Many Zwifters consider The Über Pretzel to be Zwift’s toughest route since it finishes with the leg-sapping Alpe du Zwift climb after 115km of riding. This explains why so many Zwifters haven’t yet earned the Über Pretzel route badge!
We’re hoping to help you remedy that situation with our first-ever official Zwift Insider event: Zwift Insider Badge Hunters – The Uber Pretzel Edition.
The event takes place on Saturday, February 20th, at 6am Pacific/9am Eastern/2pm GMT.
About the Route
The Über Pretzel covers almost every bit of road in Watopia, missing only Titans Grove and the short additions added in December 2020. At 128.3 km (79.7 miles) long with 2335 m (7,661‘) of elevation it’s the second-longest (and second-climbiest) route in all of Zwift, behind London’s PRL Full.
But Zwifters who have ridden both often say The Über Pretzel is tougher than the PRL Full. While the PRL Full is just one mind-numbing lap after another, at least it lets you get into a rhythm. The Über Pretzel, on the other hand, has no rhythm.. and just when you’re feeling like it’s time for the ride to end, you arrive at the base of Alpe du Zwift!
Read more about The Über Pretzel >
Ride Specifics
This will be a double draft ride, so sit in with others on the flats in order to conserve your energy.
Steering will also be enabled, to make it a bit more engaging and fun!
We’re also serving up a custom mix of only useful powerups, evenly split between the Feather, Van, and Helmet. Use them for a bit of relief.
This is not a race – it’s a group ride. You can treat it as a race if you’d like, of course, but the ride will break up naturally into pace groups. Find riders working at your target pace and work together.
Based on the VeloViewer Leaderboard we can see that top riders finish The Über Pretzel in under 4 hours. But we expect most riders will take closer to 5, with plenty taking even longer. You do you. Be sure to plan accordingly.
Special Guests
We’ve invited Zwift staffers and some of our friends from the community to join us on this inaugural ride. Affirmatives have already come back, including:
- Nathan Guerra of Zwift Community Live, who will be streaming his ride
- Simon Schofield of Zwiftcast: he’s not convinced he’ll hang around for the whole ride (it’s his birthday after all) but he’s in for some fun
- Steve Beckett, Chief Marketing Officer at Zwift: this event is actually the brainchild of Steve and ZI’s Eric Schlange, who were chatting about how neither had earned their Über Pretzel badge yet…
- More ZHQ staffers
- Eric Schlange, creator of Zwift Insider
- And you!
Discord
Zwift Insider’s Discord server will be used for voice chat during the ride, if you’re looking for company. Click here to join the server, and read “Using Discord on Zwift” for details if you’re new to Discord.
Sign Up Now
You can sign up for the event in Zwift’s Companion app, or online at zwift.com/events/view/1733428.
Questions or Comments?
Post below and we’ll do our best to answer them!
Enable steering please?
That’s a good idea. I’ll get it done!
Downside of enabling steering is that it means that no one on Wattbikes can take part. That is unless they’ll take the risk that 3 hours in they may end up randomly U-turning or Zwift finally fix it in an update.
Is there an issue with Wattbikes in events with steering mode enabled? I’ve encountered the bug when trying to press the steering buttons, and if I disable steering mode before an event I end up with nobody else in the pen. However, I’ve had no problems free-riding if I just leave the steering option on the pairing screen and the buttons alone, and entering events with disabled steering have been perfectly fine too – I just let the game disable it for me in the starting pen and all is well.
That’s a bummer for Wattbike owners… I hope they fix it soon!
really eager to do the ride; might try a steering event on my wattbike atom before hand to see what i have to (not) do.
To turn the steering off on a Wattbike go to the pairing screen. I believe Wattbike put an announcement out a week or so on how to disable it.
Zwift Insider kit unlock for completing the ride? I know there isn’t one… Yet. Come on HQ, it’s the least you can do.😜
I’ve never pushed for an in-game kit, since we’ve never organized ZI events before. But if we start doing more… perhaps it’ll happen!
Getting an in-game kit is apparently a very long process from what I’ve read so far. I think it’s a fun idea, but there are a bunch of different jerseys out there already. If possible, does anyone else like the idea of a cap? or shoes? or gloves? or even socks?
