Do the benefits of travelling to compete in a ‘c’ race outweigh the convenience of doing an online race at home in the early season?
Yes
2 Likes
Lol. End of discussion.
Do continue…..
Not if you want to increase your AI FTP. 
I say this mostly tongue in cheek as this is what I’m doing this week, and it caused a decrease in my predicted FTP. And funnily enough, adding a Friday Opener workout (30min) further drops the prediction. I’m not worried about any “decrease” in my prediction, I just thought it was silly that adding an opener workout before a C race drops the FTP prediciton.
Do the C race.
great response thank you
also seems to explain the drop in ai predicted ftp
I’m not worried about an FTP predictor. I race. Doing a C race is way more beneficial to me. If you’re training for Zwift races, sure, stay home and do the online race. I race outside, so doing a real race outside is going to prepare me for my goals later in the year. I’m driving about 2 hours on Saturday to do a C race, which is an 80 mile gravel race. Riding inside can’t replicate anything I’ll get from the C race. So it kind of depends on your situation but I’d always say do the C race.
3 Likes
Irl racing is more than just who exercises the best. There is significant skill involved and tactics you dont get with outdoor racing. Even the best racers in the world get rusty after winter and need a race or two to get the skill back. This is what early c races is for.
3 Likes
Excellent point 
IRL it is!
1 Like