Zwift Thursday Night Training Race (UK/Europe) Report 2015-11-12

More than 50 racers showed up to the UK/Europe region Thursday Night Training Race on Zwift. The race course this time was the reverse Watopia loop. Groups A and B did 5 laps and Groups C and D did 4 laps. Thank you very much Jacob Dodsworth for volunteering to lead out the neutral section for the C and D groups.

For a moment it appeared like J. T. (Team dZi) might be tested as Norwegian phenom T. Bern Hansen joined the race. Unfortunately Bern Hansen developed cramps and decided not to contest the finish so we will have to wait until another race to see who would win a head to head contest. J. T. (Team dZi) got the jump on the rest of the A group with a strong attack on the KOM climb and managed to pull out a 20 second lead by the finish line. F. Coppex (X1) rolled across in second followed shortly thereafter by K. Little.

D. Ronan managed to hang onto the A group for three laps on his way to winning the Group B race. S. Gray and ICON Champion (QCW) followed more than 90 seconds back for second and third, respectively. The main Group B peloton was a further minute back, with E Nekkers winning a close field sprint over C Dog and R. Jones (USMES).

A group of 6 riders tore up the course in the C race, managing to average over 40 km/h over the four lap race distance. In the end S. White* managed to gap the group and rolled over the finish line four seconds ahead of J. Thompson who won the group sprint. G. Z. (Team dZi) was third.

P. Cambell was the only entrant in the D group today and so got to take the trophy after finishing the four laps at a respectable 34.7 km/h average.

Watch a replay of Nathan Guerra's coverage here: http://www.twitch.tv/nathanguerra/v/25439575

J. T. (Team dZi) wins the Group A race

D. Ronan wins Group B

E. Nekkers wins the field sprint in Group B

S. White wins the Group C race

J. Thompson wins the group sprint for second in Group C

R. Rolighed outsprints C. Holmes and T. Hammarberg at the end of the Group C race

P. Cambell takes the Group D trophy

Full Results
Group A

1	J. T. (Team dZi)	0:57:06 (43.6 km/h)
2	F. Coppex (X1)	0:00:22
3	K. Little	0:00:24
4	S. Tytgadt (TK.be)	0:00:39
5	K. Smith	0:00:39
6	N. Law (X1)	0:02:38
7	D. Los	0:02:45
8	P. Crossley	0:02:47
9	M. Fredholm	0:04:05
10	R. Grosch	0:04:29
11	C. Wiedmann	0:09:58

Group B

1	D. Ronan	0:59:37 (41.8 km/h)
2	S. Gray	0:01:37
3	ICON Champion (QCW)	0:01:47
4	E. Nekkers	0:02:43
5	C. Dog	0:02:43
6	R. Jones (USMES)	0:02:43
7	T. De Meyer (TK.BE)	0:02:43
8	K. Leighton (NEO)	0:02:43

Group C

1	S. White*	0:46:59 (41.0 km/h)
2	J. Thompson*	0:00:04
3	G. Z. (Team dZi)	0:00:04
4	Gav. S	0:00:04
5	J. Muys (TeamNL)	0:00:12
6	A. Nascimento	0:00:33
7	A. Pisculla	0:02:35
8	A. Ek (sZr)	0:03:56
9	M. Hysiak	0:04:36
10	C. Holmes	0:04:36
11	R. Rolighed	0:04:36
12	M. King	0:05:09
13	M. Bradshaw	0:05:52
14	J. spence (VISION)	0:05:52
15	D. Chandisingh	0:06:26
16	J. Greig	0:07:42
17	T. Haugan	0:08:01
18	E. Franken	0:08:01
19	M. Rothe	0:08:03
20	M. Bunting	0:09:09
21	D. Lowden	0:09:13
22	M. Lund (sZr)	0:11:39
23	J. slagmeulder (tk.be)	0:13:08
24	J. Dodsworth	0:15:56
25	J. O' Connor	0:18:26

Group D

1

P. Campbell

0:55:14 (34.7 km/h)

*unverified zPower on podium

Wednesday Watopia Ride Report 2015-11-11

A group of at least 70 riders joined for today's moderate to fast 4 lap group ride. Special guest Evie Stevens joined the ride today. The large group made the pace tend more towards the fast side, but there was a general regrouping for the last lap mini-race.

c. loveday managed to finish the last lap the fastest, closely followed by D. Ronan (X2) and V. Hugo (Team dZi).

