“Mur de Huy” Climb Portal Details
See zwiftinsider.com/portal/mur-de-huy/
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From the Basement to the Finish Line: How Zwift Helped Scott Richards Change His Life
From the Basement to the Finish Line: How Zwift Helped Scott Richards Change His Life
Late in the evening in an unfinished basement outside St. Louis, Missouri, Scott Richards settles onto his bike and clips in. The room is quiet except for the hum of the trainer and the fan he sometimes forgets to turn on until the ride is already underway. Within seconds, the screen in front of him fills with motion—avatars climbing mountains, spinning through volcanic circuits, chasing route badges and finish lines.
For Richards, the scene is more than a workout. It is a daily reminder of how far he has come, and how much further he plans to go.
“You Don’t See Old Guys That Are Fat”
Four years ago, the life he is living today would have felt almost impossible. At the time, Richards weighed more than 330 pounds and was facing a reality that had slowly crept up over years of stress, poor habits, and long workdays. When a doctor told him he was pre-diabetic, the warning landed harder than he expected. He had recently married, and conversations about the future, about longevity, about the possibility of children, suddenly felt more urgent. “You don’t see old guys that are fat,” Richards said. “That really scared me.”
Around that same time, Richards and his close friend Charles Hays made a decision that would alter both of their lives. The two had worked together in a high-stress environment where stress eating had become routine, and both had begun to realize the consequences of those habits. On New Year’s Day 2024, they made a pact to hold each other accountable and start turning their health around. The agreement was simple: take their health seriously and see what was possible if they committed to the process. What followed was anything but ordinary.
The Compound Effect
Like many people facing a major lifestyle change, Richards did not begin with dramatic athletic goals. Instead, he started with manageable steps—hiking, tracking calories, and simply moving his body more often. “I made it work for me,” he said. “Instead of forcing myself to do something I hated, I tried to find things I actually enjoyed.” As the weeks passed, those small decisions began to compound. Weight came off gradually, confidence returned, and the idea of attempting something bigger eventually emerged.
That “something bigger” turned out to be a triathlon. Richards had one advantage that many first-time triathletes lack: he had been a competitive swimmer from age six through eighteen. While swimming felt natural, the other disciplines, particularly running, were far more difficult. Even so, he and Hays committed to the challenge.
Standing at the start line of their first race, Richards remembers feeling something he had not experienced in years. “We were standing there waiting to start and realized we hadn’t felt that feeling in a long time,” he said. “That feeling that you’re about to compete for the next few hours. It’s going to hurt, but it’s going to be worth it.” Since then, Richards has completed seven triathlons and is currently preparing for a half Ironman later this year.
Winter Regression To Zwifting Obsession
Despite the progress he had made, winter presented a familiar obstacle. After that first season of racing, colder weather arrived in Missouri and outdoor cycling disappeared from his routine. Months passed without riding, and when he finally returned to the bike in the spring, the loss of momentum was obvious. “It felt like I was back to square one again,” he said.
That realization pushed him toward a tool he had been researching for months.
In September 2025, Richards ordered the Zwift Ride bundle and set it up in his basement. What began as a practical way to keep riding through the winter quickly turned into something much more significant. “I became obsessed quickly,” he said with a laugh. The difference, he explained, was immediate. Traditional indoor riding had never appealed to him. Sitting on a stationary bike while watching television felt dull and disconnected from the experience of riding outdoors. Zwift changed that dynamic entirely. “The first time I did Alpe du Zwift, I felt super accomplished,” he said. “It made me look forward to killing myself in a workout.”
For Richards, the appeal of Zwift extended beyond fitness. As a lifelong gamer, he immediately recognized the structure behind the platform’s design. “I played a lot of RPG games growing up where you level up your character,” he explained. “Zwift scratches that same itch. You’re leveling up, unlocking bikes, getting gear. It’s the perfect way to hook me.” The same mechanics that once kept him playing video games for hours now kept him riding. “I used to be addicted to video games,” he said. “Now I’m addicted to Zwift.”
Community As Motivation
Group rides soon became one of his favorite aspects of the platform. Over time, he began to recognize familiar riders who appeared again and again in the virtual peloton. Conversations in the in-game chat gradually created a sense of connection that surprised him. “It’s wild how you start to see the same people over and over,” he said.
