UPDATE: this route is now an official Zwift route, added to the game to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024! See official route page >
Our newest Rebel Route was actually created several months back – we just never got around to putting together a post about it! 575 riders have already done the route, according to Strava. And there are some impressive times on the Veloviewer Leaderboard! (If you can do this in under 40 minutes, that’s a very strong effort.)
Our goal was to find a long, flat route on Watopia without riding over the same tarmac again and again. At 3.04 meters of climb per kilometer of distance, this is the flattest route on Watopia, apart from Tempus Fugit. And it’s much more scenic! Hope you enjoy it.
About Rebel Routes
“Rebel Routes” are Zwift rides which are not available on Zwift’s routes list, thus requiring manual navigation.
The reward for your rebel ride? Exploring a new route, knowing you’ve gone where few Zwifters have gone before. And a Strava segment rank in the tens or hundreds instead of the thousands! They are included as a separate category on our Veloviewer Route Hunter leaderboard.
Route Description
This route is essentially a mashup between Watopia’s Tick Tock and Volcano Flat routes.
Watopia’s Fuego Flats stone arch/banner is your start/finish line. From there you’ll ride through the desert, descend through the redwoods to Ocean Boulevard, then make your way to downtown Watopia and the “Volcano Flat” portion of the ride.
Ride the slight ramp up to the glass bridge, then around the base of the Volcano and up the Dirty Sorpressa. Pro tip: if you’re chasing a good time on this route, this is the most important place to hit the watts hard and keep your speed up.
Then we climb past the waterfall before descending to the Fishing Village and back into the Ocean Boulevard tunnel. (This is the only repeated road on the route.)
Turn right after climbing out of the tunnel and take the slight uphill back to the Fuego Flats start/finish. All done!
Profile
The profile makes this route look more pitchy than it really is. With only 89m (292′) of climbing across 29.2km (18.1 miles), this is a fairly flat route.
Getting Started + Lead-In
The easiest way to get onto this circuit is to choose “Tick Tock” from your Watopia route options. This will properly route you until you have to stay straight (left) instead of turning right to head back toward Fuego Flats after climbing out of the Ocean Boulevard tunnel.
Turn by Turn
Here are the turns you’ll need to make to successfully complete the Big Flat 8, beginning in Fuego Flats at the start/finish arch:
- Straight (Right) to Epic KOM
- Straight (Left) to Epic KOM
- Right to Sequoia Circle
- Right to Downtown
- Straight (left) to Downtown
- Right to Downtown
- Right to Volcano Circuit
- Right to Volcano Circuit CCW
- Straight (Left) to Volcano Circuit CCW
- Straight (Right) to Volcano Circuit
- Straight (Right) to Italian Villas
- Right to 360 Bridge
- Right to Sequoia Circle
- Left to Sequoia Circle
- Left (Straight) to Downtown
- Right to Desert Flats
- Left (Straight) to Desert Flats
Route details:
Distance: 29.2km (18.1 miles)
Elevation Gain: 89m (292′)
Strava Segment
Rebel Route Suggestions
Got an idea for a great rebel route? Share it below and maybe we’ll publish a post about it!
Just created my first workout this weekend. Not perfect but it worked well. It would be get to have a create your own route. Maybe some type of map interface and you drag a bike icon over it..
Yeah this has long been a requested item. Once you start getting all the route badges it gets a bit samey, and although you can of course manually change direction, it would be great to have user created routes to create and even share with others.
Its insane that creating custom routes still hasn’t been implemented as a feature. Having to navigate turn by turn manually over and over is bonkers.
I’m having fun trying to put one together at the moment. I started off on a long workout trying to cover as many roads as possible without going over any tarmac more than once to keep myself interested and turned into quite a nice point to point style route:
Start off selecting volcano circuit and it puts you on the glass bridge towards the volcano. Round the volcano (can go up and down as well if you’re feeling adventurous but I counted back and forth along the same bit of road as touching it twice) and out towards Italian Villas.
Left at Italian Villas towards the sprint and the esses.
Right towards downtown and across the downtown line
Right onto the forward KOM and all the way over
Left at the switchbacks towards the Marina
Now here you can either go left at the windmills straight to sequoia circle or straight on and along the new coast road or over the mountain depending how long and how climby you want. In every case you get back to sequoia circle and Ocean Bvd towards town.
Take a right towards the desert and the right into Titan’s Grove
Left at the end of Titan’s Grove into the desert and finish at the Fuego Flats finish line.
If you choose the mountain and to do the volcano climb then you will actually hit 4 of the 5 climbs on Watopia so for a climby route is fairly comprehensive.
If you want to try and make it a race route you’ll have to extend to the downtown pens which will double up the bit from the pens to the glass bridge junction but I can live with that. As a race it’s hit 4 climbs and then the long desert finish? Not sure who’d favour that route. Or do it it in reverse and you’ve got the volcano climb at the end and the usual dash from the top to downtown line.
