Been a while I’ve done a race since I was strictly following a schedule for this season.
Decided to do one and I forgot how chaotic the races are. We were 88 riders in total. Once it started I gave a bit of a push to join the peloton. After 2-3 minutes I had to drop as they were pushing way too hard for my power level.
The table on the right kept showing I was 40th out of 88. At the finish, it appears I finished 12th of 25.
Can anyone tell me the logic of putting all cats together in a race or are those that I see only my category? How do I tell categories apart from the time table on the right?
Also when me and a small group passed people, we kept the same position of the 88. Why?
Is there a way to only see my cat of people?
Was that the Beaconsfield Crit race?
Most races are set up to only show a single pen. That one had all pens visible and starting together.
I think that format has a place on hilly courses where the group breaks apart, it makes it more likely that you’ll find someone to ride with whether they’re in the same category or not. I don’t particularly like it for flat courses, for the lower categories it makes it all about keeping up with the higher category riders.
It’s particularly bad for those who could be competitive within their category, but once the pace is being driven by someone stronger they can no longer keep up.
Is there a way I can know beforehand which shows a single pen and which it shows all?
It was a flat course and just like you said, didn’t make quite sense.
I was in the race too, the 88 riders sounded familiar.
And I also didn’t notice beforehand that it was going to be everyone together, though looking at the same event next week I should have.
It’s not 100% accurate but the easiest way to tell what the race format will likely be is to look at the start times of the various categories.
If all pens are at the same time then everyone will be together and visible.
If they are staggered by 1 minute with A going first then it’s all separate and usually only riders from your own pen are visible.
If they are staggered with A last then it’s likely a chase race where your pen is meant to work together to catch those in front while holding off those behind.
There are some other websites - Zwiftpower and Zwift Hacks for example - that can give you more information about the event configuration, though these aren’t always reliable.
Event organisers generally put some detail into the event description so it can help to read that. But there was nothing relevant in the description of this race.
