Chad Rides

Have you ever felt discouraged by a race result?

I just finished in 106th place in a Zwift race. There were 129 riders, that’s in the bottom 5th.

By any objective measure, that’s a pretty terrible result. A failure, even.

I got dropped by the lead group and spent most of the race fighting for a position most people would call irrelevant. But here’s the thing… it was the best I’ve felt on the bike in months. It reminded me what the real prize is in virtual racing, and I promise you, it has nothing to do with the podium.

So, if you’ve ever felt discouraged by a race result, or you’ve been too intimidated to even start one, this is for you. Because that number on the screen? It’s the least important part of the story

A Sea of Digital Competitors

The Zwift Games is a huge race series that pulls in thousands of riders every week. Iweek one was a race on the new Kaze Kicker route in Makuri Islands. Its profile looks relatively flat, but don’t be fooled. As I sat in the virtual starting pens, watching the rider count tick up… 85… 100… 129… you feel that familiar buzz of adrenaline and nerves. My goal was simple, same as always: hang on to the front group for as long as humanly possible. In my head, that was a “good” race.

The start was the usual chaotic explosion of watts. A leg-searing scramble to stay in the draft as the peloton stretches and snaps like a rubber band. And for a while, I was there. Tucked in, trying to conserve energy, watching my heart rate slam into the red zone, but feeling like I was in the mix.

But Zwift racing is brutally honest. There’s just nowhere to hide. Just 3.2km in, we hit the first nasty little climb: the Pain Cavern. It’s a 2.1km climb at an average of 3%, but with sections kicking up to 6%. That’s where the elastic snapped. I saw the avatars ahead surge, a gap of a few meters opened up, and despite a desperate, lung-burning push, they were gone. The front of the race just vanished up the digital road.

The old script started playing in my head: “You’re not good enough.” “You blew up again.” “What’s even the point?” It’s a lonely feeling, watching the race you wanted to be in just ride away from you. I was in no-man’s-land, holding on to 106th place. And that’s when everything changed.

The Turning Point – Redefining The Win

Instead of quitting, instead of just soft-pedalling in disappointment, I glanced at my data. My heart rate was at 159, pretty high for me. My power was well above my threshold at 302 for the first 9 minutes. I was deep in the pain cave. But then I thought about how I had been riding recently and I was on track to set my best power PR’s for the last 2 months. Not by a little, but by a lot.

Insert power metrics from intervals here

And you can see that I set new PB’s in 2026 for 9 minutes, 20 minutes and all the way to the end of the race at 27 minutes, almost 10 watts better than my previous best.

And that was the moment. It hit me. I wasn’t failing; I was succeeding. My finishing position of 106th was just one data point in a sea of metrics telling a much bigger story. I had found a small group of other riders, all of us pushing our own limits, totally disconnected from the fight for first. We were in our own race—a race against what we thought we were capable of. And in that race, I wasn’t just competing; I was setting a new personal standard for 2026.

The final result on the screen became background noise. The real win was happening right there, in my legs and my lungs.

The “Why” – The Five Real Prizes of Virtual Racing

This whole experience really solidified for me why virtual racing is such a powerful tool. It led me to what I now consider the five real reasons we should all be racing, no matter where we finish.

First, and this is the big one, is Personal Growth Through Measurable Performance Gains. My 106th place finish is the perfect example. I lost the race, but I won the day against my former self. Virtual racing offers a controlled environment to track your progress. Unlike riding outside with wind, traffic, and changing terrain, Zwift is consistent. When you see your average power for a 20-minute climb go up, or set a new personal best, that’s a concrete win. That data doesn’t lie, and it’s a way more personal and motivating metric than your rank against 100 strangers. Your Zwift Racing Score can even update immediately if you set a new personal best, showing that the platform itself values your personal output over just your finishing position.

Second, the incredible Accessibility and Ease of Getting Started. Think about a real-world race: travel, registration fees, a whole day blocked off, and the risk of crashing. With virtual racing, all of that vanishes. You can decide to race 30 minutes before it starts, kitted up and ready in your own home. With races for all ability levels starting nearly every hour, all you need is a smart trainer to get access to global competition. It breaks down massive barriers and lets people who’d never pin on a number in real life feel the thrill of competition.

Third, is the surprisingly Inclusive and Vibrant Community. This is huge. In a real race, if you get dropped, you’re often truly alone. On Zwift, that almost never happens. With so many participants, there’s always someone to ride with, whether you’re fighting for 1st or 101st. After I got spat out the back, I found my “gruppetto”—my little band of riders all sharing the same glorious suffering. We weren’t talking, but we were working together, taking turns in the virtual wind, pushing each other to keep going. That sense of shared experience is an incredible feeling of belonging.

And that feeling of community and personal progress is something I see in the comments all the time. It’s what makes this all worthwhile. If you’re finding value in this and want to be part of a community that celebrates every kind of win, consider subscribing to the channel. I’d love to have you along for the ride.

Fourth, and this is a huge motivator, are the tangible Health and Fitness Benefits. Let’s be honest, just riding the trainer can feel like a chore sometimes. Racing completely flips that script. It’s a time-efficient, low-impact, and super effective way to build fitness. The competitive fire of a race pushes you to an intensity that’s hard to replicate on your own. Those moments where you dig deep to hold a wheel are essentially high-intensity intervals, just without the structure. My personal best wasn’t from a planned workout; it was because the race demanded more from me, and my body answered the call. That’s a fitness gain you can truly feel.

Finally, the fifth reason is simply the Pure Fun and the Joy of Competition. Zwift has brilliantly turned indoor cycling into a game. You get objectives, rewards, and rankings that make riding genuinely fun. It strips away the dangers and some of the logistical headaches of outdoor racing and boils it down to pure effort and tactics. The thrill of chasing someone down, the tactical use of a power-up, the final all-out sprint for the line—even if it’s for 105th place—is exhilarating. It’s a mental and physical challenge that keeps you coming back for more.

Conclusion

So, I finished 106th out of 129. That number will be forgotten by tomorrow. But what I won’t forget is the feeling of setting new 9, 20 and 27 minute power records. I won’t forget the silent teamwork with the riders I suffered alongside. And I won’t forget the simple, deep satisfaction of giving my absolute best effort, no matter the outcome.

For the vast majority of us, winning on Zwift isn’t about crossing the line first. It’s about beating the person you were yesterday. It’s about showing up, pushing your limits, and finding joy in the effort itself. That’s the real prize. And the best part is, it’s a prize every single rider can win, every single time they race. If you’re having fun and pushing yourself, you’ve already won.