One of his most memorable rides came during the Rapha Festive 500 challenge, when Richards organized a ride that attracted more than 130 participants. Together, the group completed 25 laps of the Volcano Circuit, riding more than 65 miles in a single session. “The first half was a lot of fun,” he said. “The second half was definitely a struggle.” What made the effort special, however, was the support that emerged among riders. “The people pulling the group were telling me, ‘Scott, you need to get up here for the finish.’ That kind of support is what makes it special.”
That sense of community has become a powerful motivator on days when the ride itself feels difficult. Even when fatigue or lack of motivation creeps in, the thought of joining a group ride often brings him back to the bike. “Sometimes I think, ‘I don’t really want to ride tonight,’” he admitted. “But the social side makes it entertaining. It’s better than just sitting on a spin bike.”
Looking Behind/Looking Ahead
The results of that consistency have been remarkable. Since beginning his health journey, Richards has lost more than 116 pounds and now weighs roughly what he did as a teenager. The improvements show up everywhere—in climbing hills that once felt impossible, in average speeds that have increased by several miles per hour, and in the simple reality that everyday life has become easier. “Every aspect of my life is easier,” he said.
The changes have also altered the way he sees himself. “If you told me four years ago that I’d be excited to sweat my butt off in my basement every day, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he said. What began as a weight loss effort has evolved into something closer to a lifestyle. Exercise now functions as a mental reset as much as a physical one. “If I don’t work out for three or four days, I get cranky,” he said. “I never thought I’d be that kind of person.” The effect, he says, feels almost therapeutic. “It’s tough when you’re doing it, but afterwards you feel so good—physically and mentally.”
Richards and Hays now document their ongoing journey through their weekly podcast, 2 Guys 1 Scale, where they talk openly about the ups and downs of trying to lose weight and stay healthy. The podcast began primarily as a way to keep themselves accountable, but over time, it has grown into something more meaningful. Their transparency and frankness resonate deeply with listeners, prompting them to reach out with their own stories of struggle or questions about how to begin fitness journeys of their own. Some friends started hiking more frequently. Others began exercising regularly after watching Richards’ progress. “If I can inspire one person to turn their life around,” he said, “then everything I’ve put into this has been worth it.”
The road ahead remains full of goals. This year alone, Richards plans to complete a half marathon, tackle his first half Ironman in Michigan, and ride Missouri’s 240-mile Katy Trail over several days. Zwift will remain a central part of that preparation, particularly during the cold or rainy months when outdoor riding becomes difficult.
Perhaps the most meaningful change, however, is how he feels about himself and the life he is building. “I love the person I’ve become,” Richards said.
For an athlete who once struggled simply to begin moving, that transformation may be the most powerful achievement of all.
Rocacorba Collective: Redefining the Indoor Cycling Experience
Rocacorba Collective: Redefining the Indoor Cycling Experience
As part of Women’s History Month, we’re featuring four different women’s clubs with a strong presence on Zwift. Looking to join a women’s club? See our Women’s Clubs on Zwift post!
When was your club founded?
2021
How did your club come to exist?
During the COVID‑19 pandemic, Moolman‑Pasio saw how virtual cycling could connect people globally when outdoor racing and travel were impossible. She noticed women were more open, confident and comfortable engaging online, “My avatar has no shame” was one observation she made about how Zwift removed barriers to participation. She wanted to expand that sense of confidence, empowerment and community beyond the professional peloton to everyday cyclists around the world.
Have any/all your club members ever met up IRL? If so, please tell us about it!
YES. Over the last four years, we have run an annual IRL Camp at the home of the Collective, Rocacorba Cycling in Girona (Ash’s home). Across these years, the purpose has been consistent: turning the online camaraderie of Zwift into real‑world friendships, shared cycling experiences, and deeper engagement through coaching, insightful talks and community spirit. It’s now starting to feel more like a family reunion than a cycling camp!
In addition to these Girona camps, Rhian and Helen, based in London, where many of our members are located, have hosted some adhoc laps in Richmond Park and weekend rides in the Surrey Hills, giving members in the UK a chance to connect offline, experience group rides, and strengthen the Collective community closer to home.
