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Watopia “Muir and the Mountain” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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12
Watopia “Muir and the Mountain” Route Details

Watopia “Muir and the Mountain” Route Details

John Muir, circa 1910

One of five routes rolled out with Zwift’s Titans Grove expansion, “Muir and the Mountain” takes you on a loop which includes the Titans Grove “Watopia Preserve” and the Epic KOM. Fittingly named for John Muir, “Father of National Parks”, this route’s in-game description is an adaptation of Muir’s famous quote: “The mountains are calling, and I must go.”

The route’s length and profile make it a nice choice for an hour-long session which includes a hard climbing effort.

Start, Finish, and Lead-In

This route begins just west of the desert start pens, facing the Titans Grove entrance. You will need to ride the ~4.8km lead-in to the top of the Titans Grove reverse KOM before the route begins.

Once you cross the KOM line the route officially starts. It ends when you cross the same line a second time.

Route Description

Begin by turning left into Titans Grove (reverse direction) and enjoy your roller-coaster ride through the sequoia forest. Hit the reverse KOM section hard if you’d like, but keep in mind you’ll be hitting it again at the end of the ride… plus the much longer and steeper Epic KOM and radio tower climbs are coming up soon!

At the end of Titans Grove hang a right onto the Fuego Flats road, descending across the bridge and turning left onto the road to the Epic KOM. Climb up through this mountain pass, and when you hit the banner at the top remember: you’re not done yet! This route takes you up even higher as you turn left to take Watopia’s steepest climb: the radio tower road.

Once you reach the tower it’s time for a long descent. Enjoy the downhill–you’ve earned it! When you reach the windmills at the Ocean Boulevard intersection turn right, then another right after climbing out of the ocean tunnel to get back onto the road to Titans Grove. Keep riding all the way to the top of the Titans Grove reverse KOM–the route ends at the KOM line.

Profile

The route begins with a rolling lead-in punctuated by a short climb to the official start line. Then it’s a quick descent before attacking the Epic KOM and radio tower climbs.

The top of the radio tower climb is our halfway point distance-wise, but in terms of time you’re well past half because “it’s all downhill from here!”

Route details:
Lead-In: approximately 5km
Distance: 33.9km (21.1 miles)
Elevation Gain: 762m (2501′)
Strava Segment

Changelog

  • 11/29/19: changed Strava segment and descriptions to reflect Zwift’s recent route change, which has this route officially beginning and ending at the Titans Grove KOM.

Video: Zwift Winter Speculation

Shawn McAfee
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0
Video: Zwift Winter Speculation

Video: Zwift Winter Speculation

Wondering what’s next for Watopia? So are we!

We scoured the Internet for hints about what the Zwift development team has in store for this winter season and here are the predictions we can make. Forecasts are calling for gravel, user interface upgrades and so much more.

But you may not believe what our longshot prediction is…

All About this Weekend’s Giro di Castelli

Eric Schlange
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0
All About this Weekend’s Giro di Castelli

All About this Weekend’s Giro di Castelli

Zwift has announced the Giro di Castelli, a 3-stage event happening this weekend. Official Zwift stage events are always popular, so expect big groups!

Is it a race? Zwift says no, but there will be plenty of riders treating each stage as a race. Find a group riding at your pace and enjoy the challenge and camaraderie.

Groups and Times

Each stage has 5-6 event times to accommodate everyone’s schedule (see schedule). Additionally, riders must select a group when signing up for each stage. This dictates which route you ride:

  • A Group: long distance, men and women
  • B Group: short distance, men and women
  • C Group: short distance, women only

Unlocks

There are three different Giro di Castelli kits, one for each stage. You will unlock each kit upon completing each stage. Here’s a preview:

Stage 1: Bologna

It’s a Giro, so it’s fitting that we start in Bologna, site of the Giro d’Italia prologue time trial stage in 2019.

  • A Group (2 laps): 24.6km (15.3 miles), 495m (1627′) elevation. Note: 2 laps on Bologna means you ride up to the finish line, back to the start, then up to the finish once more.
  • B and C Groups (1 lap): 8km (5 miles), 230m (757′) elevation

While this stage is on the Bologna TT course, it doesn’t appear to be a TT event. We recommend finding a bike frame and wheelset that lets you climb quickly because that’s where this course really gets challenging!

Stage 2: Watopia Flat (Reverse)

This stage is nice and flat, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy! Find a pace you can manage, and use the draft to conserve energy.