Thanks all for joining! If you're not already a member, please join the Zwift Riders group on Facebook to see the many rides organized by the community (https://www.facebook.com/groups/zwiftriders/).

c. loveday takes the win over D. Ronan (X2) and V. Hugo (Team dZi)

Full Results:

1	c. loveday	0:12:43 (42.7 km/h)
2	D. Ronan (X2)	0:00:00
3	V. Hugo (Team dZi)	0:00:00
4	J. Greig	0:00:00
5	Alexis LOUGE	0:00:00
6	F. Bokeroed	0:00:33
7	m. Howard	0:00:33
8	A. Moffat	0:00:46
9	S. Birch	0:00:46
10	F. Hemsley	0:00:54
11	J. Long (Chelmer CC)	0:00:54
12	G. Vanstone	0:00:55
13	F.urPants	0:01:11
14	Kelvin DTCC	0:01:11
15	S. Nepstad	0:01:12
16	M. Jones	0:01:12
17	A. Brindley	0:01:12
18	S. M	0:01:12
19	C. Gasche	0:01:12
20	D. Knott	0:01:12
21	D. Young	0:01:12
22	E. Stromsholm	0:01:12
23	J. Schel	0:01:24
24	C. Sinclair	0:01:59
25	R. Porada	0:02:20
26	M. Fryland	0:03:11
27	C. Andrew	0:03:31
28	D. Levin	0:03:57
29	T. J	0:04:12

Zwift Tuesday Night Worlds (US/East) Training Race Report 2015-11-10

More than 40 riders turned out for the 11/10 Tuesday Night Worlds (US/East time slot) for a 3 lap race on the Richmond World's course. As a reminder: no TT bikes please - this is mass start racing. I realize I forgot to include that in the important rules section in Facebook, so it was my fault this time.

J. Brazeal and A. Baron fought for the win on the Governor St. climb, but turned onto the final straight together. Brazeal led out with an impressive long sprint that Baron was unable to match. R. Harper came in third a little behind the two.

P. Schmidt outclassed the rest of the B group to win the race by almost three minutes. D. Lambert managed to pass C. Ashley on the Governor Street climb to take the second podium spot.

D. McKeon convincingly won the C group in his first ZTR outing. Triathlon Joe and >. Roofrak_CT took the final two podium  spots.

Pictures missing this time due to technical difficulties. I will try to add some later.

Full Results

Group A

1	J. Brazeal	1:03:48 (42.1km/h)
2	A. Baron	0:00:02
3	R. Harper	0:00:18
4	C. Schumm (X1)	0:00:43
5	E. Angeli	0:00:56
6	C. Little	0:02:52
7	C. MacLeod	0:03:34
8	M. Nahorniak	0:04:42
9	C. Wiedmann	0:07:46

Group B

1	D. Hendrycks	1:07:09 (40 km/h)
2	P. Schmidt	0:01:02
3	d.lambert	0:03:56
4	C. Ashley	0:04:08
5	J. Dixon	0:04:55
6	J. Kraft	0:06:06
7	M. Leduc	0:09:25
8	J. Greene	0:09:41
9	T. Barry	0:11:01

Group C

1	D. McKeon	1:09:56 (38.4 km/h)
2	Triathlon Joe	0:00:41
3	>. Roofrak_CT	0:00:56
4	R. Howard	0:05:39
5	R. Hritz	0:05:56
6	A. Jones	0:06:57
7	M.Hoogerland	0:12:16
8	T. Funderburk	0:15:03

What is ZTR?

The Zwift Training Race series is intended to bring the excitement and training benefit of mass-start cycle racing to your home using the Zwift (http://www.zwift.com) online virtual cycling service.

Why ZTR?

For many of us, head-to-head competition provides unparalleled motivation to push ourselves to the limits. While Zwift doesn't have built-in race functionality yet, a group of us get together regularly to test our strengths against each other in an open race format on Zwift. The goal of these races is to have fun while working out at the highest possible level. The races are intended to be low-key with an emphasis on good racing rather than being a strict, realistic race with results that match real life.

When are the races?
The best place to see the ride schedule is here: http://teamup.com/ks4861763bd63ce3d8/. The ZTR races are currently Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but there are other race series at other times of the week. There are races in multiple time zones, so hopefully there will be one that fits your schedule. You can ask questions and see more details on Facebook in the Zwift Racers group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ZwiftRacers. Check the event listings in that group for news and updates on the races.

Who can join?

This race series is open to everyone, regardless of equipment. If you are using a setup that doesn't measure power (i.e. zPower/virtual power calculated from a speed sensor), we ask that you try to make sure your performance is as close to your real-world performance as possible.

What group should I race in?

