After the crazy year that was 2020 on Zwift, we weren’t sure what 2021 would become. But as it turns out, the past year was rather… tame. Measured. Busy, yes. But with few surprises.
And that was sort of nice.
ZwiftHQ got their heads above water, created some longer-term plans, and executed. They rolled out a few much-requested features, including a beautiful new world.
Was 2021 everything we’d hoped for on Zwift? No. We’re still waiting on Clubs and a fresh UI, after all. And we always want more roads, better racing, and various shiny features. But Zwift seems to be approaching things in a more planned and methodical manner this year, and that’s a good thing in our book.
This is our look back at all things Zwift for 2021. Enjoy the ride!
Major Events
2020 saw a pile of massive new events on Zwift, but 2021 was more about building on successes. 2020 had a lot of firsts: the first Virtual Tour de France, the first UCI Esports Cycling Worlds, Zwift Racing League Season 1, and the massive Zwift Tour for All.
In 2021, Zwift took proven event models and honed them. The most obvious effect of this was the availability of more event time slots, as Zwift discovered that offering popular events in more slots increased overall participation.
Zwift has definitely offloaded much of the heavy lifting for race events to WTRL in 2021, who hosted the Zwift Racing League, Zwift Running League, Zwift Duathlon League, Zwift Classics, and new ZRacing Chase Races… among other things! This leaves Zwift to focus on major non-race events such as Z Fondos, tours, and events with commercial partners.
We won’t list all of Zwift’s major events for 2021 here, but you can certainly browse the events archive to see what we focused on throughout the year.
New Roads and Maps
This year was all about Makuri Islands – a Japan-esque map which Zwift has said is planned to be the next “hub world” on par with Watopia in terms of size.
The first Makuri Islands map was based in the countryside and named “Yumezi”. It released in May’s update, with additional routes rolling out in later months. Neokyo, the urban area of Makuri Islands, was added in November’s update.
Makuri Islands currently includes 21 routes:
This scenic loop is on Urukazi’s largest island, home to the giant stone shisa who watch over all of Urukazi. The hilly circuit surrounds Festival Harbor, a colorful ocean harbor complete with statues, kites, homes, and beautiful flora/fauna.
Route Basics
Length: 6.2 km (3.9 miles)
Elevation: 60 m (197‘)
Lead-In: 1.9 km (1.2 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 125 XP
This scenic loop is on Urukazi’s largest island, home to the giant stone shisa who watch over all of Urukazi. The hilly circuit surrounds Festival Harbor, a colorful ocean harbor complete with statues, kites, homes, and beautiful flora/fauna.
Originally created as a Rebel Route in November of 2021, Castle Crit is the brainchild of Zwifter Anders Fougner. It’s the pitchy, country counterpoint to the flatter, urban Neokyo Crit Course.
We used Anders’ idea but changed the direction of the circuit so it would end with a short flat section after the key climb and give riders a short descent after the sprint segment.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024.
Route Basics
Length: 3.5 km (2.2 miles)
Elevation: 44 m (144‘)
Lead-In: 1.5 km (0.9 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 69 XP
Originally created as a Rebel Route in November of 2021, Castle Crit is the brainchild of Zwifter Anders Fougner. It’s the pitchy, country counterpoint to the flatter, urban Neokyo Crit Course.
We used Anders’ idea but changed the direction of the circuit so it would end with a short flat section after the key climb and give riders a short descent after the sprint segment.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024.
Originally created as a Rebel Route in November of 2021, Castle Crit is the brainchild of Zwifter Anders Fougner. It’s the pitchy, country counterpoint to the flatter, urban Neokyo Crit Course.
We used Anders’ idea but changed the direction of the circuit so it would end with a short flat section after the key climb and give riders a short descent after the sprint segment.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024. There is a rideable version of the route, as well as this run-only version.
Route Basics
Length: 3.5 km (2.2 miles)
Elevation: 44 m (144‘)
Lead-In: 1.5 km (0.9 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: Run Only
Achievement Badge: 69 XP
Originally created as a Rebel Route in November of 2021, Castle Crit is the brainchild of Zwifter Anders Fougner. It’s the pitchy, country counterpoint to the flatter, urban Neokyo Crit Course.
We used Anders’ idea but changed the direction of the circuit so it would end with a short flat section after the key climb and give riders a short descent after the sprint segment.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024. There is a rideable version of the route, as well as this run-only version.
