Editor’s note: Monica is undertaking the “Couch to Route Hero” challenge of riding all 67 “free-ridable” Zwift routes (and getting all the badges) in 11 weeks. Each week she shares her story of the previous week’s struggles and accomplishments. Follow along on her journey, take the challenge yourself, and be sure to give her a Ride On if you see her on course!
I rode two 5+ bidon rides this week! In the days before each major ride I walked around head down, moping. I was dreading what was about to happen, wondering how I could have been so stupid to sign myself up for this. In the days that followed each 5+ bidon ride I walked around head held high, shoulders back, hands on hips trying to find ways to “casually” bring up what kind of ride I had just done!
The Week Lined Up
I added 4 route badges this week for a total of 56. Only 11 left! I rode 179.45 miles, with 15,437’ of climbing in 15 hours and 16 minutes. The biggest week of my entire life!
I was scheduled to ride Figure 8 Reverse in Watopia on Friday. It’s an easy 2 bidon route. But I just wasn’t feeling great. Felt like my glands were swollen and I was fatigued. I don’t think I had fully recovered from riding the Mega Pretzel just 5 days before.
Because I work with highly vulnerable people each week I need to make sure I’m not putting myself into a position to get sick. I also don’t want to ruin my immune system for what may come. So I skipped the ride and will tack it on the week after the PRL Full.
The Mega Pretzel
The Mega Pretzel is 66 miles long with around 5,000’ of climb. So that I wasn’t overwhelmed by this distance I broke it up into 11-mile chunks. I’d ride for 11 miles and then take a break. This was my first mistake. 11 miles is no big deal if you’re on the flats, but there’s a lot of climbing in this route. 11 miles through the jungle and then up the Epic KOM Reverse takes 100,000 hours (roughly) to complete.
My entertainment for the day went like this: start with my favorite podcasts, then watch some old tv shows, then listen to motivating music. This worked well to switch things up and keep my focus off of how long I’d been on the bike.
By hour 3 I was exhausted. And not even close to being done. I stopped to change my bibs and socks, stretch, and wash my face and hands. I felt so much better!
At mile 50 the pad of my left palm was hurting pretty bad. My thighs started burning a lot. I’d never felt this type of burn before. Front, back, top, bottom… my whole thigh was in severe pain.
At mile 60 my lower stomach area kept cramping up. That was a weird sensation I don’t think I’ve felt since I was in labor with my youngest kid.
In the last 10 miles or so I started getting messages from people in game. At mile 52 I saw Steve Beckett of Zwift HQ riding near me. He sent an encouraging message that gave me some renewed energy! All of the messages and ride ons helped A LOT!
Eric sat with me for the last 30 minutes or so. It was good to have someone in the room to hear me suffer.
I finally finished, slowly pulled my own leg over my bike with my own hand, and got in the shower where I promptly threw up. (Aren’t you glad you’re following this journey of mine?) Final ride time: 5 hours and 19 minutes.
Finally got my century kit!
Thanks to the DIRT team and everyone else for all the Ride Ons!
Eric sent our teen out to pick up Pad Thai with Prawns for my dinner that night. I felt well cared for and could feel just how proud of me he was. It felt great!
What would I have done differently? A few small things: wear gloves so my hands wouldn’t hurt, put on Eric’s PR lotion early on so I would have less leg pain, take breaks at certain time intervals instead of mileage, and start earlier so I had more of the day to eat lots of food afterward.
Watopia’s Four Horsemen
My second 5+ bidon route came up way too soon! I really didn’t want to do this, mainly because of the Alpe.
I decided I needed to do the whole route in Zone 1 or 2 so as not to deplete my immune system. I did pretty well until the Alpe where I ended up in Zone 3 as I ran out of gears. And patience.
Halfway through this route I realized (because my legs were burning) that I didn’t try Eric’s PR lotion. I put some on and about half an hour later my legs quit burning and stayed that way the rest of the ride!
I decided to mentally break the route up into 6 sections. The Hilly Route, the Volcano Climb, the Epic KOM, the Radio Tower climb, the Alpe du Zwift, and the Jungle Loop. It helped to think “3 down, 3 to go.”
I also decided to take a break approximately every hour. If the hour mark landed near a descent I’d work it around that instead. That worked until hour 3 when I did a bib/sock change, after which each hour dragged on too long. My life motto is “I do what I want!” so I used that to justify stopping every 45 minutes instead.
New and old Zwift friends reached out to me during this ride and it was wonderful! A guy called Snappy Little and I had a good chat about doing workouts during route badge questing. Susan Jelinski, a Canadian Zwifter and I chatted about how Coronavirus is affecting our area of the world. My buddy Lewis Dinsdale from Liverpool did a “Ride with Monica Schlange” to encourage me and warm up while waiting for his group ride to start. Many others wrote messages and gave ride ons. It was amazing!
Shirley Wilson from PACK logged on to Zwift just to be able to message me in game. She was in the UK and stayed on for an hour and a half encouraging me through each area. “Any chance you finally got those Meilenstein wheels?” “You’re almost through the gravel!” “Looking strong!” It was nearly midnight for her when I finished and she was there in the in game messaging just to tell me how proud of me she was.
