All About the New Roval Terra Aero CLX Gravel Wheels in Zwift
This week’s game update includes a fresh set of gravel wheels from Roval: the Terra Aero CLX. While these wheels have been tested covertly by pros for several months, it’s only in the last couple of weeks that we’ve seen them announced publicly.
These wheels are interesting IRL for a few reasons, including their unique “Chopped Aero Speed” design and the front wheel being slightly deeper (50mm) than the rear (45mm). These are the aero gravel wheels in Roval’s lineup, while the Terra CLX III is their lightweight gravel offering.
Here’s how these wheels are described in the Drop Shop: “The fastest gravel race wheels are flat – you read that correctly. Flat. Our novel truncated airfoil may look odd & flat but with up to 5.84 watts faster than Terra CLX II, with aero gains that matter from mile one to mile two hundred.”
The wheels are now available in the Drop Shop, accessible at level 38 and above, for 650,000 Drops. Notably, they are rated 3 stars for aero and 3 for weight, the only gravel wheelset in game with such a high rating apart from the new Zipp 303. This should indicate that they’ll perform well compared to other gravel wheels in Zwift, but since Zwift’s 4-star rating system isn’t precise enough for our taste, we ran these wheels through our standard battery of tests to determine exactly how they perform in Zwift and stack up against other gravel wheelsets.
Let’s dive in and learn all about the in-game performance of the newest gravel wheelset from Roval!
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
Roval’s Terra Aero CLX is neck-and-neck even with the new Zipp 303 XPLR SW, turning in a one-hour flat test time 1/10th of a second faster in our tests.
That means these two wheelsets are both the fastest on Zwift dirt, outpacing all other gravel wheels by approximately 13 seconds across an hour of riding.
Climb Performance
The Terra Aero CLX edges out the new Zipp wheels in our climb test, which aligns with the fact that these hoops from Roval are slightly lighter than Zipp’s IRL.
Roval’s Terra Aero CLX beats the Zipp 303 XPLR SW by 3.8 seconds across an hour of climbing, and beats the older gravel wheels by an additional 1-2 seconds on top of that.
Note: all test results above are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using the Zwift Gravel frame.
Jungle (Dirt) Performance
The aero performance and slight climbing advantage shown in our pavement tests translate into improved performance for the Roval Terra Aero CLX in our Jungle Circuit test. These wheels edge out the Zipp 303 XPLR SW by just 0.6 across an hour of dirt riding, while edging out all the older gravel wheels by 15+ seconds.
Conclusions
The Roval Terra Aero CLX is Zwift’s new top gravel wheelset, so if you’re racing in the dirt, you’ll want to pick up a set.
That said, I do want to lodge one complaint: it looks like Zwift’s art team created these wheels by just copying the Roval Terra CLX already in game, and giving them a different wordmark and spoke count on the front wheel. The problem is, these new wheels have a deeper rim depth, and that unique “chopped aero” design. Neither of these distinctives show in game, which makes these wheels look pretty boring.
But at least they’re fast.
My guess is the artwork will be updated in a future release.
These wheels have been, or will soon be, added to the following posts:
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
Zwift Changes Gravel Race Routes One Day Into Series Due to Bugs
Yesterday, Zwift made the unprecedented decision to pull Gravel Mountain’s new Red Rock Loop as the week’s featured Pas Racing series route, swapping it out for Watopia’s Jungle Circuit.
They’ve also changed the plan for stage 4 of the series, swapping out Red Rock Loop Reverse for Watopia’s Serpentine 8.
It’s a surprising move from Zwift, who have been teasing this week’s Gravel Mountain launch for weeks. But was it the right move?
The Bugs
On Monday morning, April 6, I walked upstairs to my office and fired up the ol’ YouTubes so I could watch the very first Gravel Mountain races and see what riders thought. I was excited about the launch – I had already seen the new route, having “pre-ridden” it using my bot on a pre-release build of the game so I could create a Strava segment for the new route.
Here’s my bot riding the course at 4 w/kg:
Watching the bot on the route, I had a few thoughts:
The map is gorgeous. The rocks and scenery are epic and beautiful.
The road is still too wide – and this is something I said about Gravel Mountain years ago. One of the cool things about gravel riding is that feel of going fast on narrow roads. Portions of Gravel Mountain feel much too wide, and this makes the road feel more boring and less speedy.
It felt fast, because Zwift was pulling some sort of trickery to make the course move past more quickly than normal, while keeping your actual speed realistic. It didn’t feel overly fast to me – but I also wasn’t experiencing the increased speed of racing in a pack.
Overall, my takeaway after bot-riding the route was that racers would enjoy the experience, and that it might bring something new to the world of Zwift – the fast-paced gravel crit.
So I was genuinely surprised at what I saw in the livestreams of the first gravel races. Here are the two streams I was watching, from Bike Bonk Biff and Road to A:
The first comments of these two streamers are pretty telling:
“Woah! That was a fast start! What? What was that? What the hell is this? That’s surely a bug, right? Or…?” (~Road to A)
“Oh! OK. This is actually… why is it so fast? What? What is happening right now?” (~Bike Bonk Biff)
Watch the streams, and you’ll quickly see what I saw:
Too fast: Speeds were much higher in the pack than on my solo ride (for example, Road to A’s speed was 10 kph higher at the end of the initial s-curves than my bot).
