As we move into indoor season in the Northern hemisphere, I had a thought. I like to do some Zwift races here and there to keep things fresh, but never treated them as that important. Just to break up interval training and have a little fun.
But I’ve seen the big racing series in Zwift and now MyWhoosh. There are some names I see frequently, including the recent eRacing world champs. But they are indoor only it seems. The big names you see during the outdoor racing season don’t really turn up much in eRacing. And vice versa.
Is it fair to assume that eRacing has become a distinct discipline where people are targeting the winter season? So the summer is their off season and the winter is peak racing. Is it possible to do a full outdoor season and be competitive for e-races? It just seems like you need to prioritize one over the other. At the top level at least.
In my opinion, it goes further than prioritizing winter as your “racing” season. I’ve observed that some competitive indoor riders have a completely different riding form that is absurd and horribly inefficient outside, but allows them to put out more power indoors.
I think it is a unique discipline. Similar, yet not the same as other forms of road racing. Position on the bike doesn’t matter, no penalty for being less aggressive in corners (like crits), can move through the pack by pedaling vs needing to maneuver through people and wheels, better data while riding, etc. etc. And of course the huge one, as good as the calcs are they still don’t perfectly replicate outdoor riding.
As far as targeting it, I don’t see people specifically targeting indoors as much as some who race outdoors back off and go easy in the winter, while others keep racing nearly year round.