Do most/many/any of your members also ride outdoors?
Not all of our members ride outdoors, but a lot do. Many of those on our Training Tier work with our in‑house coach, Helen Bridgman, and nutritionist Jenny Powell to train towards outdoor goals. I’d estimate it’s about 70/30. Some members focus primarily on eSports and Zwift racing to maximize their virtual performance, while the majority enjoy a mix of indoor and outdoor riding, blending structured training on Zwift with real‑world cycling adventures.
What do you see as the biggest hurdle for women to start cycling?
One of the biggest hurdles for women to start cycling is often confidence and a sense of belonging. Last year, during our Women’s Day ride, we asked a few of our riders this same question, and they shared some common concerns: fear of not belonging, unsafe roads, angry drivers, and worries about mechanical issues. That’s why Rocacorba Collective emphasizes creating a welcoming, inclusive environment, both online and in real life, where women of all levels can ride, learn, and grow without pressure, feeling empowered to pursue their cycling goals.
Is the answer the same for women starting cycling on Zwift?
Not entirely, some hurdles shift in the virtual world. On Zwift, real-world challenges like unsafe roads, angry drivers, or mechanical issues disappear. As Ashleigh has said, “My avatar has no shame” – you can dress it up how you like, you can be whatever you want to be, and always jump out of a ride if you want. Zwift allows women to explore cycling in a safe, judgment-free space.
However, confidence and belonging remain the biggest challenges. Many women aren’t sure how to get started, how the platform works, how to join a ride or race, or feel they’re “not strong enough to race.” That’s why the Rocacorba Collective provides a friendly, inclusive space on Zwift, with women-only beginner rides, live coached sessions on Discord, social rides, and inclusive racing teams led by a DS and Team Captain. These opportunities help women learn the platform, build confidence, meet like-minded riders, and enjoy cycling virtually, whether they’re completely new to the sport or combining virtual riding with outdoor cycling.
Do you have thoughts/ideas/dreams for how we (we as a collective humanity, not necessarily Zwift – but it can include Zwift if you want) get more women riding?
Getting more women riding, both outdoors and virtually, is about removing barriers, building confidence, and creating community. It’s not just about bikes; it’s about culture, access, and visibility.
Some ideas and dreams include:
- Safe and welcoming spaces: More women-only rides, beginner-friendly groups, and mentoring programs, both in real life and online, so women can learn without fear of judgment.
- Role models and visibility: Highlighting diverse women riders, not just lean-looking influencers in fancy kit, from grassroots to professional, so aspiring cyclists can see themselves represented.
- Education: Teaching bike maintenance, safety skills, and riding confidence so mechanical worries or road anxiety don’t hold anyone back.
- Accessibility: Affordable bikes, safe roads, and community cycling hubs can make riding realistic for more women.
- Digital platforms as gateways: Platforms like Zwift can act as safe, playful spaces to experiment, train, and connect globally, bridging the gap between virtual confidence and outdoor riding.
- Community-driven motivation: Events, challenges, or campaigns that combine social connection with purpose, whether that’s charity rides, local group meetups, or virtual communities like the Rocacorba Collective.
- Reduce the jargon: There can be a lot of boring, technical jargon, “rules”, and chat around bikes and cycling. In reality, most are unimportant (apart from anything relating to safety). Eliminating the noise and enjoying riding your bike is the most important thing of all!
What is a fun fact you’d like to share about your club?
Rocacorba Collective isn’t just about Zwift rides, it also fundraises and supports real‑world initiatives. A portion of membership goes toward projects such as e‑cycling and learning centres in underprivileged communities in South Africa, particularly through partnerships with organisations like Khaltsha Cycles, helping young girls gain access to bikes, training, and education.
The Collective also supports One More City, an annual cycling campaign that raises funds and awareness for secondary breast cancer research. Each autumn, One More City riders travel between cities worldwide and host Zwift rides in October, sharing the Collective’s ethos of using cycling to bring people together and create meaningful impact.
If you had a magic wand to change one thing about the Zwift product OR the Zwift community, what would you wish for?