To join a race, you should first pick a group to race with. The groups are identified by letter A-D, from fastest to slowest. Women may use the letter W ahead of the group to indicate they wish to be placed separately from the men in the group. The rough FTP levels of the groups are the following: A greater than 4.0 w/kg, B 3.2 w/kg to 4.0 w/kg,C 2.5-3.2 w/kg, D below 2.5 w/kg. Note that when needed, there will be separate results in the A group for unverified zPower riders. If you outperform the group you race in, you will be asked to upgrade and will no longer be eligible for future results in that group.


How do I identify myself as a racer?

To identify yourself to other racers, simply edit your last name on your Zwift dashboard (https://my.zwift.com/dashboard) and add a space then ZTR dash your category (e.g. I set my last name to "Wiedmann ZTR-A"). In the race, you're encouraged to wear the Basic 1 jersey if you have no other preference.

What course should I pick?
Races now offer a course choice. The best way to avoid wrong turns is to pick the course matching the race description. The "Group" option can get confused because we share the course with non-racers, so if others around you are not racing and turning the other way, you could be led astray.

What should I expect when the race starts?
Races will usually use Zwift's event module. When starting the game, simply click on the race and start riding your warmup. Shortly before the start time, you will be prompted to join the other racers in the staging area. There, you will see a countdown timer to the start of the race. Start pedaling a few seconds before the countdown reaches zero to ensure you start with the rest of the group.

For certain special events, the races will be organized outside of the event module. For those, the following instructions apply:
The meeting place for ZTR races is the start/finish line. The race leader will announce when the race starts. Note that there may be more than one race leader if the race has a staggered start for different groups (lately we have been splitting into separate A/B and C/D starts 2 minutes apart for the larger races). When the ride leader starts rolling, start riding too. The races start with a short (about 5-10 minute) neutral ride which allows the pack to form. This section should be ridden at a steady pace, and all riders should try to stay behind the ride leader until the real start. The ride leader will announce the start at the real start point, but be alert to the start as sometimes chat messages get delayed on the Zwift servers.

What race rules should I be aware of?

Here is an overview of race rules that are useful to keep in mind:

Please don't use TT bikes - road bikes only for races.

We encourage use of heart rate monitors.

If you're in contention for a race, please do not draft non-racers for extended periods of time.

Please do not motorpace off of riders with obvious setup issues (for example a rider riding above 5w/kg consistently with a heart rate less than 130), even if they are in the race.

Power-up etiquette:

• You may use power-ups to stay with a group if you're in danger of being dropped, or to catch back up to a group from which you've been dropped.
• Please do not use power-ups to attack or off the front of a group.
• Please do not use power-ups on the final lap of the race (or the final 10km for races with longer laps).
• If you accidentally trigger a power-up, go to the back of the group you're with.

Zwift Thursday Early Bird Training Race Report 2015-11-05

Video of the finishers. alternate  link until this one finishes processing: https://youtu.be/X6FPnq3t4L8?t=3572

72 riders participated in this edition of the Thursday Zwift Training Race, Early Bird edition. This week featured a staggered start with the A&B groups starting two minutes ahead of the C&D groups. The A&B neutral went better than the C&D neutral as more than half of the latter group lost track of the leader and rode off the front of the main group.

C. Baldi was again the only woman finisher, setting a record for the course in the process.

J. T. (Team dZi) continued his dominance in the A group, winning a sprint over C. De Grom. J. Van Eyken (Tk.be) was third on the podium.

C. MacLeod rode a blistering pace to win the B group ahead of D. Los and P. Crossley.

R. Jones won a three-up sprint over S. Walker* and J. Long for the C group win. The actual leader on the road, B. Warren, unfortunately rolled out with the A&B group and thus was not eligible for a placing in the C group despite working hard to hold of the rest of the field.

A request to the racers: please be attentive during the neutrals and try not to pass the leader. If you are on the front of the pack and do not see the leader in front of you, drift back into the pack until you find him or her. The racing is better if everyone starts together!

C. Baldi on her way to winning the women's race

J.T. (Team dZi) dominates Group A

C. MacLeod wins Group B

R. Jones wins the three-up sprint over S. Walker and J. Long

Full Results:

Women
1 C. Baldi (Team dZi) 1:04:19 (38.7 km/h)

Group A
1 J. T. (Team dZi) 0:55:43 (44.6 km/h)
2 C. De Grom 0:00:01
3 J. Van Eyken (Tk.be) 0:00:04
4 C. Ganderton 0:00:07
5 F. Coppex (X1) 0:00:14
6 K.C. (Team dZi) 0:00:20
7 L. sobotkin (SPINTECK) 0:00:21
8 K. Little 0:00:32
9 O. Mischenko 0:00:36
10 M. Matteo 0:00:52
11 F. Garcia (X1) 0:00:56
12 R. Grosch 0:06:12
13 N. Law (X1) 0:06:44
14 S. Tytgadt 0:07:01
15 S. Schulz 0:07:31
16 C. Wiedmann (X1) 0:09:34

