Friday, October 18

ZHR’s Background and Ethos

In 2015, with a series of test races, I set out to create a different type of racing. Where it mattered not whether one had a power meter or riding on zPower, whether they were Cat A neo-pros or Cat D fighters. I wanted to make racing as accessible as possible for everyone not only to enter but also to win, without the need to jump through various hoops to be allowed at the start line. This led me to create the original Zwift Handicap Race.

ZHR then developed into a philosophy of creating events of a different mould, many of which have been replicated by other organisers. On top of the handicap time trials, we’ve had three Grand Tours, mass-start time trials, the first Zwift group training rides, underground racing, the group handicap races that became the Hare & Hounds, races that cater specifically to climbers, endurance training rides, the Mountain Goat race on custom courses, the Man vs Mountain race where Cat A & B took a longer route to the finish than Cat C & D, Ladies-only races (long before there were any ladies’ teams), endurance sub-2w/kg group rides, Clydesdale racing, the 100km Audax leaderless rides, a social Weekend Group Ride, and Masters age-group racing. 

I've pushed the boundaries of whatever technology was available to me but I'm no coder - it's thanks to Zwift HQ and the team behind ZwiftPower that make it possible for me to think up new challenges. I’ve had to limit the events I host, where it would be too much work or impossible to run them, e.g., Elimination, Points, team time trials, relays, nationality-based races, stage racing, and more group rides across all abilities. Sometimes, changes in the setup of Zwift or ZwiftPower means that it is no longer possible to run an event, unless I can modify it.

FAQs

Does ZHR have a racing team? 

We do - Team ZHR. For me as an organiser, it’s about creating rides for riders; as a racing team, it’s about fun, inclusivity, support, and being more like a community cycling club. Always open, all levels and ages welcome, regardless of gender. We don’t have a women-specific team (yet!) but Cassie is our team captain.

Why don’t ZHR races require heart rate monitors (HRMs)?

Heart rate is highly individual, so nobody is capable of saying whether a rider’s rate is high or low; I’ve trained riders whose max heart rate was 140bpm, with others warming up at 180bpm. Even with a consistent picture of data across various events, heart rate can vary wildly from day-to-day due to environmental conditions, illness, fatigue, overtraining, coffee, asthma inhalers, adrenaline, anxiety, etc. As an organiser, requiring a rider wears a HRM would tell me nothing other than they were alive; it adds another barrier for riders and, besides, it can be easily cheated to simulate a specific heart rate.

Why does ZHR allow zPower riders?

Contrary to popular myth, they are not cheats and their power does not necessarily read high. Yes, it is more unpredictable and can result in unreliable data, but a blanket ban is overkill and I will look at riders’ performance on a case-by-case basis. Not everyone has the money to buy a trainer specifically for Zwift, making do with whatever they have at hand; requiring them to buy one would be another barrier. I believe that by encouraging such riders to join the racing community, they will become hooked and eventually invest in a new trainer; this has happened on numerous occasions since ZHR’s inception in 2015.

What about transparency?

While I believe that racing for prize money should have as many checks as possible, this can only be truly achieved when racing live. ZwiftPower has gone a long way to eradicating to most obvious forms of cheating but power meters can be skewed, even if using two different sources; HRM signals can be hacked; ANT+ signals can be simulated; weigh-ins can be cheated, even when captured on live video. So, as determined cheats will find a way to gain an advantage and there’s no way of either knowing this or stopping them from entering a race, I made the decision in 2015 to open up racing to as much of the community as possible, rather than limit it by placing numerous barriers for riders to clear.

Why don’t ZHR races have Zwift results appear at the end?

Zwift’s results are flawed because they allow riders to enter the wrong category or group, cheats are allowed to prosper, no rules can be applied to them, and organisers have no control whatsoever over them. This is especially critical in ZHR races, which are not standard mass-start events where categories don’t matter. Using ZwiftPower as the results service means I can enforce race rules, apply and remove DQs, manually amend results, set up leagues, and stop cheats from posting screenshots on Strava bragging how they’re such great racers.

Why doesn’t ZHR have more group rides?

ZHR is just me. Although volunteers have helped with rides in the past, I’m always on the lookout for people to lead regular rides. As a cycling coach, I’ve had to give up Zwift rides because of new sessions and classes, or been unable to take over those run by volunteers when they had to give them up. I would love to host group rides every day of the week and across different timezones but there’s only so much riding I can manage! If you’re able to lead a regular ride, please do contact me.

Sunday, February 4

Joining the ZHR racing team

As you may know - and it might be the reason you are reading this - I've set up a separate discussion group for riders on the Team ZHR racing team, to discuss all matters related to racing on Zwift: tactics, strategy, teamwork, etc.

The group is only for those on Team ZHR, so here is a short guide on how to join the team on ZwiftPower.

1 - Log on to your ZwiftPower account and select the Teams section



2 - Scroll through the list of teams or search for ZHR; then click on the hyperlink name to take you to the team page



3 - Here you can see the team's riders and their race results but also the link to join the team






4 - Information on the team's ethos, rules, etc., and confirm that you wish to join Team ZHR.







5 - That's it! Your ZwiftPower account will register your team choice and ZHR will appear next to your name in the results of any races and rides. You can only belong to one team, so this will get overriden if you should choose to join another.

Tuesday, January 16

Zwift ID and Registration

I've been asked a few times about how one goes about finding their Zwift ID, necessary for the ZHR Masters League registration; a few people have been giving Chris the wrong number. Here is a step-by-step guide, along with finding out whether or not you've registered and accepted ZwiftPower's data storage and sharing conditions.

Step 1 - Log in to your ZwiftPower account (if you don't have one, register!)



