Whats the point of Zwifts time trials if nobodys actually racing against each other in real-time, and instead just competing against the clock in isolation. It seems like just a fancy way of doing an interval workout, but with more bells and whistles. Is the only real benefit the fact that you can compare your times to others who have ridden the same course, or is there actually some strategic depth to time trialing on Zwift that Im missing.
And dont even get me started on the lack of penalty for drafting. If Im doing a time trial in the real world, Im not going to get to sit in the slipstream of another rider and cut my energy expenditure by 20%, but on Zwift, it seems like thats exactly what people are doing. Is it really fair to compare times when some people are clearly taking advantage of the lack of drafting penalties.
And whats with the proliferation of e-bikes and other non-traditional bikes on Zwift. Are people really using these things to try and gain an unfair advantage in time trials, or is it just a matter of people wanting to ride whatever bike they want and not caring about the competitive aspect. It seems like if youre going to allow e-bikes and other non-traditional bikes on Zwift, you should at least have separate categories for them, so that people who are trying to compete fairly arent getting unfairly beat by people who are using technology to gain an advantage.
I guess what Im really asking is, whats the point of Zwifts time trials, and how can you trust the results when there are so many factors that can affect the outcome, and so many ways for people to cheat or gain an unfair advantage. Is it really just a matter of people wanting to ride their bikes and have fun, or is there actually some real competition going on here.