This ride took me 6 hours and 10 minutes. If that discourages you from riding it yourself, please keep in mind that my FTP is only 2.0/wkg.
Next Week
The current plan is to ride Greater London 8, Muir & the Mountain, Rising Empire, The Uber Pretzel, and Watopia’s Figure 8. I’ve heard everyone say that the Uber Pretzel is harder than the PRL Full so I might only ride it and 3 other routes this week.
How About You?
What routes did you ride? If you’ve done the Uber Pretzel what advice do you have for those of us who haven’t? How has this Coronavirus stuff affected your Zwifting?
Over the past few weeks, the world has gone crazy. What started in China spread to Italy, Spain, Iran and now the rest of the world. With COVID-19 bringing massive lockdowns to cities, states and entire countries there is no better place to ride a bike than the world of Zwift.
With many newly-arriving Zwifters worldwide there are a few tips that I think all of us experienced Zwifters need to follow. Let’s cut these newbies a little slack and lend a teaching hand as these new riders find out how many meters the Tron bike actually requires, how to see the real race results on Zwift Power, and most importantly how to connect with the Zwift community more intimately. Whether that’s through group rides, races or just a social club environment, let’s make these folks feel welcome.
My plan is to race each Tour of Watopia stage, so today it was stage 3 at 6:10am. One lap of Whole Lotta Lava, a route which I must confess I’d never ridden! But I knew this would be the toughest ToW race for me, since the Volcano KOM is just long and steep enough to drop an “overmuscled cyclist” like myself.
Because of this, I wasn’t foreseeing a podium. But my legs felt good so I wanted to test them and see what sort of a result I could get.
About the Route
Whole Lotta Lava (see route details) is a short route which divides nicely into thirds, distance-wise. The first third is flat, the next is a climb, and the final is a descent and flat to the finish. It begins with a lead-in from the start pier, then a lap around the Volcano Circuit in the counter-clockwise direction. The second time you pass the turn off to the volcano KOM you take it, riding up to the top then descending down. After the descent it’s a short, mostly-flat run-in to the finish line at the Volcano Circuit start/finish banner.
Many races here are 2-3 laps long, but ToW races are short, so we only raced one lap, meaning our race was only ~17.5km (10.9 miles).
While the KOM is the key part of this route, it’s important to understand that it’s not a steep climb, so speeds stay high enough that drafting still makes a big difference. (Example: I averaged 19.2mph up the KOM in today’s race.)
Bike + Wheel Choice
Lots of folks haved asked me what the best bike frame and wheelset is for this route. The answer is simple if you’re looking at what is fastest over the entire course: use the most aero setup you’ve got, just like a flat race. That’s what I did for today’s race, because I hadn’t looked closely at the segment timings until after the race.
Zwift’s best climbing bike frame (the Specialized Tarmac Pro) beats the most aero frame (Specialized Venge S-Works) by 4 seconds up the Volcano KOM. But that difference is taken back on the descent, and take back even more so on the flats.
Interestingly, the best climbing wheels (Lightweight Meilensteins) are actually 1-2 seconds slower up the KOM compared to the best aero wheels (disc, Zipp 858, ENVE 7.8 or 8.9, etc).
But here’s where it gets interesting. The Specialized Tarmac Pro will get you up the KOM faster than any other frame. What if you coupled it with the most aero wheels? You would have the fastest climber for the route, but would take a slight hit on the flats and descents.
Specialized Tarmac Pro + Zipp 858’s – the ultimate Volcano KOM weapon? (Unless you go with a disc wheel, but I just can’t bare the aesthetics!)
For a rider like myself, this is absolutely the better solution. Why? Because I can sit in the front pack on the flats and descents just fine, while I know I’ll struggle to stay with the front up the KOM. So I can afford to take a slight hit on the flats and descents, if it means some advantage on the climb.
Warmup
I rolled out of bed at 5:15am, chewed a piece of caffeine gum, put some PR lotion on the legs, and kitted up. Then I hit Tempus Fugit for a 10-mile warmup, getting my heart rate up to 160bpm via a combination of longer seated efforts and a few shorter out of the saddle sprints. My legs were feeling pretty good today, despite 55 miles of Zwift yesterday. Let’s race!
The Start
Today’s race started off with a tough but doable 90 seconds at 350 watts to hang with the front group. The lead-in takes you quickly up the ramp toward the volcano, pushing watts higher than you’d get on a flat start. But our group settled into a typical B-race pace by the time we hit the glass tunnel bridge to the volcano.
We chugged our way around the Volcano Circuit quickly, and before we even crossed the start/finish banner our group of 64 was reduced to 35. Ten minutes into the race we made the left-hand turn onto the Volcano KOM. It was go time!
The Climb
The Volcano KOM isn’t a particularly hard climb, as climbs go. At 3.7km (2.3 miles) long, with an average gradient of 3.2%, B riders will typically finish it in 7-9 minutes at race pace. Mentally, I break this climb up into 4 parts. Here’s how each part went for me in today’s race:
Part 1 – Initial Climb
The first third of the climb is a fairly steady climb, with two small downhill bumps. I hammered hard here to stay with the stretching-out front group, averaging 358 watts for 2-1/2 minutes. I could tell I was pushing over my limit, but I knew that holding the front group’s wheels was the only chance I had at winning the race, so I kept pushing.
