RemoteRacing™ and virtual racing (VR) are two very different methods of offsite racing.

During the pandemic, many groups rushed to create VRs to fill the void as onsite races were being cancelled. These VRs were better than nothing but lacked the technology to be fair competitions, practical for mass participation, and comparable to an onsite race.

RemoteRacing uses patents-pending technology that has been years in development. It’s pioneering technology and innovative structure overcomes the shortcomings of virtual racing and introduces a host of advantages and possibilities for offsite racing.

Here are some of the shortcomings of VR that produce unfair competition, inaccurate results, and limited participation that are overcome by RemoteRacing:

Lack of Environment & Terrain Normalization

• VR doesn’t account for environmental differences (temperature, humidity, elevation).
   
  An athlete competing in dry 60-degree temperatures at 7000 ft of elevation in Flagstaff can now race against an athlete performing in 95-degree humid weather at sea level in Florida. This is because of RemoteRacing’s Environment Normalization that allows for fair comparisons of performance factoring in heat, humidity, elevation, and wind.
   
• VR doesn’t account for terrain differences of courses such as hills.
   
  RemoteRacing automatically adjusts performances so that an athlete who climbs 5000 ft over 25 miles can be compared to an athlete climbing 50 ft over 25 miles.
   
• VR doesn’t normalize swims based on pool formats (meters/yards or short-/long-course).
   
  RemoteRacing adjusts for athletes swimming in short course pools which are generally faster than long course pools because athletes can push off the wall more frequently.
   

Lack of Bike Power Normalization and Athlete Inclusion

• VR results are inaccurate due to the inherent accuracy variances in different bike power sensors.
   
  RemoteRacing factors in accuracy variances of bike power sensors (smart trainers and power meters).
   
• VR doesn’t allow athletes with lower-quality power sensors to participate.
   
• VR doesn’t allow athletes with power to ride indoors or outdoors in the same race category.
   
• VR athletes that don’t have bike power are not able to participate in the same races as those who do.
   
  RemoteRacing allows all athletes to compete together. Those athletes without power meters are able to use GPS only provided their performances are in the lower half of the competitive field.
   

Lack of Results Verification

• VR leaves the door open for many types of cheating.
   
  RemoteRacing detects cheating using GPS data, power, heartrate, cadence, and speed along with each athlete’s training history and performance potential.
   
• VR doesn’t detect drafting for participants riding outdoors (in separate division):
   
  Drafting is rendered ineffective with RemoteRacing since power and duration are used, not speed.
   
• VR athletes can complete the bike and run segments as individual efforts rather than running off the bike.
   
  RemoteRacing athletes equally have a maximum of 10 minutes between bike and run to transition.
   

Additional benefits of RemoteRacing not possible with VR:

The same technology that overcomes the shortcomings of VR enables these new and exciting new aspects of offsite racing:

• RemoteRacing localizes your results so that you can see what you would have done on an actual onsite race course (i.e. USA Triathlon Nationals).
   
• RemoteRacing equalizes results for age and gender in addition to providing traditional raw results. This means that performances of a 65-year-old woman can be compared to that of a 25-year-old male, paving the way for more inclusive team competitions.
   

Summary

Unlike virtual racing, RemoteRacing uniquely delivers fair competitions with meaningful results that are practical for mass participation and comparable to onsite races.