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Dirty Kitten Winter Training Series 5.0 FAQs #2

But first, some info about the process, philosophy, and mission of DKWTS...

Dirty Kitten is managed mostly by Chris and Alex (along with help from our team and friends). We are really just 2 people working in our house before/after our regular work hours. Chris handles all the leaderboard software and writes most of the code. This takes an enormous amount of time (sometimes 10+ hours a day) to do. If you throw in the new Strava API guidelines, it has made things a bit of a challenge for us this year.

Based on feedback we've received from past participants, most people who do the series are not primarily focused on the competitive nature of it. The majority say they are more interested in reaching personal goals, challenging themselves, and engaging in the community. Because of this feedback, we changed the way we manage and score each challenge.


Our intent has been to make the challenges and activities more interesting than just “Do a long ride” or “Ride the most miles” in a week. In fact, that can actually promote unhealthy behavior by encouraging participants to ride, ride, ride as much as possible which isn’t necessarily the best thing to be doing this early in the season. Some folks were telling us that they felt burned out by the end of the series in March. We don’t want that to happen and feel a responsibility to encourage more healthy, well-rounded training habits. 


Dirty Kitten Winter Training Series (DKWTS)
Dirty Kitten Winter Training Series (DKWTS)

This was actually part of the philosophy behind the “4 or 9” mile challenge last week (aside from Chris being silly and making everyone do math): folks could ride whatever distance they wanted (as little as 4 miles) each day. It was a unique and fun way to allow for recovery if needed. The same goes for the “3 days a week” challenges. They give people the ability to ride as little or as much as they want. Some participants don’t have the capability to ride 5+ days a week. We strive to make our events accessible and inclusive so allowing for different access points and participation levels helps us achieve this during DKWTS. In the end, it’s supposed to be a fun virtual, diy challenge which means each participant makes it their own. 


We believe that participants get out what they put in. There are a lot of ways to connect with others during the series outside of virtual group rides on Zwift: Discord, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Strava. We have an active Discord channel with participants, a private Facebook group with over 1K members, other social media channels, a YouTube channel with livestreams every week, and a Strava Club. If you want to engage with the community, there are a lot of options. If you don't, that's fine too.

Some of the other feedback we received was that folks felt once they were locked into a specific group, there wasn’t really a way to move up or down on the leaderboard. In the past, it has ended up being the same 5-10 people leading each week. That doesn’t actually coincide with our overall philosophy and mission of the series. So we made changes based on that information. Now there are different leaderboards posted each week which means you are actually engaging with or “competing with” different participants so there is more variety and ways to challenge yourself.


DKWTS is a fun, diy/virtual training challenge that provides motivation, community, and friendly- competition during the winter for anyone and everyone. You can ride ANY bike, ANY where, ANY time! It is not a super-serious, competitive, training program for fancy, professional riders. 


More DKWTS FAQs:

How do I access the DKWTS leaderboards?

There are a couple of ways to access the "leaderboards" on the DKWTS website:

  • Log into the leaderboard website

  • Click the menu (3 bars in the upper-righthand corner if you are on mobile) and select "Leaderboards" OR scroll to the Leaderboards tab across the top of the page

  • Select the challenge, category, and/or participant you want to view from the drop-downs

  • Scroll down to find your name on the selected leaderboard

*You can also get to the leaderboards by selecting "Challenges" from the main menu on the homepage then scrolling down and clicking the "Leaderboard" next to the selected challenge



Why are the leaderboards different this year?

Some of this is addressed in the info at the top of this page. There are a few different reasons:


  1. To start, we had to make some changes for data usage and privacy reasons which means we can't display some information on the website or leaderboards. That has made it a bit of a challenge to navigate so we had to pivot and design a different style of leaderboard this year.

  2. Based on feedback we've received from past participants, most people who do the series are not primarily focused on the competitive nature of it. The majority say they are more interested in reaching personal goals, challenging themselves, and engaging in the community. Because of this feedback, we changed the way we manage the leaderboard.

  3. Some other feedback we received was that folks felt once they were locked into a specific group, there wasn’t really a way to move up on the leaderboard, and a few were figuring out ways to "game" the system so they could stay at the top. That doesn’t coincide with our overall philosophy and mission of the series. So we made some changes. Now there are options for different leaderboards which means you can actually engage with or “compete with” other participants allowing for a variety of ways to challenge yourself.


