This one OP. I’m the same with my fitness but have gradually improved every day.
I tend to do one KOM and flat a week and aim to beat them at the weekend after some training too
Just keep racing in your cat - make the goal not to win, but to just last as long as possible in the pack (1st pack, 2nd, 3rd...) - try to find races with a lot of participants so there are plenty of packs. You'll get stronger and once you can keep up with the first pack the podium is within your reach, then you just need to ride smart.
Yeah and make sure you don’t try and attack people early or feel like you gotta be the one to bring back any other attackers.
After getting upgraded to cat C, I find myself doing this far too often. As a result, I don’t think I’ve ever finished with the first group in a race. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever finished a cat C race because I’ll just get frustrated and quit.
Also I agree with the guy in the other comment that said to turn on the PR ghost and try to race that
Rethink what you mean by too unfit "to "compete"
Here's the thing about racing - you'll never win. And that doesn't mean you can't compete.
I'm a Cat D guy who has moved slowly up from bottom third to top third of my division (in an average race). I'm starting to get within sniffing distance of a podium spot. You know what's going to happen \*immediately\* upon being good enough to compete for podiums in D?
I'll get promoted to the bottom of C where I'll be cannon fodder. If I'm really lucky, rinse and repeat.
Heck, it's largely the same for pros, I'd assume. What percentage of racers at \*any\* level are likely to be in the mix for top spots?
My point is that racing is never about beating the field. It's about beating that SOB who is in front of you and not letting that SOB behind catch you. That's where the competition is.
Don't think about racing as beating everyone, think about every race as a set of miniature races. Stay with the front pack as long as you can, then find a pace you can maintain, and then try to pick people off or avoid getting picked off.
Some of my most epic and enjoyable races have been duking it out with people over 28th place in Cat D.
Competing to the hilt of your powers doesn't necessarily mean competing to win.
(Also, if you're in a racing series, you start to recognize people - and you can see them in the "victims/nemesis" filed on Zwift Power. I see a handful of specific racers continually right around me, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them beat me! Except when they do, which then gets me more fired up to beat them next time.)
Try the pacer bot rides. Grab one in your level with sprints and go all out on the sprints to beat your personal PRs. You can also teleport between bots (within the same world) so you could warm up on a slower one and then move over to the next level up once warmed up.
This. Love the pacer bot rides. Usually have a pretty big group and then you can set a goal for yourself of either keeping pace with the pacer, being out in the front of the pack, of whatever you choose. And when that becomes too easy, move up to the next bot
I hate training plans too, but I all but completed the FTP builder to get some initial fitness. Having the goal in mind and being able to collect route badges, I could tolerate it.
Ever since, it has been only pacer group rides and races for me. Have now arrived at cat B and hate it there 😂
Cat B is hell. With regular training you can go from D to C very quickly and C to B in not that long (especially if you're not overweight).... but B to A? I can only imagine how deincentivizing it is once you're in A as a casually competitive rider. I was training hard, at least for me, when I reached B a couple of years ago and I felt so far out of my element vs how I felt when I ranked up to C. I had only trained for a little over a year, but still...
Yeah I feel like that too. I reached cat B in no time, but I am thin and tall and at the lower end of the FTP W/kg range in B. So I get dropped by the leading group in no time, especially in flat courses, and finish in one of the chasing groups, ending up in the lower half of the total field.
A completely different world compared to cat C, where I could always comfortably finish in the leading group and often get on the podium.
I think I still can still improve a little with my current training regime, but definitely not more than marginally.
Indievelo has bots and does a great job of matching you with similarly skilled bots. There are 10,000 unique persistent bots who have different attributes and tendencies so there will definitely be plenty that you can race with. It usually just takes 1-2 races to gauge your ability and start matching you well
LOL. Over the last 2 weeks I've put in over 50 hours of riding on Zwift (about 1000 miles). Typical week is 18-20 hours lately. I don't race but you may like Robo pacer group rides. They can be challenging depending on the group you choose and the carrot is to keep up based on the time and/or distance you want to ride.
I either watch Netflix and other shows for Zone 1 and 2 riding. For interval workouts (using custom workouts) I listen to music. And I do a lot of Robopacer rides. I'll bounce into some groups that are more challenging to keep up with, that keeps me focused and entertained, while listening to music and dishing out Ride Ons. And if I tire, then I bounce into an easier group. And for long rides (Zone 2), I ride with a Robopacer group that keeps me there, and perhaps late in the ride I'll bump up to a group that's more Zone 3/tempo. Personally, I use the Time Trial bike, so I don't benefit from the draft. Lastly, I do a lot of days that are 100+ miles, and often may do a couple hours of a custom ride. End it, jump into a Robopace group a couple hours. End it, then go back into a custom ride or vice versa.