The bouncing: While the rider’s own avatar didn’t seem to bounce on screen, other riders’ avatars intermittently were, and the effect was not good. Not good at all.
Erratic movements: Riders were shifting back and forth left to right too quickly, and sometimes flying up through the middle of the pack unrealistically fast.
Riding through rocks: riders were moving through rocks and bushes on the edge of the road in places.
No rider placings: The game stopped showing what place the rider was in (on the right-hand rider list) near the start of the first lap.
Negative feedback: Feedback via in-game messaging was instantly negative. I’m sure Zwift has all those messages stored on a server somewhere, and if they were to make a wordcloud out of them all, the biggest phrase would probably be “wtf”.
To top it all off, riders reported not getting credit for finishing the stage, including the promised 1000 XP bonus.
Zwift Pulls the Plug
Just after 9am my time on Tuesday, April 7, 24 hours after the first Red Rock Loop events were held, Zwift’s event guru James Bailey posted this on the forum topic linked above:
Based on early feedback to the faster experience on Gravel Mountain, we’ve decided to make route changes for Stages 1 and 4. There will be a more detailed update coming shortly.
A few hours later, Zwift’s VP of Product Mark Cote wrote this:
Hey Zwifters,
As James mentioned, we’ve changed out the routes for PAS stages from Gravel Mtn as we address the issues some experienced. Crediting for Stage 1 completion is being handled as well and all should see credit for completion by EOD today.
W/r to Gravel Mountain: The ‘issues’ were especially notable for high powered, non-steering paired users on specific refresh rate devices…ultimately this led to a few people having a very bad experience with camera swaying and some on-screen jitters. The rest of us had the desired (sped up gravel) experience we were shooting for. We did test this on several occasions internally but missed testing in the high-speed, large packs that were apparent during the first events. Yep, obvious in hindsight, but here we are and we’ve adjusted the events.
Gravel Mtn WILL be back soon and tuned via additional testing. There’s something to the feeling of speed that we’re all quite excited about and we will dial this in. We definitely want to be trying new, fun things out but we missed the mark on the quality that we strive to deliver.
Thanks as always for the commentary and reporting here. It’s super appreciated and valued by our team.
Mark Cote
What About the GC?
At the time of this post, Zwift hasn’t determined how to handle the time-based GC for the Pas Normal Racing series. It wouldn’t make sense to mix finishing times for two different courses, but it’s also not ideal to force riders to race again on the Jungle Circuit the same week when they already raced Red Rock Loop.
My take: Zwift should just not count stage 1 in the overall GC of the series. That seems like it would be easy to implement on their end, and racers would understand having the stage neutralized due to a mid-week course swap.
I’ll update this post once Zwift determines how they’re handling the GC.
My Thoughts
First, I do think Zwift made the right call in pulling the plug on Red Rock Loop this week. The race experience was just too buggy.
It all seems so avoidable, though, right? Why wasn’t this caught in early tests?
Hindsight is 20/20, of course. But surely this could have all been avoided by Zwift testing the race course with a large enough pack of riders at realistic race pace. I’m sure Zwift’s QA department is taking notes in this regard.
I think most racers will agree when I say that I do hope they quickly fix the bugs, and launch a much-improved Gravel Mountain soon. I like the idea of a fast-paced gravel crit course, and I think Zwift can make it happen. I do, however, share the thoughts/concerns of Aoi Niigaki, who posted this on Zwift’s forum:
If Zwift is after a sped up experience then that can be achieved through good course design. One of the things I noticed with the Gravel Mountain stage is how incredibly wide the road was. Narrower roads, tighter corners, shorter straights would all improve the perception of speed without the need to artificially boost it.
It’s a dangerous road you are going down Zwift (which started with the accelerated subway exits in New York). If people get used to double speed races then riding at normal speeds will start to seem slow and boring. Power creep is a thing in games and needs to be carefully managed less you stuff it up completely.
I’m not convinced Zwift needs to speed up the visuals in order for gravel racing to be fun. And I definitely know that narrow roads with more turns/shorter straights can make a course feel fast and engaging without leading to “power creep”. I’d like to see Zwift explore this, particularly for virtual gravel and MTB racing.
That said, I’m not completely against Zwift’s idea of artificially boosting the perceived speed (let’s call it “visual speed”) of a route for a particular gamified race mode. This kind of experimentation is important, and I like that Zwift is willing to give it a try. It definitely needs to be dialed back though, particularly in the faster race categories.
Your Thoughts
Did you race Red Rock Loop? How did it go? And do you think Zwift made the right call in pulling it? Share your thoughts below…
There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerup usage, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s go!
Looking at the Route
Each lap of The Classic is 4.7 km (2.9 miles) long, and there’s also a 4.1 km (2.5 miles) lead-in to the first lap. A/B teams will race 6 laps (33.2km, 306 m), while C/D will race 4 23.5 km, 210m).
