What is it?
Not strictly speaking a duathlon, more of a bike-run racing league but let’s not nitpick.
With a different course and changes to the bike and run leg distances each race, the RIAK E-duathlon League provides an opportunity for different types of athlete to excel. Some races will emphasise cycling capabilities, some will emphasise running. If you’re a climber, you will get your chance and those time trialists will also have an opportunity to demonstrate their efficiency. The point is, the series will test you from a number of angles and only the most well-balanced athletes will come out on top!
The RIAK E-duathlon League is all about keeping the competitive beast lurking inside of you well-fed. We don’t necessarily mean competitive in the sense of looking for the win but most importantly, that competitive urge to keep improving. That is why there are not only points for placing but for other achievements too. For instance, for taking the KoM/QoM on the bike course or once into the second round of races, points for the most improved athlete. There should be an inducement for everyone, not just the high performance participants.
Our favourite thing about the RIAK E-duathlon League is not the competitive nature of the racing, it’s the social element of having a live Zoom video feed for participants to join. This will largely be used for commentary by the RIAK team, but there is opportunity for participants to talk to one another during the bike leg in a way you simply cannot do in real-world racing without being penalised by some overly officious race marshal! Use it to play mind games or to encourage each other, it’s up to you to decide how to play it but either way, it all adds to the fun!
How much does it cost?
Because this is a new venture and we really want to help people get racing again when everything else seems to be cancelled, the first round of 5-races will be completely FREE! Beyond that, as we are a small business trying to survive these testing times, we will need to assess how much work we are putting in to administer the league and so, there is a chance we may need to begin charging a small league joining fee. For now though, just enjoy racing!
How does it work?
The Bike Leg
As with all RIAK ONLINE sessions/events, the cycling element will take place via the free immersive training platform RGT Cycling. Each week the bike course, carefully chosen to balance the race alongside a specific run distance, will take place over one of the following RGT courses:
- Pienza
- Canary Wharf
- Paterberg
- Borrego Springs
- Cap Formentor
There are bonus points on offer for bike related performance, including: fastest bike split overall, fastest course lap and course King/Queen of the Mountains.
Once you have finished the bike course, transition skills come into play and we’re off onto the self-planned run course.
The Run Leg
Each participant is responsible for planning their own run course to match the designated run leg distance. It’s that simple, so make sure you pick a flat run course if you can!
There’s only one real rule with our E-duathlon League (other than against outright cheating), your watch to record the run leg must be started as soon as you dismount from your bike. You can record the transition as a separate lap to the run if you like, but it must be contained within the same activity when uploaded to Strava. This is because we need to be able to check upon quick glance that participants headed out for the run straight after the bike and didn’t enjoy a nice sit down before heading out on the run fully recovered. Ultimately it’s an honesty call and it’s well known that cheaters experience drastically reduced fertility rates…
Now this is the point where we have to remind you that E-racing is not perfect and is meant to be fun. The Strava Police will not be supervising these events, so yes some people may have further to travel during transition to head outside for the run and yes some participants’ run course will be hillier than others. But in the interests of keeping the world turning, let’s let the small things go and focus on ourselves. That said, any blatant cheating will result in the culprit banned from the series.
Registering Your Results
To relay your data to the RIAK team for calculating the results, all you need to do is join the RIAK Club on Strava and ensure your data from the bike and run legs is uploaded by 1pm same day. We’ll then endeavour to get the results out as soon as possible.
Please note, if you have any issues with the upload of your data and would like to make it known to the RIAK team, please email us at Info@RIAK.Fitness.
How To Sign Up
It’s nice and straightforward:
- Head to our our Booking Page (link is below the Race Calendar);
- Select the ‘E-duathlon’ option from the drop down;
- Select the upcoming race date and time;
- Fill in your details; and
- Once event booking closes 1-hour before the race, you will receive an RGT sign-up link, Zoom joining link and instructions on how the race will work.
The rest is up to you!
Race Calendar
| Date | Course | Category | Bonus points on offer |
| ROUND 1
6 June 2020, 10am |
Pienza – 16.4km bike, 2km run |
Biker’s course |
|
| 20 June 2020, 10am | Canary Wharf – 20km bike, 5km run | Sprint distance |
|
| 4 July 2020, 10am | Paterberg – 16.8km bike, 3km run | Biker’s course |
|
| 18 July 2020, 10am | Borrego Springs – 15.4km bike, 6km run | Runner’s course |
|
| 1 August 2020, 10am | Cap Formentor – 22.4km bike, 2km run | Climber’s course |
|
| ROUND 2
15 August 2020, 10am |
Pienza – 16.4km bike, 2km run |
Biker’s course |
|
| 29 August 2020, 10am | Canary Wharf – 20km bike, 5km run | Sprint distance |
|
| 12 September 2020, 10am | Paterberg – 16.8km bike, 3km run | Biker’s course |
|
| 26 September 2020, 10am | Borrego Springs – 15.4km bike, 6km run | Runner’s course |
|
| 10 October 2020, 10am | Cap Formentor – 22.4km bike, 2km run | Climber’s course |
|
The Points System
| Points Category | Points | Explanation |
| 1st place (men/women) | 10 | The 1st place male and female in each race will each receive points. |
| 2nd place (men/women) | 6 | The 2nd place male and female in each race will each receive points. |
| 3rd place (men/women) | 4 | The 3rd place male and female in each race will each receive points. |
| Fastest bike | 2 | The fastest male and female bike leg in each race will each receive bonus points (double points on selected courses). |
| Fastest run | 2 | The fastest male and female run leg in each race will each receive bonus points (double points on selected courses). |
| Fastest bike lap | 1 | The fastest bike course lap on selected courses (male and female) will receive bonus points. |
| King / Queen of the Mountains | 1 | On selected courses, there will be a designated climb segment for which the fastest male and female participants will receive bonus points. |
| Most improved | 5 | In each of the second round races, the participant that improves their overall time by the most on that course will receive bonus points. |
| Full season | 20 | Complete all of the RIAK E-duathlon League races this season and you will receive bonus points. |