Step 2 - Click on Profile to your...profile!



Step 3 - Click on Settings to...guess what, see and change your settings!



Step 4 - See your Zwift ID and Registration status, and change FTP, details, timezone, etc.

Rules for ZHR Masters League

This applies to the ZHR Masters League every Tuesday - not the ZHR Masters Weekender
The full rules and Age categories are listed in the event description, as well as in the Zwift Masters Facebook Group.
  • You must be registered with ZwiftPower and have agreed to the conditions of data storage & sharing. Failure to do so will see you filtered out from the final results. This is separate from registration with Chris O'Hearn via the Google form.
  • If you see REG next to your name in the list of Filtered names, then you haven't done so and you won't be reinstated even if you register after the race.
  • You must add ZHR and your Age Category to your name before joining the race in the format of ZHR (X), e.g., John Smith ZHR (C). Again, failure to do so will see you filtered out from the final results.
  • If you see DQ next to your name in the list of Filtered names, then you didn't do so - just a letter will not suffice - and you won't be reinstated.


Sunday, October 29

Why is my data not showing in ZwiftPower?

Have you ever checked ZwiftPower for your results and thought: where's my data?

Missing power data for some riders













In short, this is what you need to do to avoid this from happening:
  1. Create an account within ZwiftPower
  2. Link your ZP account to Strava
  3. Make your Strava files public so that ZP can read them
  4. Link your Strava account to Zwift
  5. Make sure Zwift successfully uploaded the .fit file to Strava
If your name is not hyperlinked (in blue) like those in the screenshot above, you will need to complete one or more of the five steps above. There are other possibilities, such as a glitch with Strava, ZwiftPower, Zwift itself, or your connection.

There is one other possibility, where you continue to ride long after the event has finished. There is an automated process that picks up the data from Strava; if you keep riding for too long, you power file won't uploaded and won't be seen in the results. Some organisers will manually rescan Strava but, if you want to keep riding, it's best to save your workout in Zwift and start a new session.

Saturday, January 7

Zwift - using Discord for voice and text chat

Until Zwift set up their own voice chat facility, I've tried to encourage riders to use Discord. It's free and relatively easy to set up; however, some have had difficulties with their microphone and/or audio, so I've put together this step-by-step guide for using Discord on the iPhone (it may differ on Android) but it should also be similar for your PC.

Step 1 - download the free App to your phone

Step 2 - join the ZHR server on Discord: discord.gg/bVURRmG and enter your details and nickname

Step 3 - you should see this welcome screen, which automatically shows you if any of your friends are online. Various options are available but, for our purposes, click on the top left icon, with the three horizontal bars. 















Step 4 - you will be taken to the list of chat servers that you have joined. In my case, I've joined the ODZ server as well as ZHR. You should see ZHR's server if you used the invite link in step 2. Click on the ZHR icon to take you to our server.















Step 5 - you will see Text Channels and Voice Channels. Text Channels allow you to send typed messages just as if you were in Zwift, FB or mobile. The Voice Channels are divided into different chat rooms; the General channel is your main "room", with Groups A-F used for Hare & Hounds or events where there are separate groups. Also useful to head in there if you want to chat with just a few riders, not the whole group. Click on one of the Voice Channels. 











Step 6 - you will be asked if you want to connect to this Voice Channel. Click on "Connect to Voice"  

















Step 7 - you are now connected to the Voice Channel, in this case the General Channel. You can also send text messages from here. If you don't see the "Push to Talk" button, don't worry, I'll come to that. On the bottom row you have "Disconnect" to take you out of the Voice Channel, "Voice Settings" that I will explain next, the microphone icon that allows you to mute, the headphones icon that allows you to stop audio, and the speaker icon on the bottom right that I will explain later. Click on "Voice Settings". 










Step 8 - if it's not already set as default, please change Input Mode to "Push to Talk" so that we only hear you when you want us to; otherwise, we hear everything...all the time! Output Volume is up to you, I need to set it on max to overcome the noise of the trainer and music. Switch on all the Voice Processing options, they help with clarity and stability. Click on "Close" to go back to the Voice Channel (step 7) and click on the speaker icon in the bottom right corner.











Step 9 - select from where you would like to hear the audio. I prefer iPhone, which means headphones, but you can set it so that it comes through the iPhone's speaker. If you have headphones with a microphone built-in, I suggest clicking on the iPhone option. If not, you'll have to use the phone's microphone (just like making a call), so you may as well use the speaker. NB - I've found the headphones to be much clearer than the speaker and with better volume; try it out, see which you prefer.

ZHR - now more than just a handicap race

In December 2015, with a series of test races, I set out to create a different type of racing, where it mattered not whether one had a power meter or whether they were Cat A neo-pros or Cat D fighters, and to make it as accessible as possible for everyone to not only enter but also to win, without the need to jump through various hoops to be “allowed” to be at the start line.
It has since developed into a philosophy of creating races of a different mould: in the past twelve months, we've had three Grand Tours, mass-start TT races (which I've brought back as Contre La Montre), the first training rides on Zwift, the first race over the Mountain the day after it opened (we had over a hundred riders, which was a lot back then), underground racing, and the group handicap race that evolved into the Hare & Hounds; now we also have a race for climbers (Up & Down), a fortnightly endurance ride, a weekly sub-2w/kg ride, a Weekend Group Ride and the new Great Watopian Mountain Goat Road Race.
I've pushed the boundaries of whatever technology was available to me but I'm no coder - it's thanks to Zwift HQ and the team behind ZwiftPower that make it easier to think up new challenges.
This is the current line-up of rides and races that I host. Find us on Facebook for more details!