{"id":190,"date":"2019-09-16T23:00:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T05:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iceman.saffire.com\/blog\/?p=190"},"modified":"2023-02-10T22:21:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T16:21:36","slug":"the-top-secret-formula-for-wave-assignments-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/16\/the-top-secret-formula-for-wave-assignments-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Secret Formula For Wave Assignments REVEALED!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s September and we haven\u2019t had any need to dig out the shoe covers yet! Rest assured, the chill will descend on the Midwest soon, and you can expect to spend an extra ten minutes digging through bins and closets for your warmers, booties, covers, and coats. That first ride in the cold, in a misty rain, with squealing brakes and a generous deposit of sand coated on your chain; it\u2019s a sign of the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as important, and perhaps just as exciting, are two crucial dates for our races. First, transfers close on October 11. We really appreciate everyone who has transferred out so far, and we encourage you to do so if you aren\u2019t going to make it. That $20 fee goes to support Norte Youth Cycling and the Grand Rapids Dirt Dawgs, two really cool programs that get kids on bikes. Additionally, you\u2019re making a spot for another rider to race Iceman. For riders who have done this dance a time or two, it may not seem as big of a deal, but cast your mind back to your first timing lining up in Kalkaska; you won\u2019t ever forget it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second date is October 18, which is the latest date we hope to have wave assignments ready. Riders tend to think of wave assignments as a sort of Harry Potter-esque Sorting Hat; everybody wants to be in Gryffindor, everyone thinks <\/em>they should be in Gryffindor, and a wave that isn\u2019t to your liking is like getting Hufflepuff. (Sorry, Hufflepuff). If you don\u2019t get this metaphor, ask your kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First off, we hope you know that we spend a lot of time trying to get these wave assignments right. Over the years, we\u2019ve adopted two formulas to put people where they should be, both from a competitive standpoint and from a safety stand point. Having riders of vastly different abilities and speeds on the same square foot of trail is the riskiest business, and it isn\u2019t fun for either party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It all starts with the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rider with past results:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Average overall place for up to the last 5 years, then doubling your best place of those results. Then those results are ranked and split up into the waves. The first 4 waves have 150 riders per wave, then the remaining waves have 80 per wave to allow room to manually move or place riders as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riders without past results, but with Strava data:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strava riders are ranked by their total activity scores for the year. They are then placed by rank after the past results rider waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using your five-year average helps us remove your worst results, whether it be a bad day, a bad mechanical, or season where you just didn\u2019t get to train to your normal standards. We double your best result so that it makes the most of your very best day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For riders without a result or Strava data, we have a number of waves dedicated to specific age groups based on average and best finish times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to influence your starting position is to race Iceman, but it isn\u2019t the only way. There is certainly some element of \u2018pay your dues\u2019 to the system, but we take a lot of pride in working with races to look at their Training Score and helping them find a wave they will have a great experience being in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other question we get a lot is how the Training Score is determined. Trust us, this took a ton of thought, trial and error, and tweaks to get right. The formula is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

( Distance (Miles) + Total Elevation (Feet) + Moving Time (Minutes) ) \/ 20<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of riders say that you can skew the score by riding far, or climbing a lot, or riding a long time; the reality is that if you\u2019re going big in any one of those categories, it\u2019ll pay off. It\u2019s not perfect, but it\u2019s the same for everyone, and that makes it pretty darn fair. My tip? I took a look at my normal training ride and found it to have a Score of 80; that\u2019s 90 minutes of riding, with 1,474 feet of climbing, and 30.8 miles. That\u2019s a pretty doable ride for anyone, and if you need to knock off a little climbing, it won\u2019t kill the score. Hopefully, that gives you some perspective on where your training is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we ease into wave assignments, we\u2019ve got a few things that will help make it go smooth. If you ride for a team or club, consider compiling all of your wave requests into a single email so we can process them all at once and do so with a few less emails to chase. Second, include a link to your Training Activity page so we can look at it without searching. Finally, relax. <\/em>We\u2019re going to do our best for you, and no matter what wave you end up in, you can still have a great race and a really good time. The course is fast, open, and challenging; we feel confident that by the time you hit Timber Ridge, you\u2019ll be tired and ahead of every single rider you deserve to be ahead of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions? Let us know via email IcemanInfo@iceman.com<\/a> and remember, we won\u2019t be able to change your wave assignment until after <\/em>they\u2019re assigned. Until then, get training…and maybe take a second to look for your knee warmers right now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s September and we haven\u2019t had any need to dig out the shoe covers yet! Rest assured, the chill will descend on the Midwest soon, and you can expect to spend an extra ten minutes digging through bins and closets for your warmers, booties, covers, and coats. That first ride in the cold, in a … Continue reading “The Top Secret Formula For Wave Assignments REVEALED!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,9,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ice-society","category-news","category-strava","category-training"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}