WTRL TEAM TIME TRIAL (TTT)
WTRL’s Team Time Trail (TTT) is the most addictive weekly, fun yet brutal form of racing on Zwift! Not only do you get to race with your teammates for the fastest possible time, but you have to work and suffer together to achieve this.
WTRL use a coffee class system for the TTT series – The stronger the team, the stronger the coffee!
IRL EXPLAINER – WTRL TTT Series is maximum of 8 riders and time based on 4th rider.
Sign up for nexts weeks TTT here:
SCHEDULE
7 APRIL – 22 SEPTEMBER
What is a TTT team?
A TTT team consists of 3 to 8 riders (In the Premier League, the minimum is 5). The time of the team is stopped on the fourth rider in the finish, as long as the team starts with 5 or more riders. Starting the team with 4 or less riders stops the time on the third rider.
What are rider categories and how do watts relate?
Your rider category is set to be the category you have on the Zwiftpower before the TTT event. If you do not have a category on Zwiftpower, your category will be based on what you do in the TTT event itself.
There are 5 rider categories:
A+: An FTP / threshold wattage exceeding 300 watts and over 4.6 w / kg (both must be met)
A: An FTP / threshold wattage exceeding 250 watts and over 4.0 w / kg (both must be met)
B: An FTP / threshold wattage exceeding 200 watts and over 3.2 w / kg (both must be met)
C: An FTP / threshold wattage exceeding 150 watts and over 2.5 w / kg (both must be met)
D: An FTP / threshold wattage of less than 150 watts or less than 2.5 w / kg
Your FTP / threshold watts (as well as w / kg of this) is set to be the average of your 3 best rides in the last 90 days. This wattage in each ride is calculated to be 95% of your best 20 min watts in the ride. Rides under 20 minutes thus do not count. Zwiftpower shows your FTP in watts for you.
What are the TTT team coffee classes?
The TTT teams are thus divided into new TTT categories based on the riders on the team. These are called coffee classes, since all of the team categories have coffee names:
Vienna: Women’s Team Class – has no category restrictions
Espresso: The fastest mixed teams: Also the only mixed team an A + rider can take part in.
Frappe: Level 2 for mixed teams: Has restrictions of a maximum of 3 A riders and a minimum of 2 riders from a lower category than A.
Latte: Level 3 for mixed teams: Has a limit of a maximum 3 B riders and a minimum of 2 riders from a lower category than B.
Mocha: Level 4 for mixed teams: Has a limit of maximum 3 C riders and minimum 2 D riders.
What do Pen signups mean?
Question: I am a C / D rider and am set to start from the A / B starter pen? It’s too high level for me!
In TTT, you have to disregard which category you are set to start in – it only works as a starting pen. All teams starting from A are of the same quality, and in fact have no A riders on the team above their heads.
The main rule is that the teams start in the following pens / categories:
A: Latte class TTT team
B: Mocha class TTT team
C: Espresso class TTT team
D: Frappe class TTT team
E: Vienna Class TTT team
How do I make sure I add my team name correctly?
I have been asked to change my name to identify myself as a member of a team. Do I do this in the companion app?
No, WTRL (the organiser) retrieves times from Zwiftpower, so the teams must be tagged with the team names there. This is done by putting the team name in parentheses last in your Zwiftpower name. If you are representing the “Example” team, you would change your name to:
First name Last name [TV] (Example)
The tag is the only one that can be bracketed in the name, since the system looks for what is in brackets to find the tag. It also has to be the last thing you have in the name. Neither text nor icons can be set up after the tag.
In addition to the tag, we also use [TV] in square brackets to identify ourselves as Team Valhalla. This also makes it much easier for me to find you in Zwiftpower when I check that the registrations are correct.
On Zwift itself, you don’t need to be tagged and can use whatever name you want, but it’s okay to use the team name there too, so it’s easier for others to see which team you’re cycling for.
So an example for Zwiftpower is:
Simon Flintstone [TV] (Example)
And I would change my name on Zwift to be:
Simon Flintstone [TV] Example
I am ready for TTT and have the Time Trial Bike. Am I good to go then?
