Zwift Hub Auto Calibration Arrives: Firmware 4.0.1 Released
Last week Zwift began rolling out updated firmware to Zwift Hub owners. The big feature of the latest firmware (version 4.0.1) is auto calibration, and that’s big news since the only auto-calibrating trainers on the market are the premium-priced Tacx Neo 2T, Wahoo KICKR, and Elite Justo!
How Auto Calibration Works on the Zwift Hub
Once you’ve updated to firmware version 4.0.1, your Zwift Hub will automatically calibrate throughout your ride whenever you coast for at least 5 seconds from a speed of at least 15kph/10mph. Essentially, auto calibration is the same as a manual spindown calibration… it just happens automatically every time you coast.
So whenever you supertuck down a hill, or hop off your bike to hit the loo between your warmup and race, the Zwift Hub will calibrate itself, optimizing power readings automagically.
Note: since calibration is sensitive to internal temperatures, auto calibration will not occur until you’ve ridden for at least 1 minute and gotten the internals of your trainer warmed up a bit.Additionally, auto calibration will not occur while you’re in Erg mode.
Installing the Firmware Update
One Zwift Hub advantage is its direct integration with the Companion app. Updating the Hub’s firmware is easy within Companion! Make sure you don’t have Zwift running with the Hub already connected. Then just go to “Zwift Hardware” under your “More” menu in Companion and walk through the steps:
The update took ~2 minutes to install.
Does it work?
Yes. I’ve ridden on firmware version 4.0 and now 4.0.1 for several weeks, and everything seems to be working well. It just works.
For example, in this Zwift Fondo ride I took a short break at two different times, hoping to trigger an auto calibration. If you compare the power numbers before and after the first break, the Hub’s numbers are measurably closer to the Assioma pedals. I assume this is due to auto calibration occurring (although there are no messages which pop up or logs I’ve found stating that an auto calibration occurred).
In the end, I’m of the opinion that auto calibration is always a good thing. It’s too easy to neglect manual calibration, and it’s even possible to cheat manual spindowns on some trainers. Auto calibration makes those cheats harder to pull off, requires no work on the user’s side, and ensures a trainer is as accurate as its hardware allows.
Don’t just take my word for it, though. Listen to the Lama:
Rollout Schedule
Firmware version 4.0.1 is available if you are already using v4.0.0.
For everyone else on older versions, Zwift began rolling out 4.0.1 to the first cohort (10% of Zwift Hub owners) on Monday, March 27. Their goal is to complete the rollout at the latest during the week of April 10th, so if you don’t get an alert on your Companion app, just be patient – your time will come!
More to Come
In chatting with Zwift’s hardware team, there are clearly more improvements to come in terms of Hub+Zwift game integration. Watch for more updates in the next few months!
From the editor: now that April 1 has passed, we’re adding a note here to let you know that yes, this was an April Fools’ Day post. But we’re keeping it up posterity… and because we think it’s fun.
If single isn’t your speed, Zwift’s new matchmaking service may be just what you’re looking for.
Announced today, Zwift’s “Tandem” uses the company’s vast database of rider metrics and its aptly-named Companion app to match riders looking to mingle. Zwift’s press release claims Tandem “matches eligible Zwifters with startling accuracy while providing a safe virtual hangout space.”
How does it all work? While we don’t have access to the closed beta app just yet, Zwift’s sparse press release and some extra details from inside sources give us a good idea of how it all works. Let’s dig in…
Multi-Metric Matchmaking
Dating site eharmony took online dating to the next level when they released their survey-based matchmaking services in the early 2000’s. While eharmony asks new users numerous questions about religious background, career aspirations, and weekend hobbies, Tandem makes it easy, using the metrics Zwift already has in order to make a match.
While Zwift is keeping the complete Tandem formula under wraps, we do know matches are being made on these key metrics:
FTP: for those looking for something long-term and steady, compatible FTP is crucial.