The route is a simple counterclockwise loop of Watopia’s Jarvis Island. The circuit includes a short sprint plus a draggy KOM which will prove decisive:
The race will begin with a ~4 km lead-in from Watopia’s downtown start pens, taking riders around the upper half of the Volcano Circuit and onto the Jarvis loop.
I wouldn’t expect any big moves here, as riders will be keeping their powder dry for the points segments up the road.
A note about powerups: as explained below, WTRL tells me riders will receive Aero Boosts at the Jarvis KOM arch, Feathers at the Jarvis Sprint arch, and Draft Boosts at any other arches. That means you’ll receive a draft boost at the downtown Watopia lap banner just after starting, and at the Jarvis lap banner each lap. These leads to some interesting strategic choices, which I discuss more below in the Powerups section.
The first points segment we’ll encounter is the Jarvis KOM. This climb is 1.8 km long, averaging 1.8%, but keep in mind that average gradient number is affected by a bit of downhill that begins 1 km into the climb:
It’s better to think of this KOM as two short climbs (the first 1 km long at 2.7% and the second 400 meters long at 2.5%) separated by 500 meters of descent/flat. This is a very draftable climb, especially at race speeds, so take advantage of the draft (and maybe your Draft Boost powerup) to conserve effort.
A quick 1.2 km descent from the KOM’s crest brings will bring us to the start of the circuit’s sprint segment, the Jarvis Sprint:
This is a flat (-0.1%), 200-meter sprint, and we’ll be hitting it with a big head of steam. This one will be fast and short, so consider yourself warned: you’ll probably need to start the sprint positioned near the front of the pack if you want to finish near the front.
The Jarvis lap arch comes less than 900 meters after the Jarvis Sprint arch, and you’ll get a Draft Boost powerup here if you aren’t currently holding onto a powerup.
That’s one lap. A/B riders will complete 6 laps, C/D will complete 4.
One final note on the finish: since the Jarvis lap arch finish line is less than 900 meters after the final Jarvis Sprint arch, you can expect the effort to continue after the final sprint segment. It’s going to be a fast, hard finish!
WTRL tells me riders will receive Aero Boosts at the Jarvis KOM arch, Feathers at the Jarvis Sprint arch, and Draft Boosts at all other arches. That means you’ll receive a draft boost at the downtown Watopia lap banner within seconds of beginning the race. After that, you’ll receive these powerups on each Jarvis lap:
Draft Boost at the lap arch
Aero Boost at the Jarvis KOM arch
Feather at the Jarvis Sprint arch
Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing for 40 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) This could be employed on the downhill/flat bit of the KOM, or any other fast part of the course.
Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents). Everyone will be using this on the Jarvis Sprint points segment, so you probably don’t stand a chance of a good result without it! Trigger it a few seconds before the sprint begins, as it will probably take you less than 15 seconds to cover the actual sprint segment.
Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on climbs, when weight matters the most.The feather is best used on the Jarvis KOM – particularly the second stage of the climb, when riders will be on the limit.
Riders will need to decide if they use the feather just after receiving it at the sprint arch (in order to get the Draft Boost powerup at the lap arch), or hold onto it for the climb. Since using the feather just after the sprint is almost the same as throwing it away, the question boils down to: would you rather have the Draft Boost on the KOM, or the feather?
Bike Recommendations
You’ll want an all-arounder setup for this race, as the points are effectively “gated” by your performance on the Jarvis KOM. So pick your preferred all-arounder frame from the four top performers:
For wheels, I’d recommend two different top performers. Choose your advantage:
DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 65: these are the more aero wheels, beating the Wake 6560 by 3.9 seconds across an hour of flat riding. These are optimized for the Jarvis Sprint.
Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560: these are the better climbers, beating the DICUT 65 by 9.6 seconds across an hour of climbing. These are optimized for the Jarvis KOM.
Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.
Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. Here are the recons I’ve found (comment if you find another!)
J Dirom
Strategic Options
Points Distributions, The Classic
6 Laps
4 Laps
These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.
How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:
Honey, I Shrunk the Peloton: Some teams will choose to attack the KOM again and again, and this will cause the elastic to stretch and eventually snap for some riders.
First Lap FTS: Fastest Through Segment top 5 times will probably all be set on the first lap. Why? Because the pack draft will be largest then, and everyone will push hard on the initial lap’s segments. Riders will simply be too tired to better their times on subsequent laps from a smaller group.
Save the Sprinters: Teams with strong sprinters may try to keep the KOM as slow as possible to increase their sprinters’ chance of surviving the climb and grabbing points on the sprint.
A Long, Hard Finish: The final KOM will feature big attacks by riders with punchy w/kg. Then you may get a moment to rest on the short descent that follows… but that final flat ~1km through the sprint segment to the finish line is going to be mayhem.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
All About the New Cervelo Aspero 5 Gravel Frame on Zwift
Zwift’s latest update includes a new gravel frame from Cervelo, the Aspero 5. Released last summer IRL, this is an unapologetically aero gravel bike which Cervelo claims is “37 Watts faster than its predecessor, and 34 Watts faster than the nearest competitor.”