Group B
1 C. MacLeod 0:56:28 (44.0 km/h)
2 D. Los 0:00:08
3 P. Crossley 0:01:53
4 C. Dog 0:05:00
5 D. Churchill 0:06:21
6 M. Thompson 0:06:54
7 A. Holmstrom 0:06:55
8 C. Lucking 0:09:30
9 J. Greig 0:09:53
10 H. Johansson 0:10:05
11 T. Hammarberg 0:10:40
12 T. urboGarry 0:11:18

Group C
B. Warren 0:50:57 (37.8 km/h)
1 R. Jones (USMES) 0:00:24
2 S. Walker* 0:00:24
3 J. Long (please add category to your name) 0:00:24
4 B. Afonso (GoZwiftPT) 0:01:08
5 L. Bellens 0:01:58
6 K. Almaas 0:02:16
7 R. Kennison 0:02:39
8 D. Bleasby 0:02:40
9 K. Smith 0:02:40
10 J. Sharp 0:02:40
11 D. Lugmair 0:03:07
12 T. Parker 0:03:07
13 S. 0:03:26
14 M. Martinez 0:04:29
15 E. Franken 0:05:09
16 M. B. J. (Team dZi) 0:05:38
17 D. Chandisingh 0:05:49
18 J. Mora (VISION) 0:05:55
19 S. Jakobsen 0:07:47
20 R. 0:07:50
21 C. Holmes (restart?) 0:09:09
22 S. Gilroy 0:11:53
23 R. Dal Corso 0:12:15
24 A. Simashin 0:12:44
25 A. Wyers 0:14:46
26 O. Johansson 0:16:34

Zwift Tuesday Night Worlds Training Race Report 2015-11-03

Daylight savings time has left the North American continent and plunged our evenings into darkness. As a result there was an influx of new riders to Zwift resulting in 35 racers showed up to contest this week's Tuesday Night Worlds.

This race introduced a staggered start with Groups A and B rolling out two minutes before Groups C and D in order to provide a saner paced start for the latter riders. D. Corredor graciously volunteered to lead out the neutral for the C and D groups. Thanks Daniel! The race spanned 5 laps of Watopia for Groups A and B and 4 laps for C and D. It was raced in the normal direction.

Team tactics played a role in the finale of the Group A race as M. Desrosiers launched a late attack out of a group of three with two Team X1 riders. E. Angeli could not recreate Ian Stannard's feat from Het Niewsblad and had to settle for third as C. Schumm outsprinted him to the line.

The B group had a close finish with A. Reichert outsprinting A. Davis to the line. S. C. (Team dZi) rolled across the line 20 secconds later to take the final podium spot.

D. Corredor outclassed the C group field to take a solo win a minute ahead of the chase group which featured a three-up sprint for the line with M. Fowler (USMES) winning over E. Mitchell by half a wheel.

C. Swanson was the only woman finishing but she held he own in the C group, finishing less than six minutes after Corredor.

C. Swanson takes the Women's title

M. Desrosiers wins Group A

A. Reichert outsprints A. Davis for the Group B win

D. Corredor rolls across the line in first place in Group C

M. Fowler barely beats E. Mitchell in the sprint for second in Group C

Full Results:

Women
1. C. Swanson 0:58:07 (33.8 km/h)

Group A
1. M. Desrosiers (X1) 0:58:29 (42.8 km/h)
2. C. Schumm (X1) 0:00:07
3. E. Angeli 0:00:09
4. J. Brazeal 0:00:46
5. F. Garcia (X1) 0:02:00
6. C. Little 0:02:43
7. M. Nahorniak 0:03:43
8. S. Marchildon 0:04:00
9. C. Wiedmann (X1)  0:08:38

Group B
1. A. Reichert 1:02:31 (40.1 km/h)
2. A. Davis s.t.
3. S. C. (Team dZi) 0:00:19
4. F. Timmons 0:01:34
5. >. Roofrak 0:02:04
6. J. Dixon 0:02:47
7. B. VanHoose? (mileage too low)  s.t.
8. I. Stickney 0:05:01

Group C
1. D. Corredor 0:52:19 (37.6 km/h)
2. M. Fowler (USMES) 0:01:12
3. E. Mitchell s.t.
4. R. Kay (USMES) s.t.
5. B. Hester 0:04:03
6. B. Sopora* 0:04:49
7. B. 0:05:00
6. R. Butler 0:06:04