Better yet, every one who makes it to the top who doesn’t already have Millstien Wheels gets them.
Will there be a full PRL event?
Not sure – if this one goes well, we’ll probably do these events regularly.
I’d second this – I just recently finished the Uber Pretzel so I likely won’t repeat with this group, but would love to do a PRL Full one!
I thought Monica already did the PRL Full…Wasn’t that an open event? Since it is a bunch of loops the start time was flexible, just like the Lava Loops. Some people showed up early…others “on time” and even near the end of the official ride time so the “event(s)” lasted many hours?
I’ve done the Uber already… I’d need a Mega Pretzel event… and a PRL indeed 🙂
I sure hope a big PRL ride happens. I’ve done the uber and never….never again!
I’d be in for the Full PRL. Done Uber Pretzel about a year ago and the Full PRL is the route achievement I am missing. First weekend in March would be perfect time for me and would provide enough rest after the Uber Pretzel.
Another vote for a PRL Full. It’s the only route I have left and after a Zwift crash 125km in last time I tried it solo, I haven’t built up the motivation for another try.
Yeah I’ll pass this one for now 😂
This is great Eric! I finally completed the Mega Pretzel during the recent Zwift Fondo Series: Ultima event but barely made it through without needing a ‘pit stop’. I may have to change into some new kit before climbing the Alpe at the end. Will most likely continue on to get the 100 mile badge as I don’t know when I’m going to do the PRL Full (the only other route badge I haven’t earned). Not really looking forward to that one.🙄
Would you expect a b rider ( just ) to be able to complete the course?
Jer, Being able to complete it has nothing to do with your A/B/C/D category. It’s about being able to ride for 4+ to 6+ hours. For most riders, this means being able to hold a steady Zone 2 power for that long. You’ll also want to stay hydrated, eat to keep your energy up, take breaks when you need them, and stay motivated/keep your focus as the hours build up. If you haven’t done many/any 4+ hour rides, you might want to build up your ride durations before trying the Uber. But you can always just give it your best shot and see how far you can get. But keep it in Zone 2 (coast/soft pedal on the down hills) and try not to be tempted to go harder on the steep climbs or you might find your legs giving out on the Alpe. The badge is for completing it, not for how fast you do it. Good luck!
Steve is spot on!
I’m pretty new to zwift. How does one take a break longer than a coffee break during a ride? Do you just park your guy off to the side and if so does that effect your overall metrics? FTP, etc?
I’ve ridden a century once here in MI and it was relatively flat, but I took a few breaks along the way for 20 minutes or so.
Absolutely! I am a D rider. Takes me longer but I have endurance and I don’t quit! I do however schedule myself comfort breaks and a refuel snack break, just as I would on the road. Leave the racing to the young guns. I get my thrill from a completion.
I’m new to zwift. How do you take breaks on a longer ride? Just park you avatar to the side? Does your time still run and does it affect your overal FTP score and other metrics?
I have ridden a century once in the northern suburbs of Metro Detroit, Oakland County MI. I took 2-3 so minute breaks. I can’t imagine there were more than 1000 to 1500 ft of climbing. I can ride all day, but at 5’8″, 205 lbs, I’m not the fastest climber.
I am not fast, but I can cruise at 13 mph all day long. And it does take me 7-8 hours to do 100 miles. Don’t need to go fast, just need to keep going at a pace you can maintain.
I’m new to zwift; Just started this month, but have ridden plenty outside. I’m not the fastest either but have done a century and do 4 or 5 metric centuries each summer. do you just stop pedaling and get off? Does it effect your overall metrics? Does time keep running? With strava at least you have moving time and elapsed time.
When you’re done riding, just save your ride. Coasting on Zwift affects your metrics like coasting outside would.
Shoot me a line if you ever want to collab on our Sunday LEQP Provence BadgeHunter events 😉
I’ve been putting this ride off for too long. I’ll see you there, Eric.
Have you got any estimates of time it will take to complete please? I’m a cat C “nearly B” in w/kg
The article’s tail end notes that some will finish in about 4 hours, others closer to 5; plenty “may take longer”.
https://www.bestbikesplit.com/zwift/158134
this will give you an accurate completion time.
thanks Barry this is a nice app to estimate time!