VO2Max: if you’re looking for a more sprightly fling, checking VO2Max compatibility is a no-brainer.
Course Affinity: the couple that rides together, stays together. Looking at your favorite routes says a lot about compatible partners.
Tron Ownership: simply put, Tron ownership status needs to match. Two non-Tron owners? No big deal. Two Tron owners? Perfect. But you’re just looking for jealousy if only half the couple can ride Zwift’s most coveted bike.
Team Membership: Zwift is home to hundreds of teams, and studies show that riding for the same team gives couples shared goals.
Max HR: some studies show that max heart rate is an indicator of compatibility between partners.
Getting Started
Once Zwift’s phased rollout is complete, all Zwifters should see an on/off toggle in their main settings window for “Tandem Matchmaking”. Ready to test the waters? Turn it on and let Zwift’s algorithms work their magic!
Efficient and Safe
Tandem is a “Zwifty” version of dating, bringing efficiencies to an activity that can be time-consuming and intimidating, much like riding a bike outdoors.
“Kitting up, braving the weather, and riding in traffic intimidates some riders. Zwift took those issues away,” explains Mark Cote, new head of Tandem’s product team. “Now we’re doing the same with dating by making it easy to meet potential partners while sticking to your workout goals.”
Zwift’s matchmaking algorithms do all the heavy lifting, even going so far as to suggest virtual meetups on favorite courses. “Ride together virtually, chat using the Companion app, and see if you want to pursue things further,” says James Bailey, Zwift’s new Director/Ambassador of Tandem Events. “If it doesn’t work out, just flip a u-turn. There are plenty more real fish in Zwift’s virtual sea.”
Two Tandem beta users testing Zwift’s “Tunnel of Love” expansion route
The Backstory
Zwift has been making some big C-suite moves in recent months, notably bringing on Amazon’s Kurt Beidler as Co-CEO alongside co-founder Eric Min. In announcing Tandem, Zwift also announced Min’s move to CM (Chief Matchmaker), a role he’s unabashedly excited about.
“I’ve always said that Zwift had to expand to other indoor fitness activities, so this move is a natural evolution for the platform,” Eric said. “Early testing with Tandem has shown much promise, and I know Zwift can help more singles find more love more often.”
Pricing
While Tandem is planned as a paid add-on service to Zwift’s monthly subscription, it will be free to all Zwifters in the initial beta phase (much like Zwift was free during its beta phase in 2014-2015).
Final pricing has not yet been disclosed, but inside sources tell us pricing will be “much more affordable than Strava.”
Welcome to this week’s “Build Me Up” (BMU) training log (read last week’s here). Let’s get to work!
Planning My Training Plan
As I began this week, I had to figure out where each of the plan’s 4 workouts would slot into my life. This wasn’t a super-easy thing to figure out, because I had to understand what each workout would ask of me in order to properly schedule workouts on back-to-back days so I could be fresh for a big workout on the next Saturday.
I settled on the following:
Saturday: Orange Unicorn (90 minutes)
Monday: What Goes Up, Must Come Down (60 minutes)
Tuesday: Mishmash (90 minutes)
Thursday: Halvfems (90 minutes)
It might seem a bit weird putting the 90-minute Mishmash right after another workout, but Mishmash looked like an easier effort than the 60-minute Halfvems or 60-minute “What Goes Up, Must Come Down”. So I slotted it in, and as it turned out I made the right call (more below).
Whine of the Week: Workout Details
I’m not sure if everyone is like me, but I really want to look ahead at my next workout and understand exactly what I’m in for. And so far in my BMU journey, I’ve found it frustrating to do so.
The Companion app shows a nice workout profile picture, but you can’t tap a portion of it to see details like the actual wattage or length of an interval. The list of intervals appears below the profile, but crucially, like it does in game, the list doesn’t expand “grouped” intervals like over-unders… so you don’t actually know what those intervals contain!