Released in Zwift’s January 2022 update, Castle to Castle draws its name from the two castles you’ll pass along the way – first the castle area in Yumezi, then the imperial palace in the Neokyo’s Castle Park.
Route Basics
Length: 22.4 km (13.9 miles)
Elevation: 140 m (459‘)
Lead-In: 0.8 km (0.5 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 460 XP
Released in Zwift’s January 2022 update, Castle to Castle draws its name from the two castles you’ll pass along the way – first the castle area in Yumezi, then the imperial palace in the Neokyo’s Castle Park.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Chain Chomper is one of the tougher routes on this map. It takes you up the Castle and Temple KOMs in back-to-back fashion, then you descend to finish at the Country Sprint.
Route Basics
Length: 13.6 km (8.5 miles)
Elevation: 184 m (604‘)
Lead-In: 2.3 km (1.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 270 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Chain Chomper is one of the tougher routes on this map. It takes you up the Castle and Temple KOMs in back-to-back fashion, then you descend to finish at the Country Sprint.
Released in Zwift’s February 2022 update, Chasing the Sun was the longest route on Makuri Islands until Makuri 40 was released. With contrasting portions based in Neokyo and Yumezi, it includes three sprint segments and two climbs, only one of which is a timed segment.
Route Basics
Length: 35.1 km (21.8 miles)
Elevation: 316 m (1,037‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 690 XP
Released in Zwift’s February 2022 update, Chasing the Sun was the longest route on Makuri Islands until Makuri 40 was released. With contrasting portions based in Neokyo and Yumezi, it includes three sprint segments and two climbs, only one of which is a timed segment.
One of Makuri Islands’ longest routes, Country to Coastal takes you on a tour of Yumezi’s castle area and farmlands as well as Urukazi’s wild coastline. This is the only existing route which takes you down the slot canyon connector road… then back up that same road!
Route Basics
Length: 33.4 km (20.8 miles)
Elevation: 275 m (902‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 665 XP
One of Makuri Islands’ longest routes, Country to Coastal takes you on a tour of Yumezi’s castle area and farmlands as well as Urukazi’s wild coastline. This is the only existing route which takes you down the slot canyon connector road… then back up that same road!
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Countryside Tour is sort of a reverse Chain Chomper with some extra flat road at the beginning.
Route Basics
Length: 16 km (9.9 miles)
Elevation: 185 m (607‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 310 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Countryside Tour is sort of a reverse Chain Chomper with some extra flat road at the beginning.
Released in Zwift’s February 2022 update, Electric Loop is a flat, short circuit similar to Twilight Harbor, but in the opposite direction.
Route Basics
Length: 8.9 km (5.5 miles)
Elevation: 43 m (141‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 170 XP
Released in Zwift’s February 2022 update, Electric Loop is a flat, short circuit similar to Twilight Harbor, but in the opposite direction.
Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, Farmland Loop is the second-flattest route on the Makuri Islands map at the time of its launch.
Route Basics
Length: 7.9 km (4.9 miles)
Elevation: 58 m (190‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 155 XP
Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, Farmland Loop is the second-flattest route on the Makuri Islands map at the time of its launch.
Sort of the little brother to Island Outskirts, Fine and Sandy is a shorter circuit of the Urukazi island complex.
Route Basics
Length: 10.6 km (6.6 miles)
Elevation: 77 m (253‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 210 XP
Sort of the little brother to Island Outskirts, Fine and Sandy is a shorter circuit of the Urukazi island complex.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Flatland Loop contains a few more lumps and bumps than the name implies – in fact, it’s not even the flattest route on the Yumezi map (that distinction goes to Two Village Loop)! But it does manage to skip the KOMs.
Route Basics
Length: 12.9 km (8.0 miles)
Elevation: 96 m (315‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 260 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Flatland Loop contains a few more lumps and bumps than the name implies – in fact, it’s not even the flattest route on the Yumezi map (that distinction goes to Two Village Loop)! But it does manage to skip the KOMs.
Looking for the full Urukazi tour? The Island Hopper covers all Urukazi roads (except for the connector roads to Neokyo and Yumezi). This route takes you on two loops of the Urukazi island complex. Your first loop takes the innermost roads on each of the islands, while the second loop takes the outermost roads.