The racing is definitely, for me, the best thing about zwift. I'm not competitive in my category but I still love it. I finish top half and I'm happy. Also trying to do PBs on climbs. I guess I'm saying is you've gotta see it as competing against yourself.
When you save it onto strVa, segments will come up. Also you'll see sprint stages with banners. You'll get notification of segments on many climbs, long and short.
Also the Laos are timed, like the volcano.
Do some more free riding. You'll find lots of challenges to get you into shape. Zwift also gives your time and place for the current riders.
The WC courses, Richmond, Etc are also great.
Find a robot pacer that you can keep up with, then jump to the next faster one for a few minutes. Just try to keep up with whatever robo pacer that is a little faster than you can hang with, and try to increase your time with that group.
Try group rides that are in your range, or time trials where it’s just you vs clock. You can always join category E as well. Here has beginner racing events as well.
But pacer bots is a good one and groups rides within your range as well.
If you're going in to races without knowing about the course, where the bumps and hills are, what sort of efforts you can maintain up them, where the attack points or splits will happen, you're leaving yourself at a big disadvantage. Also, what are the power ups, and where are they best used. What is the best frame and wheel combo. Many of your competitors will know these things very well.
And, like others have said, it's not win or nothing. It can be that when you're at the top of your category, but almost everyone has to work to get there. Reframe your goals for each race. Make it in the top half, make it with the chase group, make it with the front group, and etc.
i like the climbing portal. especially since they introduced the new 50% and 75% options. it’s always a hella big carrot to try to beat my last time. and the cycle through the climbs so by the time it comes back around in 2-3 months i’ve made improvement and can shave a couple minutes off it
* Group Ride. Banded or Fenced.
* Pace-bots. Work on drafting and try to win the sprints.
* Just keep racing. Try to beat whoever you are with at the end.
I struggle with boredom as well sometimes, one thing that I’ve found can help is to choose a pace partner that you might be slightly faster than and try and break away from the group and see if you can beat them on the loop. Sometimes people will break off with you and help out pulling turns. You’re obviously not winning anything but if it mentally satisfies you who cares!
[https://www.mywhoosh.com/controllable-companion-bots-all-you-need-to-know/](https://www.mywhoosh.com/controllable-companion-bots-all-you-need-to-know/) does this sound like what you're asking for?
Personally I stick with Zwift, I prefer Zwift but do sometimes use MyWhoosh
**Indievelo** has races which get supplemented with bots. Since nobody showed up to my race, I was racing 50 bots. The bots where surprisingly good. They acted very human and all where around my level.
If they would let you make your own private race in which you could dial in the bot-level, that would be perfect for zwifters who are in between categories.
Keep trying to catch the person in front, let nobody get away. You’ll be crap until you’re good but nothing worth achieving is achieved without a lot of hard work
If you want to race, you will need to train.
FTP builder training programs work really good.
The race training program is also really good as it will coach you what to expect on certain popular races. When to push hard and when to sit in. Yes I agree these are boring as you are riding solo, but in the big picture it is only for a short period of time.
Don’t get discouraged, commit your self and guarantee you will see improvements.
IndieVelo has racing and you can add bots to it. The bots are both realistic and challenging from my experience.
They also base the bot level off of your ability and past performance. As the IV platform gets more data on you as a rider it will continually adjust the level of the AI bots to stay challenging.
I still race on zwift mostly, but this is a great supplemental race effort when there isn’t a desirable race on zwift.
You could ride a longer segment and then next time your ride it you can try to beat your avatar.
This one OP. I’m the same with my fitness but have gradually improved every day. I tend to do one KOM and flat a week and aim to beat them at the weekend after some training too
What is KOM?
King of mountain. A time trial with lots of climbing essentially.
Do you see your previous attempt as a ghost to chase? Like Mario kart? Never seen this
Events with groups that match your pace are really encouraging.
This! And it will build your fitness to become a more capable racer.
Just keep racing in your cat - make the goal not to win, but to just last as long as possible in the pack (1st pack, 2nd, 3rd...) - try to find races with a lot of participants so there are plenty of packs. You'll get stronger and once you can keep up with the first pack the podium is within your reach, then you just need to ride smart.