It’s maddening. Add to that that you can’t see text prompts until they pop up mid-workout, and you really don’t know what you’re in for until you do the workout.
I do appreciate WhatsOnZwift and their library of workouts, as I can key in my FTP and at least see interval details for a particular workout. (Here’s their Mishmash page, for example.)
Ah, the Unicorn workout. There’s one each week for the first block of BMU, and I think I will learn to hate unicorns by the end!
This week’s Orange Unicorn was a big step up from last week’s Red Unicorn. Both had 4 sets of 6 OUs, but last week’s were 1 minute at 255W, 30s at 335W. This week it was 2 minutes at 275W, 30s at 335W. That’s a big jump!
Throw in coach Shayne’s cadence and position changes, and it was a tough workout. But I survived.
I’m used to doing hard rides every other day, but that’s a problem when you’ve got 4 non-recovery workouts to complete each week, which is what BMU asks. (3 workouts would be perfect. 4 means I need to do workouts on back-to-back days.)
So this week I tried to plan the two easiest workouts on Monday and Tuesday.
This workout turned out to be tougher than I’d anticipated, though. You begin at 5 minutes at FTP, then do 6 minutes at 98% of FTP, 7 minutes at 96%, 8 minutes at 94%, and 9 minutes at 93%. It seemed “challenging but doable”, until Shayne decided every interval would have a lower cadence than the one before!
That meant doing this:
320W at 100RPM for 5 minutes
315W at 90RPM for 6 minutes
310W at 80RPM for 7 minutes
300W at 70RPM for 8 minutes
295W at 60RPM for 9 minutes
60 RPM?! Jimmeny Christmas.
Holding low RPM at near-threshold power for several minutes on Zwift is a weird feeling. While this would feel normal outdoors on a steeper climb, it feels odd in Zwift where I’m used to riding at a more comfortable cadence. So yes, this workout definitely got me out of my comfort zone. But did it kill my legs too much for the next day?
I hoped this workout would be easier than the previous days’ – and it was! While it wasn’t easy, I was never close to the limit, so that was nice.
“Mishmash” is a 90-minute workout broken into 3 roughly equal parts:
4x over under: 3 minutes at 255W, 1 minute at 335W
3x of 4 minutes at 290W, 4 minutes at 255W, 4 minutes at 225W (the final set is a smooth ramp from 290 to 200, but is basically like doing the 4-minute intervals)
20 minutes at 240W
Plenty of cadence changeups and out-of-the-saddle work mixed in, of course. And a bonus – 30 minutes in, I hit level 60! I hadn’t even been watching my level meter, so this was a bit of a surprise. Hey Zwift: add level 61, please.
This 1-hour workout is just 3x 12-minute sweet spot intervals (90% of FTP, so 290W for me). Last week’s sweet spot workout was 10-minute blocks, so this was a bit tougher.
4 minutes into the ride, coach Shayne says “Today is straight forward, we will be doing 3 sets of 12 minutes @90% of FTP @85-95RPM.” I found that message surprising, given the cadence changeups he’d been pulling in previous workouts.
Turns out I was right – Shayne was lying. The first set was simple at 85-95RPM, but the next two sets had cadence changing between 65-100RPM! The last set was the toughest, for sure – trying to hold 100RPM for the 2-minute blocks really felt like work, while standing up for the 1-minute blocks in between kept the heart rate up.
Not a super tough workout overall, though. Just a steady, challenging effort, as sweet spot workouts tend to be.
Summing Up Week 2
Week 2’s workouts were definitely a step up from Week 1. While I did 5 workouts in week 1, they only totaled 274 TSS, while week 2’s 4 workouts totaled 343 TSS.
It’s not called “Build Me Up” for nothing. Next week’s workouts are even bigger.
One to Keep, One to Throw Away
I think each week of BMU features a key “cornerstone workout” and another which doesn’t really need to be done, so I thought it might be useful to call those out each week, in case your schedule is tight. For week two, here are my picks:
Key Workout – Orange Unicorn: so many over/unders, and 90 minutes long as well. Don’t skip this one.