Route Basics
Length: 18 km (11.2 miles)
Elevation: 129 m (423‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 360 XP
Looking for the full Urukazi tour? The Island Hopper covers all Urukazi roads (except for the connector roads to Neokyo and Yumezi). This route takes you on two loops of the Urukazi island complex. Your first loop takes the innermost roads on each of the islands, while the second loop takes the outermost roads.
Taking in (almost) all of Urukazi’s outermost roads, this loop gives you a tour of the island group, taking you to the highest point on the map along the way.
Route Basics
Length: 11.4 km (7.1 miles)
Elevation: 90 m (295‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 225 XP
Taking in (almost) all of Urukazi’s outermost roads, this loop gives you a tour of the island group, taking you to the highest point on the map along the way.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Kappa Quest is named after the amphibious yōkai demon/imp found in Japanese folklore. Keep your eyes open – perhaps you’ll see one?
Route Basics
Length: 9.1 km (5.7 miles)
Elevation: 140 m (459‘)
Lead-In: 3.8 km (2.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 180 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Kappa Quest is named after the amphibious yōkai demon/imp found in Japanese folklore. Keep your eyes open – perhaps you’ll see one?
Introduced two months after Yumezi’s launch, Kappa Quest Reverse is simply the reverse version of Kappa Quest.
Route Basics
Length: 14 km (8.7 miles)
Elevation: 140 m (459‘)
Lead-In: 5.1 km (3.2 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 180 XP
Introduced two months after Yumezi’s launch, Kappa Quest Reverse is simply the reverse version of Kappa Quest.
The longest route in Makuri Islands, Makuri 40 covers major parts of all three sections: Yumezi, Neokyo, and Urukazi.
Route Basics
Length: 40.2 km (25.0 miles)
Elevation: 308 m (1,010‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 800 XP
The longest route in Makuri Islands, Makuri 40 covers major parts of all three sections: Yumezi, Neokyo, and Urukazi.
Far and away the longest Makuri Islands route when it was released in September 2024, Makuri Pretzel covers key roads in each of the three Makuri Islands areas: Yumezi, Neokyo, and Urukazi. And it covers them in both directions, which means you hit four different sprint arches in both directions for a total of eight sprint opportunities.
While this route is far from flat, it avoids all the Makuri Islands KOM segments. Keep your eyes open in a race, though, as there are plenty of sneaky, draggy climbs that provide ample opportunity for attacks.
Route Basics
Length: 77.6 km (48.2 miles)
Elevation: 616 m (2,021‘)
Lead-In: 1.1 km (0.7 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 1550 XP
Far and away the longest Makuri Islands route when it was released in September 2024, Makuri Pretzel covers key roads in each of the three Makuri Islands areas: Yumezi, Neokyo, and Urukazi. And it covers them in both directions, which means you hit four different sprint arches in both directions for a total of eight sprint opportunities.
While this route is far from flat, it avoids all the Makuri Islands KOM segments. Keep your eyes open in a race, though, as there are plenty of sneaky, draggy climbs that provide ample opportunity for attacks.
The shortest route in the Urukazi map, Mech Isle Loop takes you on a quick circuit of Mech Isle. What do they do here, anyway? It’s all a bit hush-hush, but the gigantic robo-parts seen here and there would indicate that the island lives up to its name.
Route Basics
Length: 4 km (2.5 miles)
Elevation: 39 m (128‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 80 XP
The shortest route in the Urukazi map, Mech Isle Loop takes you on a quick circuit of Mech Isle. What do they do here, anyway? It’s all a bit hush-hush, but the gigantic robo-parts seen here and there would indicate that the island lives up to its name.
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neokyo All-Nighter is the longest “Neokyo-only” route upon its release. At nearly 25km in length, this route covers nearly every bit of road in Neokyo, including 4 sprint segments and the Rooftop KOM.
Route Basics
Length: 24.3 km (15.1 miles)
Elevation: 168 m (551‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 485 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neokyo All-Nighter is the longest “Neokyo-only” route upon its release. At nearly 25km in length, this route covers nearly every bit of road in Neokyo, including 4 sprint segments and the Rooftop KOM.
Released unannounced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neokyo Crit Course is an event-only route which would have slipped under the radar except that its route badge appears in game. That’s right – a route badge for an event-only route! (A first on Zwift.)
Route Basics
Length: 3.9 km (2.4 miles)
Elevation: 19 m (62‘)
Lead-In: 0.7 km (0.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: Event Only
Achievement Badge: 90 XP
Released unannounced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neokyo Crit Course is an event-only route which would have slipped under the radar except that its route badge appears in game. That’s right – a route badge for an event-only route! (A first on Zwift.)