Seamless voice chat would make social rides feel less intimidating and far more human. Many riders can’t easily run Discord alongside Zwift, so having voice integrated directly into the game would be truly game-changing. Instead of riding silently beside avatars, women could hear encouragement in real time, ask questions naturally without typing into a public text feed, and build genuine connections as they pedal. That shared conversation, the laughter, reassurance, and collective effort can be the difference between feeling like an outsider and feeling like you truly belong.
Likewise, making it easier for community leaders to add written prompts and guidance into workouts would help demystify the platform. Clear cues, motivational messages, and step-by-step explanations built into sessions would reduce the “I don’t know how this works” barrier and help women feel supported rather than overwhelmed. It would turn structured training into something more personal and confidence-building, rather than something that feels technical or intimidating.
Ultimately, these changes wouldn’t just enhance features, they would nurture the very things women tell us they need most: connection, clarity, encouragement, and community. And that’s what truly helps people start and stay in cycling.
More about our Monday Women’s Only Workout Ride
We’re proud to share one of our highlighted women-only rides, a Zwift workout that has become a cornerstone of our community. We host this 45-minute session every Monday at 5pm UK time, with a consistent structure each week featuring 5 x 20-second micro-sprint efforts, while the route varies, often doubling as a recon for Tuesday night ZRL races.
What makes this ride so special is its accessibility and versatility. On paper, it’s a simple, approachable workout for newcomers, but it can be tailored to every rider’s needs. The ride is banded, so no one gets dropped, and the 20-second efforts can be adapted: go all-out for a high-intensity hit OR use them as high-cadence spin-ups for a more recovery ride or pre-race activation. It truly works for everyone, from complete beginners to seasoned Zwifters. The result is a wonderfully diverse group of women joining. The ride is led by one of our Rocacorba Collective ambassador ride leaders, who talks riders through the session and answers questions along the way, often sharing more about Erg Mode or other features in the app. We’ve seen women join who were completely new to Zwift, were positively influenced by the other riders on the ride, and who go on to become regular racers and influential members of our community.
This ride is more than just a workout; it’s a confidence-building gateway into Zwift, community, and belonging. It’s a ride we’re proud of, and one not to be missed.
See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/rocacorba
Follow Rocacorba Collective:
- Zwift Events: zwift.com/events/tag/rocacorba
- Insta: instagram.com/rocacorbacollective
- Facebook: facebook.com/rocacorbacollective
- Website: rocacorbacycling.cc/collective
Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of March 21-22
The Zwift Big Spin kicked off this week with some big pelotons, so it’s my top pick for the weekend. But we’ve also got a Fuego Flats world record attempt, an FRR race series kickoff, and two fun group rides. See details below!
🤝 Zwift Big Spin, Stage 1
✅ Popular ✅ Prizes ✅ Cowboy Hats
Zwift’s annual Big Spin series launched this week, with stage 1 on Watopia’s Flat Out Fast route (22.3km, 49m). Join the fun and unlock the in-game cowboy hat!
Learn all about the Zwift Big Spin >
These are group rides, but you can treat them like a race, a recovery ride, or anything in between.
Hourly events all weekend
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tbs2026ridestage1
🤝WOW-VTO Tempus Segment World Record Attempt
✅ Record Attempt ✅ Super Speed
On Sunday, WOW and VTO are joining forces in attempting to break the world record of the ‘Fuego Flats Reverse Sprint’ segment in Watopia. Everyone will be riding the fastest bike in game (CADEX Tri frame with the latest DT Swiss Disc wheels) in draft mode.
This is a 40km event on Watopia’s Tempus Fugit route. The first 1.5 laps are basically a warmup, with the last half of lap 2 being all out! The current record is 7:39.
Sunday, March 22 @ 2:15pm UTC/10:15am ET/7:15am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5497618
🥇FRR Classica Italia
✅ Unique Format
This is the first race of FRR’s new Weekend Warrior series, where riders race separate events on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Classica Italia consists of:
- i’ultimo sforzo Scratch Race on Waisted 8 (21km, 144m)
- il vantaggio iTT on Mayan San Remo (22km, 220m)
- la corsa Points Race on Zwift Games 2024 Epic (82km, 870m)
Learn all about FRR’s Weekend Warrior race series >
Friday-Saturday-Sunday, multiple timeslots
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/frrclassica
🤝LA GRUPETTA DE ZABI
✅ Banded Ride ✅ Zwift Games Route
I love stumbling across popular rides hosted by groups I know nothing about. Here’s this week’s! Hosted by ZABI, it’s a 120-minute banded ride on Watopia’s Three Step Sisters (38.1km, 586m). As a bonus, this route is a Zwift Games stage, so if you’re looking to finish all the Games routes, this may help ya.