Throw Away – Mishmash: while it’s longer at 90 minutes, it’s probably the easiest of the week, and doesn’t target a particular energy system. This one feels more like a “keep ’em busy” sort of off day workout than one that builds key fitness.
Coming Up Next Week
Four workouts next week, totaling 5 hours, 12 minutes:
Questions or Comments?
Have you gone through “Build Me Up”? How was your experience? Share below!
✅ Beginner Friendly ✅ Sweet Unlock✅ Innovative format
As the BanditZ team’s newest Zwift event, this ride aims to help riders gain confidence in their climbing abilities, ultimately enabling them to accumulate elevation gain for the Everest challenge. In addition to this, the completion of this event will unlock the all-new BanditZ in-game kit! Because rubberbanding is enabled on this ride, riders can essentially go at whatever pace they would like without affecting the speed or dynamic of the group. Note: be sure that you have the Climb Mt. Everest challenge selected before starting this ride!
The ride takes place on the Road to Sky route but finishes slightly before the top of the climb. This allows riders to descend without the rubberbanding feature once they reach the top. Nice!
Team PETA-Z is hosting a 2023 Spring Classics series. This series essentially follows the various IRL classic races—this one being inspired by the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Quite a few rules are in place to ensure that this is a fun and competitive race. All of the rules for this event can be seen in the event description and ZwiftPower description.
The distance of the race will vary depending on the category. Categories A and B will be racing 7 laps of the Tour of Tewit Well course in Yorkshire while C and D race 5 laps. Ouch!
Special settings: category enforcement, power meter required, heart rate monitor required
The outdoor season has begun for some parts of the world, and being in top shape is important for the racing season. Aktivitus coaching has partnered up with Team SZR to create a workout to help riders improve their aerobic threshold. The organizers recommend that riders have an accurate FTP programmed into Zwift to ensure that they receive the maximal gain from the workout.
Over the course of the 2-hour workout, riders will be riding on the Makuri 40 course. Rubberbanding is enabled on this ride.
The Chasing Tour follows a format similar to that of the Peta-Z series—aiming to mimic World Tour races occurring IRL. Another thing that makes this event special is that it is the most popular non-ZFondo event this weekend! Additional time slots for this event are available via the Chasing Tour website.
The race takes place over 3 laps of the Richmond UCI Worlds course. Note: Chasing Tour would like riders to use categories assigned by zwiftracing.app to increase fairness.
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!
Your Thoughts
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments!
“Cobble Crusher” ZRacing April 2023 Series Details
April is Classics time in outdoor road racing, and the Queen of the Classics, Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, arrives Saturday, April 8th. Zwift is hosting a variety of events and a mission to celebrate the big race, including a month of cobbled race routes… both old and new.
Cobble Crusher – April’s Route Schedule
This month’s races all take place on cobbly Zwift routes, with stages 1 and 4 including fresh cobbles on previously-paved portions of France:
The ZRacing series consists of monthly sets of weekly races. Each race is scheduled for seven days (beginning 1:10am UTC on Monday and running through to the next Sunday). Timeslots are consistent week to week and month to month.
Races are scheduled ~15 times each day, so there are plenty of available times to find a race.
Each monthly set of races has a time-based GC (general classification) which tracks riders’ best finishing times for each week’s race. The overall winners in each category for the month will be the riders with the lowest overall time for that month’s set of races.
Each month’s series has a unique achievement badge, which you can unlock by finishing every stage for the month.
One and Done
Zwift has planned these events around the idea of a solid 1-hour workout, so each race should only take around 1 hour to complete, including your warmup and cooldown.