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neon Flats is one of the flattest Neokyo routes around. (Oddly enough, it’s not the flattest – that award goes to Sleepless City.) This is a great route if you’re looking for something flat and fast, with sprint segments to contest.
Route Basics
Length: 14.7 km (9.1 miles)
Elevation: 73 m (240‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 290 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Neon Flats is one of the flattest Neokyo routes around. (Oddly enough, it’s not the flattest – that award goes to Sleepless City.) This is a great route if you’re looking for something flat and fast, with sprint segments to contest.
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Railways and Rooftops is almost the pitchiest route in Neokyo, climbing 70 meters over its 6.2km length. Along the way it takes you over the Railway Sprint then up the backside of the Rooftop KOM which (strangely) is not currently a timed segment.
Route Basics
Length: 6.2 km (3.9 miles)
Elevation: 71 m (233‘)
Lead-In: 2.1 km (1.3 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 120 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Railways and Rooftops is almost the pitchiest route in Neokyo, climbing 70 meters over its 6.2km length. Along the way it takes you over the Railway Sprint then up the backside of the Rooftop KOM which (strangely) is not currently a timed segment.
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Rooftop Rendezvous is Neokyo’s climbiest route. It’s a circuit that simply takes you up the Rooftop KOM then down, climbing 56 meters in each 3.7km lap.
Route Basics
Length: 3.7 km (2.3 miles)
Elevation: 56 m (184‘)
Lead-In: 2.9 km (1.8 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 74 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Rooftop Rendezvous is Neokyo’s climbiest route. It’s a circuit that simply takes you up the Rooftop KOM then down, climbing 56 meters in each 3.7km lap.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Sea to Tree is a short, one-way route up the Temple KOM from the Fishing Village side. You begin at the “sea” on the island before the Fishing Village, and end at the giant mythical tree atop the KOM.
Route Basics
Length: 3.2 km (2.0 miles)
Elevation: 106 m (348‘)
Lead-In: 0.6 km (0.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 65 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Sea to Tree is a short, one-way route up the Temple KOM from the Fishing Village side. You begin at the “sea” on the island before the Fishing Village, and end at the giant mythical tree atop the KOM.
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Sleepless City is the flattest route in Neokyo.
Route Basics
Length: 9.6 km (6.0 miles)
Elevation: 43 m (141‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 185 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Sleepless City is the flattest route in Neokyo.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Spirit Forest is a figure 8 route that keeps you in the Temple KOM area, without actually completing any KOMs!
Route Basics
Length: 8.4 km (5.2 miles)
Elevation: 135 m (443‘)
Lead-In: 4.6 km (2.9 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 170 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Spirit Forest is a figure 8 route that keeps you in the Temple KOM area, without actually completing any KOMs!
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Sprinter’s Playground lives up to its name, taking riders over all four Neokyo sprint sections in one short, fairly flat lap.
Route Basics
Length: 12.4 km (7.7 miles)
Elevation: 68 m (223‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 245 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Sprinter’s Playground lives up to its name, taking riders over all four Neokyo sprint sections in one short, fairly flat lap.
Introduced two months after Yumezi’s launch, Suki’s Playground is a rather flat figure 8 named in memory of Zwift Senior Game Designer Richard Yeh’s dog Suki, who passed while Richard was developing routes for the Yumezi map.
“I adopted Suki when she was only 11 weeks old, and we had a wonderful 11 years together,” says Richard. “She passed away suddenly last September, but her spirit is always still with me. She loved to run and do zoomies when she got excited. The route was initially called ‘Zoomies for Suki’, but we changed it to ‘Suki’s Playground.’”
Route Basics
Length: 18.3 km (11.4 miles)
Elevation: 150 m (492‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 365 XP
Introduced two months after Yumezi’s launch, Suki’s Playground is a rather flat figure 8 named in memory of Zwift Senior Game Designer Richard Yeh’s dog Suki, who passed while Richard was developing routes for the Yumezi map.
“I adopted Suki when she was only 11 weeks old, and we had a wonderful 11 years together,” says Richard. “She passed away suddenly last September, but her spirit is always still with me. She loved to run and do zoomies when she got excited. The route was initially called ‘Zoomies for Suki’, but we changed it to ‘Suki’s Playground.’”