Saturday, March 21 @ 8am UTC/4am ET/1am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5505729
🤝(Rubber-Banded) TDZ Ride with James’ Friends!
✅ Banded ✅ Big Spin Route
This beginner-friendly banded ride is 60 minutes long and on Watopia’s Flat Out Fast, a Big Spin route, which means you’ll get the prize spinner at the end.
Ride at whatever pace you’d like. As long as you keep pedaling, you’ll stay with the group!
Saturday, March 21 @ 1:30pm UTC/9:30am ET/6:30am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5505855
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!
Tiny Race Series – March 21 Routes – Uphill Finishes
Tiny Race Series – March 21 Routes – Uphill Finishes
See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.
ZwiftRoster: a Team Management App for Zwift Racing Clubs
ZwiftRoster: a Team Management App for Zwift Racing Clubs
Ever covet what other Zwift clubs have? You see the fancy data they pull, the spreadsheets, the grass being greener on the other side, and think, “Why can’t we all have it? But not in multiple places, just one?”
Now imagine a system that incorporates a process that is so streamlined and efficient that you have time to enjoy the club you’re in and the people you’re with.
Cue the music and let ZwiftRoster swoop in to swoon you by making lives easier and leveling the playing field across clubs! Think of it as a one-stop shop where you don’t need 50 million spreadsheets just to organise schedules or have the rider data you need. Riders also benefit by feeling more in control of how they submit and view information.
ZwiftRoster is the passion project we created and are still building to meet the needs of the smallest clubs to the largest. Regardless of role – riders, captains, team managers, event organisers – you’ll find something to love here.
Club Creation
As a club, you can set up teams easily in the club admin panel, which is only accessible with specific roles, and you appoint who has those roles within the club. When creating the teams, you have control over the team types you want (ZRL, Ladder, TTT, etc) and it follows the rules of that specific team type, so you don’t have unnecessary overthinking during the process, such as “Am I in the right Google Doc or spreadsheet?”
Availability
Ever find yourself wondering if there’s a better way than asking people to fill out the 60th Google Sheet or Form asking for their availability? Problem solved! In ZwiftRoster, riders are asked for their availability for the race series, and if it changes, it’s just a quick click of the button on here for them.
Our priority is making things as simple as possible for all users, holding onto our sanity so we can burn it all to the ground by signing up for too many races or thinking a Four Horsemen contest sounds like a chill time.
Using the Rider Pool
After completing Four Horsemen and realising all the mistakes you and your teammates made, that slow ebbing fear of a rider being sick, injured, or just suddenly unavailable because their husband got tickets to the ballet that night just starts coming to light for tomorrow’s race. Never fear! Anyone who has indicated interest in a specific race type and is available to race can be snapped up in the rider pool.
In the rider pool, you can filter riders according to Open, Women’s, Category, and power stats. If they are already part of a team and haven’t been outsourced too many times according to race organizer rules, then it’s a quick notification to their captain to approve the loan. You can rest easy and know that one rider taking a rest day at the ballet isn’t the end of the world!
Rider Height and Weight Verifications
Did your club set up mandatory verifications, or do you just need them for a specific one-off race series? No problem! We have handy-dandy toggles in the club admin panel of ZwiftRoster that will allow you to activate collecting verifications.
These can be optional or mandatory, and if mandatory, you can select when the verification expires so riders are asked for it again. All verifications go straight to the rider’s captain or to the role in charge of new recruits. As the verifier, you can either approve or reject the riders’ submissions with a note.
What’s Next?
All of this is just the high-level view of what we’ve put together thus far, and it definitely doesn’t cover everything. We are all about transparency on what is to come for ZwiftRoster, and we have big dreams. Dreams as big as our Haribo supply!
So in that candy-fueled spirit, this is next on our list to punch out: incorporating a TTT planner, a Discord bot (for those clubs that use it), and external notifications via email as needed, such as reminders for riders.
