Saturday marks the end of the 2022 Rapha Festive 500, and now it’s time to focus on the new year. This week’s selection will help you start off strong!
The second Zwift Fondo also takes place this weekend, but this list will highlight the notable community events, as the fondo has already received a good amount of attention.
🤝 Vocsnors PRL Fondo p/b KISS
Every week, former hour world record holder Victor Campenaerts leads a group ride where riders can join and ask him questions in his live stream. This week, Victor will be helping riders complete the longest route in Zwift: the famed PRL Full course in London. This course will likely take riders 4-6 hours depending on their pace.
Victor will be holding a brisk pace at 3 w/kg on the flats and 4 w/kg on the climbs, likely completing the route in less than 5 hours. This is a great opportunity for riders to complete this iconic route in as little time as possible!
Saturday, Dec 31 @ 9am UTC/4am EST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/3369674
🤝 Cillian Kelly New Year’s Day Watopia Flat
GCN’s own Cillian Kelly will be leading a social group ride to celebrate the start of the new year. (Cillian manages statistics for GCN, and was the Zero to Hero rider on the GCN channel. Check out the Zero to Hero series as Cillian tackles a Tour de France stage.)
The group ride is open-paced, so riders are free to go at whatever pace pleases them. This 45-minute group ride will take place over the Watopia Flat Route. Riders who complete the event will also receive the GCN kit in Zwift.
Special settings: jersey unlock
Sunday, Jan 1 @ 5pm UTC/12am PST/9am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/3340855
🤝 Pas Normal Studios Winter Resolution Zwift Ride
Pas Normal, a Copenhagen-based cycling brand, is hosting a social new year ride as a way for riders to unlock the new Pas Normal in-game cycling kit. So far, this is looking like a pretty big group ride with 150+ riders already signed up! These events will be happening every Sunday throughout the month of January.
The leader will be holding a steady 2 w/kg and up to 2.5 w/kg on the climbs. The ride takes place over 90 minutes on Suki’s Playground, so riders will likely complete ~4 laps of the course. Riders must complete the full 90 minutes in order to receive the kit.
Special settings: jersey unlock
Sunday, Jan 1 @ 4pm UTC/11am PST/8am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/3363219
🤝Team Italy Endurance Ride w/Saverio Addante
Up for a challenge? Team Italy is hosting an endurance ride over 40 laps of the Volcano Circuit with Saverio Addante, a well-known endurance Zwifter. Saverio has many notable indoor achievements, including riding 1000km non-stop, several veverests (virtual everests), and over 120,000 km logged on Zwift. There are numerous badges that riders can unlock on this ride since Zwift offers a badge for the first completion of 5, 10, and 25 laps. Many riders will also achieve the 100-kilometer and 100-mile badge.
There will be a lead and sweep, but participants can go at whatever pace they would like. The ride will likely take upward of 5 hours, so be prepared for a long time in the saddle! Riders must complete the full duration for the Team Italy in-game kit.
Special settings: kit unlock, double draft
Saturday, Dec 31 @ 6am UTC/10pm PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/3371520
🤝 New Years FUNdo
Join Saskatchewan, a Canadian cycling club for a metric century around the newest expansion to the Makuri Islands, Urukazi. This ride is meant to be a fun social ride where riders can enjoy the company while ticking off some mileage to start the year. Leaders will not be present in this ride, but a relatively high attendance is expected.
The ride features four different categories, allowing riders to ride with a group around their pace. Over the course of the 100km, riders will complete several laps of the Island Hopper course.
Special settings: double draft
Sunday, Jan 1 @ 3pm UTC/10am PST/7am PST
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/3341705
Your Thoughts
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments!
Why do you have walking avatars, but it counts as a run on zwift I do walking challenges on strava ,but I have to go through wahoo and watch your walking avatars walk with them on wahoo ,and when I finish ,it counts on strava why not zwift sort it out
Unfortunately I do not have a say in that. I’d recommend creating a forum post or contacting Zwift Support.
Thanks for sharing our event…we had fun today
https://www.strava.com/activities/8319619357
Happy New 2023
For future reference, the Pas Normal events were a MAJOR disappointment. I joined the Jan 15 and Jan 29 rides and, in both instances, the ride lead went immediately off the line at a significantly-higher-than-advertised-intensity and continued to separate from the pack. (Several participants noticed this and voiced their displeasure, so it wasn’t just me.) I ended up bailing in both instances.
Noted.