When it was introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Temples and Towers was the biggest Makuri Islands route, both in elevation and distance. It no longer holds that title, but it still takes you up all three KOMs: Rooftop, Castle, and Temple.
Route Basics
Length: 32.6 km (20.3 miles)
Elevation: 319 m (1,047‘)
Lead-In: 0.7 km (0.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 650 XP
When it was introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Temples and Towers was the biggest Makuri Islands route, both in elevation and distance. It no longer holds that title, but it still takes you up all three KOMs: Rooftop, Castle, and Temple.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Three Village Loop takes you on the shortest possible route between the three villages of the Yumezi map: the Castle, Fishing Village, and Village Onsen.
Route Basics
Length: 10.6 km (6.6 miles)
Elevation: 93 m (305‘)
Lead-In: 2.3 km (1.4 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 210 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Three Village Loop takes you on the shortest possible route between the three villages of the Yumezi map: the Castle, Fishing Village, and Village Onsen.
Ride through Neokyo’s urban permanight, then make your way through the slot canyon to Urukazi’s wild coastline before returning to Neokyo via the cavern road.
Route Basics
Length: 24.6 km (15.3 miles)
Elevation: 196 m (643‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 490 XP
Ride through Neokyo’s urban permanight, then make your way through the slot canyon to Urukazi’s wild coastline before returning to Neokyo via the cavern road.
Released in Zwift’s January 2022 update, Twilight Harbor is a short circuit with two sprint segments, making it perfect for flat crit-style racing.
Route Basics
Length: 6.9 km (4.3 miles)
Elevation: 33 m (108‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 135 XP
Released in Zwift’s January 2022 update, Twilight Harbor is a short circuit with two sprint segments, making it perfect for flat crit-style racing.
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Two Village Loop was originally the flattest route on the map. It takes you around the Castle and Village Onsen (hence the name), and along the way you’ll ride some short bits of road that aren’t often ridden via official routes. Enjoy!
Route Basics
Length: 12.8 km (8.0 miles)
Elevation: 88 m (289‘)
Lead-In: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 255 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s May 2021 Yumezi launch, Two Village Loop was originally the flattest route on the map. It takes you around the Castle and Village Onsen (hence the name), and along the way you’ll ride some short bits of road that aren’t often ridden via official routes. Enjoy!
Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, Valley to Mountaintop is sort of the sister route of “Sea to Tree“. Both start near the Village Onsen start pens, but they each attack the Temple KOM from a different side.
Route Basics
Length: 5 km (3.1 miles)
Elevation: 129 m (423‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 100 XP
Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, Valley to Mountaintop is sort of the sister route of “Sea to Tree“. Both start near the Village Onsen start pens, but they each attack the Temple KOM from a different side.
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Wandering Flats was one of the longest Makuri Islands routes, and fairly flat, as the name implies.
Route Basics
Length: 25.1 km (15.6 miles)
Elevation: 146 m (479‘)
Lead-In: 0.1 km (0.1 miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 515 XP
Introduced in Zwift’s November 2021 update, Wandering Flats was one of the longest Makuri Islands routes, and fairly flat, as the name implies.
The routes aren’t especially long, but the artwork throughout the map is stunning – the best work Zwift’s art team has done to date. Zwifters are looking forward to continued expansion of the Makuri Islands map, including a longer climb on the Mount Fuji-esque hill seen in the distance while riding Yumezi.
Similar to 2020, where Zwift threw Watopians a bone by adding a few small connecting roads and a handful of new routes in the last update the year, December 2021’s update included 5 new Watopian routes:
- Climber’s Gambit: originally released in August for Zwift Academy as an event-only route, this is now an open route
- Legends and Lava: originally released in August for Zwift Academy as an event-only route, this is now an open route
- 2022 Bambino Fondo: a new event-only route
- 2022 Medio Fondo: a new event-only route
- 2022 Gran Fondo: a new event-only route
That’s a total of 26 routes added in 2021. By comparison, 19 routes were added in 2020, and 34 in 2019.
Looking for a complete list of Zwift routes? Check out our Master List of All Zwift Routes.
New/Expanded Features
Hide the Display mode released in April update. This simple tweak of removing all the on-screen HUD elements was actually first seen in 2020. It’s not something Zwifters will use all the time, but it sure makes races interesting, and is especially fun when you’re looking for an immersive big-screen experience.
Two common feature requests finally got released mid-year:
- Route Badge Completion indicators rolled out in June update. This release included better route info such as lead-in details (climbing and length) and total route length.