If you make it to the top of ADZ, you must coast down to earn extra XP. Better yet, pedal to earn drops too. From the bottom of ADZ it is an easy push (relatively) to get the century. PS, I found Uber Pretzel considerably easier than PRL full – it is just more entertaining.
When you make it to the top of adz?
Why would anyone want to watch someone’s live stream of riding Zwift’s Uber Pretzel? How boring 😝
My thoughts while riding Uber Pretzel.
Epic KOM – done.
Volcano climb – done.
Check distance, 50 miles to go – DANGIT….
And the last 10 Miles the worst of all!
Whould love to do this ride but I work on a Saturday,not all of us work Monday-Friday help us out try putting it on a Sunday next time to help more people out.
It seems like a great way to get the Über badge, but I also have to work that saturday. Then again, I sometimes work sundays too…
Some of us work on Sundays.
If we complete this as part of the event will we match against the official Strava segment (and therefore the Velo Viewer leaderboard)? I need the badge, but don’t want to have to do it twice to match the segment!
No you will not match the segment https://www.strava.com/segments/20389635
It starts at the banner, but the pens at Watopia join just after the banner. If Eric would just create a segment that begins after the pens join the route for every route affected by this problem we wouldn’t have to worry about this but he seems insistent on not doing this for some reason.
I wonder if we could start the ride, join the route after the pens, pull a u-turn, go under the banner, pull another u-turn and then carry on? Or would that kick us out of the event?
Zwift simply will not allow you to do a uturn (or make any turn/navigation) while you are in an event. It will ignore your input. You’d have to quit the event to do that (tap the screen, click “Quit Event”).
Is this correct?
In completing this route I would hope to get both the badge and a time on the ZwiftInsider segment leaderboards on Veloviewer.
Yeh c’mon Eric, tweak these long route segments so that they’re valid whether free-riding or as an event.
There is no reason for this segment to start at the start/finish banner, as the route is not a full loop and doesn’t end at the same banner.
It should start after the pens, so that events count.
I just modified the official Uber Pretzel Strava segment today – new link is https://www.strava.com/segments/27313482
This will match both free rides and events. I’m not sure if Strava will go back and match previous rides to this new segment or not… we’ll find out soon enough I guess!
I hope STRAVA will go back and match my event ride from last year. I received the badge but the segment was not merged for the “Zwift Insider’s Route Hunter leaderboard” on VeloViewer. 🙁
If it doesn’t, Sven, just do the “Activity Type Hack” to make it match again. Change the activity type to something else, then change it back to Virtual Ride. Strava will match all segments again.
Amazing Eric! VeloViewer 117/122 Zwift Insider Route badges in the pocket. Thank you so much for the “Zwift Hack”. 😇Have fun on Saturday. I hope, there will be more routes in the future. Running out of goals. 😀
Excellent, lookin forward to the event.
In strava there is a Refresh activity achievements function in the drop down on the left of the webpage.
Don’t think this is possible for phone app.
That refresh thing doesn’t work for Zwift segments though, in my experience. The only way to force an activity to match against newer segments is the “Activity Type Hack” – change the activity type to something else, then change it back to “Virtual Ride”.
wouldn’t work for me, whenever I tried to change the type away from virtual ride, it just re saved as a virtual ride. I think I even tried exporting the file, and reimporting and wouldn’t always match with new segments. Although it did when I changed the date of the ride.
Hmm, that’s a can of worms open 😆
I now know what I’m doing on Sunday…
My old time has disappeared.
Saturday…..
Hi Eric I would love to join you, but the event is at 1am Melbourne Australia time, so will give it a miss. Any thoughts of an evening encore USA time that would allow us Aussies to participate?
I’ll second that. I’m in California, and 6am is to early for my taste.
Don’t forget that Eric is in CA, also, and he’ll be getting up early for this one. 😉
Shall we set a meet-up for SH people so we can do it too?
I found the PRL full too boring, did once and will never do it again. In contrary I did the uber twice already. Would love to do it again but the start time is 10pm in Singapore, and I have another IRL group ride next day morning.