Where do I find information about challenges and activities?

Tour and Stage challenge info is emailed each week (Sunday night/Monday morning), as well as posted on our Dirty Kitten News page and the leaderboard website. You can access each challenge on the leaderboard by logging in a clicking "Challenges" on the menu.


Why are there different styles of challenges?

Based on the explanations above, we found that there were many people who were overwhelmed with the intensity or competitiveness of some of the challenges. A certain level is fine, but some folks were telling us that they felt burned out by March. This isn't our goal. We don't want to focus on riding the longest and most miles through January and February. That's not really exciting nor is it healthy fitness behavior unless you are an endurance athlete. We want to promote and encourage healthy, well-rounded fitness habits.


We also felt that some of the challenges we have done in the past repeat themselves. Although we are limited to what data we can track on the leaderboard, we have been trying to figure out new and interesting ways to challenge and motivate participants. This was actually part of the philosophy behind the “4 or 9” mile challenge last week (aside from Chris being silly and making everyone do math): folks could ride whatever distance they wanted (as little as 4 miles) each day. It was a unique and fun way to allow for recovery if needed.


The same goes for the “3 days a week” challenges. They give people the ability to ride as little or as much as they want. Some participants don’t have the capability to ride 5+ days a week. We strive to make our events accessible and inclusive so allowing for different access points and participation levels helps us achieve this during DKWTS. In the end, it’s supposed to be a fun virtual, diy challenge which means each participant makes it their own. 


What do I do if one of my activities hasn't loaded to the leaderboard yet?

Some activities are instantly synced to the leaderboard (such as the weekly stage challenges). Others take a little bit of time (typically 24-48 hours) as they need to be manually synced (such as the Bonus Rides). The Photo Bonus activities take the most amount of time as they all have to be manually found and entered so allow for up to 1 week before those are all loaded.


REMINDER: If you do a non-club ride, you will have to add #DKWTS to your ride title on Strava or manually enter it through the leaderboard for it to properly load. Please DO NOT change any official DK Zwift Club rides as those titles automatically sync.


If you have followed the above steps and still don't see your ride or activity, please reach out to us: support@dirtykittengravel.com so we can check.


What's up with scoring and Purrito Points?

We are in the process of scoring challenges and activities. Since we had to make some big, last minute changes to the leaderboard this year, we are playing catch up with the scoring process. We appreciate your patience with this.


What do I do if Strava, Zwift, Garmin, whatever doesn't load my activity properly?

You can always manually enter an activity into Strava OR on the leaderboard website (please don't do both that will result in a double entry). The manually activity entires operate on an honor-system so we trust that you will enter accurate information. If we see something outrageous, we may reach out to you for further information.


I don't use Zwift but want to participate in virtual group rides. Is this possible?

Yes! We host virtual "club rides" on Zwift, but that doesn't mean you can't participate if you use a different virtual training system and/or don't have a smart trainer. Hop onto Discord during one of our club rides (or anytime you want) and engage with the DKWTS community either by text or voice chat. Some folks will jump on during an IRL (real life) ride, work commute, meal prep, or any other activity. You don't have to be on Zwift or even on a bike to participate.


Disclaimer: If you are riding outside or driving, please be safe and follow the rules of the road for your area regarding hands-free devices.


I'm not good with technology and feel overwhelmed by the different options available. Can someone help me?

Yes! We have staff members and volunteers available who can assist you with technology questions, depending on the situation. Chris handles the leaderboard and can be reached by email: support@dirtykittengravel.com. Alex is available to answer questions about club rides, activities, and challenges either on Discord or via email: dkwts@dirtykittengravel.com. Other staff and team members answer questions on our Discord Channel (support chat) and in our private Facebook group.


We also provide a number of resources for DKWTS participants on our website, in the DKWTS Event Notes on BikeReg, and on the leaderboard. If you have questions about Strava, Zwift, Garmin, etc tech there are numerous resources available online as well.


How do I win prizes?

Prizes are awarded throughout the series based on different activities and challenges. We giveaway free entries to partner events each week through random drawings. More prizes will be available once Purrito Points are awarded.


Keep Riding Dirty!

Alex & Chris Howell

DIRTY KITTEN PRODUCTIONS


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