- Route Progress Bar was taken live in the August update, making it easy for everyone to see how much further they need to travel to finish their route or event.
Route badge checkboxes 
Route progress bar
In late November, Zwift brought the Pace Partners feature to Makuri Islands, marking the first time these popular bots have rolled on non-Watopian roads.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning WTRL’s Autocat feature. (While this isn’t a Zwift feature per se, it’s a feature built by WTRL, which is funded by Zwift, for use in Zwift racing.) Autocat is important in the Zwift racing world because it’s a solution to the sandbagging problems which have plagued Zwift racing since early days, since it uses your historic finishing times for courses to determine your race category. And you aren’t able to choose a different category!
Autocat reviews thus far have been largely positive, with most racers saying their category was very competitive. This is a good sign of things to come.
Pack Dynamics Changes
Zwift has been working to improve their “pack dynamics” – the way riders behave in a group – in 2021.
The first change to Pack Dynamics rolled out in the March release. It was further tweaked in July, then Pack Dynamics 3.0 was released as a “flagged release” in August’s update.
Today’s Pack Dynamics are very different from a year ago. There is much less frenetic movement of riders within the pack, and the group flows more like a “school of fishes”, like you see IRL. The sticky draft of a year ago is also nearly non-existent today, and riders collide with each other less.
Additionally (and this is harder to notice in day to day Zwifting), the location of riders on your screen is much more consistent with what other riders are seeing on their screens. This means race results will be more consistent.
Zwift still has work to do in regards to Pack Dynamics. Rider collisions still occur, as do crazy swerving riders when Internet connections are spotty. But we’re confident this will continue to improve over time.
Game Updates
Zwift has stayed right on schedule releasing a “major” update each month. Some of these updates were more exciting than others, but we like the pace of regular updates nonetheless:
- 1.0.61217 Jan 21
- 1.0.63185 Feb 23
- 1.0.64913 Mar 16
- 1.12 Apr 21
- 1.13 May 19
- 1.14 Jun 15
- 1.15 Jul 20
- 1.16 Aug 19
- 1.17 Sept 15
- 1.18 Oct 20
- 1.19 Nov 18
- 1.20 Dec 16
Hardware
There isn’t much worth mentioning on the hardware front for Zwifters in 2021, as trainer manufacturers didn’t release anything new apart from Elite’s Rizer.
One big piece of late hardware news was Zwift’s post-Christmas leak of their own planned direct-drive trainer (the Zwift Wheel) and smartbike (the Zwift Ride). Hopefully we’ll see more big news on this front in 2022!
Competitors
While Zwift is still far and away the market leader in the virtual cycling space, by our estimation competitors made more headway in 2021 than any year previous. It feels like 2020 validated indoor training, then 2021 saw the fruit of that validation. Consider:
- Wahoo purchased The Sufferfest over two years ago, then launched Wahoo SYSTM in September 2021: a rebranded version of The Sufferfest with new features and rides and Android compatibility.
- The IRONMAN Group announced its aquisition of FulGaz in October, clearly signalling that IRONMAN wants to use the FulGaz platform to deliver indoor training services to their athletes. Additionally, in November Haute Route (who had historically hosted some super-popular events on Zwift) announced that FulGaz was their official training partner.
- TrainerRoad, considered by many to be the industry leader in terms of structured indoor cycling workout libraries, released their Adaptive Training update in late 2021.
- Last but certainly not least, RGT is the most Zwift-like of the Zwift competitors. They’ve been steadily improving their product in 2021, and are growing a following of racers due to their physics engine.
As we’ve said before, competition is a good thing, for Zwifters. The more competitive heat Zwift feels, the harder they’ll work to build a better product.
What’s Coming in 2022?
Here’s what we know is coming very soon (within three months, in phased rollouts) to Zwift:
- Expanded Clubs functionality: the ability for almost anyone to create a club, create club events, and invite people to those events via shareable links
- Homescreen Redesign: a totally refreshed homescreen which gives us easier access to events as well as the garage and our user profile
Beyond these two items, we’re not sure what 2022 holds. Certainly Zwift will be investing a lot of development time in improving Clubs functionality further, and bringing the homescreen’s fresh UI feel to the rest of the game. There’s a lot of untapped potential in both of those projects!
Your Comments
What are you thoughts on Zwift’s 2021 year? What would you most like to see in 2022? Share below!
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