  • A Group (4 laps): 41.2km (25.6 miles), 216m (708′) elevation.
  • B and C Groups (2 laps): 20.6km (12.8 miles), 108m (354′) elevation

Stage 3: Epic KOM

The Queen Stage of this tour, stage 3 has each group going over the Epic KOM. The B and C groups get the added joy of ascending to the Radio Tower!

  • A Group: 1 lap of Big Loop route – 42.4km (26.6 miles), 651m (2175′) elevation
  • B Group: 1 lap of Mountain route – 29.5km (18.3 miles), 671m (2201′) elevation
  • C Group: 1 lap of Mountain 8 route – 32km (19.9 miles), 677m (2221′) elevation

See event schedule >

How Zwift Calculates Time Gaps

Eric Schlange
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8
How Zwift Calculates Time Gaps

How Zwift Calculates Time Gaps

Ah, the time gap. It’s a time-honored bike racing tool used to tell riders how far they are from other riders who are up the road or chasing from behind. While the pros have motos zipping by with signs displaying the time gaps, amateur racers often don’t have that luxury.

This can lead to funny situations, like my buddy who was racing an outdoor cat 3 crit where three riders went off the front from the gun. They quickly opened a big enough gap that the chasing peloton lost sight, and soon enough, it was like the peloton had forgotten about the group up the road. It wasn’t until the breakaway caught the peloton from behind that everyone realized the podium had slipped from their grasp!

In Zwift we have a display on the right of nearby Zwifters that includes time gaps from you to each rider. Have you ever wondered how those gaps are calculated?

This past weekend I raced the DADurday Chase Race, where knowing the gap between your group and those ahead and behind is very helpful. While doing some quick time gap estimates based on the minimap I realized I had no idea how Zwift calculates time gaps. So I decided to figure it out!

How It Works

After doing some testing, I’ve discovered that Zwift’s gaps are based purely on distance. Or more accurately: Zwift’s time gap calculation assumes everyone is traveling at 30kmh.

This makes it an easy calculation on Zwift’s side–they just need to know the distance from one Zwifter to the next.

Here’s a simple example: if you are the red rider, traveling at 30kph, and the rider up the road isn’t moving, you would catch them in 60 seconds. In this example, Zwift would show a time gap of 60 seconds between the two riders.

The downside of Zwift’s time gap calculation method is that it’s only accurate when you are traveling at 30kph. Let’s look at more examples.

What about a flat race situation? Most of my flat races on Zwift find me sitting in the pack traveling between 40-50kph.

At this speed, the rider ahead is 40 seconds away–but Zwift will still tell me 60 seconds.

This disparity increases with speed, so on a descent when I’m traveling at 70kph the rider is only ~25 seconds ahead, but Zwift will tell me 60 seconds.

What if we slow down, like on a climb?

At 15kph (not an unreasonable climbing speed, especially on steeper climbs and/or for bigger riders), Zwift now drastically underestimates the time gap, showing 60 seconds when the next rider is really 120 seconds up the road.

This explains why, in a race situation, you might show a gap of 20 seconds to the lead rider on a climb. But when that rider crests the hill and begins to descend, the gap suddenly grows to 60 seconds! Did the leader attack? No. But they’ve increased their distance from you because they’re moving fast while you’re still crawling up the hill. Don’t panic, because you will be making up that distance soon enough!

ZwiftPower to the Rescue

If you want more accurate live time gaps in Zwift events, ZwiftPower has your solution. I chatted with James Hodges, the programming mastermind behind ZwiftPower, and he explained that ZwiftPower estimates time gaps based on 100-meter waypoints scattered throughout Zwift. The system is constantly logging the precise time when each rider passes each waypoint. It can then compare the times of riders for the same waypoint and thus display the gap between those riders.

Here’s one example of what this live event data looks like–note the “Time” column, which displays the number of seconds each rider is behind the leader. (In this particular case there is obviously a sizeable group of riders at the front of the race.)

To access these live time gaps, just find your event in ZwiftPower and click the “Live” link in the menu. Especially handy in chase/handicap races!

Reframing Time Gaps

Armed with this information about how Zwift calculates time gaps, perhaps it’s wise to begin thinking of the gaps not as time, but distance. The math is easy: 60 seconds of a “time gap” means the rider is 500 meters away. That 10-second gap which seems impossible to close? It’s 83 meters and change. You can do it!

Can it be better?

It seems Zwift’s time gap algorithm has room for improvement, but what would that look like? Should they implement a waypoint system like ZwiftPower? Is there something they could implement that would work even better? Or should they not change a thing? Share your thoughts below!