Part 2 – Flat Through the Volcano
Pushing to get back in touch
We turn to ride through the volcano, and the road flattens out for a bit. Our group’s speed surged here, as it always does when the road flattens out. I pushed hard to get back in touch with the group across this section then tried to take a couple good breaths, knowing the next big push was just around the corner. Our group of 35 had been reduced to 26 at this point.
Part 3 – Long Climb
Our strung-out front group
This is the longest continuous climb section on the Volcano KOM, and it can feel like forever. It’s around 1 mile long, but it always feels longer! This is where the more serious attacks happen, and that is exactly what happened in our race – it strung out even more, to the point where I wasn’t sure just where the front was anymore.
I was just trying to survive at this point, pushing harder than I’ve pushed in a race in a long time. I averaged 338 watts for 3-1/2 minutes on this section. Then came the final push.
Part 4: The Kicker
One final push – everything I had!
The climb ends with a final steep kicker. If you’ve got anything left, a hard push here can gain vital seconds. A feather powerup would be a big help – but I didn’t have one. My oxygen-deprived brain had me thinking the front of the race was just up the road, so I went all-in to grab onto the wheels of the small group ahead of me.
457 watts average for 90 seconds got me in touch with that group, but when I crossed the KOM banner I realized the front was blown apart, and our group was several seconds behind the group ahead, which was several seconds behind the front group. Dang!
Post-race bonus: I set a new PR of 7:18 on the Volcano Climb. My previous best was 8:14!
The Finish
My small group of four riders zipped down the KOM. We all needed a little recovery after the climb, it seemed. Once I caught my breath I decided to push the pace a bit to catch a rider up the road, which we did. I ended up with a PR on the Volcano descent as well!
The ghost powerup wasn’t useful at all today
When we reached the end of the descent, with less than a mile to go, there were four groups of riders I cared about. One group was the front of the race: too far away to catch. The next group was just 6 seconds up the road – and I wanted to catch them. Then there was my group of 5 riders. And behind us, another group was quickly gaining ground! Could we stay away?
As we hit the ramp into the Volcano my group caught the group ahead, then the group behind us caught the churning mass of avatars. It was mayhem, and I had pushed so hard to catch the group ahead that I didn’t have much left! I emptied what I had into the pedals, but was passed by several riders, resulting in an 18th-place finish according to Zwift. ZwiftPower would award me 11th.
As it turns out, the front group of 6 was composed of 5 sandbaggers and one legit rider. Kudos to “JAJA” for hanging with the sandbaggers and taking the win – their pace was no joke, with an average w/kg of 4.4.
Until Zwift finds a way to enforce category limits, sandbaggers will do what sandbaggers do, especially in C and D races. Most of the B races I’ve done aren’t significantly affected by sandbagging, but today’s certainly was. Think about it: without that group pushing the pace at A-level w/kg up the climb, could I have hung with the front group and been in the mix for the podium at the finish? Maybe, maybe not.
It’s not worth thinking about too much, since it’s a situation that can’t be changed. But I do think it’s worth talking about, which is why I mention it here!
Takeaways
My only takeaway from this race is “I don’t like climbing races, but they sure push me to my limits.”
Flat races aren’t easy, of course, but I usually don’t feel like I’m truly giving it everything until the final sprint. In today’s race, I truly gave everything I had over the top of the volcano. That’s a good thing, in terms of training to get stronger. I should do more races on the Volcano. Even though I don’t want to.
What About You?
Have you raced stage 3 yet? How did it go? Share below!
By now, we’ve all been touched by the COVID-19 pandemic. For some, life has been dramatically altered – working from home, school cancelations, quarantines, travel bans, even hospitalization. It feels as though the world has turned upside-down – and nobody knows when it will return to normal.
As the COVID-19 story developed, the Zwift Community realized it is built on a platform perfectly positioned for this crisis. It’s an angle many of us had never really considered – but Zwift offers a way for the world to exercise safely at a time when outdoor riding or running may be unwise, discouraged, or even unlawful.
Zwifter Barry Mainwood said it well: Aside from being able to get some good exercise in it’s the last place where all of us from all over the world get to hang out together and socialize. And for that, I’m grateful for Zwift.
It could be said that zwifting helps us fight the effects of COVID-19. At the same time, COVID-19 is affecting the way we use Zwift! Let’s dig into these ideas a bit more.
The Effects of COVID-19 on Zwifters
More Meetups
I’m part of the Betty Designs team which is a worldwide triathlon team. A number of the girls have had races cancelled and/or are now working from home. We’ve been organising meet-ups so that we can get together while getting some exercise, all without leaving home. I’ve become an expert on time zones and Zwift meet-ups in the last couple of days. It’s super fun to do and is a great way to have some kind of social life without physically being around people.
Nadine Voice
Zwifters are taking advantage of Zwift’s Meetup feature more than ever, since it makes it easy to create events for a select group of friends. When you’re unable to ride outdoors with local buddies, riding virtually (and even using Discord) is the next best thing.