On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.111+ to see this bike in the Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 35+ with 1,250,000 Drops to buy it (the most expensive gravel bike on Zwift). Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:
“Faster than the rest. The Aspero-5 blends aero shaping with razor-clean handling, making high-tempo gravel feel smooth and controlled. It accelerates with intent and tracks like it’s on rails, the kind of bike that dares you to push a bigger gear.”
It’s rated 3 stars for aero and 3 stars for weight – the only gravel bike on Zwift with such a high aero rating! We expected it to perform well at high speeds, but since Zwift’s 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!
Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock gravel wheelset on the un-upgraded version of the frame.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
The Cervelo Aspero 5 certainly lives up to its billing as “the most aerodynamic gravel bike ever created.” It beats every other gravel bike in Zwift (including the other 4 fast frames added in March/April 2026), edging out the previous leader, the Cannondale SuperX LAB71, by 1.2 seconds across an hour of flat riding.
It also beats the old Cervelo Aspero, which used to be the fastest gravel bike on Zwift, by 4 seconds.
For comparison, the stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 145.4 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of flat tarmac, while the (former) fastest gravel bike, the Cannondale SuperX LAB71, loses 112.4 seconds. The Aspero 5 only loses 111.2 seconds.
Climb Performance
Right now, Cervelo’s Aspero 5 isn’t a very strong climber on Zwift. But be sure to read about the * below for more info on how these results will be changing!
Currently, the Aspero 5 turns in essentially the same climb test time as the old Aspero. That means it loses 20.7 seconds across an hour of riding to the top climber, Cannondale’s SuperX LAB71.
The stock Zwift Gravel frame loses 161.8 seconds to our baseline Zwift Carbon frame across an hour of Alpe du Zwift climbing, while the new Aspero 5 loses 139.4 seconds, and the Cannondale SuperX LAB71 loses 118.7 seconds.
Jungle Performance
Of course, nobody really cares about how well a gravel frame performs on pavement, which is where we do our aero and climb testing (above). While those flat and climb tests help us tease out a frame’s aerodynamic capabilities and weight, when it comes to gravel bikes, people really want to know how fast they are on Zwift’s virtual dirt!
In that regard, the Cervelo Aspero 5 turns in the strongest performance of any gravel frame on Zwift, edging out the closest competition by around half a second* across an hour of Jungle Circuit riding.
About the * (Pending Weight Loss)
You’ll see we marked the test results above with an asterisk. Here’s why: Zwift tells us they will be reducing the weight of the Aspero 5 just a bit in the next release (version 1.112, scheduled for April 21).
So while the Aspero 5 is already a strong performer, it will be even faster after the next game update! The change won’t make the Aspero 5 the strongest climber in the Drop Shop, but will help it perform a bit better in the hills, while giving it a bigger edge in aero performance.
We’ll publish an updated version of this post once we’ve tested the updated frame.
Upgrading Your Cervelo Aspero 5
Like all frames in Zwift, Cervelo’s Aspero 5 can be upgraded in five stages. It’s currently set up as a mid-tier distance bike in terms of upgrade stages, but this is a misconfiguration on Zwift’s end which will be modified in the next game release, along with the bike’s weight. For now, though, the bike’s upgrade stages are as follows:
Ride 160km, pay 50,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for a weight reduction
Ride 240km, pay 150,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
Ride 280km, pay 200,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
Ride 320km, pay 250,000 Drops for a 5% Dropsboost
Any upgrade stages you reach and purchase will remain even after Zwift updates this bike’s upgrade scheme, so you’ve got two weeks to upgrade it as quickly as you can!
You can expect a fully-upgraded Aspero 5 to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hour-long climb vs a “stock” (un-upgraded) Aspero 5.
Conclusions
When it comes to fast dirt on Zwift (think flat roads or even the Jungle Circuit), Cervelo’s Aspero 5 beats every gravel bike in Zwift, just edging out the other fast frames added in March/April 2026. And while it’s not the best frame for pure climbing, it’s going to get a bit lighter in two weeks, making it the best choice for most gravel races, if you’re looking purely at performance.
My opinion: it’s fast, but it’s also a pity the bike doesn’t have a cooler colorway in Zwift. While Cervelo has never been known for particularly eye-catching paint jobs, something a bit more blingy would have been welcome. Maybe someday Zwift will let us buy a cool Aspero 5 paint job in the Drop Shop.
We’ll be adding this bike to the following posts soon:
What do you think of Cervelo’s new Aspero 5 in Zwift? Share below…
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
Zwift version 1.111 begins its phased rollout today. It includes new gravel bikes and wheels, and several event-only routes are now available for free riding. See details below…
New Gravel Frames+Wheels
Just in time for the Pas Racing Series that began yesterday, Zwift has released the rest of their promised gravel frames and wheels. We’ve got three new frames:
Cervelo Aspero 5: level 35+, 1,250,000 Drops, 3 stars aero, 3 stars weight (the first 3-star aero gravel frame on Zwift!)
