and did better than I expected. It is nice cause in my distant past I never had fun with group rides cause too many levels of fitness but much better in Zwift.
@John_Sirabella , if you’re interested in racing on the weekend, keep an eye out for the Herd Beginner Races - they have different, and narrower, categories.
There’s no minimum standard for entering a race - they’re just hard days with a scorecard.
Joining a club and doing the Team Time Trials on Thursdays is always a hoot as well.