Ok, here's what is next, either tomorrow or Sat the facebook Herd racing league (I forgot step 3 should have been to join the Facebook page) will post a poll. this is where you will select the time you want to race. Almost all of us go with zone 7 (7:35 est) but if there is a better time by all means pick it. On Tuesday the race director will take those names and place you on a team based on your ftp and weight listed on your zwiftpower profile. So make sure this is correct. Here is more reading material. More to follow. Oh, and you might want to join the Cruzbike team found on zwift power. This will allow us to track you much easier.
TTT - USER GUIDE
Before the race
1) The Roll Call is posted on Friday. Make sure you indicate that you want to ride by selecting the event on the poll that you wish to ride in.
2) Teams are announced on Wednesday. Make sure that you know which team you are in.
3) Ensure that you have registered on ZwiftPower and have connected your Zwift account.
4) Make sure that you have changed your name on Zwift Power to show your team name (or number).
5) Make sure that you have chosen the correct kit (this is stated on the teams post).
6) Make sure that you have entered the race in the correct pen (this is shown on the teams post).
7) Make sure you know when your team is due to start the race
8) Ensure that you are on a road bike.If you are on a TT bike, you will not receive any draft from the riders in front of you and as such will unnecessarily have to work harder to stay with the group.
Just before the race starts
1) Join the Herd Discord Server and join the Herd Racing channel. This is really just to say hello to the other participants of the race and we're a social group
http://bit.ly/HerdDiscord
2) About two minutes before the event starts, join the Discord Channel for your teams - allowing you to communicate privately with your team and noone else. This is vitally important during the race.
3) Stop pedaling before the timer hits zero - ideally about 30 seconds before to ensure you are at zero watts when the timer reaches zero
4) Discuss with your team the planned pace for the ride and get ready to go!
When the race starts
1) Wait for your team leader to say when it is time to set off (each team will have a designated "clock person" who will give you a countdown.
2) Start slowly. There are no prizes for dropping your teammates by the first bend. Some trainers react differently to having power applied and some may take longer than others to get going. Wait until you group up before building up to your agreed pace.
3) Be wary of hills. You may weigh about the same as a bag of flour like
Jake-Winter Sanderson and love bounding up hills but some of your teammates may not feel the same way. Always focus on the team and ensure that you are not pulling away from your teammates. Remember that if you pull away, it lessens the draft effect and ultimately makes your team slower.
4) Focus on the whereabouts of your team. As mentioned before, the draft is king. It is massively beneficial to remain as close to the rest of your team as possible. If you see any breaks in your group, don't be shy, shout up on Discord to let the rest of your team know so that they can ensure the gaps get closed.
5) Communicate! Discord is massively important in communicating with the rest of your team. If you start to lose the wheel of the person in front, say so ASAP so that the team can briefly slow down to allow you to catch up before getting back to speed again.
6) It's okay to stop. You might be having a bad day on the bike or the pace might be a little bit too hot to handle on the day. It's okay to tell the team to go on because you can't keep up. Remember it's just the time of the first three or four (depending on your team size) that counts for your teams overall time.
7) Have a go at the front. Unless you have someone on your team who is notably stronger than the rest of your team and naturally the team Tug Boat then try to do your bit at the front.
8) Your team's finishing team will be when the 4th rider crosses the line (3rd rider if you only have 3/4 members in your team).
Most importantly
1) Have fun! We love our Team Time Trials and we hope that you do and keep on coming back!
2) Wear your kit with pride! We're proud to be members of our teams and want to keep on improving! We're also massively proud when some of our guys get a promotion through hard work into the next team up.