There’s a new gravel wheelset as well: the Roval Terra Aero CLX. These wheels are available at level 38+ for 650,000 Drops, and are rated 3 stars for aero and 3 stars for weight.
Watch this space for speed test results for each of these new items, as well as our first-ever Gravel Charts page comparing the speeds of all the gravel frames and wheels!
Newly Opened Routes
Six newish routes that were previously event-only are now available for free rides and meetups. If you haven’t earned these route badges yet, they’re easier to access now:
Zwift says, “Zwifters who use heart rate monitors (HRMs) will be prompted to provide one-time consent to share heart rate data with Zwift the next time they connect the HRM device. The HRM will not auto-pair until consent has been given. If consent is not provided, the HRM device will not be paired. There is no change to how Zwift uses heart rate data. Consent can be withdrawn at any time in Settings > Permissions.”
Retired Bikes
While not announced in the release notes, this update removes the following old frames from the Drop Shop:
Canyon 2019 Grail
Pinarello 2015 Dogma 8
Pinarello 2020 Dogma F12
Cervelo Aspero
If you own any of these frames, they will remain in your garage. But you won’t be able to purchase these frames once you upgrade to Zwift version 1.111.
Release Notes
Zwift supplied the following additional release notes:
Android: Fixed an issue where title music was not playing on Android, turn up the volume before you turn up the watts!
For decades, Matt Sant refined what he called his “read, research, execute” methodology through gaming. Once he chose a goal, he went into sponge mode, absorbing everything he could find – manuals, writeups, forum threads, videos, commentaries – until he understood his adversary completely. Then he’d execute with surgical precision until the job was done.
“My criteria for a worthwhile goal were simple: it had to be hard, with a high failure rate. It had to be obscure, with little external reward. Finally, it had to provoke that ‘Why on earth would someone do that?’ reaction when people heard about it.”
Eventually he realised this pattern wasn’t limited to gaming. The same approach worked for almost anything: A copper-pipe, water-cooled computer build; building an arcade machine; power-carving a wooden chaise lounge; smelting, forging, and knifemaking.
One day, when he was looking in the mirror, he didn’t like what he saw, and he realized he needed to do something. So, instead of applying his methodology to external objects, he decided to focus it on himself. It was time to make a real change.
So Long, Potato Chips
Matt’s approach to gaming was always the min/max powergamer approach, and so he took the same scalpel to his diet; he completely cut out the bad stuff, researched what was good, and focused on calories in/calories out. He began applying his methodology to his diet, obsessively tracking calories and uncovering some glaring issues that needed fixing.
“I think the biggest issue was that I wasn’t paying attention or tracking what I ate at all. If I felt hungry, or bored, then I ate. The biggest being potato chips and full sugar soft drinks, both of which I’d frequently eat late into the night as my family slept and I stayed up gaming.”
Jogging In the Dark
He added a few 6 am strength classes at the gym each week and soon started walking the 2 km there and back. “It feels almost unbelievable now that in early 2024 walking alone left me sore the next day.”
Those 6 am classes meant walking to the gym at 5:30 am in the dark, when nobody was watching. That gave him the courage to try jogging. At first, he could barely manage 100 meters before his lungs burned, and he had to stop. “But I kept at it. I still remember proudly telling my wife one morning, “I ran the whole way WITHOUT stopping!””
He took his newly discovered ability to run 2 km WITHOUT stopping and… well… ran with it. “Over the next few months, I built up to my first 5km, then my first 10km.”
Fractured, but Not Fallen
By June 2024, he was eyeing a half-marathon. “One Sunday I went out and ran 22km.”
Elated, he kept running through the week and repeated the half-marathon every Sunday for the next month.
“I was all in, loving it, until a stress fracture in my right leg brought everything to a sudden, world-shattering halt.”
“It was a classic “zero to hero” injury.” It started as some pain in his right ankle. He remembers on a weekly 5 km jog around the neighbourhood having to stop and limp home. Matt would rest for a few days and think it’d be okay, only for it to hurt when he started running. “Annoyingly, I went to several physio appointments, they checked a number of things and gave me exercises, but nothing seemed to make a difference.”
Finally out of frustration he went to the doctor and asked for an x-ray, “Just to make sure that nothing mechanically looks wrong.” That’s when he got the result back – that he’d been trying to run on a stress fracture.
Discovering Zwift and a Passion for Endurance
The stress fracture was incredibly frustrating and depressing. Just as Matt connected with this ability to push himself, getting fitter and knocking over increasingly longer distances, it was gone.
Luckily, Matt met coworker Myles Bagley, who became a mentor who spoke his language – data. He didn’t just give Matt “hope” in a vague sense; Myles gave him a system. He introduced Matt to Zwift, which allowed him to gamify his fitness. “It changed my life.”
He was tentative at first – he hadn’t owned a bike since he was a kid and didn’t know the first thing about cycling. “I needed something to fill the gap though, so took the plunge and bought both a bike and a virtual trainer.”