I agree the Uber Pretzel is much more interesting! First time I did it I did a chat shout out to see if anyone else was doing it and caught up with them. We had a great time and really helped during the ADZ to keep going! But very few events that are this long…
Where is the event starting because if it’s in the Downtown pens you need to turn left to head towards the Epic KOM but this means you won’t cross the start line which in turn means you probably won’t get the route badge.
I would think if this event is labeled badge hunter, they would have it cross the start line resulting in achieving the badge 🙂
All organised Zwift events start from the Pens. On Watopia there are three sets of pens: “Jungle Start Pens”, “Watopia Pier Start Pens” and “Fuego Flats Start Pens”.
Unless this event starts at the “Jungle Start Pens” and then makes it way downhill it will not pass the start/finish line which is downtown. Checking other historic Zwift events this event is likely to start at the “Watopia Pier Start Pens” which are a few hundred meters past the start/finish line and head away from them, thus does not cross the start.
The question is therefore whether doing a Zwift organised event needs to cross the start line in order to get credited for completing the route and therefore unlocking the badge. You definitely won’t get added to the Strava leader board.
You get route badges if you start from the pens even if you don’t cross the starting banner for routes (I’ve done it many times). You however do NOT match strava segments. So for this ride you would not match the strava segment https://www.strava.com/segments/20389635 and hence you won’t get a time on the veloviewer leader board.
“At 128.3 km (79.7 miles) long with 2335 m (7,661‘) of elevation it’s the second-longest (and second-climbiest) route in all of Zwift, behind London’s PRL Full.”
I’ve ridden neither, but looking on Strava at those who have, it would seem Über is the climbiest with close to 2400hm, and PRL Full 2nd with close to 2300hm.
The UCI eSports World Champs should take place on a course like this
Will this event be with – ‘meet up – only view’?
This is a full event, not a meetup, so the options available to the event creator are slightly different. If you look up the event on https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/ it is tagged with “See only event category riders”, so I think that you will only see riders that are doing the event.
Could get a bit boring ‘when’ I get dropped!
1300+ riders already signed up, so just about everyone should be able to find others riding at their pace!
Hi. This is 1am for Sydney timezone. Is there any chance of offering a couple of events to cater for us in the southern hemisphere? I would love to do this but 1am isn’t going to happen.
Which bike would be best? Don’t want to change bikes on the route as will need as much draft as possible, so can’t afford to lose any bunches I may find! 190lb, this is going to hurt!
Tron is the best all around choice. Swapping to MTB in the jungle would make sense if you find yourself alone or with a small group.
Dang it, I dont have it yet! Maybe the new canyon and dt swiss for me?
Also a solid all-arounder choice.
Thanks Eric!
This is great! But I’ve done the Uber already. I hope you so this with other big routes like the PRL Full!
If this ride is successful, I think we will!
You had me until I saw the 6am start time (I’m on the west coast). For long endurance rides I like to eat a decent breakfast at least 2 hours prior and to me (not a morning person) that 4am is pretty much the middle of the night. Oh well. Since I’ve already checked off the Uber, maybe if you schedule a PRL Full someday (which I haven’t yet done) you could start a bit later.
Maybe. Problem is, our friends in the UK are starting this 5-hour ride at 2pm…
There’s no single perfect time, that’s for sure. I’m in California myself, so it’ll be a nice early start to a Saturday!
For people that want the route badge and the strava segment here is an idea that would work, however it would require cooperation from the event organizer to change the event settings. The event organizer changes the ride settings so that event riders can set non-event riders on the course as well as let non-event riders see event riders (this was the norm waaaaaay back in the day when formal events first started). Then everyone who wants both the badge and the segment do NOT enter the event. Instead log on to zwift, choose the uber pretzel, and park yourself at the banner. Then exactly when the event starts you start pedalling, hopefully you’ll meet up with the event people in a few hundred meters.
Now this plan isn’t perfect of course, the non-event riders won’t benefit from the double draft for one, and it depends on the riders meeting up and timing things properly. And it requires an event change from the organizer, so it won’t work unless/until that is done.
