This weekend is headlined by a memorial ride – the sort of event we never want to see, but nevertheless must be held. RIP Finlay Tarling.
That event is followed by the kickoff of SISU’s popular stage race series, and we finish up with three popular weekly community rides of varying difficulty.
🤝 WCC Ride for Fin
✅ Good Cause ✅ Popular
On August 14, the cycling world lost Finlay Tarling in a tragic accident during Stage 8 of the Volta a Portugal. This Sunday, we come together to remember Fin, celebrate his life, and honor his memory by doing what he loved most — riding our bikes together.
Led by the Wobble Cycling Club, this is a 60-minute open-paced ride on Watopia’s Tair Dringfa Fechan route.
Participants are invited to donate to the fundraiser at gofund.me/526400d3f. “This fund can hopefully serve as part of a legacy project providing an opportunity to help future generations of young Welsh riders discover the freedom and confidence that a bike can give a child.”
Sunday, August 23 starting @ 3:45pm UTC/11:45am ET/8:45am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5676711
🥇SISU Punainen – Stage 1 (iTT)
✅ Popular ✅ Stage Race
This weekend SISU’s Vuelta-Inspired “Punainen” race series kicks off with an individual time trial on Watopia’s Hilly Route (9.3km, 109m) – the very first route ever created in Watopia! Bring your fastest TT rig and be ready to go all-in. These are by far the most popular races this weekend, so if you’re looking to compete with lots of riders, look no further.
Learn more about the SISU Punainen series >
Multiple time slots Saturday and Sunday
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/sisu
🤝 The BMTR Fundo
✅ Popular Ride ✅ Legacy Leaders ✅ Endurance Challenge ✅ Kit Unlock
A regularly featured event here on Zwift Insider, the BMTR Fundo consistently draws lots of joiners because it’s well led and run week after week, year after year.
This week’s ride is on the London Calling route (31.2km, 207m) and you have four distance groups to choose from, all the way up to 100 miles!
Saturday, August 22 @ 12:10pm UTC/8:10am ET/5:10am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5675864
🤝 Vikings Valhalla Sunday Skaal Ride
✅ Endurance Challenge ✅ Legacy Leaders
It’s been a while since we’ve featured this event, but it’s always well-attended and well-led at a pace that helps everyone stay together. Experienced leaders and sweepers do their best to keep the groups together so everyone can work together to knock out a long ride!
This week’s ride is offered at a D pace of 1.6-2.0 W/kg, and is on Greater London Flat for 8 laps. That’s a total length of 99.1km and 468 meters of climbing.
Sunday, August 23 @ 7:05am UTC/3:05am ET/12:05am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5676548
🤝 Phoenix Rising Tronathon (Banded)
✅ Climbing ✅ Beginner Friendly ✅ Banded
If you want to take on Alpe du Zwift but find it a bit intimidating, join the Phoenix Rising crew on this banded ride. They’re taking on the Road to Sky route, which features the Alpe. Even if that is a bit too much for you to handle, the beauty of banded rides is that as long as you keep pedaling, you’ll stay with the group and keep making progress!
Sunday, August 23 @ 1:15pm UTC/9:15am ET/6:15am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5676666
How We Make Our Picks
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
- Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
- Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
- Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
- Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
- Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
- Is it for a good cause?
- Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
- Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!