With the cancellation of organized youth sports, having two side by side trainers, and a lot of healthy energy at home, we are doing meetups with our kids… motivating them with the idea that if they ride x miles in a week / month, they can earn a Fitbit (a highly desired device at ages 9 and 10).
Sarah Goodrich
With more Zwifters using Meetups than ever before, we’re also seeing more requests for Zwift to upgrade Meetup functionality. Particularly, Zwifters are asking for the option to allow late joining of Meetups, and to hide non-Meetup riders on screen.
Work From Home=More Zwifting
Millions of office workers have been asked to work from home for the foreseeable future. The elimination of commuting time and nearby availability of their Zwift setup means more Zwifting for these members of our community.
I’m working from home and all travel for work is canceled – so I might finally get the chance to zwift every day for two weeks in a row and get that ‘unemployed’ badge.
Philippe Armbruster
Zwift As the Only Option
In some areas of the world right now, cyclists simply cannot ride outdoors – it’s against the law! Spain and Italy have banned it entirely, with Spanish authorities reportedly handing out hefty €3,000 fines for infractions.
I am part of a local cycling club in Madrid, currently on lockdown. On Sunday I arranged a meetup with my fellow colleagues to replace our long ride (110 km with 1.5 times Big Foot Hills circuit). Every day going forward I will be organizing varied meetups (recovery rides, workouts, races). Many have discovered Zwift through this initiative 🙂 and thanks to Discord we could feel “virtually” closer!
Hugo Angelina
Experienced Zwifters are happy to have a way to ride in countries where outdoor cycling is prohibited, but there are also new riders discovering Zwift because it’s their only alternative:
I’m in the Red Zone in Italy, about 40km from the city were all this COVID-19 thing started… a lot of guys here are discovering Zwift these days. With my team we are organizing meetups every Sunday and Saturday… As we know meetups needs to be improved a lot (late join could solve a lot of problem for my team for example).
This morning a Uber Pretzel meetup with a lot of great Italian guys.. thanks to Zwift.
Fabio Mux
Zwift As the Safe Option
Some Zwifters are riding exclusively on the platform during this time because they are part of the high-risk groups for COVID-19, or they live with people who are high-risk. Zwifter Brian McEntire coined the term “Social Zwiftancing”, which is exactly what these Zwifters are doing!
Having close family members who are in the very high risk group, Zwifting allows me to reduce the chances of picking up an infection that, while highly likely to be trivial for me, would be fatal for them. Having Zwift makes that a very minor sacrifice.
Alasdair MacMillan
As someone who lives in Seattle, the weather is not ideal for outdoor riding yet, so I’m thankful to have Zwift available as it makes long training sessions tolerable while staying indoors. Of course, now that we’re also a hotbed for Covid-19, the idea of me wiping out somewhere and needing medical attention when so many people who fall into the ‘vulnerable population’ are needing help – it seems like a selfish decision… I’m more than happy to hang out in the ‘pain cave’ until we get through this.
Lynn Johnson
Zwift As Stress Relief
This is a stressful time for everyone, for many reasons. We all know exercise is a powerful stress reducer and happily, Zwift provides a way for us to exercise in the safe environment of our own homes.
Really grateful for Zwift. Normally I’m the only one in the family who does it, but now that we’re all couped up in the house isolated, it’s a great outlet to get some exercise, pass the time, and release any tension we may all have. One of my kids (9 and 13) is really taking a liking to it!
Andres Sulleiro
I Zwift a lot anyway, but I am trying very hard to social distance as much as possible to protect my asthmatic daughter. Zwift is keeping me sane. People who think they don’t have to worry about this because they aren’t in a high risk population have no idea the stress involved in trying to protect a vulnerable person in their home. It. Is. Stressful. Zwift is helping me manage that stress. I am so, so thankful for my indoor Queen. Still riding outside, but love the ease and flexibility of my indoor set up. Kudos to Zwift!
Shelly Baldwin Brown
Events with Pros
With nearly all bike racing cancelled worldwide in the coming weeks, pro teams are looking for ways to keep their riders healthy and in-shape. Zwift seems perfectly-positioned to meet this need, and Mitchelton-SCOTT was the first world tour team to really figure this out and begin making some lemonade from the lemons with their “Where the World Rides” series. Surely other pro teams will follow suit soon, but even if they don’t, we’re already seeing more pro riders using the platform for everyday training.
I’m loving the additional TOW time slot events and the interactions with the professional riders. Cycling Canada has recommended a suspension of activities on the calendar until early May and will re-evaluate mid April. It looks like Zwift will be the only competitions here for the next 45 days.
Blair Drader
Zwifters love interacting with pro riders, and this situation is providing an opportunity for pros to put in some substantial training alongside their fans. Smart teams like Mitchelton-SCOTT will move quickly to plan events that help their athletes train while reaching out to current and new fans.
For the pro riders this is like cancelling their purpose, like soldiers with no war to fight. So it’s really nice to connect with fans, talk up sponsors, and do something productive!
Jeremiah Bishop
Events Moving Indoors
It takes some time to make it happen, but we’re seeing some of the canceled outdoor events moving to Zwift in various ways. While organizers may not be able to perfectly replicate the outdoor event, someone may be able to do something, even if it’s as small as Mitchelton-SCOTT’s homage to the canceled Strade Bianche.