At first, even 30-minute rides exhausted him. “I remember something Myles said that stuck with me: consistency matters. I pushed myself and kept at it every day, and consistency did what consistency does. I found that as months progressed, I was able to push out the ride duration and frequency – hitting a 120-day cycling streak going into 2025.”
Building Toward Something: Riding 500k in a Single Day
A friend told him about a challenge event called the Rapha Festive 500 that happens during the last week of the year. The goal? Ride a total of 500 km over that period.
He did some quick calculations and realized that he would have to ride 60-70 km per day, which he felt was way beyond his ability. “Instead, I set myself the goal of doing my first 100km ride – it was tough and I was sore afterward, but I managed to do it.”
In the weeks after that, as he maintained the consistency, he started to formulate an ambitious training goal: “At the end of 2025 I would not only participate in the Rapha Festive 500, but I would do the 500km in a single ride.”
Come December 2025, Matt did indeed achieve his goal, riding 500 km in a single day. Given where he had come from, this was an incredible achievement for him in so many ways.
(You can read Matt’s journal of the ride at the end of this article. It really is quite amazing!)
Reflection: “It’s all in your head.”
“Reflecting back, a persistent companion on this journey has been this ‘spectre of doubt.’ I was always pushing myself to prove “them” wrong, in my head it was all the people out there that didn’t believe in me. That didn’t believe I could do it.”
Matt remembers his wife one day telling him, “You do know they’re not out there, right? That they’re all in your head?”
“That was a sobering moment! I guess in retrospect I did always know that. I think where I once needed the feeling of proving ‘those people’ wrong to motivate me, to keep me going, I’ve since found the discipline to keep pushing regardless.”
3:15AM – My alarm sounds and I jump out of bed. It’s 3:15AM on the 26th December, 2025 – Boxing Day. The air feels special – as if the festive period has cast a spell and the world now slumbers deeply; it feels extra quiet, still. I’m not up by chance – I’ve spent 600 hours this year training for today, and now it’s finally here. I’m about to spend the next 16 hours riding over 500km on a bike in my garage.
6:00AM – 60KM – By 4am I was away, and the first few hours have been a mental struggle. I can’t stop my brain from reminding me “Hey you know you’re going to be here a LONG LONG time right?”. Thanks brain, yeah I actually do know.
The hundreds of hours training I’ve put into the last year remind me that this is always what my head does, regardless of it being a 2-hour ride or a 12-hour ride. I push on.
8:00AM – 120KM – The mental noise quietens as it always does and I start to feel settled in, enjoying the grind. I’m in a pacer group riding at 1.8w/kg (31km/h, 120w) which is a comfortable ‘all day’ pace. I’m starting to see the familiar names of friends in the ‘virtual pack’ which helps. I’m allowing myself only one 3-minute break per hour to hop off, stretch my legs, and refill my water. Things are working well.
Suzie and the girls are awake and have come down to say hello and chat which is a great mood booster. They bring me a coffee and a banana smoothie which is a great change to the gels and carb/water drink.
10:00AM – 180KM – I’d originally planned to do this ride on the 28th December, but brought it forward because the 26th was going to be a much nicer temperature (20°C versus 28°C). Right now the temperature in the garage is 16°C and with a powerful fan on I’m feeling cold, if anything. A good problem to have!
Mentally I’m in an ideal flow state – present but not present –just existing, feeling, but losing myself and losing time which is what you want on a day like today. I’ve planned for an actual lunch break since this ride will be so long, something I don’t usually do.
I want to hit 250KM before lunch. The biggest psychological challenges will come later in the day, and breaking the back of the ride will be a meaningful mental milestone.
12:10PM – 260KM – Lunch! I stop for the first and only proper break I’ll have on the ride today. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to optimize the break today. I’ve moved a hammock from the upstairs balcony to the garage next to the bike, right in collapsing distance!
I have a quick shower which feels great, and change into fresh riding gear which also feels amazing. I get stuck into some solid fast food – a double quarter pounder meal, 2 Large Fries, 10 Nuggets, and an Iced Matcha. I get it all down and chill out in the hammock.
After an hour’s break I’m underway again. The break and the shower have been the only real change in usual routine so I’m a little anxious about how my body is going to cope with the extended break. So far so good.
3:10PM – 320KM – Some time around here I hit the peak mental challenge of the day. I’m somewhere in the 300’s kilometre-wise and just not feeling it. I consider what it might mean to not hit my goal, how I might feel, if one day I’d come back and try it again.
I always knew this would be a long shot and that at some point I might face this moment.
What to do? Suddenly, miraculously, some kind of switch flips in my head; a bolt oflightning, a eureka moment. A surge of adrenaline comes from somewhere deep downand suddenly I’m grinning from ear to ear. I have no idea what just happened, but I’mnow absolutely certain that nothing is going to stop me achieving my goal today.
6:10PM – 410KM – I’ve sailed past my previous longest distance of 366km and am feeling amazing. There’s so much positivity and good vibes coming from the people I’m virtually riding with, strangers are keeping track of how far I am and calling out different milestones as I hit them with notes of encouragement.
