CAN A CATEGORY C ZWIFTER PODIUM A CATEGORY B ZWIFT RACE?
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- Hi all, I recently started a training with the NRC-Team in preparation for the Zwift Racing League season - go and check them out:
www.nrc-team.com/
Loads of talking points in this one.. I was surprised at the low pace to this category B Zwift race, maybe all the B's are still over in C!
Course: Downtown Dolphin, Crit City
Category C
Zwift Racing Score category 375 - 450
Thanks all for watching, commenting and for those who also subscribe!
Please drop a comment if you have any advice that you think would help me become a stronger rider - hope you all enjoy!
I'm a category C Zwifter, with an zFTP of 255 weighing 77.3kgs.
Equipment:
Wahoo Kickr V5
Wahoo Kickr Climb
Apple TV 4k
Samsung 27" M50B monitor
Garmin HRM-DUEL
Fantastic result and very close to a cat B win! Your training is clearly working!
Thanks very much mate 👍🏻 it’s been good so far, happy with the progress - it’d be nice to set some new PB’s soon!
Are Cat C races bigger? Packsize matters a lot for speed as there are relatively more people drafting. Might explain the faster C groups.
I was thinking that. Last race I did cat C group was bigger than B. Also it didn't seem like that cat B race was really fast looking at all the watts per Kg looks similar do what Cat c do.
I think the cat C race was larger but if you have a look on ZP the wkg for the C riders in the race was greater than a a lot of the B riders. It may have just been a weaker B race and I got lucky/unlucky 👍🏻
Marked as a sandbagger yet again😂. Just kidding, no way! You are too humble and honest of a cyclist to ever think about doing that. Podium well-deserved! Although I do have to say I'm quite disappointed that for 2 weeks in a row I cannot use my Sharpie.
Haha I know! It’s a reoccurring theme 😂😂 I wish I was a top B/A rider and I’m doing everything I can to get stronger! Haha well… this Tuesday I think you may have an opportunity to use the sharpie after my ZRL race, I really want to do well but I’m scared already 🥹
@@notpogi fear is good. You have that extra nervousness which once you get going seems to give you more power because you have all that energy you have to put somewhere. You'll be fine!
Try the Pinarello races with 100+ B racers and you'll see how hard it is in B. ;)
Haha! I’ll have a look at one of those but I 100% know you’re right! 👍🏻
I see that all the time while watching Zwift race videos. The cat B and A racers are generally riding chill on the flats and stay in the 250is watt range grouped together, but where they all make up the difference is on the climbs. They generally carry their momentum better or shoot off like a rocket on the climbs
The A’s and B’s are so quick as soon as there’s any sort of incline! I do prefer that style of racing rather than the spikes you tend to get in cat C 👍🏻
@@notpogi 💯 agreed. And now that the Cs are going to be mixed with Bs in the 350-520 group that I’m in, racing is going to get weird. Keep up the great work on the channel
I think you would be a B rider soon anyway - your power figures (both constant and sprint) are way higher than mine (W/kg), and I have been B for a few years now.
I have never come close to winning a CAT B race, and I'm usually at the back or dropped in CAT B races.
I did try a couple of race score based rides, and these seemed a LOT more even on capability.
Either way, it's all good, and Zwift is such a good thing for both mental and physical fitness!
Thanks for these videos, keep them coming!
Thanks mate, appreciate the kind words 👍🏻 have a look at the next video - it’s like you predicted the future! Glad the Zwift racing score races are a little more even - looking forward to seeing how they work when everyone is on that system! Zwifting definitely helps me mentally a lot and keeps me fit, I absolutely love it 👍🏻 hopefully see you in some B races / ZRS races soon mate 👍🏻
Nice riding Olly, probably not the fastest/strongest of B races as the comments below are alluding to but good racing tactics to sit in the wheels, push and recover when needed and then attack to get on the podium. I’m doing FRR gives me a little bit of structure for a week at least and I find my fitness shoots up when I do this multistage events as I’m awful with keeping to a training plan, so why not give the training a week off and see what your legs can do in FRR? See if all that training is paying off! 😂
Thanks mate 🙂 haha definitely not the fastest but I’ll take what I can from it 👍🏻 I’m 50/50 with FRR, the benefits are amazing, and my fitness will take a massive jump, especially at the staring point I’m currently at. The only other thing is I really wanted to finish the training plan and race in Glyph Heights ZRL race next week so I’m torn! I’m definitely doing the FRR tour Watopia..
Probably see you on Friday then 👍🏻
Yeah I get you, want to finish what you started but sure you can delay it a week. Same here I will be riding ZRL next week which is the rest day for FRR so not much of a rest day! 😂
Nice podium well done 👌🏻
I guess a bigger pack doing a shorter race is mainly why the C's were faster. However, that's also probably tactical too as in B you realise that sitting on the front dragging everyone along is pointless 🤣
With that in mind, I'm really surprised there weren't more attacks! I long for races like that where the pace is slow, as you can attack and draw out the faster riders to get away with and whittle down the size of the competition you are sprinting against.
I raced w/kg critty critty bang bang on Dolphin this week and it's a totally different dynamic with what amounts to an 'all cat' start. Ultimately, the C or B who can hold onto the A's the longest wins those. Luckily that C rider was me 😂
Thanks mate, appreciate that 👍🏻 I was also surprised with the lack of attacks, o thought we might see one towards the end but I think everyone just wanted to chill lol!
The all category starts are absolutely brutal, you did well to hang on and win! 👍🏻
With the 13 riders in the B race, there's no need to have to push higher Watts to regain and defend position.
So maybe the C race had much more riders and more fighting for position, and attempts to whittle down the group.