Join Eric Min’s Thanksgiving Day 2019 Ride

Eric Schlange
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0
Join Eric Min’s Thanksgiving Day 2019 Ride

Join Eric Min’s Thanksgiving Day 2019 Ride

Join Eric Min and lots of special guests this week for the 5th annual Thanksgiving Day Ride!

Eric Thanksgiving morning ride has become an annual tradition on Zwift. It’s a fun way to pre-burn some calories before the feasting begins. Here’s more info…

Hear from the Big Man

Typically these rides have been a place where Mr. Min gives us a glimpse of what’s coming up next for Zwift. If you want to hear from the CEO himself on a variety of Zwifty topics, this is a fun way to do it!

Ride Details

  • Date and Time: 7AM PST / 10AM EST / 3PM GMT this Thursday, November 28th
  • Route: Sand and Sequoias
  • Length: 60 minutes
  • Pace: past Thanksgiving Day rides have been loosely-controlled affairs, with Eric Min averaging around ~2.6-2.8w/kg (190-200 watts). This ride will not be using the leader fence, so expect it to be strung out, with some riders going harder on the front. It’s a social ride, so go at your pace and enjoy the big group!
Chloé Dygert

Special Guests

Reigning UCI elite TT world champion Chloé Dygert (Team Sho-Air TWENTY20) will be on the ride as well, and easy to spot with the red beacon over her avatar. GPLama Shane Miller will also be there, along with Zwiftcast‘s Simon Schofield, Zwift Community Live‘s Nathan Guerra, many Zwift leaders from Zwift HQ, and myself!

Signing Up

Sign up via Zwift Companion, in game, or on the web.

Hope to see you there!

Zwifters: Don’t Fry Your Dongle

Eric Schlange
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2
Zwifters: Don’t Fry Your Dongle

Zwifters: Don’t Fry Your Dongle

Many Zwifters use an ANT+ dongle on the end of a USB extension to connect to their smart trainer, heart rate monitor, and other devices. This is generally a very stable and simple way to get going on Zwift.

However, as we’ve learned over the years, sweat from indoor training can cause a lot of unintended damage. It can corrode bike parts (especially aluminum handlebars) and it can also destroy your ANT+ stick!

Matt Curbeau is a top A racer with the Indoor Specialist squad. He recently completed a ride without a fan (which is generally a bad idea, unless perhaps you’re training for heat adaptation.)

When his workout was finished he had accumulated a small lake of sweat beneath his trainer. Unfortunately, his ANT+ dongle was also in that lake of sweat, and the next morning when he went to ride, this is what it looked like:

Water and electrical currents are a bad combination. Water filled with electrolytes combined with electricity is even worse!

One easy way to avoid this: see if you can get the dongle off the ground. This will save it from the sweat pool issue. Some Zwifters even tape their USB extension to their trainer.

Protect Your Dongle with this Easy Hack

We typically place our ANT+ dongles on the ground near where sweat falls because that’s easy and we want the dongle close to our smart trainer. How do you protect the dongle in that situation?

Easy: seal up the dongle. Slide it into a plastic bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. Done!

How Zwift Sizes Your Avatar’s Body

Eric Schlange
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15
How Zwift Sizes Your Avatar’s Body

How Zwift Sizes Your Avatar’s Body

UPDATE Feb 13, 2024: Zwift now lets you choose the size of your avatar’s body. Still, we’ll keep this post up since your avatar’s body size will follow the rules below unless you decide to change it.

Your Zwift avatar is a virtual representation of yourself, and some people take that very seriously. Think of everything that goes into your avatar’s “look”–your jersey and shorts, headwear, head type, hairstyle and color, skin color, sock style and length, shoes, gloves, sunglasses, facial hair… it’s a lot!

Zwift has a challenging task on their hands in building tools to create avatars people can feel good about.

What about the avatar’s actual body? Sure, your avatar is “decorated” with all the clothing and accessories listed above, but have you ever wondered how Zwift sizes avatars?

We did a little research to figure it out.

3 For Men, 2 for Women

Zwift’s avatar sizing is actually quite simple. There are only three avatar body types for men, and two for women. Here’s what they look like:

Men’s Small
Men’s Medium
Men’s Large
Women’s Small
Women’s Medium

What determines which body size you see? It’s the rider’s weight and height. It appears body types change at a particular BMI.

Men’s Avatar Sizing:

  • Small: BMI <21
  • Medium: BMI 21-26
  • Large: BMI >26

Women’s Avatar Sizing

  • Small: BMI <22
  • Medium: BMI >22

That’s it. Your body doesn’t slowly grow larger or smaller as you change weight or height–you are given one of three (or two if you’re female) body sizes based on your BMI.