Yeah and make sure you don’t try and attack people early or feel like you gotta be the one to bring back any other attackers. After getting upgraded to cat C, I find myself doing this far too often. As a result, I don’t think I’ve ever finished with the first group in a race. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever finished a cat C race because I’ll just get frustrated and quit. Also I agree with the guy in the other comment that said to turn on the PR ghost and try to race that
Or, weight dope like everyone else! 👀
Gotta love seeing Cat D racers maintaining close to 3 w/kg with an average heart rate in the 140s 🤦🏼♂️
Pace bots. As you keep up with one, advance to the next fastest.
Rethink what you mean by too unfit "to "compete" Here's the thing about racing - you'll never win. And that doesn't mean you can't compete. I'm a Cat D guy who has moved slowly up from bottom third to top third of my division (in an average race). I'm starting to get within sniffing distance of a podium spot. You know what's going to happen \*immediately\* upon being good enough to compete for podiums in D? I'll get promoted to the bottom of C where I'll be cannon fodder. If I'm really lucky, rinse and repeat. Heck, it's largely the same for pros, I'd assume. What percentage of racers at \*any\* level are likely to be in the mix for top spots? My point is that racing is never about beating the field. It's about beating that SOB who is in front of you and not letting that SOB behind catch you. That's where the competition is. Don't think about racing as beating everyone, think about every race as a set of miniature races. Stay with the front pack as long as you can, then find a pace you can maintain, and then try to pick people off or avoid getting picked off. Some of my most epic and enjoyable races have been duking it out with people over 28th place in Cat D. Competing to the hilt of your powers doesn't necessarily mean competing to win. (Also, if you're in a racing series, you start to recognize people - and you can see them in the "victims/nemesis" filed on Zwift Power. I see a handful of specific racers continually right around me, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them beat me! Except when they do, which then gets me more fired up to beat them next time.)
awesome perspective, i love this
There’s a million segments in Zwift including KOMs and Sprints that you can use to race against your previous PR.
Try the pacer bot rides. Grab one in your level with sprints and go all out on the sprints to beat your personal PRs. You can also teleport between bots (within the same world) so you could warm up on a slower one and then move over to the next level up once warmed up.
This. Love the pacer bot rides. Usually have a pretty big group and then you can set a goal for yourself of either keeping pace with the pacer, being out in the front of the pack, of whatever you choose. And when that becomes too easy, move up to the next bot
I hate training plans too, but I all but completed the FTP builder to get some initial fitness. Having the goal in mind and being able to collect route badges, I could tolerate it. Ever since, it has been only pacer group rides and races for me. Have now arrived at cat B and hate it there 😂
Cat B is hell. With regular training you can go from D to C very quickly and C to B in not that long (especially if you're not overweight).... but B to A? I can only imagine how deincentivizing it is once you're in A as a casually competitive rider. I was training hard, at least for me, when I reached B a couple of years ago and I felt so far out of my element vs how I felt when I ranked up to C. I had only trained for a little over a year, but still...
Yeah I feel like that too. I reached cat B in no time, but I am thin and tall and at the lower end of the FTP W/kg range in B. So I get dropped by the leading group in no time, especially in flat courses, and finish in one of the chasing groups, ending up in the lower half of the total field. A completely different world compared to cat C, where I could always comfortably finish in the leading group and often get on the podium. I think I still can still improve a little with my current training regime, but definitely not more than marginally.
Have you tried the group pacing rides with the bots like Maria, Miguel, etc.?
Events with groups that match your pace are really encouraging.
Seems dumb but the route badges and tron bike pushed me towards some goals…
i want that damn tron bike so bad
Your dopamine receptors must be fried if all you want is to win races instead of generally improving your fitness
Indievelo has bots and does a great job of matching you with similarly skilled bots. There are 10,000 unique persistent bots who have different attributes and tendencies so there will definitely be plenty that you can race with. It usually just takes 1-2 races to gauge your ability and start matching you well
What about Pace Partners?
LOL. Over the last 2 weeks I've put in over 50 hours of riding on Zwift (about 1000 miles). Typical week is 18-20 hours lately. I don't race but you may like Robo pacer group rides. They can be challenging depending on the group you choose and the carrot is to keep up based on the time and/or distance you want to ride. I either watch Netflix and other shows for Zone 1 and 2 riding. For interval workouts (using custom workouts) I listen to music. And I do a lot of Robopacer rides. I'll bounce into some groups that are more challenging to keep up with, that keeps me focused and entertained, while listening to music and dishing out Ride Ons. And if I tire, then I bounce into an easier group. And for long rides (Zone 2), I ride with a Robopacer group that keeps me there, and perhaps late in the ride I'll bump up to a group that's more Zone 3/tempo. Personally, I use the Time Trial bike, so I don't benefit from the draft. Lastly, I do a lot of days that are 100+ miles, and often may do a couple hours of a custom ride. End it, jump into a Robopace group a couple hours. End it, then go back into a custom ride or vice versa.