If you’re interested, sign up for the beta here today: zwiftroster.com.
One Million Meters: Inside the Year Mads Matt Rewrote the Rules of Zwift Climbing
One Million Meters: Inside the Year Mads Matt Rewrote the Rules of Zwift Climbing
Zwift is full of challenges for those seeking something to chase. There are riders on Zwift who chase badges. Riders who chase jerseys. Riders who chase that one perfect KOM attempt where the stars align and the watts land exactly where they need to.
And then there’s Matt Ladd, aka “Mads Matt”, who spent 2025 chasing something very few Zwifters, or cyclists for that matter, will ever attempt, let alone complete: one million vertical meters of climbing in a single year.
That number sits somewhere between ridiculous and mythic. It’s the kind of number that you throw out when you want to be sure the absurdity is evident. But across long nights, early mornings, and relentless virtual ascents, Matt turned mythic absurdity into routine.
What makes the story even more remarkable is how unremarkably it began.
The Initial Goal: Beat Last Year
Coming into 2025, Matt wasn’t chasing a headline. The goal was simply to beat his 2024 total of just over 700,000 meters. Through the first three months of the year, he rode with structure and restraint, averaging roughly 60k meters each month. Big numbers for most riders, but nowhere near the 2,740 meters per day required to reach a million. It was on pace with his goal.
Then May arrived, and the tone shifted.
A New Achievement Stretches the Goal
During the Flamme Rouge Racing Charity Day Ride, Matt took on one of Zwift’s most iconic challenges and refused to stop. He climbed Alpe du Zwift 19 times in a single ride, covering 481 kilometers and logging 20,000 meters of elevation in just under 26 hours.
That’s more than a double vEveresting in one session. For context, many riders plan months to complete a single Everesting and treat it as a once‑in‑a‑lifetime achievement. Matt essentially completed two, mid‑season, and logged more elevation than the Giro d’Italia accumulates in its opening week.
Realizing he was capable of amassing elevation gain like that in a single session, he reconsidered his goal. He had been climbing at a relentless pace. What was he actually capable of? 800k? A Million?
And yet, the math wasn’t friendly.
By early June, Matt found himself 78,000 meters behind million‑meter pace. For most riders, that’s the point where a stretch goal quietly disappears.
Instead, it became the turning point.
Building Momentum Up Ventoux
In late June, Matt launched what may have been the most ambitious block of his year: a multi‑day effort centered around Ventop, Zwift’s virtual take on Mont Ventoux. Between June 26 and June 29, with breaks only for sleep and recovery, he climbed Ventop 18 times, riding 728 kilometers and accumulating 27,112 meters of elevation.
That’s a triple vEverest. Yes, Triple.
For many riders, that would stand as a career highlight. For Matt, it was momentum.
Two months later, he returned to Ventop and went even bigger. From August 29 to September 2, he climbed the mountain 20 times in one continuous effort, totaling 30,206 meters of elevation—creeping into the rarefied air of near‑quadruple Everesting territory.
Those monster rides didn’t exist in isolation. They were layered into months that were already pushing the limits of what seemed possible.
July: Chasing Tourmalets and Le Tour
July became its own chapter. Matt called it “Chasing Tourmalets.” Over the course of the month, he climbed Zwift’s Col du Tourmalet 60 times (at 125% no less), finishing July with 101,618 meters of total elevation gain.
One ride stood out even among that chaos: 352 kilometers, 10 Tourmalets, and 15,555 meters of climbing over roughly 21 hours, broken only by a brief two‑hour nap.
Then came the Tour de France.
As the professional peloton battled across France, Matt decided to replicate—and surpass—the race’s climbing totals on Zwift. By the time he finished, he had ridden 2,077 kilometers and climbed 89,263 meters, nearly double the Tour’s actual elevation gain. He completed the challenge a full week before the real race ended.
August pushed the year into another dimension.
A Restless August
In 31 days, Matt climbed 130,026 meters, exceeding his previous monthly best by nearly 50,000 meters. Somewhere inside that relentless block, the numbers quietly flipped. The deficit disappeared. By early September, Matt was no longer chasing the million meter pace.