Example: men with a BMI of 26 or more will all have the same avatar body. Even if your BMI is 40 it will look the same as someone with a BMI of 26.

Sometimes this helps: if you’re very overweight, you might be happy with how your “gorilla” avatar makes you look. But BMI can be a bit of a silly measurement: I have two real-life friends who sport the “large” men’s avatar on Zwift, but neither would ever be confused for being big or overweight guys. One is a very lean guy, all muscle, and the other is a very tall guy with a bit of belly fat.

So it’s not a perfect system, but it works.

Want to calculate your BMI? Go here >

About Height

Your height affects your speed in Zwift and helps determine (along with weight) which avatar body type you get. But it does NOT change the visual height of your rider in game.

All avatars are the same height, regardless of your setting. This was probably done so kits and bike frames wouldn’t need to be scaled for each rider, but wouldn’t it be cool if you could see people’s actual size? It would add some nice variety to the visuals.

Your Thoughts

Any questions about avatar sizing, or thoughts on why Zwift does it this way? Comment below!

Ronnie Schildknecht on Athlete Management and Athlete Contracts (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #18)

Eric Schlange
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0
Ronnie Schildknecht on Athlete Management and Athlete Contracts (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #18)

Ronnie Schildknecht on Athlete Management and Athlete Contracts (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #18)

When it comes to life as a pro athlete, performance is only half the battle. To truly reach the next level, you need to know the business of sports.

In this episode, we bring in an expert on the matter: 9x winner of Ironman Switzerland, Ronnie Schildknecht. He dives into and corrects misconceptions about how athletes make their living.

Beyond that, we also chat about news regarding aerodynamic effects of drafting riders and motos.

About the Podcast:

The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.

How many calories am I actually burning?

Eric Schlange
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10
How many calories am I actually burning?

How many calories am I actually burning?

While losing weight isn’t the only goal for cyclists, it is often an important one. An accurate count of calories burned for each ride becomes a key metric if you are using the “calorie counting” approach to weight loss which is effective for many.

If you’ve been riding long and using tools such as Zwift or TrainingPeaks to track your rides you know each service delivers different calorie numbers. Why is this, and which numbers should you trust?

Let’s try to answer this question by first understanding the basics of calories, kilojoules, and efficiency.

Calorie

A Calorie (or more accurately, a kilocalorie) is a unit of energy. How much energy? Scientifically speaking, a kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water one degree Celsius.

Kilojoule

A kilojoule (kJ) is also a unit of energy, and some countries (like Australia) even use it instead of calories to measure food energy. A kilojoule is equal to 1000 joules, and a joule is the amount of work required to produce one watt of power for one second.

Therefore, the number of kilojoules you put into your pedals over the course of a ride is equal to (average watts × ride length in seconds) / 1000.

Examples:

  • If you ride for 60 minutes (3600 seconds) at 200 watts you will have put 3600 x 200 / 1000 = 720 kJ of energy into the pedals.
  • If you go harder and ride for 60 minutes at 300 watts you will have put 3600 x 300 / 1000 = 1080 kJ of energy into the pedals.

If you have an accurate power meter then you are accurately measuring your kilojoules on each ride.

Calories can be converted to kilojoules easily: 1 Calorie=4.186 kJs. 

(Note: in the absence of a power meter, calorie calculators use some combination of heart rate, body weight, age, distance, time and incline to approximate your work. These approximations produce widely varying calorie counts. Since this post is for Zwifters I’m assuming you have an accurate measurement of kilojoules–that is, an accurate power meter.)

Efficiency: the Big Question

When you ride a bike, your body converts stored calories into kinetic (movement) energy. Those movements show up as wattage in Zwift.

But here’s the rub: not all of your calories’ energy is turned into kinetic energy. In fact, most of your calories are converted into heat energy, not kinetic energy. That’s why you sweat when you ride.

How much of each calorie becomes heat, and how much becomes movement? That’s the efficiency question. And there’s no way to answer it outside of lab testing, so in everyday life, we rely on approximations.

Scientists agree that when cycling, 20-25% of each calorie burned is actually applied to your pedals. The more efficient your body is, the higher that percentage will be. And remember, we also know 1 calorie can produce 4.186 kJs of work. Using those numbers, let’s look at some example calorie burn calculations.