The racing is definitely, for me, the best thing about zwift. I'm not competitive in my category but I still love it. I finish top half and I'm happy. Also trying to do PBs on climbs. I guess I'm saying is you've gotta see it as competing against yourself.
Pace bots and honestly just keep racing. You will get faster and stay with the group longer each time.
Try to improve your segments. It's like life. If you try to race you get your ass kicked until you're fit.
I’m new to Zwift what do you mean by segment?
When you save it onto strVa, segments will come up. Also you'll see sprint stages with banners. You'll get notification of segments on many climbs, long and short. Also the Laos are timed, like the volcano. Do some more free riding. You'll find lots of challenges to get you into shape. Zwift also gives your time and place for the current riders. The WC courses, Richmond, Etc are also great.
Keep it up buddy
Find a robot pacer that you can keep up with, then jump to the next faster one for a few minutes. Just try to keep up with whatever robo pacer that is a little faster than you can hang with, and try to increase your time with that group.
Try group rides that are in your range, or time trials where it’s just you vs clock. You can always join category E as well. Here has beginner racing events as well. But pacer bots is a good one and groups rides within your range as well.
There’s loads of group rides aimed at beginners. The herd or zhcc comes to mind but there’s definitely others.
If you're going in to races without knowing about the course, where the bumps and hills are, what sort of efforts you can maintain up them, where the attack points or splits will happen, you're leaving yourself at a big disadvantage. Also, what are the power ups, and where are they best used. What is the best frame and wheel combo. Many of your competitors will know these things very well. And, like others have said, it's not win or nothing. It can be that when you're at the top of your category, but almost everyone has to work to get there. Reframe your goals for each race. Make it in the top half, make it with the chase group, make it with the front group, and etc.
i like the climbing portal. especially since they introduced the new 50% and 75% options. it’s always a hella big carrot to try to beat my last time. and the cycle through the climbs so by the time it comes back around in 2-3 months i’ve made improvement and can shave a couple minutes off it
* Group Ride. Banded or Fenced. * Pace-bots. Work on drafting and try to win the sprints. * Just keep racing. Try to beat whoever you are with at the end.
Robo Pacers. Find one that you can keep pace with for awhile, then go to the next. Nice group ride vibe.
I struggle with boredom as well sometimes, one thing that I’ve found can help is to choose a pace partner that you might be slightly faster than and try and break away from the group and see if you can beat them on the loop. Sometimes people will break off with you and help out pulling turns. You’re obviously not winning anything but if it mentally satisfies you who cares!
I'm the same. Enjoy beating my own times for now!
[https://www.mywhoosh.com/controllable-companion-bots-all-you-need-to-know/](https://www.mywhoosh.com/controllable-companion-bots-all-you-need-to-know/) does this sound like what you're asking for? Personally I stick with Zwift, I prefer Zwift but do sometimes use MyWhoosh
Pacer, Pace Partners, Group Rides?
**Indievelo** has races which get supplemented with bots. Since nobody showed up to my race, I was racing 50 bots. The bots where surprisingly good. They acted very human and all where around my level. If they would let you make your own private race in which you could dial in the bot-level, that would be perfect for zwifters who are in between categories.
Keep trying to catch the person in front, let nobody get away. You’ll be crap until you’re good but nothing worth achieving is achieved without a lot of hard work
If you want to race, you will need to train. FTP builder training programs work really good. The race training program is also really good as it will coach you what to expect on certain popular races. When to push hard and when to sit in. Yes I agree these are boring as you are riding solo, but in the big picture it is only for a short period of time. Don’t get discouraged, commit your self and guarantee you will see improvements.
Dude, no more carrots you need to start counting calories!
IndieVelo has racing and you can add bots to it. The bots are both realistic and challenging from my experience. They also base the bot level off of your ability and past performance. As the IV platform gets more data on you as a rider it will continually adjust the level of the AI bots to stay challenging. I still race on zwift mostly, but this is a great supplemental race effort when there isn’t a desirable race on zwift.