HOW IT WORKS

Everything you need to know about Shadow Racer and how to use it.

WHAT IS SHADOW RACER?

Shadow Racer lets you compare your mountain bike time trials against real NICA Utah race results. Ride any NICA venue on your own, log your time, and see where you would have placed in actual races.

We use historical data from 97,000+ race results across 21 venues and 100+ races spanning 2018–2024 to calculate your placement probability. This isn't a guess — it's based on where every finisher placed in every race at that venue.

GETTING STARTED

Create an account

Tap the menu in the top right and sign in with Google. That's it — no separate signup needed. Your account is created automatically.

Connect Strava (optional)

If you use Strava, connecting it lets you import ride data directly instead of typing times manually.

Tap the menu (hamburger icon, top right)
Tap Connect Strava
You'll be redirected to Strava to authorize Shadow Racer
Grant access — Shadow Racer only requests read access to your activities. It cannot post, edit, or delete anything on your Strava account.
You'll be redirected back. The menu will now show Strava Connected

To disconnect, tap Strava Connected in the menu. This removes your Strava tokens from Shadow Racer immediately.

Explore the venues

Browse the venues page to see every NICA Utah course. Each venue shows historical placement bands — the time ranges that earned 1st place, 2nd place, etc., across all past races.

LOGGING A SHADOW RACE

Manual Entry

From your dashboard, tap "+ Shadow Race" and fill in:

Venue — Which NICA course you rode
Category — Your race category (filtered to what's available at that venue)
Total time — Your finish time in minutes and seconds
Laps — Auto-filled based on the typical race lap count
Date — When you did the ride (defaults to today)

Import from Strava

If Strava is connected, tap "Import from Strava" in the form. Select your ride from the list and it auto-fills your time, date, and notes. You still pick the venue and category since Strava doesn't know which NICA course you rode.

Tap "Load more rides" at the bottom of the picker if you don't see the ride you're looking for.

From a Venue Page

When browsing a venue, tap the "Shadow Race" button in the top right. This takes you to your dashboard with the venue already pre-selected in the form.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR RESULTS

Placement Probability (P-Score)

After logging a shadow race, you'll see a probability score for each placement. For example, "Top 5: 64%" means in 64% of all historical races at that venue and category, you would have finished in the top 5.

60%+ = Strong chance25–59% = Competitive<25% = Stretch goal

Placement Bands (Venue Pages)

On venue pages, each category shows the historical time range for each placement. The fastest column is the best time anyone achieved at that placement, and slowest is the worst. The median is the typical time.

For example, if 1st place shows "1:22:03 – 1:24:30", that means across all races at that venue, the winner finished somewhere in that range.

Overall Field Median

The blue bar at the bottom shows the median finishing time across all riders in all races. If your time is below this, you're faster than more than half the field historically.

Quick Result Badges

On your dashboard, each trial shows a colored badge with your most likely placement:

WinPodiumTop 5Top 10Top 20

This shows the best placement where you have at least a 50% probability. Tap the trial card to expand the full breakdown.

CATEGORIES EXPLAINED

NICA races are divided into categories by skill level and grade. When you log a shadow race, pick the category you race in (or would race in):

High School

Varsity — Top riders
JV A / JV B — Junior Varsity tiers
Freshman A / B — 9th grade categories
Sophomore A / B — 10th grade categories
SLR — Single Lap Riders

Middle School

Advanced — Top middle schoolers
Intermediate — Mid-level
Beginner — New to racing
Adaptive — Adaptive category
Note: Devo races only the first 3 races of the season

TIPS FOR ACCURATE RESULTS

Ride the full course

Shadow races work best when you ride the actual NICA race course, not just the trail system. The benchmarks are based on the race course layout.

Match the lap count

If the category typically races 3 laps, ride 3 laps. The app will warn you if your lap count doesn't match, but matching it gives the most accurate comparison.

Race effort

Try to ride at race pace for the most meaningful comparison. A casual ride will show lower placement probability than you'd actually achieve on race day.

Use moving time

If importing from Strava, Shadow Racer uses your moving time (not elapsed time), so stops don't count against you.

Check the field size

A "Top 5" finish in a field of 10 is different from a field of 60. The app shows typical field size per category so you can gauge how competitive the field is.

FAQ

Where does the race data come from?

All data is from publicly available NICA Utah race results, spanning 2018-2024. We have 97,000+ individual results across 100+ races at 21 venues.

How is placement probability calculated?

For each venue and category, we look at every historical race and record what time earned each placement. Your probability of finishing top N is the percentage of races where the Nth-place finisher was slower than your time.

Why are 2021 and 2022 mostly missing?

The data source had issues with those seasons. Most files were empty. We use all available data, which is primarily 2018-2020 and 2023-2024.

What does D1/D2 mean?

NICA Utah splits some categories into Division 1 and Division 2. Shadow Racer merges these since riders often move between divisions, giving a larger and more representative dataset.

Is my data private?

Yes. Your time trials are only visible to you. We don't share your data with anyone.

Can I use this for races outside Utah?

Currently Shadow Racer only has NICA Utah data. We may add other states in the future.

Why does my Strava ride not show up?

Shadow Racer only imports Ride, Mountain Bike Ride, Gravel Ride, and E-Bike Ride activities. If your ride is tagged as a different type in Strava, it won't appear. Also try tapping "Load more rides" in the picker.

Disclaimer

Shadow Racer is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NICA or any league. All comparisons are estimates based on historical race data and do not guarantee, predict, or promise any placement or result in any race. Course conditions, weather, competition, and other factors vary between events. Use this tool for informational and training purposes only. Data may be incomplete or contain errors. Shadow Racer assumes no liability for decisions made based on this information.