Im a level 82, so zwidt fairly regularly. I only ride with the bots because all the races are blocked out. You have to be in this zwift racing league or on a team or you cant race. Honestly, its getting boring just riding. I used to be able to race years ago but zwift must have changed something.
So all i want to know is can i race, or cant i. If i cant cause you have to be in a special club or have an additional memebership thats fine ill just move to the training peaks offering which allows you to race.
I tried to get ahold of zwift to ask but they dont have support that i can find.
There’s no additional membership required for races. There are some leagues that require you to be part of a team but the vast majority of races do not.
What about the races is blocked out? Can you not see any on the events list or does it not let you enter them?
It days 359. Tho i dont know what that means as i have not been able to race in a few years. I just looked for tomorow, and like 9 out of 10 races are zwift racing league which you need special something to be allowed in. The one race it looks like i can enter has zero people. Its always like this. Its no biggie, im just gonna move to training peaks, my coach uses it anyway for my rides and they have a virtual platform that looks like they let you race.
The other thing is the w/kg thing. For some reason with the pace bots im always
3. to .5 w/kg higher than pace. I know there are different bikes and such, and i guess i should have put the time in to buy different bikes and such but .5 is excessive. People pull by me doing 30% less w/kg.
One other thing. People have these superpowers for sprinting and such. I dont know how to use them and even if i did no way i could use my phone while racing. Whats the thought with that? Your doomed at the end if everyone has super powers and you dont. I get it , its just a VR game thing bit super powers makes the entire thing.sort of a mute point
Ok, so not an issue of you only being able to enter the Advanced races.
Zwift Racing League does tend to flood the calendar when it’s on, and the entry to those is by a private link.
The only thing I can think of that would prevent you from entering most races is if you’re using a wheel-on trainer with estimated power. Most races require a smart trainer or power meter.
The w/kg difference could be due to a number of different things. Different bikes, different height or weight. I’m typically the other way, but I’m heavy so more raw watts in that lower w/kg. You’re not on a TT bike are you?
I have one of my gravel bikes on a wahoo kickr. I use stages single sided power meter to control the kickr. I do that because i noticed my kickr consistently runs 10% or more below the stages power meter. Ive swapped my stages power meter (i have 4 of them for various bikes) to validate the stages is correctly reading. The kickr is the version that does not require a spin down calibration
For example tonight i was riding @ 195 watts to stay with maria. That puts me @ 2.8 w/kg. Its not the end of the world as all that really matters is getting ready for racing season but does matter in a zwift race. IRL i am a cat 2 mtn bike, on zwift when i was racing would finsih almost last cat c. Like i said, its just a game but maybe someother platform would be more level and accurate? Haven’t used any other than zwift
Every hour you could enter a zrace. If your score is 395, you’re in the same cat as me. There are range 1 and range 2 races. If you look at the different races, you will understand. Maybe go to Zwift Insider, and look up how to race on Zwift. But there are many races you could enter.
This is just an example. You should have the same option as me
Do you have play controllers or other steering device enabled? If you dont have them, with the current pack dynamics you are screwed and will be stuck out of the draft and wont follow wheels of those in front causing a much higher w/kg. If you dont have steering, you will have a terrible experience, and that is because of the pack dynamics, nothing you are doing wrong.
good point, make sure you are using a fast road bike in game… also your IRL gravel bike probably has a smaller chain ring, what does it have, a 40? Do you find you are spinning out on the flats with not enough resistance?
Thanks for the thoughts guys. I have a 1x drivetrain wirh 10x42 cassette, 42 up front. Its fine 95% of time. The only time i spin out are long downhills. While riding my average rpm ranges 87 to 92, which is my outdoor typical.
Somebody esrlier posted that without steering pack dynamics penalizes you as your never in the draft. If that is true, that explains the situation but i would have thought others would have noticed
Without steering you would sometimes be out of the draft, not all the time, but 2.8W/kg for Maria sounds odd unless you are a tiny person, on a TT bike in-game, etc.
If you lower the Trainer Difficulty setting in the game you should be less likely to spin out on descents.
I never would have thought of that but if true would explain the difference. Another example is i am same weight as coco, but 200watts to 230watts is needed to ride with her. I think the system says 195 is target for.coco @ her weight.
Your Kickr probably needs a factory spin down, I have the V5 which was meant to not need a factory spin but it absolutely does, mines was under reporting power for months.
