The sandbaggers make Zwift racing difficult. The only reason I race anymore is to give myself a chance to push myself out of the comfort zone and break away from the structure of a workout and practice skills in a dynamic event. I hope Zwift’s new antisandbagging updates will help but its just too hard to get a “fair” racing situation, with honestly true competition at each level anymore. There’s even a bunch of men who will join the Women’s Only pens 
So I just have fun with it. Great job on your race Coach!
4 Likes
There were 2 C racers in my D race. For both it was their first zwiftpower race Anyway there were 6 of us and they took off like a bat outta hell right at the start. I hung on and we immediately dropped a rider. They kept surging (3-3.7) and I hung on as best I could, taking advantage of earlier course reconnaissance (I had rode it 2x this week during my workouts) They both beat me up the QOM but I played the downhill better and took the lead. . Ended up beating them by 14”. It hurt. I know I’m close to moving up but just not quite there yet. Also helps when your the heaviest rider there and you can fly down the hills.
4 Likes
Awesome work @vivian.a.workman! You raced smart and got the top step! And look at that strong finish :
By. the way, I know the racer who came in 3rd- Trisha- she is from Chicago and races cyclocross!
1 Like
Not that I’m complaining, I know it’s D and I’m happy to see people racing, especially other women so we have more events. They weren’t too bad or too far off and at least they didn’t have a cat above pulling them around the course (experienced that a few weeks ago during a race, the chatter was even public). But I do know the lady who took last place pretty much gave up after the initial 5’ and I’ve raced her numerous times. You could tell by her effort she was frustrated. I just had a good night and the course played to my strengths.
Funny thing is a local running buddy saw that I had won my cat on another FB post (the NUUN page I think) and sent me congrats. I had to explain that it was the lowest level but thank you for noticing.
2 Likes
So what’s the point of the sandbaggers? Do they get DQ’d after the race?
She’s the one that posted that my friend saw. It’s a small world no matter how big we try to make it. If she had known the course she would have beaten me.
It depends on the race and the rules. ZwiftPower is the main clearinghouse for results. Some organizers auto upgrade, some leave it until Zwift power upgrades them. Or it will dq them. Just depends on the organizer.
Zwift has beta testing going on now that will flag the sandbaggers and first warn then restrain them (drop watts, green cone) and remove them from the draft.
The issue with the sandbaggers is they blow up the draft groups. This is why so many people are pushing for Zwift to do something during the event. It’s really bad in Coed D races. And really disheartening for the lower racers in a Cat as they don’t stand a chance and end up doing a TT (that’s why I’m not doing a lot of coed racing now). Plus if they have been on the game for a while Zwift knows where they should be.
New rules were just implemented for the A cat racers, especially for money events, regarding recorded weigh-in/height weekly, calibration, etc.
2 Likes
I wish, but enforcement is not consistent as @vivian.a.workman said. I hope the new update helps. I just had a chat with Trisha and turns out she is new to Zwift racing and has no idea about Zwift Power categories, etc. I just explained it to her! She will be in C next week!
1 Like
I didn’t know her and didn’t want to say anything as it could have been a trainer issue (you can see the chatter right now about the update) and see how it played out next week. It was exciting to see new racers that the series has brought in, always fun to see new faces and their tactics. Hopefully I’ll be joining her soon up in the C’s. My race performances have been trending upwards lately.
2 Likes
Congrats to you both @Coach_Theia add @vivian.a.workman!!!
I’m like @meganherzog i very occasionally do a race just to push myself to try something different. That’s the only reason i joined Zwift Power. Still learning it - having a login is also helpful to following live races when Zwift isnt doing a live feed of it. Can any of you explain why sometimes the icon that looks like a workout graph is to the left of the stats? Haven’t found anything in the ZP forums
@PaleGail are you referring to the graph that links the person’s ride to Zwift.com? I noticed that too, and am not sure why some people don’t have that. Maybe there is a privacy setting somewhere?
1 Like
The circle graph on the right allows you to compare critical power. The left links to Zwift.
1 Like
@Coach_Theia and @vivian.a.workman yep that’s what i was looking at, the link to Zwift - i didnt know that’s what it is - weird is that on some rides it shows for me and on others it doesnt. 
I love that more and more people are getting into Zwift racing! Its important to understand that its not completly the same as outside riding, understanding the algorithm and the dynamics is important to get a positive experience. There are many resources online with tips and hints but I will list up a few of my own;
- Know the course and how it fits with your abilites. There is always attacks on small kickers or hills, so knowing these places is important to not get blindsided.
- Drafting: As a beginner I was putting out the same effort as the front, this is wasted energy. If you are on wheels you can put out 25-30 % less than the front and still keep up. Use these moments to rest and recover and prepare for small hills. (you see the w/kg of other riders on the sidebar to the right) Finding this sweetspot for staying on wheels vs falling off takes a lot of experience, its like driving a car, you can sort of feel it over time
- Tight corners; for some reason there always is a increase in effort here, so push the gas a bit to not loose the peloton…
- Sprints; in bigger groups, dont go too early, but use other riders to draft on (match their w/kg) then explode when you are closer to the finish line. They will have worked for you, and probably cant match the orange numbers
- Stay calm if there is a person going off early in the race, and there still is a big peloton behind her. A big crowd will usually always swallow a single rider, even though she is putting out more w/kg than the group. Sometimes teams do this to exhaus riders of the peloton, but try not to fall for it, at least think about what it will cost you- to bridge the gap.
- Be signed up for Zwiftpower. If there is/was an issue with a sandbagger you can always notify the admin afterwards and sometimes they fix the result manually or upgrade people if they were in the wrong cat.
1 Like
So finally the A Cat sandbagger got DQ’d from the B race today! Today was NYC 6 Train mostly a flat course, so everyone pretty much sticks together. I had it all perfect… all the way to the end. And yet, I did not time my sprint well and ended up in 4th. That makes me mad because in looking at ZwiftPower, none of the racers who finished ahead of me have the same sprint capacity that I do, so 100% my fault. Hard to stop beating myself up about it, but it’s live and learn!! I think I am in 2nd in the USAC Overall standings now.
Anyone else racing it today?
8 Likes
Great news about the Cat A sandbagger! If I kicked myself every time I goofed up something in a race I’d have a really sore foot @Coach_Theia! You did great! 4th place and 2nd overall is amazing! You may have goofed on the sprint timing, but give yourself credit for all the things you did right 
1 Like
Who puts an uphill like that to the finish?
I tried to work on drafting. With most of my experience cycling being no draft triathlons it’s still a novel thing for me to do. Usually on these I try to get a lead and then TT to hang on.
Lost by .1. Didn’t quite time the final sprint right but still almost caught her on the flatter part.
2 Likes
you did amazing!! Congrats!!