Tiny Race Series – April 1 Routes and Last Week’s Results
Last week’s Tiny Races were all on the London Loop route, with each race longer than the one before. Team BL13 tried a 3-man breakaway on the first race… and it nearly worked! Watch their attempt (we cued the video to the fun part):
This is the flattest Tiny Race week yet, and it happens on April Fools’ Day. Who will be crazy enough to attack on the flats in hopes of taking the group by surprise? We’re handing out nothing but Aero Boost powerups, to keep things fast!
Approaching Tempus Fugit finishTempus Fugit custom finishApproaching Flat Route finishFlat Route finishApproaching The Fan Flats finishThe Fan Flats finishApproaching Turf N Surf finishTurf N Surf finish
Race 1: Tempus Fugit (6.17km, blind finish exiting twisty tunnel after oasis) Tempus Fugit is the flattest route on Zwift, so we wanted to give it a try and create the flattest Tiny Race to date. This race ends with a bit of a “blind finish” as you exit the twisty tunnel leading from the Oasis.
Powerup: Aero Boost 1x
Race 2: Watopia Flat Route (5.23km, end at bridge after Fishing Village) Riders will need to decide if they attack early on the ramp out of the ocean tunnel onto the dirt… or sit in and wait for the pack sprint finish.
Powerup: none
Race 3: The Fan Flats (7.4km, ends on straightaway after small rise) Our first time on this route, and it’s about as flat as can be! The finishing sprint is well-known to Zwifters, and timing will be of the essence.
Powerup: Aero Boost 2x
Race 4: Turf N Surf (7.55km, ends in slot canyon) Begin in Neokyo, then ride out through Neokyo Tunnel and onto the twisty connector road to a custom finish in the scenic slot canyon.
Zwift displays preliminary race results in game when you cross the line, but points are computed after all four races are finished, with final results on ZwiftPower. (We have to do some data processing on our side to compute results, so if your rankings don’t show up right away, be patient.)
Riders will earn points based on finish position in each of the 4 Tiny Races. The category winner of each week’s series is the rider with the most points across their timezone’s 4 races. Here are the links for each timezone’s results on ZwiftPower:
Tiny Race rules are simple, but still every week 8-10% of registered ZwiftPower racers get disqualified and removed from the final results. Don’t let that be you! Four races, four rules:
You must have a ZwiftPower account, because final results are processed by ZwiftPower (learn how to sign up)
No skipping then returning. These races are meant to be raced as a set of 4. If you need to leave early, that’s fine… but once you miss a race in your hour’s set of 4, don’t come back and race another or you’ll be disqualified from that race since you rested while others were racing! (Example: racing only races 1 and 2 is fine. Racing 1, 2, and 4 is not – you will be DQ from race 4. And if you race 2, 3, and 4, you’ll be DQ from all those races, since you skipped race 1!)
Heart rate monitors are required for podium finishers
ZPower/Virtual power is not allowed. Smart trainer/smart bike or power meter required.
Pack Dynamics v4 Testing Continues
We’ve been using Zwift’s experimental Pack Dynamics v4 since the first weekend in March, and will continue to do so.
Got feedback on PD4 after your Tiny Races? Share it on this forum topic.
Join a Chat & Chill Cooldown
Immediately following each hour’s racing, we’ve scheduled 30-minute “Chat & Chill” events where riders from all categories can spin their legs together and chat about how it all went down. Find them at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces.
Racing Update: ZwiftPower Categories Replaced By Category Enforcement
Today, Flint from Zwift posted a notice on the forum to inform racers that “ZwiftPower category has been replaced, and is now calculated by our Category Enforcement metrics.” Read the full post >
What does this all mean? Let’s dig in and find out…
A Short ZwiftPower History
ZwiftPower was launched in 2016 as a collaboration between Glen Knight and James Hodges. Glenn handled the hardware side, originally running the ZwiftPower servers out of his garage. James was the programmer. Both poured countless hours into the site. It quickly became the place where Zwift race results lived, since Zwift wasn’t controlling who joined which category or doing any post-processing of results.
