Did a crit race yesterday with “power boost”. Completely unintentionally. Weird twist where you have to carry extra weight round, get to choose when to charge up at a cost of Watts, and when to boost for extra Watts.
Also after about half a lap I guess someone deployed some sort of power up, because all the other riders in the group suddenly vanished never to be seen again. And then there were chicken fajitas floating around, OK burritos.
Thought I had done OK because Zwift suggested I was 7th out of 22 riders. Great. Except when I look on Zwift Power- no. 7th out of 7 riders. Not so great.
I’m not sure how I feel about all the “game” stuff. I just want a decent training ride. Also never really looked at kit etc. Am I just being narrow minded- is it worth investing a bit of time and brainpower in learning the rules?
I’ve found the Canyon Aeroad miles better than the stock bikes or the lightweight climbing bikes for the Crit races.
Wheels I don’t notice as much, but the stats seem to think they could be worth 3s per hour at 4W/kg
Which is 1s in a CatB Crit, or the difference between 1st place and last…but I’d then say sprinting is the most important part of crits.
So maybe the bikes and wheels don’t matter so much?
Unless you genuinely care if you come 10th or 17th in some random Zwift race, they really make a tiny difference. So i don’ think you’re going to be at ay major disadvantage. At the end of the day it’s there to get you riding your bike and fit for next season (whenever that is). If you’re motivated by the kit features or not, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re motivated to ride.
I’ve enjoyed buying the various bikes, though it’s made to be a rather simple exercise thanks to the ZwiftInsider reports. And to be fair, everyone probably just jumps on the same bike nowadays - Tron or Aeroad.
Looks like I’ll be back to my traditional Monday 12.40 Volcano Climb race today Suits me better than Crit City I think, and more chance for some tactical racing on and after the climb.
@Poet@mw22 for me it’s basically hang-on until the Volcano (I usually get dropped before the main climb) then try and ride with a splinter group, main climb at FTP, then tactics from summit back to finish in town. You two would be able to hang with the front until the main climb.
My last effort was for 6th in B Cat, took me 33:46.
Adam Kenway is in there - he used to ride with Derby Mercury, before he went semi-pro and won every hill climb under the sun.
He was a monster on the evening chain gangs
ETA: No bloody wonder, look at his 20 minute power
Suits me better than Crit City I think, and more chance for some tactical racing on and after the climb.
It was Luke Dragsta.