Zwift just announced the Absa Cape Epic Race Week, being held during the same dates as the Absa Cape Epic race was scheduled to be held before it was canceled. There are many community organizers who are attempting to move outdoor events to Zwift as well:
Since all IRL races for amateurs are canceled in Poland we (as a community Polska Społeczność Zwift – ZTPL Cycling Club) are planning to ride our own virtual tour, ZTPL.CC Tour 2020. Right now we are waiting for ✅ from Zwift HQ.
Jacek Tarach
I run the local Escape Velocity races and in March/April I had eleven events scheduled. Now all on hiatus. I’m hoping to get going in May with our weekly crits and BC Provincials in June. In the meantime (Zwift event schedulers willing) I’ll be adding some additional weekend races targeted at our Spring Series participants.
Stuart Lynne
Nathan Guerra over at Zwift Community Live has been keeping his finger on the pulse of these new events. Other community members are also trying to support events which have had to suddenly move to a virtual venue:
At ZMS Live Stream we have offered to stream any events that are being transferred to Zwift to help with awareness and soften the blow where possible, particularly charity rides that still need the support despite cancellations. We are already working with some riders and groups on additional streams and happy to try and squeeze in as many as we can.
Damon Bates
Solidarity
There’s definitely a feeling of goodwill and solidarity permeating group rides on Zwift. We’re seeing Zwifters checking on other riders via in-game messaging, especially those in Spain and Italy:
While I was quietly ambling along doing the Out and Back route badge today just before I reached the QOM arch a group of 5 Italians blasted past me. Usually this would have me mutter something under my breath but today it really made me smile that they had somewhere they could all ride together, fast and safely.
Sarah Strange
Trainer Sales Spike
I’m getting some inquiries from friends on how to set up a minimalist Zwift pain cave (dumb trainer and speed sensor for z-power). Wonder what the worldwide supply of ant+ dongles and/or the Garmin speed and cadence 2 sensor is.
Gene Edwards
We’re even hearing rumors of a spike in sales of indoor cycling equipment! Panic-buying smart trainers? Perhaps it’s a thing! Here’s one funny story:
I work in a bike shop and a very forward-thinking fellow came in last night 15 minutes before the shop was to close to panic-buy a smart trainer. He doesn’t even have a bike to go on it right now, but all his friends have been raving about Zwift and he’s realized it might be the only way to stay exercising soon.
Diana Wilson
At a time of the year when many cyclists are moving away from Zwift and heading outdoors, we’re hearing more and more stories of riders trying out Zwift for the first time. And loving it, of course!
I live in Redmond WA, work in Kirkland WA. We are at ground zero. Earlier in the year I started toying with Zwift. Started to really enjoy it (coming from Peloton). Then as COVID-19 started heating up, my last non-food shopping trip was to the bike shop to get a Kickr. Wanted to be sure that the next few weeks/months are awesome!
Craig Wiley
Training Load Mindfulness
Note: we are not medical professionals. We believe the information shared below is broadly applicable to most people, but that does not mean it applies to you! It is best to consult your doctor if you have questions or need recommendations regarding exercise or nutrition.
During this time it’s important to do what we can to stay healthy – not only for ourselves, but for those we could potentially infect if we get sick! Because of this fact, we’re seeing more and more discussion and questions about howtraining load affects immunity.
The basic answer is: if you’re not feeling sick, then it’s best to keep getting regular exercise, as this boosts your immune system. But don’t overdo the training, as this will tax your immune system, making you more susceptible to health problems.
Here’s a thorough and informative paper titled “The Compelling Link Between Physical Activity and the Body’s Defense System” from the Journal of Sport and Health Science. Click the link to read the full article, but we’ll summarize a few key points which we believe are especially useful to Zwifters during this time:
Moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise of less than 60 min is now viewed as an important immune system enhancer.
“In contrast, high exercise training workloads, competition events, and the associated physiological, metabolic, and psychological stress are linked with transient immune perturbations, inflammation, oxidative stress, muscle damage, and increased illness risk.”
Upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) follow a J-curve model that links URTI risk with exercise workload. Moderate training results in a 40-50% reduction of URTI risk, while elevated training results in an elevated (2-6x) risk of URTI. So again, moderate training is recommended, while high workloads are not.
“Immunosenescence is defined as immune dysregulation with aging. Emergent data support that habitual exercise is capable of improving regulation of the immune system and delaying the onset of immunosenescence.”
“The most effective nutritional strategies for athletes, especially when evaluated from a multiomics perspective, include increased intake of carbohydrates and polyphenols.” Fuel your rides well with carbs, which leads to “reduced stress hormones, diminished blood levels of neutrophils and monocytes, and dampened inflammation.” And be sure to eat fruits and vegetables high in polyphenols, which exert “a variety of bioactive effects that are important to athletes including anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidative, and immune cell signaling effects.”
What Hasn’t Changed
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday life for billions of people, and as you can see from the testimonials above, it’s even changing the way we use Zwift.
