So far there is no team ranking system. Sorry about this but I wouldn't really know how to do it and the game is plenty of work for me so far already without it
Okay, I4m very excited about the race today! I'll get started on it in a matter of hours.
Very different race than the other 2. Expect some new names to pop up. Good luck to everyone and as always I hope to bring you a great race report
Catch up on the game thread if you're behind, there are some amazing role-playing posts there, I'm loving it!
There isn't one in real life, either. So I won't be doing it.
I really have to concentrate on what's important because now I'm at the top of my abilities to run this game, I think. I have to hold so many things into account that I won't take any more.
So it's perfect now. I'm also having a lot of fun with this playing field, some interesting riders here!
Writing up the report now. So stay tuned!
Also: please keep the feedback coming, too. You can message me or post below at any time what you're thinking about a specific preview, report, result or just the game in general. First because only then I can make it better and second it gives me great motivation and makes the game more fun for me, too.
And for those who are a bit lost in the game with all the riders and without stats etc: don't worry, I'm probably even more lost than you I'm trying to create some sort of order between the riders, but with the changing routes and specialties it's impossible to do so. I can only say: hang in there. Eventually, the real active players will see their riders come to the top and the rest will be subtoppers and pack fillers. For example: I expect less winners in season 2, (so more riders win 2 or more races) than this season. Of course this won't be so if everyone stays active. That'd be great too, though, don't misunderstand me
I must admit it was a hard race to report on. I did my best and I'm quite pleased with the result in the end. It was more fun than I expected Also the profile turned real nasty with the rain! I tried to include more things from the back, too, hope it worked.
Enjoy the report. Congrats if you performed well. If you didn't: no harm done, you didn't win a classic but no classification was lost, too.
Now we're going to Australia for some interesting races. Stay tuned, I hope to post the preview tomorrow, depending on the reaction, of course. I'll allow enough time for everyone to react to the tace, because much has happened.
Curious how the U23 race will have played out.
Because of too high a motivation, there is a chance I'll even post the Sunny Classic preview this evening, but we'll see
UPDATE: Studied my calendar (some exams and interships in the first 3 months of 2015): This weekend I still have some time off. As soon as Monday, I need to start working for school again. So from then, I'll only spend time on this as early as the afternoon. For next week, I hope to keep up the pace of 1 preview/report per day. The weeks that follow after that will be slower and less regular.
Hobart Sunny Classic preview is up! And you can bet your ass it'll be an interesting race. Send in tactics if you want.
The little hill where you can professionally "wait", about which I talk in the preview is a bit like this:
From 2:34 to 2:38. Here, the first rider (Van Der Poel) holds a small break on top, so that the 2nd rider (Van Aert) is forced to put his foot on the ground. However in this scenario Van Aert does it brilliantly. A rider with less talent will lose 4 seconds easily. In our cross, it's 150 meters before the finish, so doing this almost means losing. Or look at the 3rd rider, he has even more effect from this move, losing 20 meters so quickly.
The 2nd rider could choose to keep a small distance from the 1st rider. He would avoid the risk but if the 1st rider didn't do this little "wait", he could lose the race because of this distance he kept. So it's a gamble
REMINDER: For those unfamiliar with cyclo-cross, I'll say once again: a normal CX rider rider almost all races in the season. You may skip a ride to preserve energy for the day after, if you've nothing to lose in day 1 and everything to win in day 2. Or young riders may decide to skip a few races to avoid burning themselves up (which I actually recommend), but deciding to not go to Australia/N-Z for the next 3 races isn't really an option. It's the start of the World Cup and the Coca-Cola Trophy.
I have to agreee I think the game is going real good. I didn't expect so many active players, so it's great to work with that. And those who are active, are contributing real interesting posts instead of just: yeah it's going good, yeah I've won. Huray...
Monday I'm busier again so the pace will drop a bit. So in order to celebrate, I will post the race today, around afternoon. I will post the World Cup preview this evening, I hope. That way I can do the World Cup opener tomorrow to finish the weekend in style
The star attraction was clearly Matt Mazzarelli who has had a fantastic start to the season with a 6th and 4th. Unfortunately he was mobbed by autograph hunters and missed the start of the race. He eventually joined proceeding but with a large field of very mixed qualities he spent the whole race playing catch up and trying to get past the stragglers. He never saw the front of the race, finishing 17th.
That's just great, Sven Nys is gonna have a comic interview with him
@Ollfardh: Just to be clear, Verboven did not win his first professional race. He won his first U23 race, but that doesn't count as a professional race (Elite Men)