How to not cheat at virtual bike racing.
If you don’t do these things, we can’t know if you are being honest and that’s a problem.
For some, “racing” on virtual cycling platforms (such as Zwift and increasingly RGT) are good for a laugh and a good workout and that’s all. They treat the competitive side of it as a little extra motivation but don’t worry about it being a level playing field. For others, this attitude is hard to understand. Racing is supposed to be a pure fair game. Thus, winning or losing at a fair game is deeply important to some who line up.
All these people are just trying to have fun and get a good workout — this leads me to believe that the majority of cheating is more or less accidental. This post describes things to do and things to avoid in an attempt to respect your fellow competitors and toward a more fair virtual bike race.
Beyond respecting others, why does this matter?
There are a few governing bodies that attempt to sanction eRacing. WTRL is undoubtedly the largest, Zwift its self has put together some rules (no conflict of interest, really), the Echelon Race League also has some light weight rules. The premise of these governing bodies is that people want to compete in races that are fair competitions. But are they able to keep the racing fair? The typical strategy these bodies use to catch cheating is post-event performance verification of the winners. For Zwift’s “premier league” there are fairly strict pre-race requirements. However, this is a very limited pool of racers, not the after-work Zwift heroes that blob up day in and day out.
For the majority of virtual bike races, event organizers (no chance of conflicts of interest, really) might do some after-event performance verification and disqualify blatant cheating, but it has no affect on the in-race experience and as long as someone doesn’t win, they go un-regulated. I want to be clear, for the vast majority of eRaces a person enters, they can’t know whether the person they are racing is essentially a cyborg or not. Some may not consider this a problem, but the image of eRacing should be clear — it’s an unverified pool of computer gamers doing whatever they want. Ever known a computer gamer who tried to find a way to cheat?
How can we get ahead of the cheating — progressively?
The systems in place currently — rigorous post-hoc performance verification and disqualification of cheaters — is regressive. It punishes bad behavior after the bad behavior has already impacted others. Is there a more progressive approach? The following sections dig into some specific factors we need to consider to establish progressive measures to ensure fair virtual bike racing in the future.
What factors lead to good performance?
Before jumping into specifics, we need to understand the factors that lead to good performance in virtual bike racing. Given that we don’t know the exact algorithms that the platforms use, we have to make some assumptions, but they aren’t really a stretch. Think about it from two perspectives, some things make you go faster and other things make you go slower. Putting wind and hills aside, there’s really only one thing that makes you go faster — the power you put into the pedals and gets transmitted to the game platform. Things that slow you down can be broken into simulated and real mechanical drag, simulated aerodynamic drag, and simulated resistance due to gravity.
So we have power transmitted to the game vs simulated and real mechanical drag, simulated aerodynamic drag, and simulated resistance due to gravity. If you read the last few sentences critically, you will notice that the system that measures and sends power to the game is also the source of mechanical drag and is applying simulated mechanical drag and aerodynamic drag. Let’s leave this complexity alone for now and just say that real mechanical drag doesn’t really matter here.
Power to the Game
Measuring power generated on a bike accurately and repeatably is pretty common these days. Do a little research and you will find power meters with claimed accuracy around 2%. Similarly, direct drive trainers (which measure power indirectly) also commonly have claimed accuracy around 2%.
If the device you use to measure power doesn’t have a claimed accuracy around 2% you might be cheating.
Using a device with claimed accuracy (potential) of 2% without using it correctly (e.g. not calibrating it when it is at race temperature) may also be cheating. For this reason, if you are using device that doesn’t automatically calibrate during normal use (some power meters and direct drive trainers do this) then you should probably be dual recording and/or posting proof of calibration.
Dual recording you say? Yes. Dual recording is where you race while recording a second power source to a local recording device. If you are racing on equipment that may not be accurate because you didn’t calibrate or maintain it, and you don’t dual record, you might be cheating.
Side note, if you race at a high level, by which I mean if you are affecting the race in Zwift A category races or similar, and you aren’t dual recording, come on man. Be more respectful to your competition.
Last thing in this section… Above, I mentioned posting proof of calibration. Record a screen capture or phone camera recording of you calibrating your equipment — and post the recording on a public google folder linked to your racing profile(s). Also post photos of your equipment and its serial number. These things may seem trivial or silly, and they are. But they are also small steps that make a huge difference to assure your competitors that you are trying to play fair.
What about heart rate?
Heart rate is required in most high level virtual bike races. However, it’s just a verification tool to make sure a person isn’t blatantly cheating. The only way to use heart rate is in post-race analysis. It’s not a bad piece of information, but I argue that it is not helpful in a progressive performance verification framework.
What about outdoor examples of PBs that show ability?
It is common for high-level virtual race events to require submission of outdoor performances that prove an athletes baseline ability. Similar to heart rate, the only way to use this information is in post-race analysis. While not a bad piece of information to show competitors that a person is legit, it’s only use is regressive. In the case of heart rate and historical efforts, I argue that their use fosters more snooping and angst in the community than they are really worth.
Aerodynamic Drag and Resistance due to Gravity
Aerodynamic drag is simulated in a very rudimentary way by virtual bike racing platforms. Nevertheless, getting an advantage in this area can be a difference maker and seriously frustrate competitors who have to deal with a competitor with an unrealistically low simulated aerodynamic drag.
On Zwift, this is controlled by adjusting your height and weight. If you are not honest when setting your height and weight you might be cheating.
If you are affecting races as a competitor, not just holding on for dear life till you get dropped, you should post proof of height and weight. The protocol isn’t hard. For height, just have someone shoot a cell phone video with a tape measure on the wall behind you. For weight, shoot a cell phone video where you show the date on a computer screen, show your scale in the middle of a room, weigh yourself, weigh something around 20lb, weigh yourself holding the weight, then weigh the weight again. Upload your videos to a public google folder and link it on your profile(s).
Ok, I get that this feels a little bit much, but come on, you think poor quality cell phone videos of you in your basement are worse than all the other stuff the internet knows about you? This is no big deal and makes a huge difference when people go looking to see if you are legit after you blow their doors off.
If you don’t take this part of it seriously, you might be cheating, we can’t know if you aren’t and will assume that you are.
Wrapping Up
That’s it —
Use a power source with a stated accuracy around 2%
Post photos of your equipment and videos of your calibration routine
Dual record
Be honest about your height and weight
Post photos of your height measurement
Post video of a weigh in every once in a while
Otherwise, you are cheating.