Hi Luke, yeah that sounds about right, I think the C race was busier and may have had more fighting for position like you say 👍🏻
that is not the course I would have picked to try cat B as a C rider, lol. Well done!
Thanks very much mate 👍🏻 I thought exactly the same but it was definitely slower than expected thankfully!
Nice one mate, congrats on the podium! 👊💪💪💪 I can only assume there were a lot more racers in cat C than cat B for that race to be quicker in cat C, or there were a lot of heavy powerful cat C riders that just pushed harder than the cat Bs!
Thanks mate much appreciated 👍🏻 Yeah I think the C field was slightly larger, I didn’t mind tbh 😂 It’s typical I pick a B race slower than a C race though! Hope you’re all good mate, hopefully see you on Zwift for a race soon? 👍🏻
@@notpogi I'm planning to do the FRR ITT on Friday night, just to see how it goes. I probably won't get to do all the races, but the ITT should show where my current fitness level is. Good luck to you, if you are doing FRR!
Haha, where did you find this unicorn b race? Every b race I've been in the top guys are averaging 4. - 4.2 w/kg. I don't race often other than the weekly WTRL TTT and boy oh boy did I get dropped on this pinnerello 4 race. 3.8w/kg average almost 3.9 20min power.
Haha 😝 yeah it was super calm for a B race. I was expecting like you said 3.8+ but was pretty surprised at how slow it was! Maybe I’ll try one of those pinarello races for a real B race 👍🏻
Yeah do the FRR! I'll do it aswell. And it's your fault. I didn't know about it but thanks to your videos I do.
3rd place! Smart racing mate.
I’m on the fence mate at the moment, I really want to do the ZRL Glyph Heights race on Tuesday but I know I’ll be gutted if I choose not to race FRR… hopefully see you there mate! 👍🏻
We ride together today mate! I see you on the starting list 😊
Yes do the FFR
I’m on the fence, I’d really like to complete the training plan.. but I do love FRR 👍🏻
I find the new Racing Score grades annoying, as my racing score is 697 now, which lands me in A grade races only. I'm fine with flatish courses in A grade but this limits the races I can be competitive in, so thankfully not all races are race score enforced, for now. A little tip for your sprint - 40 MAX strokes out of the saddle preferably in the draft from 400m to go. I win a lot of sprints with that method.
I think the racing score will get a bit of getting used to, hopefully Zwift will look at that sort of thing and rectify it! Thanks for the tip - I’ll give it a try, that seems like a very low cadence but if it works then I’m in👍🏻
Ive always found a races and c races the hardest tbf
true
Yeah I found the pace of this one pretty low 👍🏻
Yeah a Cat C can podium in Cat B, I done it this week on Zwift power stage 5 of pinarello power Mayan 8 and was favourite for both races on Zwift racing app
That’s very impressive, especially on that course as it’s got a few hills! I’m not sure I’d podium one of those 👍🏻
Look at rider weights and raw watts, and you will see a trend that heavier riders with more raw watts tend to win D and C races, this trend shifts towards higher w/kg riders as you move to B and even more so at A. My explanation of this is a C rider at ~100kg only needs to put out 300w for a 3.0w/kg 20 min power, and will be competitive. While an A rider of the same weight would need more like +450 to be competitive, not many people can do this. Consequently on a flat course, like the one you raced, it is possible to have a higher raw watt C group with faster times. Try a course with a good hill and see what happens!
That’s great insight mate 👍🏻 I’ll have a look at a course that has maybe a 1-5 minute effort and see how I get on. I’m thinking I’ll get dropped but it’ll be a decent training session and will help in the long run 👍🏻
@@notpogi I’m around 82kg and had an ftp of about 280 when I catted up from C to B. My first 4-5 races I got dropped right out of the start pens. Next few I could hang with the lead group unless there was a real climb.
That was a very weak B ride looking at the resulting w/kg by the riders. I also wonder.....you said C Cat race was quicker each lap....were there 10 riders in their race or was it a bigger/smaller pack? I'm a B rider and the races i'm in you need 3.7-4.1w/kg to get anywhere near the top 3. Ps, your defo a top Cat C and a middle/low Cat B rider. I can understand why your racing in C as you have the chance to podium if you race tactically well whereas in B (in ZRL or big groups) you will struggle.....but will get better quicker!!!!!
Weak race for sure, last 4-5 B races I’ve done the winner has been >4.0w/kg for 20 min.
I've just never had a B race with such low avg power, it's always 3.7-4 and more
Hi John, I completely agree - looks like it was a weaker field and I just got a bit lucky/unlucky with the race. Cat C looked like it was a bit busier also which could explain the faster lap times.
The 3.7-4.1 was exactly what I was expecting so maybe I’ll give it another go as the point was to test myself! I do want to get quicker and as you say, it should help 👍🏻
Yeah it definitely seems that way 👍🏻
A lot of people are saying the same, I must have picked the slowest one to do lol! I’ll give it another go then 👍🏻
try Rhino Crash Chase on Sunday in B cat , or just check the results of the last 3 weeks , 2 flat races and 1 with Box Hill , go to unfiltered and you will see the real times of the Cats , B is faster , even when a lower Cat took the race
I’ll have a look at the Rhino race 👍🏻 as a general rule I agree that the B race will always be quicker, I think I just got a bit unlucky here!
Hell starts when you get the 230 people race which is 26km long up various climbs and descents
Sounds like a normal B race lol! 👍🏻
@@notpogilol
Can anyone help me join a Zwift team that races
Hi mate, try this link: facebook.com/share/g/DwgRHAXhuHuvcfmf/?mibextid=K35XfP
It’s the WTRL page on FB, if you say you’re looking for a team there someone will send you an invite 👍🏻
If your podium in a B race you should race in A
I’d love to be a cat A rider! I may give it a go just for a laugh at some point 👍🏻