I am wondering if somebody can please explain to me in the most basic way how Zwift calculates W/KG during races. In order for me to stick with the group C I have to put out more W/KG then everyone on average and therefore I get kicked out of races. If I go to group B and compare my times I would be last place or in and around last place.
I am a very competitive person and just getting into Zwift having only completed a few races. However I am very confused at how this whole thing works. I might be doing something wrong and if so I apologize. But please let me know so I can improve and continue to love Zwift!
Any and all advice is appreciated and I thank you all in advance. Ride on!!
The whole w/kg thing is a huge can of worms. But in short, on flat sections it’s watts and not w/kg that are.important. So riders heavier than you will be able to do more watts at the same w/kg as you. So a less heavy rider will have to do more w/kg to keep up, assuming everything else is equal (e.g. drafting is a huge factor).
Putting it as politely as possible, you don’t have an automatic right to be at the front of the category you qualify for. You may well be last or near last in your category right now, somebody has to be. The biggest problem with cheating in Zwift is people who can’t accept they don’t have a right to compete at the front. You just need to get faster if you want to compete (honestly) at the front of B. I know that’s not what you want to hear as a competitive person, but it’s the truth.
Lol you need to explain yourself a bit more on this reply? I’m under the impression you’re saying I don’t deserve to ride in the front of the pack because I haven’t put my time in on Zwift? Or are you saying my W/KG needs to improve to be at the front. I’m 69KG on a heavy day and 180cm keep that in mind.
Not making any comment on how hard you’ve worked on Zwift (or IRL), you may have worked extremely hard and good on you if you have. I’m just saying you don’t automatically deserve to be at the front of a given group. Somebody has to be last or nearly last, that may be you if that’s where your power falls right now.
As for how the power works, I’m a similar weight (actually slightly lower now at 66-67kg) and similar height. The solution above is partly true but it’s also not all of the answer and is exaggerated sometimes. I can hang with heavier riders in a flat race (I actually prefer flat races or one with only anaerobic puncheur climbs) with fewer absolute watts than them and a similar w/kg to them. I can even outsprint them sometimes. I suspect if you have only done a few races you may not have perfected drafting them yet either.
I was just pointing out that some people who are competitive and don’t like not hanging with the front group in their category find creative ways to ensure they do (either up or down the categories), which reinforces the problem. I was encouraging you not to find that route and get comfortable that, for now, you might not be in a place to compete at the front. I was not accusing you of cheating.
Are you in group B rides? I would say you’re right I have not figured out the drafting yet. I’m on a Kurt Kinetic road machine with the smart technology. Any advice on good drafting. I usually try and just keep my W/KG consistent the whole race.
I was in B, moved to A a couple of months ago. Had similar boundary crossing issues as you, as everybody does. I actually moved to A before ZwiftPower forced me to (genuinely dropping a couple of kgs IRL helped, which I was able to do once I’d finished a build plan where I needed food to recover to a more of a base plan where I could sustain a calorie deficit)
I have definitely got better at doing no more than a fair share on the front. Being competitive it can be tempting to lead, I know I did when I was getting to the very top of B. My first A race was a disaster and I actually took a few months off racing and on a hard build plan before returning and now I’m competitive there too.
basically unless ur 80kg++ and able to hold 3.2w/kg for an hour, you can forget about competing for podium on a Cat C race. oh and make sure you bring >10w/kg 15sec burst too
if ur putting out more w/kg than everyone else then you need to work on ur race tactics, powerup usage, and being in the draft as much as possible.