Another detail makes the project even harder to comprehend: there were no rest days. There simply isn’t time for rest when each day you’re off the bike leaves you 2,740 meters you need to tack on to other days.
Matt’s Strava may suggest occasional days off, but those were artifacts of multi‑day Everesting efforts logged as single activities. In reality, Matt was active every day. The very few that were on the bike were when he was running—often commuting 9 to 15 kilometers with a 20‑liter pack, frequently at paces faster than 4:30 per kilometer.
His last true rest day was December 20, 2024.
Achievement Unlocked
As autumn turned into winter, milestones and meters continued to stack up. In October, Matt logged 35,200 meters in just nine days during FRR’s Matt Ladd Challenge. On December 16, he crossed 2.5 million lifetime meters of climbing on Zwift. Nearly one-third had come in 2025!
And then, on December 26, during yet another climb—because of course it was on a climb—it finally happened.
Mads Matt passed one million vertical meters for the year.
By New Year’s Eve, the final total stood at 1,020,002 meters for good measure. He finished the year with 10 official Everestings on everesting.com’s Hall of Fame, nine of them earned during 2025 alone. That total ranks second all‑time globally for annual climbing on Zwift, behind only Keith Roy and ahead of ultra‑endurance standout Jack Thompson.
For most riders, a year like that would mark the end of the story. For Matt, it’s simply a waypoint. Since April 2024, he has climbed more than 1.5 million meters, and the next target is already set: three million total meters on Zwift by June 2026. Along the way, he credits the Coalition and FRR communities for helping keep motivation high through the biggest days and the hardest climbs.
A million meters in a year isn’t something many riders will ever attempt, let alone complete. But on a platform built around ambitious challenges—route badges, virtual competitions, and endurance epics—it’s a reminder of what’s possible when someone keeps showing up.
One climb at a time.
Nowhere Fast Episode 65 – Jeremy Rae – The Milk Bag King
Nowhere Fast Episode 65 – Jeremy Rae – The Milk Bag King
The latest episode of Nowhere Fast: A Virtual Bike Racing Podcast welcomes Jeremy Rae to the show, and the conversation quickly proves that when you mix bike racing, internet culture, and Canadian dairy logistics, things are going to get weird in the best possible way.
Jeremy joins the hosts to talk about his background in cycling and how he became a recognizable personality in the online racing scene. What starts as a fairly normal chat about racing quickly drifts into the unique culture surrounding virtual cycling: the personalities, the community drama, and the strange little traditions that develop when thousands of riders spend their winters staring at avatars pedaling through digital volcanoes.
The episode also dives into Jeremy’s infamous “Milk Bag King” nickname, a very Canadian piece of lore that sparks a surprisingly deep conversation about regional quirks, cultural oddities, and how random inside jokes can take on a life of their own within the cycling community.
As always, the Nowhere Fast crew mixes genuine cycling insight with the kind of chaotic humor that tends to happen when people who spend hours on indoor trainers start telling stories. The discussion jumps between racing tactics, community personalities, and the absurd moments that make virtual racing culture uniquely entertaining.
If you enjoy the intersection of Zwift racing, internet cycling culture, and the occasional completely unhinged tangent, this episode with Jeremy Rae is a fun listen and a reminder that the virtual peloton is as much about the people as it is about the watts.
About the Podcast
Nowhere Fast is a member of the Wide Angle Podium network. To support this podcast, head to wideanglepodium.com to become a member and support stories that lead you to question everything you thought you knew about indoor bike racing.
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Top 5 Zwift Videos: Bike Fits, Zwift Updates, and Zwift Games
Are you losing watts with your indoor setup? In this week’s top video, one Zwifter gets a bike fit with his indoor setup to make sure he isn’t losing crucial watts and comfort.
Also included: videos about the new version of the Zwift launcher, a first Zwift race, Zwift’s Spring Classics Challenge, and a training routine for increasing FTP.
I Got a Professional Bike Fit… And I Was WAY Off
ZWIFT Launcher Update 1.1.16 // What’s New for Windows & macOS Users
First Zwift Race In a Year!
8 CLIMBS in under 90 MINUTES! 🏔️ Speedrunning the Zwift Spring Classics Challenge!
The 6-Day Plan That Boosted My FTP 20%
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