8:50PM – 500KM – Mission Accomplished! Suzie and the girls are by my side for the final couple of kilometres and cheer me on. I’m overwhelmed and incredibly happy to have achieved one of the most ambitious goals of my life.
Compared to some of the 300km training rides I did throughout the year this is night and day, I feel like I could keep going. As I’ve been celebrating and cooling down, continuing to pedal, I’ve clicked over to 501km. Suzie informs me “Well now it’s an odd number, you can’t stop on an odd number!” I grin, and sprint one more kilometer, ending the day at 502km after 15 hours and 50 minutes of riding.
What do four days of epic rides at Zwift Community Live in Mallorca look like? In this week’s top video, tag along with one Zwifter as she conquers the roads of Mallorca during ZCL 2026.
I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen this year, so you can imagine how honoured (and slightly surprised!) I was to be invited back to Zwift Community Live 2026. One minute it was all uncertain, and the next… boom! Flights booked, bags (over)packed, and that familiar last-minute panic of “how many kits is too many kits?”
Mallorca, here we go.
From the moment I landed and hopped on the shuttle, it already felt like the start of something special. Within minutes, I was spotting familiar faces, community leaders from last year and the excitement started building fast. By the time we reached the hotel, it was in full-on reunion mode. Zwift staff, ambassadors and leaders greeting you with big hugs like no time had passed… which is impressive, considering most of us usually only see each other as tiny avatars riding somewhere in hilly Scotland.
This year’s energy? Definitely turned up a BIG notch. Because everyone kind of knew each other already, there was less “awkward small talk” and more “where have you been hiding?” The groups mixed easily, the laughs came quicker, and it just felt… effortless. Plus, meeting new community leaders meant even more great people to add to the ever-growing Zwift family.
The daily routine was simple and brilliant: eat, ride, repeat (with a bit of coffee in between, obviously). Each day kicked off with breakfast before heading out on one of four rides: Uber Pretzel, Mega Pretzel, Pretzel, or Mini Pretzel. Yes, just like Zwift but with actual sunshine, real hills, and no “connection drop” excuses. Some of us did miss the feather powerup! Each ride had a leader and a sweeper too, so no one could mysteriously “disappear”… nice try.
Day two brought something really special: women-only rides. This was such a highlight! A group of incredible women, riding together in the sunshine, sharing laughs, supporting each other, and just enjoying being out on two wheels. Same four route options, same good vibes, just even more empowering.
By day three, we were all seasoned pros… or at least pretending to be. The legs may have been questioning our life choices, but the smiles said otherwise.
After each ride, we swapped helmets for conversations: community leader meetings covering racing, community growth, and what’s coming next for Zwift. But the real magic? Getting to know the people behind the avatars. Turns out, everyone is just as fun in real life, just with better snacks and louder laughs.
One of the standout moments was the very first Scotty’s Awards, a brilliant way to celebrate the community:
R3R – Most Engaged Club
Shark Worx – Fastest Growing Club
The HERD – Largest Community Club
Huge congratulations to all, and proof that the Zwift community isn’t just active, it’s thriving.
And as if that wasn’t enough, we also got the fantastic news that Zwift’s title sponsorship of the Tour de France Femmes has been extended for another four years. Massive win for women’s cycling and incredibly exciting for the future of the sport.
Honestly, this might have been my favourite Zwift Community Live yet. So many good moments, catching up with old friends, meeting new faces, lots of laughs, and just sharing that love of cycling together, all under the Mallorcan sun. Hard to beat that. (Maybe with slightly fresher legs… but let’s not get carried away 😄)
And a BIG THANKS to the Zwift team for making it all feel so special for everyone.
Here are some thoughts from other community leaders who survived sorry, enjoyed the trip:
Georgina Alsop – Cycle Nation
My favourite part of ZCL was meeting and making connections with so many other club leaders. I’ve already tapped into their expertise in racing, and our time together will allow us to pool our knowledge to make community-led events on Zwift the best they can be.
Sonja Weber – FemmeCycleCollab
It was my first time at ZCL, and I loved every minute of it. What stood out most to me was the number of women attending and the energy around growing women’s cycling on Zwift. Being able to exchange ideas with community leaders and Zwift staff about empowering more women to race felt really meaningful. And yes… the Scotty hugs were definitely a highlight too!
Gail Kocher – Revolution Velo Racing
ZCL 2026 was amazing! I had to keep pinching myself to remind myself it was real! Being able to spend time and cycle in such a beautiful place with like-minded people, a.k.a. the Zwift Community, meeting friends for the first time and making new friends was simply wonderful! Bonus I got to meet a couple REVO teammates while I was on the island also! Thank you Zwift!!
Cissi Catalan – Bikealicious
My view of ZCL 2026: miles & smiles.
So many hugs. This wasn’t just a cycling event, it was real connection, real inclusion, and a community that truly lives its values.
The spirit of fun, friendliness, and belonging was everywhere.
I didn’t feel limited. I felt free. I’m bike-able
Marius Midtskogen – The Herd
Zwift Community Live 2026 in Mallorca was an incredible experience – three days of riding, connecting, and sharing the passion for cycling with people from all over the world. The mix of epic routes, great conversations, and that the unique Zwift community spirit made it something truly special. I came home tired, inspired, and even more motivated to keep riding and building the community.