I’ll keep thinking.
And if you go at turn 11 left towards the sprint and after the sprint turn right on the new spangle and at the end of this new spangle turn right towards Italian villas and on the next possibility turn left towards the fishing village you might have over 30 km.
My variation of this route has 32.5 km till the arch in the desert. But there was some trouble turning right at the end of the new spangle between Sprint and 360Bridge.
Why are so many routes called an “8”?
Because they are a figure 8 shape.
#10. Make it “Straight (right) to Italian Villas`. Good ride
Ah, good catch! Fixed.
I have two longer flat routes I like:
1) Tick Tock/Fuego Flats 8:. Do tick tock and continue through the sprint barrier to the turnaround in saddle springs. Turnaround and go back through Fuego flats and past the sprint barrier. From there do the whole tick tock backwards with the end coming when reach the Fuego flats sprint banner again.
2) Greater London flat 8: Start with regular greater London flat and proceed through most of the route. At Trafalgar square, instead of going back towards Buckingham palace, continue straight towards bib ben. Then, turn right to do the mall backwards. After going through the sprint point, go to the classique, go through Knightsbridge in reverse. Go past the left turn to the mall and go to the classique in the other direction and after the classique go back to the mall and finish the route at the sprint barrier.
Both routes take me about 40 minutes to complete at an average speed around 30 kph.
@Eric Schlange says “If you can do this in under 40 minutes, that’s a very strong effort.” And what’s my time? 40:01. *lol* *facepalm* Adrian and Thomas put down some really phenomenal times on this route.
So close!
Looks great. I’m gonna hafta set this one up as a standard. I will say, Mileages (Kilometerages?) for each turn would be helpful…
But that’s part of the fun! I can’t make it too easy…
Zwift should really start adding these “Rebel Routes” to their list of route options. I really don’t see what the big deal is. It’s almost like they don’t like to use good idea thought up by people who aren’t them. I don’t even know why they have the Feedback and Suggestions on their site forums — I really don’t think they listen much at all to what their subscribers have to say.
At #14 (second time at Sequoia Circle) turn right towards Fuego Flats and ride everything in reverse to complete a 60km pretzel.
Noticed the empty badge icon for Eastern 8 in my Badge profile – thought I’d give it a try. Rode it as per directions, no badge. ??
Thanks for setting this up, was fun to follow! Just an FYI but an addition is needed between steps 8 and 9 to account for the new Climb Portal.
Keep up the great work ZI!
Added that step. Thanks Todd!
How do you actually get the route badges for this and other rebel routes?
As of V1.53.2 there are route badges for “Castle Crit”, “Big Flat 8”, “Spiral into the volcano”, and “Repack Rush”. The last one is restricted to steering ability afaik. But how do you get the other badges? I can ride the route, the Strava segment registers, but I don’t get the badge. What am I missing?
Thx!
You can’t yet. It’s confusing, I know.
Until you can choose the route from the routes list and have the game auto-navigate it for you, you won’t be able to earn the route badge. Watch for an announcement here on those routes being available in game!
Ah, thanks Eric. I figured that’s the reason. Well, I guess that means I have to go back to the Masochist and/or Everesting badge for now ;-(
So glad I read this before I started the ride. I’ll have to wait impatiently for Zwift to add this as an official route
I was hoping to use this route for an event but I can’t seem to find it when I pull up the routes on companion app. Is this no longer available?
Today I completed Big Flat 8 following the instructions EXACTLY as set out above. There was no confirmation on my screen of “route complete” and when I checked my Badges on my login page Big Flat 8 route is still grey … not filled in with photo like all the other routes I have completed.
Do you have to do this route as part of an Event to get credit for completing it?
I did the same today. I should have read Erics Answer to Daniel 8 days ago. We will wait for the route in the list. But anyway a nice ride..
Yes, agreed!
I just did this route but didn’t get the badge, how can I tell what I did wrong? I’m pretty sure I followed the directions perfectly. 🤷♀️
You mention above that a rebel route is one that requires manual navigation. I did this route turn by turn and finished, but did not get the badge. I checked the companion app and it says this route is event only.
You should clarify this page to state that you only get the badge in an event.
Did not work. Did the route exactly as advertised, and no badge. Even started back in Watopia. What gives? Even shows the “Big Flat 8 Banner to Banner” in Strava.
Eric Schlange..any thoughts?
My thought is “Why does everyone keep trying to freely navigate this route, expecting to unlock the badge, when badges have never worked that way?” 😜
You’ll have to wait until it’s an official route in game that you can ride in an event or choose for a free ride.
Haha I thought that’s how rebel routes worked but forgot there’s no badge for rebel routes. My bad!
If you check the site zwifthacks.com you will be able to find activities with three new routes, such as this one, before TdZ St.8. Will they give you a badge for this?
Yep.