Zwift racing league solo?

really looking forward to the racing league, but probably not looking to join a team…is it possible to participate as a solo rider? do I still need to create a team (of 1)? thanks.

Unfortunately you’ll be disqualified each week for not finishing with a minimum of 4 riders if you do that. The TTT’s weeks will also really suck.

Its very much a team focused event and looking to do anything else is frowned upon by the organisers.
The punitive scoring alone makes this not an event for anyone who is not in a decent sized club.

I think the team element is great , but being exclusively so makes it not a fully accessible and fully featured event.

There is definitely a gap in the calendar for a non team centric event to take hold. With the end of pandemic lets see how well the ZRL series can muster a wide enough number of teams , that has been dropping. might take a while for that to be picked up .

We have gone from having a regular A team every week to having a struggle to not get a DQ on some weeks towards the start and end of the “virtual season” to probably not being able to field a full team at all in the first season this year. The region we were in started with 4 A divisions dropped to 2 and last season of those there was only a handful (literally) who had full scored attendance.

To be fair though, last season was down on rider and team numbers across the board because the season finished so late in the year; many regular teams in my divisions didn’t take part (or entered, but only in a handful of races) because by April/May they’d cancelled Zwift in order to ride outside. It was different in 2021 as many places around the world still had lockdowns I guess.

But this time round with the seasons being compressed and the third one finishing in Feb/March 2023, I think you’ll see the numbers jump back up again - maybe not to quite the levels of the first few seasons, but certainly more like late 21 / early 22.

There’s lots of good racing outside of ZRL, @OttChris .

one-off races of various lengths, series, many different points formats.

Though i’m not sure i understand your aversion to any sort of team. While some teams do get a little intense, there are some pretty relaxed groups out there too.

Thanks Craig. my aversion to team racing is totally on my end…its a combination of letting a team down with my (in)ability and possible time commitment. :slight_smile: this year I’ll hone my skills in one off races and perhaps next year it’s time to join a team. I may look into some more relaxed groups too. thanks again for advice to all who responded.

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Maybe petition WTRL to put a “Refugee” team that competes under the WTRL flag (see the Olympic examples for this) could be a public entry to the first 8 individual to sign up each week get the opportunity to race. The TTT weeks will be interesting nonetheless.

Totally hear you!

I got so nervous in ZRL that I would have a bad day and let my team down.

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I felt like that, but two things helped

  1. Just joining a team and doing it
  2. Being part of an excellent club that is more like family than a club

On 2, I can’t help you, but if anyone makes you feel like you’ve let down a team you race for, then that isn’t a team you should be racing for. Any sport, any level. imho.

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it’s worth pointing out that even if you decide to race solo in ZRL, you may be DQ’ed from the league table but your race result and rank will still count. they won’t DQ you on zwiftpower. but i do recommend joining a team and getting involved in the community

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