Søren Andersen – Danish Bike Riders
Zwift Community Live 2026 was once again an absolutely fantastic experience. Four days of camaraderie and old and new friendships. Meaningful encounters, amazing routes, and wonderful rides. Words can’t really explain how good it was.
Stephan Maertens – Team Vegan
ZCL 2026 was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. 5 days “Meeting Up” in real life with people from Watopia you have known by name for years but have never met, and who also share the same passion, was like living in a dream. Also, meeting the ZHQ team crew was so great. And all this on the beautiful island of Mallorca. Thank you Zwift, you changed my life 10 years ago, and the ZCL 2026 was superb!!
Gareth Hay – Club Ladder
It was a pleasure to hear from so many in the community about the joy Ladder racing has brought. It’s easy to forget while fixing the problems and issues that there are so many other riders who genuinely love the races.
It was great riding with all corners of the community and making friendships, putting faces to some of the huge names in the space. Still star-struck at meeting THE Scotty!
John Ayton – Galaxy Cycling Club
My highlights were being able to speak with HQ leaders and club representatives from the vast spectrum of our community.
Every club leader shared their thoughts, opinions, and Zwift experiences, whether they were a fledgling club or one of the founding ones.
Every voice counts. Our Community. Together. 👍
Marjolein De Vliegher – Herd Racing
Zwift Community Live was, once again, a truly amazing experience. Mallorca is such a great place to ride, but riding with all these wonderful people is making it even better. The ability to meet all the great people in the Zwift Community, each one of them having their unique reasons to ride on Zwift, is making this event so inspiring and motivating.
Kristin “KristyLou” Reinke – Phoenix Rising
Receiving an invite to this year’s Zwift Community Live filled me with both excitement at being able to meet the people behind their avatars, and anxiety wondering if I would finally be outed as some type of fraud. Curiosity won out over shyness and socially awkward tendencies thankfully, as I would have otherwise missed out on one of the best adventures I could ever have imagined. I found ZCL to be a gathering of some of the nicest, most supportive people ever, all excited to share their love of riding and Zwift with others.
Prior to ZCL, I’d found meeting Zwifters I’d ridden with to be an enjoyable experience and marveled that they were as cool as their online personas. Now I realize that these weren’t just flukes, Zwifters simply are some of the best people one could hope to meet.
Niccolò Martinoli – Team Italy
Zwift Community Live has been an absolute blast. As they say, “It’s easy to win one championship, but staying on top is the real challenge.”
The entire Zwift Team did an amazing job in crafting, delivering, and making ZCL 2026 an unforgettable experience.
My biggest takeaway is the sense of community: it truly feels like a family, where everyone is friendly, supportive, and always willing to help others make their experience the best it can be. And that’s something truly priceless.
Time to celebrate — mamma, butta la pasta! 🇮🇹
Rich Lovelock – Squadra Castelli
What an incredible experience for my first time at Zwift Community Live in Mallorca. It was wonderful to finally put faces to names and to learn how other community leaders organise and motivate their groups. The Zwift HQ team did an outstanding job making everyone feel welcome and ensuring the event ran seamlessly. The riding in Mallorca was as spectacular as ever, but the real highlight was forming new connections and memories with this inspiring Zwift community 🫶🏽
This weekend’s picks highlight (among other things) Watopia’s Southern Coast Cruise route, which is hosting a Big Spin prize spinner. We’re also featuring Zwift Games because it wraps up this weekend, along with other popular community events.
🤝 Riding With The Oldies Saturday Special
✅ Popular ✅ Prizes ✅ MX Rider
I’ve never featured this event before, but it’s got lots of signups and a rather unique proposition. This is a banded ride targeting riders who are 60+ years old, while (of course) welcoming anyone under 60.
This week’s ride is on Watopia’s Southern Coast Cruise, which is also a Big Spin route, so you’ll get a prize spin at the end of each lap.
Zwift’s annual Big Spin series launched this week, with stage 3 on Watopia’s Southern Coast Cruise route (26.3km, 146m). Join the fun and unlock fun stuff!
The 2026 Zwift Games wrap up for good this weekend, with make-up events available in case you missed any stages. Lots of riders have been enjoying the two race options for stage 6, though, and racing them multiple times!
Choose between a time trial on Scotland’s new The Epiloch (11.1km, 93m), and a Crit Cade steering-required race on 5 laps of Crit City’s The Bell Lap (15.8km, 128m).
A regularly featured event here on Zwift Insider, the BMTR Flat 100 always gets lots of joiners because it’s well-led and run consistently week after week, year after year.
This week’s ride is on Watopia’s Southern Coast Cruise, which is also a Big Spin route, so you’ll get a prize spin at the end of each lap. There are three pace groups to choose from.
It may be classics season, but this Saturday we’re celebrating cycling’s biggest spectacle, Le Grand Boucle, with four races in France! Courses range from flat, sprint-friendly routes to pure climbing routes… just like the real Tour.
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!
