By Beccah Niesen
Is there an appetite in the world for watching and participating in a communal esports environment? Here is a perspective after racing in front of friends at a bar.
To celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), I gathered with other women and raced our bikes together. We affixed our bikes to interactive turbo trainers (i.e., smart trainers) and participated in a chase race on Zwift while being side by side with one another in the real world at a local bar. On a day celebrating the strength of women and our collective voices, I chose to show my hometown the global community of women I have come to love on Zwift.
It was an idea borne of the FemmeCycle Collab, an online community of people sharing ideas and expertise to grow women’s participation in esports. Two women hatched a plan and called it “Critmas.”
The goal was to ride the Glasgow Crit Circuit in a real-world home gym, donning ugly sweaters with holiday cheer all around. I thought it was such a brilliant idea–to connect the virtual community to a real-world one.
“Chasing the Dream” Chase Race
On March 8th, 2024, 212 women participated in the IWD “Chasing the Dream” chase race on Zwift. Riders representing nearly 25 countries and 50 independent esports teams convened at the start line. In Healdsburg, California, three of us set up to participate together at our friend’s restaurant and bar, “Molti Amici,” or “many friends” in Italian.
A crowd of locals came to watch the female-hosted broadcast by Jillian Howland, with production by the head of The Coalition, Rhys Howell. Each category had a female captain who provided purpose, direction, and motivation to the women racing through chat on Zwift Companion and through voice via Discord. Over a dozen women and men supported the event in-person or virtually, outside of the racers participating.
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The Prelude: Three Women on Bikes at a Bar
Two brave souls joined me and my husband on the race day at Molti Amici. My husband was our tech support, race sherpa, and overall moral support throughout the event. We loaded our SUV with three trainers, three bikes, two fans, many charging options, speakers, a projector, and everything that goes along with riding: towels, water bottles, hydration, and nutrition.
We arrived at the restaurant two hours before the race to allow sufficient time for broadcast setup, equipment adjustments, and technical runs. From connecting everything to wifi to loading broadcasts and running smart trainer calibrations, the morning was busy before race pens welcomed our fleet of virtual participants.
How Was the Experience as a Seasoned Category B Racer?
It was great, but not amazing. It was a unique and exciting experience to race in the spotlight–everyone could see me struggle and sweat (profusely). However, the device I brought to support the racing did not have sufficient processing power to reflect pack dynamics as Category B progressed through the race.
It wasn’t easy to judge where moves were being made on a tiny screen, all while my husband tried to convince me to try Molti Amici’s signature IWD cocktail for a photo.
BMTR Category B racer Louise, who drove 100 miles to ride by my side, also said, “It was intimidating to have people so close by watching. I also had such a hard time seeing my screen because of the glare. And I could barely see the w/kg the people around me were putting out, so it was hard to stay in the group.”
We both agreed that the experience could be awesome with a few adjustments–water before cocktails, a laptop with sufficient processing power, a shaded race spot with adequate airflow, and a course where group strategy was more straightforward.
Those watching who had never seen a Zwift broadcast said it was enlightening. The hosts talked about tactics and showed where each category was on the course throughout the race and how the game’s dynamics would support each category differently.
Pros:
- Community engagement
- Communicating to riders racing next to you
- Bragging rights
- Type 2 fun = camaraderie through the roof
- Ability to do cooldown rides outside with your friends
- Pizza
- Cocktails AFTER racing
Cons:
- “Fresh air” = heat without the cooling effect of motion
- Insufficient processing power and viewing Zwift via smaller devices
- Glare on screens
- People watching you suffer
- Cocktails during racing
Can Someone Unfamiliar with “Type 2” Fun, Enjoy Zwift Racing?
A brave friend and neighbor who watched my love affair with The Coalition develop offered herself up as tribute when I announced real-world Zwift racing on IWD. I found her a smart trainer, bike, comfy saddle, and spin shoes that she re-purposed for the day.
She signed up for Zwift’s free trial for a few training sessions. Once, she accidentally connected to my trainer and excitedly remarked, “Wow, look at me flying along!”
The revelation prompted a discussion of why my watts plus her weight made her fly around the roadways of Zwift. While she was not the fastest Category D racer on the day, she FINISHED the event while her 10-month-old daughter watched her fight up the last hill, grinding it out in low gear.
I was impressed by the effort my friend put into supporting me and proud of her grit and perseverance in doing something that was both unfamiliar and difficult.
In her own words, “I really liked my first experience (on Zwift) in person. I think it helped bridge the virtual world with the real world, which I thought was kind of interesting…it was kind of like this nice ‘in-between’ of two worlds coming together.”
Does Anyone Want to Watch?
It is a fair statement that the world has many people who enjoy watching sports. According to the Nielsen rating data, 123 million people watched the Super Bowl in February 2024.
While sources vary on how many people watch the Tour de France each year, at least 42 million watched the 2023 Tour on French TV. In addition to live sports, millions watch streamers play video games on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.
Is our setup–watching esports athletes at a restaurant or bar, with a projection/large-scale version of the race available to watch simultaneously–too giant a leap from either of those?
Anecdotally, the feedback from the IWD Chase race spectators was positive. Many of the spectators were friends of mine, making them biased toward supporting me.
However, they informed us that it was awesome whenever the broadcast mentioned me. They loved seeing my group on the large screen and bringing the “suffer” sign around to remind the racers why we were there—not only to showcase the strength of women but also because I found out that friends like to watch friends suffer for fun.
Post Event Analysis
Hosting a Zwift race in person took substantially more effort than clicking a button to join a race online. Is it worth the schlepping, the coordinating, and the possible cost of getting a broadcaster/audio-visual support?
In Healdsburg, California, real-world esports has a future. The answer for me was an undeniable yes, thanks to my community, my husband’s support, and my friends.
My question to others is, “Who else is willing to put in the effort to organize a community event for the pure fun factor?”
Beccah Niesen lives with her husband and two sons in Sonoma County, California. Her husband convinced her to try Zwift after years of athletic stagnation, and The Coalition convinced her she loved it. Catch Beccah and her super-domestique skills supporting women within and outside her team, changing the game, one race, and one cocktail at a time.
Well done Beccah, super event.
Couldn’t have done it without you.
Thanks so much for your support and dedication to women’s participation in esports and for organizing IWD’s ‘Chasing the Dream’ chase race. It was such a fun event!
I love that you try new innovative ways to do what women in this cycling community love to do. You clearly explained the logistics involved in organizing a community event and I would consider doing it with the help from others in my community.
Keep up the awesome work!!! Ride on 😊
Thank you so much- glad you are considering putting an event on! Would be happy to help if you need a sounding board…