Examples (using our rides above):

  • 720 kJ ride at 25% efficiency burns (720/4.186)/.25 = 688 Calories
  • 720 kJ ride at 20% efficiency burns (720/4.186)/.2 = 860 Calories
  • 1080 kJ ride at 25% efficiency burns (1080/4.186)/.25 = 1032 Calories
  • 1080 kJ ride at 20% efficiency burns (1080/4.186)/.2 = 1290 Calories

Different tools factor in different efficiency levels, and that’s why you may see different calorie numbers for any given ride if you track it in Zwift, on your Garmin, etc. Heck, some tools use totally different equations for calculating calorie burn, even when power data is available! For example, my Wahoo ELEMNT seems to calculate calories using a funky heartrate-based algorithm while Zwift uses my wattage and a 25% efficiency factor.

Which Calorie Number is Correct?

The answer is: none of them are. Unless you are in a lab which can accurately measure your complete energy output, you must rely on tools that crunch numbers and deliver approximations.

Conclusion

Tracking your calories to lose weight? Use the tool that calculates calorie burn based on power, not heartrate–because power is more accurate. And if you’re ever in doubt, consider using the tool that gives you the lowest calorie counts, so you aren’t accidentally replacing too many calories when eating to fuel your workouts.

Rebel Routes: The Snake

Eric Schlange
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11
Rebel Routes: The Snake

Rebel Routes: The Snake

“The Snake” covers most of the roads in Watopia proper in both directions, which means you’ll hit 5 timed KOMs and 3 timed sprints. It’s a true “Out and Back” route, and we call it the snake because it looks like this:

About Rebel Routes

“Rebel Routes” are Zwift rides which are not available on Zwift’s routes list, thus requiring manual navigation.

See all rebel route posts >

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!

Route Description

This longer route winds through the less mountainous portions of Watopia then doubles back and retraces itself in reverse.

We begin in the desert, riding over Fuego Flats before turning into Titans Grove for the forward KOM. Then make your way down to Ocean Boulevard and over to the reverse Hilly KOM for our second timed climb.

Next we travel through downtown Watopia, hit the Esses and the reverse sprint, and make our way across the land bridge to the volcano. This is the largest climb of our route. Make it to the top, take a look around–you’re at the head of the snake, halfway through the ride. Now it’s time to retrace your path!

Ride the land bridge to the Italian Villas, hit the forward sprint, then fly through downtown Watopia and up the forward Hilly KOM. Make your way down to the Fishing Village and into the Ocean Boulevard tube, then hang a right as you come out of it to head back to the desert.

But before we reach the desert proper we’ve got to turn into Titans Grove and have a go at the reverse KOM. Then it’s back through the desert, finishing at the desert rock arch. Well done!

Profile

Even though you will ride over 5 timed KOMs, this route is actually quite flat with only 661 meters of elevation over 77.4km. The Volcano KOM halfway through is the largest climb. Since this is a true out and back route, you can see the profile mirrors itself.

Getting Started

Start by choosing the Tempus Fugit route, or any route that puts you near the desert start pens. The route begins at the desert sprint arch.

Turn by Turn

Here are the turns you’ll need to make to successfully complete The Snake. Start by choosing the Tempus Fugit route, or any route that puts you near the desert start pens. The route begins at the desert sprint arch.

  1. Straight (Right) to Epic KOM
  2. Right to Titans Grove
  3. Left to Ocean Blvd
  4. Left to Ocean Blvd
  5. Straight to Italian Villas
  6. Straight (Right) to Italian Villas
  7. Right to 360 Bridge
  8. Straight (Right) to Reverse KOM
  9. Straight (Right) to Reverse KOM
  10. Straight (Right) to Downtown
  11. Straight (Left) to Downtown
  12. Straight (Left) to Sprint
  13. Right to Volcano Circuit
  14. Straight (Left) to Volcano Circuit
  15. Straight (Right) to Volcano KOM
  16. Straight (Left) to Volcano Circuit CCW
  17. Straight (Right) to Italian Villas
  18. Left to Sprint
  19. Straight (Left) to Sprint
  20. Right to Downtown
  21. Straight (Right) to KOM
  22. Straight (Left) to KOM
  23. Straight (Left) to Bridge
  24. Straight (Left) to Italian Village/Sprint
  25. Left to Sequoia Circle
  26. Straight (Left) to Sequoia Circle
  27. Straight (Left) to Downtown
  28. Right to Desert Flats
  29. Right to Titans Grove
  30. Straight (Left) to Desert Flats

Route details:
Distance: 77.4km (48.1 miles)
Elevation Gain: 661m (2170′)
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!

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