Simply put: if you didn’t have a ZwiftPower account, you weren’t a serious Zwift racer. And as a serious racer, you knew the breakdown of ZwiftPower’s FTP-based categories, which quickly became the standard for race categorization on Zwift:
James and Glen signed a contract with Zwift in October 2018, assigning all ZwiftPower-related intellectual property to Zwift. (This contract included terms outlining Zwift’s financial support of the site, but those terms have never been disclosed.)
Then in July 2020, Zwift took over the hosting and management of ZwiftPower. Zwift said this was done to improve product stability. It also allowed for more clear-cut GDPR compliance, since Zwifter’s data would no longer be shipping off to a third-party site.
ZwiftPower hasn’t evolved much since Zwift took it over, but this isn’t surprising. Zwift has been investing in its own systems, with the goal of moving away from ZwiftPower at some point. So we haven’t seen any significant upgrades to the ZwiftPower site since July 2020.
Category Confusion
ZwiftPower did a good job of handling post-race processing of results, but there was no way to stop riders from signing up for the wrong category and blowing up a race. (Example: a sandbagging A rider might get a DQ in the ZwiftPower results, but they’d already blown apart the C race!)
To solve this problem, Zwift started testing Category Enforcement in February 2022. The goal was to set a minimum race category based on a rider’s historic power numbers on Zwift, blocking riders from racing categories below their detected ability. And it worked! Today, approximately 2/3 of all race events on Zwift use Category Enforcement, as indicated by this icon in the Companion app:
But the world of Zwift categories has been confusing since February 2022, because ZwiftPower had an FTP-based categorization scheme separate from Category Enforcement’s zFTP+zMAP-based scheme. The categories overlap in a big way, but riders on the edge of categories (for instance, a low-end B or a high-end C) were often categorized one way by ZwiftPower, and another by Category Enforcement.
Today’s change (in theory) eliminates that confusion.
A Few Notes
The category update on your ZwiftPower profile will not happen automatically. You have to either take part in an event or click the ‘Refresh profile’ option on your ZwiftPower profile to see the Category Enforcement information on your profile.
A+ riders will still show in ZwiftPower, for legacy purposes. A+ riders will be anyone with a zFTP >4.6 w/kg AND >300w.
Event organizers should note that by default ZwiftPower will no longer Upgrade or DQ riders based on their category or W/Kg limits. (This shouldn’t be needed anymore, as long as your event is using Category Enforcement to restrict signups on the front end.) Event organizers will have to configure this option explicitly in ZwiftPower on a per-event basis if they wish to continue using the legacy system. This change won’t affect events already in ZwiftPower. Only future events being picked up will have those enforcement options turned off by default.
WTRL’s popular Thursday TTT used ZwiftPower’s categories, but those will now shift to Category Enforcement. See WTRL’s post on this >
Wrapping It Up
This is a smart move by Zwift since it simplifies the Zwift racing landscape by creating one category scheme to rule them all.
Additionally, this change will increase fairness in Zwift racing. The metrics used by Category Enforcement are simply more robust than ZwiftPower’s legacy FTP-based categories, which were easy to “game” by keeping one’s 20-minute power below certain thresholds.
Until results-based categorization arrives, a unified Category Enforcement structure is a significant upgrade from what Zwift racers have used in the past. Ride on!
Topics covered in this week’s selections include Mac vs PC for Zwift, a miserable race in London, Zwift’s FTP Builder training plan, and indoor riding and racing tips.
Zwift on Mac Mini M2 vs PC: What You Need to Know
With the recent release of the Mac Mini M2, many Zwifters are wondering how it compares to a gaming PC. Tariq Ali from Smart Bike Trainers puts the devices to the test and highlights the differences between the two.
A Miserable London Loop Zwift Race
For most, stage 2 of the Race London series was pretty tough. Eric Barfell shares his experience in the race and provides some commentary.
