I mean the same thing can be said of many sports that break amateurs into categories for subcompetition. They're all arbitrary at some point, and even if they're based on competition results, it doesn't distinguish between "took five years to reach this point" and "incidentally passing this category by on their whirlwind to XYZ much higher rank".
For example I compete in high power three position. Your classification (unranked, marksman, sharpshooter, expert, master, high master) is based on whether you scored X% of points for three consecutive matches (or your first two matches for initial rank). I've shot Master scores in every single match bar one, including my first match. But in the second match, there was some confusing misfire on one string (like faulty ammo related? Still don't know to this day lol), which dropped something like 20 points, which is basically enough to kick you down. Which means for the subsequent three matches, I was effectively sandbagging in Expert, and scoring high expert, and getting some pocket change for it (like $20, a fraction of the ammo cost). But I've never pieced together three high master, and may never get there. Meanwhile, we've got a couple people in the area who are literal national champions, and they score so close to perfection every time it's untouchable for the rest of us. It's like they're competing in a much more difficult sport than we are, like smallbore (actually one of the guys went to the Olympics for air rifle so that makes sense lol, air rifle is way harder than high power, score-wise and competition-depth -wise). If one of them shows up to the match, it's a guarantee they win, even if they're massively sick during the match.
In a previous life I did fencing, and had years long struggles to barely make B (sorta the equivalent of Master in high power 3p I guess). In earlier years of that life, I would get crushed beyond belief by Ds, Cs, and Bs. Eventually I got to the point where I could occasionally beat Bs, and by stringing enough tournaments in there, I got it. But I'd still usually lose to a B. And, just like in 3p above, everything we did was a joke to the serious competitors with national rankings, because they could just walk all over us. The massive gap between random A, and A who is high on the points list and seriously might make the Olympic team isn't shown by the category ratings. On paper they're the same rank as the old high master guys, but there's no real comparison.
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But ... despite all that, breaking into subcategories is a Thing in virtually all competitions, because it encouraged more people to participate. You're less demoralized if there's something hypothetically tangible to work for. It's everywhere - we break colleges into D1-D3 schools, high schools get even more partitioned. We break kids into tiny age brackets.
So you can compete in lower subcategories, but I think you're right in the back of your mind you need to remember you're doing it for fun or exercise (certainly not exercise in high power lol). That's why the people who get super worked up over scores or times or whatever at some middling amateur category look so out of place.
I think you've missed the point. Having categories is not the problem. Getting beaten by more talented riders, able to skilfully make of drafting is not a problem either.
The problem is that the categories are designed in such a way that heavier riders are allowed to put out more power than lighter riders.
At the limits of what the category allows the lighter riders just can not win. If they do put out more power then they get disqualified and bumped up a category.
Moving up a category does not help you and in most races you are not allowed to race against lower cat riders because of power limits are enforced.
In open category races you'll be racing against Cat A riders and they're going win because they have more power than you.
So if you race in Zwift and you're not Cat A, you either have to be the heaviest in your race or accept that you won't get on a podium. Ever.
> So if you race in Zwift and you're not Cat A, you either have to be the heaviest in your race or accept that you won't get on a podium. Ever.
I think you're missing my point. I mean even if you move to a different classification method, you'll still end up with the same problem. Even if you move to some vague skill-based or prior-results-based classification instead of a power metric or weight class or whatever, any amateur subclassification is still going to have almost everyone get crushed by the people who are just sandbagging or blowing through the lower classification on their way up.
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So what I mean is
Yes what you state is a problem. But I posit that even if you fix that problem, you'll still end up with basically the same underlying problem anyways.
For example I compete in high power three position. Your classification (unranked, marksman, sharpshooter, expert, master, high master) is based on whether you scored X% of points for three consecutive matches (or your first two matches for initial rank). I've shot Master scores in every single match bar one, including my first match. But in the second match, there was some confusing misfire on one string (like faulty ammo related? Still don't know to this day lol), which dropped something like 20 points, which is basically enough to kick you down. Which means for the subsequent three matches, I was effectively sandbagging in Expert, and scoring high expert, and getting some pocket change for it (like $20, a fraction of the ammo cost). But I've never pieced together three high master, and may never get there. Meanwhile, we've got a couple people in the area who are literal national champions, and they score so close to perfection every time it's untouchable for the rest of us. It's like they're competing in a much more difficult sport than we are, like smallbore (actually one of the guys went to the Olympics for air rifle so that makes sense lol, air rifle is way harder than high power, score-wise and competition-depth -wise). If one of them shows up to the match, it's a guarantee they win, even if they're massively sick during the match.
In a previous life I did fencing, and had years long struggles to barely make B (sorta the equivalent of Master in high power 3p I guess). In earlier years of that life, I would get crushed beyond belief by Ds, Cs, and Bs. Eventually I got to the point where I could occasionally beat Bs, and by stringing enough tournaments in there, I got it. But I'd still usually lose to a B. And, just like in 3p above, everything we did was a joke to the serious competitors with national rankings, because they could just walk all over us. The massive gap between random A, and A who is high on the points list and seriously might make the Olympic team isn't shown by the category ratings. On paper they're the same rank as the old high master guys, but there's no real comparison.
----
But ... despite all that, breaking into subcategories is a Thing in virtually all competitions, because it encouraged more people to participate. You're less demoralized if there's something hypothetically tangible to work for. It's everywhere - we break colleges into D1-D3 schools, high schools get even more partitioned. We break kids into tiny age brackets.
So you can compete in lower subcategories, but I think you're right in the back of your mind you need to remember you're doing it for fun or exercise (certainly not exercise in high power lol). That's why the people who get super worked up over scores or times or whatever at some middling amateur category look so out of place.