If you did the route outside of the event double draft would be turned off, so it would be harder, even if you could see and follow those in the event.
Yep, I mentioned that in my initial comment.
Yes please. I am not going to risk missing the start barrier, and I would like to see other riders.
If I get there (ridiculous start time for me) I’ll be riding super mellow.
If you are also thinking of riding mellow, there will be someone out there to ride with!
Ill be aiming 2wkg, even on climbs, and will be slower by the alpe most likely.
Pacing will be key. Hopefully see some of you there.
Oh, and no pedaling on any descents for me, Supertucks only!
got all the big ones
Not how I normally celebrate my birthday, however, I’ll give it a shot. Not confident I’ll get to the end
I can’t believe I’m actually excited for this. I’ll be cruising easy at about 2.0-2.2 or so until the end. Who knows what I’ll have left in me by then. What stinks though is that the weather is absolute crap this week with Saturday being the first opportunity for some decent IRL riding. Oh well, gotta get the badge.
I HAVE completed the Uber Pretzel but Zwift did not award me my badge!!! I am still upset about that.
I will be gutted if that happens!
Great idea. I actually did this one before route badges were a thing and, worse yet, with no draft as part of the Norseman events. I’m very much looking forward to some double draft to finally revisit it and tick off the badge!
See you there!
Will there be pre-planned break? it would be nice so groups stay together Perhaps every 50km?
With over 2500 riders taking part, it will be up to various groups who form to decide if they want to take a break. Nothing pre-planned for all riders.
if i stretch the route to 100 Miles. Do i get the 100 Mile batch.
Yep!
And maybe stupid question but do I need to do it in “Miles” mode or can I stay at Kilometers and do 161km
No need to change your settings from km to mi, it will count anyway 🙂
Two quick updates, all.
First: we’ve got over 2500 signups for this event! That’s crazy.
Second: I’ve edited the Uber Pretzel Strava segment today, moving the start point forward a bit so it will match both free rides and group rides. New link is: https://www.strava.com/segments/27313482
Strava may or may not go back and add old times to the new segment ID… we’ll find out soon enough, I guess. But this means Saturday’s ride will count for the Veloviewer Leaderboard!
My 1st UP was an event, and as such never not the Veloviewer segment, so I did it again on 30th December 2020 (non-event) and thankfully shows on VV. Weirdly though, my recent Strava activity no longer includes the Uber Pretzel segment, I’m guessing as you’ve changed the segment. Hopefully that doesn’t mean I have to do it a 3rd time if that gets removed from VV.
If you go back in and change the activity type on that UP ride, then change it back to Virtual Ride, it will match the new segment and you’ll see it in Veloviewer too.
Thanks – sorted. 1 entry now on Strava for the UP. Sweet. Just need to sort the original one.
Hi JIm, I’m riding this as well. I doubt we’ll see much of each other tho LOL.
I am on the uber pretzel event on sat 20th Feb, after the badge like many others. If I stay on the circuit after reaching the end, is it possible to stay on for other 21 miles to get the 100 mile badge too???
Yep!
@Eric Schlange, will riding this event get me the zwift badge and the velo viewer segment or only the vv segment?
After the 79 mile loop/route complete, does Zwift toss you right back to the beginning of epic KOM or can u choose to travel a flat route to complete the century?
Route ends atop the Alpe. Then you are back in free-ride mode. So you can ride down the Alpe, then choose where to go from there.
Just noticed that the Uber Pretzel segment might be broken. Two guys in my club have done it, one early february, one last week. Both did show up on Strava & VeloViewer as of last Friday but now neither do. Really worried about doing this ride if the segment is bust.
Segment isn’t a bust – it was just edited yesterday, so old rides aren’t showing up on it yet. But it now will grab all free rides AND group rides.
Just because the zwift insider strava segment has changed, doesn’t mean that we get the zwift achievement badge. I don’t want to risk riding for 5 hours and not getting a badge because I didn’t cross the start line. I may have to give the event a miss.
Too bad for me 😉, just did the The Uber Pretzel last Saturday on my own 🤘 Good luck for all of you
I posted this to my club, I probably won’t partake as three hours is the longest I have done on the trainer and I would have to build up for it. Maybe if this is done once or twice a year I might do the next one. I will go for my 5th ADZ instead.