But there’s a lot on Zwift that hasn’t changed at all. We’ve still got our amazing community. We’ve still got hundreds of fun events to choose from every day, and a powerful platform to host them all.
What About Zwift HQ?
How is Zwift HQ handling the COVID-19 situation? We reached out to see if they could give us any insight into whether traffic numbers are higher due to COVID-19, whether Zwift is changing their plans to better support Zwifters during these times, etc. Here’s what they said:
As you know, we never comment on subscriber numbers. As an at-home training service, we’re in a stronger position than most, and as the climate changes, we’re likely to see some changes in community behavior (that change being more activity). That said, assuming a more active base, we’re working on adding new events throughout the calendar to keep our community moving and training.
Translation: Zwift is working to get more events added to keep the community motivated during this time.
Zwift is definitely talking to pro teams and event organizers about partnering together in the coming weeks – but there is a lot of planning that has to take place to pull these events off. Yesterday, when asked about Zwift stepping in to help with some of the canceled events, Zwift Game Designer Jordan Rapp said this:
What About You?
How has COVID-19 changed your Zwifting, if at all? Are you finding Zwift especially useful during this time? Share below!
The grueling Absa Cape Epic 2020 has been canceled, but Zwift has organized Absa Cape Epic Race week – a series of events focused on “bringing the Absa Cape Epic experience to Zwift!” Of course, these events are nothing like the Cape Epic rides in terms of duration or difficulty – Zwift calls them “Cape Epic-inspired events.” They’ll be as difficult as you make them! And everyone will be riding the Scott Spark mountain bike.
Are These Races?
Here’s the official line from Zwift:
Nope. This is all about celebrating the Cape Epic with the Zwift community. But be warned: some will go full tilt. If you’re into a challenge, you may find yourself riding just as hard as you would in a race. In the end, the choice is yours.
Stages and Schedule
Mar 15-16: TT Prologue - Tempus Fugit, 1 Lap
Mar 17 + 19: Race Week Ride - Jungle Circuit, 2 Laps
Complete any of the events to unlock the zebra-inspired Cape Epic kit.
Complete Your Mission!
Remember, the Absa Cape Epic Mission is currently running on Zwift, where you need to climb 2,850m on the Scott Spark MTB to complete the mission and unlock the zebra-inspired Cape Epic paint scheme. Why not use these events to get your MTB climbing done?
For health reasons, I joined Zwift in November 2019 so I could keep cycling year-round. In those beginning days, I could barely do 5 miles. I remember the day I did 10 miles. I thought that was a big deal! I was happy with my progress. At least I was able to ride and I loved the game aspect of Zwift, so it was fun.
One of my local cycling friends who is also on Zwift suggested I should look for group rides because they were a great way to get stronger. I was still trying to learn about Zwift; how things worked, and all the lingo and terminology, so I wasn’t too sure I would do that. But I told her I would consider it.
Not long after that, I was on Facebook, reading posts in some group I had joined called The Herd Cycling. Cute name, I thought. I was looking at their page and it said something about a 1-hour group ride that was between 1.0 and 1.2 watts per kilo. I didn’t know what that meant and I had no idea really what a group ride meant except it wasn’t a race. I had never seen any of my numbers go over 0.8 so I figured it had something to do with that since it was decimals. I thought to myself, what do I have to lose? The worst that’ll happen is that I get dropped. So I went on Companion and clicked to join the ride.
I remember that morning I got up earlier than usual to make sure I was all ready for my first big group ride. I had laid out my cycling clothes the night before. I made sure I had coffee and an extra water bottle. I put a box of tissues and a towel by my bike. I was going to be as ready as I could be for this ride, doggone it.
As I clicked to join the ride, my heart was pounding. I was really nervous. I kept telling myself to relax. You’re going to get dropped anyway. Just ride. It’s not like you’re gonna get lost!
The timer ticked down to zero, the red gate disappeared, and suddenly there was such a flurry of riders that flew past me, I could almost feel the wind from my screen. I felt like I was standing still. I summarily ended up at the back of the pack, and despite all my efforts to hang on for dear life, got dropped in less than a minute.
At that time I was very bad on hills. I’m certainly not great now by any stretch, but I’m a little better than I was then. I didn’t know about spinning. So on the first hill, I was just grinding as hard as I could. I got to the top of that huge 3% hill and was very happy to see far ahead that the rest of the group was flying down a hill instead of climbing another hill around a bend. I just kept going at my own pace because at least I was seeing a new part of the course and it was fun.
I continued down the hill and saw there was a single rider ahead in the far distance. “Wow,” I said to myself, “it would really be cool if I could catch him.” I pedaled like my life depended on it and sure enough, it seemed like I was getting closer. I saw the seconds between us were getting smaller and smaller very quickly. “Damn, I might catch him,” I thought. Sure enough, I caught his wheel, and I was elated. I guessed he was just trying to catch his breath at the bottom of the hill.
“Gee, apparently I’m not as weak as I think I am,” I proudly decided. “This poor guy. He must be really tired. As soon as I can actually breathe again myself, I’ll pull for him.”