It is not against the rules to use a Time Trial Bike, but it is not recommended, as it will not give you a draft, and the idea in TTT is to stay with the TTT team. Choose another bike / wheel combo, considering the best choice for the route you are doing. Feel free to discuss with your team what might be the best choice for a Zwifter on your level.
I’ve changed bike, can I just give full throttle when the event starts?
No, TTT is not so straightforward. In order to start only with your team, all teams are assigned a start time / start delay. This is never shown within Zwift or Zwiftpower, so after you get it from me (or find it yourself at WTRL) then you have to keep control of the start time yourself. That means you have to start a stopwatch, or a countdown clock to find out when the team starts. If you have a team captain, they will make sure to do this as well.
I forgot, and cycled off away from the pen at the start. Do I now have to quit and rejoin the event?
No, you can’t do this. The event has started even if your team has not started cycling, so you will not be able to enter the event again if you exit. But do not worry – the team will not be disqualified. Just stop right away and wait for the team on the other side of the starting line.
We have a start time of many minutes. Am I going to get cold before we start, because once the event starts I have to wait in the pen without crossing the start line?
That’s right, after the event clock has counted down to 0:00, you can’t pedal in the pen, with one exception. If you enter the pairing screen (the menu where you pair your equipment with Zwift) then you can pedal without leaving the start pen. Do not connect anything to or from there, it keeps you in the menu where you pair eg HRM, trainer, cadence and so on, and you can then continue to warm up. As it approaches the team’s start time, you stop pedaling and exit the pairing mode. If you use Zwift on a laptop / PC, you will enter the pairing screen by pressing A on the keyboard (must not be in chat at the time).
How do I work with the team to make it the best we can?
The closer you can hold together, the faster it is for your team. It doesn’t help the team if you ride away from them. The time of the fourth rider to finish will be your time as well. So here it is about making the team stay together in the best possible shape. Even a split of a few seconds can cause the team to lose 10 seconds fast if not tightened quickly. It can help to keep track of the minimap to make sure that the team does not stretch, and also see the distance to the rider behind you (preferably) never exceeds 5m. All teams have their own room on the Valhalla discord channel that you are recommended to use. You can join our discord channel via this link: https://discord.gg/4cGhpkk
It is an advantage if discord is set up with ‘push to talk’ so that you have to push a button to talk, so it doesn’t send all the sounds through the microphone. Those who use discord on mobile will also have a button to press in the app to chat. The volume of all the users you meet is set to 100% by default, but it is possible to individually adjust each user from 0 to 200%.
We are finally cycling and cycling strong, but what happens if we catch a team, or get caught by a team?
The team that is caught has to let the other team pass, and escape from their draft. It is okay to gather as quickly as possible 20-30 meters behind the other team and not hang on to them or ride past them again. They usually have caught you up by a minute or more (in many events it can be 30 second starts), and even though it looks like they calm down after passing you, you have to let them go. Because a team will get by with all the riders as quickly as possible, without getting caught in the sticky draft, they have often given in a little extra as they pass you, and may need a little breath afterwards to gather up before returning to their normal pace again.
If you pass a team and they do not follow this procedure, give them a polite reminder and move on. You can then be more persistent if they continue to hang on. The fact that they hang on to you cannot disqualify you, they are the ones who may have problems, and any complaints we will address to WTRL after the ride. The same is true if you pass solo riders, give notice, and ride on.
If you, as a TTT rider, lose your team, you can’t ride with other teams in their draft. You have to ride solo. If you don’t you could disqualify your team, no questions asked! Of course, you can’t help other Valhalla or Vikings teams either.
How do I sign up for the event?
If your team is invited into the premier league, then the event is hidden / secret, and the team will receive an enrollment link with me in messenger chats that the team will need to have.
For others, just check what event you belong to (time / zone) and sign up early via the companion app, with the right tag, and in the right starting pen / category. Remember this category is never the same as your rider category!
Even those in the premier league must sign up early. This so that it is easy for me or team captains to check that everyone is registered correctly. A rider who is registered without a tag / wrong tag is the same as a rider who is not included in the event!