Watts Up in Watopia: Category Enforcement
Have you noticed when signing up for a Zwift race that some of the categories are unavailable to you? This is because almost half of all races on Zwift are now using the option of category enforcement.
You may be wondering how your Zwift racing category is determined.
The short answer is your 2-50 minute power curve from the last 60 days of riding activity on Zwift. That power curve is used to determine your VO2max, Maximal Aerobic Power (MAP), and Critical Power (CP). The calculation that Zwift is doing is similar to but not exactly the same as the supplementary site Zwift Power. Refer to the Category Enforcement FAQ for more details.
If you haven’t been active on Zwift in the last 60 days, then the only option that may be available to you is the E category.
Once you have established your category, you will still be able to race above your assigned category. But, you can no longer race below your assigned category.
A quick way to see which races have category enforcement is to use ZwiftHack’s Events Calendar with “Category Enforcement” activated under the “Rules” category.
For now category enforcement is an option for Zwift races, but we may soon see this option become the default if not a requirement in the near future.
Here’s what we at Slowtwitch have planned for the rest of the week.
Guest World Schedule
Here’s this week’s guest worlds, so you can plan to earn some of the route badges you are missing:
Monday: London & Yorkshire
Tuesday: France & Paris
Wednesday: France & Paris
Thursday: France & Paris
Friday: Makuri Islands & New York
Saturday: TBD
Sunday: TBD
Slowtwich Indoors Event Preview (All Times Eastern)
Go to Zwift Events to sign up for these rides and runs.
Monday 100/100 Group Run, 7:00 AM & 7:00 PM
Join us for a group run on the virtual track of May Field that will kick start your week. Don’t forget that each of the five ride workouts and five run workouts have a short and long option. Rather than canceling a workout when you are crunched for time, you can complete the short version and still reap the benefits of the program.
Tuesday Ride of the Valkryies Workout (Women Only), 6:00 AM
This event is by and for women. It’s an almost no-drop, rubber-banded Structured Training workout, featuring a warm-up, set of intervals, and a cool-down.
Tuesday Structured Training, 7:00 PM
Our Tuesday ride features triathlon-focused cycling workouts written by coaches and pro athletes affiliated with Slowtwitch. The workouts last 60 minutes and will help add variety and interest to your weekly training schedule.
Wednesday Group Run, 7:00 AM & 7:00 PM
A more scenic group run on the Quatch Quest course.
Thursday Rise & Grind, 5:35 AM
This workout is an early morning bracer for the East Coast crowd. Get your work done before heading off to work.
Thursday SWIFT Ride, 6:55 PM
The newest ride to the Slowtwitch Indoors family, Slowtwitch SWIFT (Strong Women, It's Fun Together!) is here to bring another women's only ride to a slightly friendlier time slot. This ride will focus slightly more on strength-based work so bring those climbing legs. But even if you're feeling more like Mark Cavendish in the mountains of the Tour de France, so long as you keep the pedals moving, you'll stay with our group.
Friday Festina Lente, 9:00 AM
This structured training workout is designed to get you geared up for the weekend. Roughly translated as “make haste, slowly,” Festina Lente features a workout that will get your engine running but still leave some in the tank for the big rides and races you have planned for the weekend. This ride is led by members of the Kanberra Cycling Team as lead beacon.
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