Once I reached the rider, I rode in front of him. That lasted a hot 5 seconds until he pulled in front of me. I repeatedly tried to take my turn at the front, but every time he would just go by me to the front. I said to myself, “Aha, the poor guy, he must be embarrassed! He probably feels like he has to pull because here we are, the last two people in this ride, and the guy must be trying to save his pride.” So I most graciously allowed him to stay in front.
I clicked on his name and saw that he was somewhere around level 30. I thought, “That’s odd. I would think somebody at level 30 would be a little stronger of a rider than I am, but apparently that may not be the case.”
Every time we reached a hill, I got dropped. I pushed up the hills as quickly as I could with my 2 mph massive speed, and every time I reached the top, I could see this guy at the bottom of the hill. I thought to myself, “Wow, he must not be very good at going down hills.” So I would speed up to catch him at the bottom of every hill, and would you believe it, I caught him every single time!
This went on throughout the whole ride. I was very happy about my generosity with allowing this gentleman to feel better about himself, because it surely showed that I was not acting with pride or ego.
During all this, the chat was very active. I could not type anything into the chat due to a connectivity glitch of some kind on my end, but I could read everything. Suddenly something caught my eye in the chat. Someone said something about going to the back of the pack to act as a sweep. I asked myself, “How the heck do you sweep a virtual road that has no actual debris?” Then someone else said the sweeps are the heroes because they sacrifice their ride to stay with the dropped riders.
Enter epiphany.
I shook my head in self disgust. “YOU MORON!” I yelled out loud at myself. “You didn’t catch him! He was waiting for you every time to ride with you! He’s a sweep, you dingbat!”
I thought to myself, “This poor guy. He could have had a great ride, but instead, he chose to stay at the back of the pack to pull me around, and here I am, thinking I’m all that and a Di2 groupset.” I was ashamed that I had been so pompous and supposedly magnanimous. I was filled with a tremendous amount of respect for this rider. I made sure to remember his name. I was so frustrated that I could not type into the chat to thank this guy. I figured he must have thought that I was totally ungrateful. By that time, I was not feeling very good about myself at all and I was pretty mortified, and glad no one could read my prideful mind through the computer.
As soon as the ride was done I got on my computer and got on the Herd page. I wrote, “If anyone knows K. Kondo, please tell him that my chat wasn’t working but I want to thank him so much for waiting for me throughout the whole ride! He was great!”
I got immediate responses. Oh that’s Kuni, he’s wonderful. Yes Kuni is a great guy. Kuni is the best. And then I saw somebody named Kuni Kondo comment, “It was my pleasure.” I was so happy to be able to thank him personally! If I could have hugged him through the computer, I would have.
As a result of this ride, I knew that I wanted to be a part of The Herd. These people truly embodied the spirit of cycling as a group, with no cyclist left behind. I knew this was the group for me. These days, every group ride I’m in, I am very happy to moooo in the chat at the start.
One day I hope to be strong enough to be able to go to the back of the pack and be a sweep, just like Kuni.
But for now, if you see me at the bottom of a hill, I’m probably just trying to catch my breath.
Power Zones are used all over bike training: you’ll see them on head units, training software (like Zwift) and analysis software (like TrainingPeaks, Strava, etc). Typically these zones are colored, giving you an easy visual indication of your effort: beginning at grey or blue for easier efforts and progressing up through green, yellow, orange, and red.
Power zones are calculated as a percentage of your FTP. Here are Zwift’s zones:
Zone 1 (Grey, Recovery): below 60%
Zone 2 (Blue, Endurance): 60-75%
Zone 3 (Green, Tempo): 76-89%
Zone 4 (Yellow, Threshold): 90-104%
Zone 5 (Orange, VO2 Max): 105-118%
Zone 6 (Red, Anaerobic): above 118%
Watch Shane’s video for a review of these zones, and an explanation of where they show up in game:
Comparison to Coggan Zones
Dr. Andrew Coggan has done so much pioneering work when it comes to training with power on a bike, and his power zones are sort of the “industry standard”. How do Coggan’s zones compare to Zwift’s?
Side note: Coggan prefers to refer to the zones as “levels” since there are not clear breakpoints or switches which move a rider from training at threshold to training at VO2 max, etc. Our bodies operate on a continuum, with different energy systems contributing differing amounts at differing levels.
Training and Racing with a Power Meter, 3rd Edition
Here are Coggan’s levels:
Zone 1 (Active Recovery): below 55%
Zone 2 (Endurance): 56-75%
Zone 3 (Tempo): 76-90%
Zone 4 (Lactate Threshold): 91-105%
Zone 5 (VO2 Max): 106-120%
Zone 6 (Anaerobic Capacity): 121-150%
Zone 6 (Neuromuscular): n/a
You can see Zwift’s levels are close to Coggan’s, but not quite the same.
If you’re looking to really dig into training with power, we highly recommend the Training and Racing with a Power Meter book by Hunter Allen, Andrew Coggan, and Stephen McGregor.
Do you ever have those days where you’re warming up for a race and thinking, “This is going to suck. Bad. My legs are no good today!”