Tips & Tricks From An International Esports Team Captain
Road.cc teams up with Aaron Borrill from Toyota Cryo RDT to discuss a ton of tips and tricks for indoor cyclists.
Zwift Racing Tips
Zwift Racing can be pretty tough to master. SeeSmithTV gives his tips for Zwift racing as a non-pro cyclist and triathlete.
Zwift’s 6-Week FTP Builder: Wrap-Up and My Honest Review
After recently finishing his 6-week FTP Builder Zwift training plan, Eric Barnett from Eric Barnett Cycling gives his honest thoughts on the training plan.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Watch the Femmes 2023 Mission and Events Announced for April
Zwift has rolled out a fresh Mission for April, along with a pile of events all based on Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, the big IRL women’s race happening April 8.
“Conquer a Classic” Mission Details
Getting Started
To begin the Mission, select the mission card on your homescreen and click to register:
Once you’ve registered, clicking the mission card will show your progress for the Mission.
Note: signups opened today in game, but the Mission doesn’t begin until April 3.
Completing the Mission
To complete the mission and earn the specially-designed Watch The Femmes-themed achievement badge, ride at least 145.5km (90.4 miles) between April 3-30, 2023. Of course, you don’t have to do this all in one ride. But you can if you’d like, and there are special events on April 8th to help you do just that (see below)!
Why 145.5km? Because that’s the length of the IRL Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift race being held on April 8!
Zwift says finishing the mission will unlock the Watch the Femmes kit, socks, cap (the same as 2022), and a new pair of WTF sunglasses… but riders are reporting not unlocking the glasses with mission completion. To get those, you’ll probably need to ride a Cobble Crusher race or the France Classic Fondo (see below).
Additional Watch the Femmes Events
Zwift has a full slate of events planned around the #watchthefemmes theme for April:
April 3 to April 30 – ZRacing Monthly Series: Cobble Crusher (see details here)
April 8 France Classic Fondo Rides: Want a challenge? Ride 145.5 km on the new France Classic Fondo route in the #watchthefemmes fondo! Four time slots to choose from. Finish a fondo and unlock the Watch the Femmes kit, socks, and cap (the same as 2022), plus a new pair of WTF sunglasses.
Every Wednesday in April – Workouts of the Week: Try out the workouts inspired by Annemiek Van Vleuten, Coryn Labecki, Sara Martin, and Teniel Campbell every Wednesday in April
Learn more about the IRL race, as well as the Zwift series surrounding it, at zwift.com/watchthefemmes
New Cobbles?
The Watch the Femmes events will take place in France, and according to Zwift during these special events some of the existing paved sections will be changed to cobbled roads. A temporary cobbling!
Zwift’s annual fondo series is a popular tradition where thousands of riders push themselves to finish long rides. This year’s series began in December, when over 9000 riders finished their fondos!
April’s rides are this weekend, and it’s our last chance to participate in the Zwift fondo series until (probably) next winter. Here are all the details about this weekend’s events…
April Fondo Schedule
The weekend kicks off at 11pm March 30 GMT, which is 7pm EDT/4pm PDT.
Events repeat every 3 hours until 3am GMT April 2 (11pm EDT/8pm PDT).
Each month of this year’s series rotated between these two sets of routes. March used the 2022 routes, so April will use the original routes.
Kit Unlocks
New this year, each fondo length has its own unique kit unlock. Here’s a shot of all three kits:
These kits are exclusive, meaning they will never be available anywhere else. A true badge of honor, even the “salmon and chocolate” Bambino kit.
This weekend is your last chance to unlock any or all of these kits. If you are up for the challenge, see if you can ride all three distances in one weekend!
Is this a race?
Officially, no. But thousands of riders will turn out for each of these popular “fun race” events, and the front of each category will certainly be filled with strong riders going all out.
How the Categories Work
Unlike other Zwift events, the A, B, and C groups don’t refer to rider strength or fitness. Instead, they correspond to route and distance options:
