3.3 won’t get you anywhere in a B-race indeed… sucks to get promoted, given your power profile. It’s an absurd system and it’s clear you have no business in the B-cat indeed. Clearly your form peaked once… take the opportunity to cruise through Watopia and get some Route badges - you’ll be able to race in C-cat again in no time (definitely less than 6 months )
(kudo’s to you for not deliberately avoiding short races that risk getting the upgrade! seems pretty clear from your average HRs you don’t exactly hold back during your races )
I’m not suggesting a true average, but I do feel more than 3 would be appropriate. I have no problem disagreeing on the formula, but what really bugs me is that my finish time almost invariably lands me in the middle of B.
I was in the in the same spot as you when I upgraded to Cat B. But, just a couple of months, I have been able to bump up my w/kg to 3.5. I still get dropped by the front group of B’s in really fast races, but slotting into the second group usually makes for a fun race.
I would rather progress and struggle as a B than sandbag as a C.
As a lighter rider (I am around 62kg) I am starting to realize there is almost no point to zwift racing the way it is now.
I currently race in cat C and lately if I push my hardest I get DQd regardless of finishing mid pack (haven’t been forced to upgrade yet). All because I occasionally push over 3.2w/kg. It doesn’t matter that the top 10 places averaged about 50-100watts more than me but due to their weight came in below the limit.
As was mentioned in this thread already the W/kg is useless and the core of the issue. It is not able to predict performance in a race and heavily favours those that weight more. Until that is replaced with a proper ranking system I personally am gonna stop attending zwift races as my effort is simply not rewarded the same way it is IRL and I am not given a chance to compete with people in my ability group.
Agree, very frustrating.
I think most racers will feel that way.
The competition on Zwift is very high.
Zwift is probably a much bigger pond than anyone has ever raced in.
Because of this, it will be very difficult to expect the same success as IRL.
Most of us have probably never raced in a race with 50 people who could hold 4.0 w/kg or 300 + watts for 30 -40 min.
Regarding weight, I’ve been wondering which form of “cheating” is more common… claiming to be heavier in order to stay under a given CAT limit, or claiming to be lighter so you can go up hills faster.
I think you missed my point to some extent.
You are 100% correct in saying the competition is high due to sheer numbers of competitors but my issue is not with that.
There are many zwifters around my level, the issue is with not being able to compete with them and being punished for putting out more power for my weight even though it’s on par with the power being put out by my competitors.
Agreed. This is probably the main reason why a ratings/results-based system would be preferable. There still will be events that favor some riders over others, but that’s the way it is in real life too, the top climbers are not the top sprinters and they don’t fight for the win in the same events.
If meet-ups was actually decent with accurate results I would create a group for lighter B cat riders and hold training races. Our FTPs are similar, collect another 15 riders in the same boat and I think it would be quite a competitive and fun training series But Zwift isn’t that good yet!
You can do that on RGT if you are a paid member, and invite your friends even if they’re not paid members. Or if you don’t have enough friends you can add bots.
This is true. in some races we push an extra effort to be able to finish on the top 10. once you reach there, Zwift decides that you should upgrade and go to the bottom of the next category. I got the improved perception of fitness but they should at least make more categories and tight. this would be make much more competitive and fun
Thanks Dean. I’m on it. Prob Is that so far there is only 1 racer with me
Sorry for the noob question: shall I enter on the splitter cat following my numbers as described or I have to join my current official Swift Cat and later its going to be splitet the results?
Thanks
Best to ping @DejanPresen , but the races usually fill up closer to race time. You should join the lowest cat that you can enter unless you want to race up - the split cats are “official” in the sense that they use CE to define the pens, they just use different entry requirements to the pen.
As Donald mentioned you enter the Lowest Category that is open to you (E is Lowest and A is the strongest).
Most Races that are more than 24h away will fill slowly. Exceptions are Leagues,etc.
Hope you will enjoy racing with racers closer to your ability.
Great race format. if you look to the results, one can see a very narrow overlap amongst the categories.
im wondering why Zwift dont use something similar for the category enforcement. it cannot be that when you start to improve yourself to be competitive you are pushed to the upper category
anyhow, thanks for sharing
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But Zwift isn’t that good yet!
