Yesterday, Zwift added a set of new New York City routes to the Companion app’s route browser. The new routes are marked as “event only” and include route length, total elevation, and a list of included leaderboard segments. The routes also include maps showing the new roads… here are a few examples:
New Routes
Here’s a complete list of the routes that showed up in Companion yesterday. (Click a route for details, which are pretty sparse right now. We’ll be filling in these route pages next week after we’re able to ride the routes, take cool photos, launch Strava segments, etc.)
- Avon Flyer (5.1km, 30m)
- Double Parked (42.2km, 330m)
- Double Span Spin (12.6km, 120m)
- Fuhgeddaboudit (79km, 838m)
- Green to Screen (28.4km, 207m)
- Issendorf Express (7.3km, 53m)
- Prospect Park Loop (5.5km, 37m)
- Spinfinity (19.3km, 155m)
- Spinfinity Ultra (35km, 291m)
- Stay Puft Pursuit (31.2km, 41.6m)
- The Double Borough (17.9km, 147m)
- The Greenway (36.8km, 292m)
- Toefield Tornado (10.3km, 53m)
- Watts the Limit (31km, 219m)
New Sprint, KOM, and Other Segments
Since the Companion app lists which leaderboard segments are included in each route, we can figure out the names of new segments being added to the NYC map. (Again, click for details, which are currently sparse and will be filled in next week.)
- Center Sprint (200 meters, -2.2%)
- Center Sprint Reverse (200 meters, 2.4%)
- The Peristyle Sprint (400 meters, 0.6%)
- The Peristyle Sprint Reverse (400 meters, 0.1%)
- Manhattan Sprint (250 meters, 1.3%)
- Manhattan Sprint Reverse (250 meters, 0.3%)
- The Hill KOM (500 meters, 3.7%)
- The Hill KOM Reverse (unknown)
- Brooklyn Bridge KOM (2km, 1.7%)
There are also new lap segments for “Prospect Park Lap” and “Times Square Circuit” which will probably award orange jerseys like other in-game lap segments.
This expansion includes a new feature called “Power Segments” which are time-based (5 seconds, 20 seconds, etc) instead of distance-based like current sprint and KOM segments throughout the game. The leaderboards, in turn, rank results based on power output, not finishing time. I don’t see any mention of Power Segments in Companion, but it seems sensible that we would eventually be able to browse our power KOMs on these segments.
When can we ride the new roads?
Some of the routes (The Greenway, Spinfinity, and Prospect Park Loop Run) added to Companion yesterday will be released on Monday, October 27, as they are the routes used in next week’s stage 4 of Zwift Unlocked.
Additional NYC routes will be featured for the final Unlocked stage the following week: Stay Puft Pursuit, The Double Borough, and Times Square Circuit Run.
It’s unclear when the other routes on the list will be available for free rides, club events, Meetups, etc. I’m guessing some or all of them will be available for free riding beginning this Monday, but we won’t know for sure until then.
Your Thoughts
This is the first time Zwift has “teased” an expansion via the Companion app. Are you looking forward to new roads next week? Share your thoughts below…