So glad you organized this Eric. I did it last May on my own and extended it to 100 miles which I plan to do again on Saturday. A local club has the Uber as this month’s challenge so I needed to do it again anyway. I was surprised to see Monica signed up as she seemed to not want to redo some of these bigger rides from her route badges challenge a while back 😉
Monica is signed up, but won’t be riding the whole thing. She just figured it would be fun to start with everyone and ride for a while!
Will there be rest areas on this ride? The longer event rides IRL typically have rest areas every 15-20 miles. I need them. So on this ride will any be offered?
It’s Zwift – you can stop and rest and refuel anytime you’d like!
Terrible Time for Europeans…would do it otherwise
what bike would everyone suggest
I’ll be using the Canyon Aeroad with DT Swiss wheels. Seems like a good all-around option.
I’ve been chipping away at completing badge routes this season. I’ll look forward to doing this one with a good group. 🙂
Did it already today 🙂
Would love
to take part but it’s 1am in Australian time zone. Any plans for an APAC version of the ride?
1) Can you please (I don’t see this) make it a “can’t see anyone except people doing this crazy ride” meetup type thing? because see #2
2) One thing is when doing these long rides…you do a little work to get on someone’s wheel enoy a nice draft briefly then … boom they turn off and it wasn’t worth it! KNOWING they are all going the same way is HUGE mentally for the predictability and way to work together.
3) I’m not asking to change it everyone knows and it’s happening but I’m ambivalent about the double draft. You thought not a lot of us would be this crazy….we are. Maybe next time given the benefit of the “all going together same way” mentally and for drafting and single start time…not double draft next time or dunno what is real? haha.
4) You are a madman! Pretzel 2 weeks ago, Mega last week..I maybe the single best case for doing this and will (pending personal/family surprises) and post to my club. Thank you?
4
Eric commented elsewhere that in this event, along with most (or all?) other events in Zwift, you will only see others who are a part of the group ride. So no need to worry about anyone you ride with going anywhere but the same place you’re headed.
….and to put the icing in the cake, you can do the 3 stage Haute Route event next Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Lol! 😉🙈😂
Is late join enabled? If so, how late can we join? (I’d hate to miss out by a few seconds, as many of us have done before! 😝)
Late join is NOT enabled. Why? Because if you were to late join just 5 minutes into the event, you would start down the road from the Strava segment… and not get the route badge either. I don’t want hundreds of late joiners complaining after 5-6 hours of riding! 😂
Hi Eric, thanks for the reply! I wasn’t sure if that was the case. I joined late for a couple of the TdZ courses and still got the badges. Maybe that was unique to TdZ?
(Maybe include “no-late join” in the description, just to be clear!) Thanks again!
Eric, this might sound like a stupid question but does the double draft only apply if you are behind riders doing the event or does it apply if you are behind any rider? Also, would it be a good idea to ask riders to maybe put something like ‘UBER’ next to their name so you know who else is doing the challenge. Would be good for ‘ride on’s’ and giving messages of encouragement etc?
When you’re in this event, you’ll only see riders in this event. (This is how most Zwift events work, BTW). So riders don’t need a tag, and you will get doubledraft off any rider you see while in the event.
Ride on!
A related (noob) question: During a double draft event, do you get a ‘single draft’ when you’re riding alone? Another way to phrase it: Would the draft effect you get in a normal Zwift free ride while riding behind someone be in effect when riding alone in a double draft event?
You don’t get a draft when riding along. Drafting is, by definition, the benefit you derive from riding with others.
So riding alone in a double draft event feels just like riding along in a free ride.
Cheers Eric, see there’s over 4000 riders signed on now. It’s gonna be busy in the start pens, just hoping Zwift servers are up to the task! 🙈
Pity, because I would do this if I could start before the banner AND see the other riders.
This ride is not currently shown on the Companion App. When will that happen?
It’s already showing in the Companion App. If it isn’t showing in yours, might be worth going into Events and click on the ‘Filters’ icon to make sure you have everything enabled.
It’s been visible in Companion for a week or so!
There goes my easy week! 🙄😃