That was me this morning. I had decided to string three events together into a sort of Saturday long ride, aiming for around 3 hours/60 miles of riding on Zwift. My first event was one I’d never done: SMITE (Saturday Morning Interval Training Exercise). It seemed like a decent way to warm up the legs for a race: 60 minutes at recovery pace, with 4-5 intervals in between. It began at 5:55am, meaning it would end 15 minutes before my next event: the Tour of Watopia, Stage 2 race.
I did my usual pre-race prep, chewing a piece of caffeine gum and putting some PR lotion on the legs. Also ate a Clif bar, because I wanted to make sure I stayed fueled up for today’s longer session.
Once the SMITE ride began, I quickly noticed I was not at my best. Whenever we did an interval, everyone rode away from me! And just spinning along my body wanted to cruise at ~150 watts, instead of closer to 200 where I’m normally at. My heart rate didn’t want to come up either, which is never a good sign.
On the plus side, the SMITE ride leaders and crew were hilarious. So that brightened my morning.
Ride banter made me LOL
Some good leg openers before the race!
I wrapped up SMITE, hopped off to refill bottles and grab a Clif bar, then jumped into the Stage 2 race start pens. Let’s race!
The Start
The start pen was nice and chatty this morning, which was fun
Stage 2 is one lap of the Sand and Sequoias route, just over 14 miles long. Sand and Sequoias is a fun race route because it begins with a lot flat section through Fuego Flats, then takes you onto the rollercoaster that is Titans Grove. This is where the race breaks up, then you’re back onto Fuego Flats for the final flat finish.
I knew my big challenge would be Titans Grove: specifically the KOM section. Based on the SMITE ride, I honestly thought I’d get dropped from the front at that point – possibly sooner.
The race began with a hard effort, but thankfully it was short. I averaged ~370 watts for the first 70 seconds, then we settled into a more sustainable pace, flying along at 28-29mph through the desert. Our starting group of 76 was whittled down to 57 quickly, but nobody was trying any attacks – everyone knew the action would happen in Titans Grove.
Titans Grove
Soon enough we found ourselves climbing up to the redwoods of Titans Grove. This is the most twisty, rolly section of roads on Zwift – in a race you need to stay very attentive if you want to surf the wheels efficiently without getting dropped from the pack. It requires a constant modulation of your power levels to maintain a good position! And that’s all I concerned myself with as we zipped up, down, and around the redwoods – just stay in that front pack.
When the KOM began, one rider put in a hard dig and gapped the group. But no one attempted to chase him down, which was fine with me – that meant our group pace could stay more event, and I was quite sure we’d catch that rider up the road anyway. (We did, on the KOM descent.)
The Titans Grove KOM is an interesting one, because the starting line really isn’t where the climb begins. (Check out the Strava segment.) The road feels basically flat for the first 1/2 mile, then it ramps up in to a steady grade of only 3-4%. It’s a low-grade climb, and that’s important because the pack speeds will still be high, meaning drafting still plays a big part!
We averaged 21.4mph up the climb portion of the KOM, and when we arrived at the top I was amazed to see I was still with the front group which had been whittled down to just 17 riders. Excellent! As a decent sprinter, this was very good news for me.
Besides the KOM, there’s one other little climb you have to watch out for in Titans Grove – it comes just after the descent from the KOM. It’s steep and around 30 seconds long. If you’re not wanting to attack of the front, just plan to go hard here, staying out of the wind but well-positioned in the pack. That’s all I did, and the group was surprisingly tame.
The Finish
We turned onto the desert road, settling into an even pace and recovering for the final effort. And I had a decision to make. I was holding my first-ever ghost powerup, and I had to decide if and when to use it!
The ghost makes you invisible for 15 seconds, so it’s really only useful if you want to attack off the front without others following. The problem was, I knew I couldn’t attack off the front early and stay away from this fast group. So I decided I would use the ghost when I made my final sprint jump. I would begin my sprint well within the pack, without going into red numbers so as not to draw attention to myself. I would pick up speed through the pack, and activate the ghost when I hit the front of the pack so I could invisibly shoot off the front to glory.
All went according to plan, until my legs ran out of juice on that ridiculously long final sprint section. This happens on every race here – someone jumps too soon, then gets swallowed up by the pack. That someone was me today.
I finished 6th in Zwift’s results, 4th on ZwiftPower.
Don’t let powerups dictate my race strategy. If I’d had an aero helmet or van or no powerup at all I would have waited to open up my sprint. The ghost pushed me to go early, and that was a mistake.
I can have a good result even if my legs don’t feel great beforehand. I’m not sure what was going on during the SMITE ride, but in the race as well as the ToW group ride I did right afterward, my legs felt good. Maybe they just needed a long warmup. Between the three events I did and a bit of riding in between I ended my morning with 58 miles, feeling great.
What About You?
Have you raced stage 2 yet? How did it go? Share below!
The Fence: Where It Went, When It Will Return, and Why It’s Needed
If you participate in group rides on Zwift, you’ve probably noticed that the fence hasn’t been in use for the past few weeks. What happened, and is the fence returning? We reached out to Zwift HQ for answers!
Intro to the Fence
The fence’s functionality is quite simple from an end-user’s perspective. The ride leader is able to set how far ahead of themselves the fence appears (default options are 2 seconds, 5 seconds, or 10 seconds). They can also turn the fence off.
If you are far enough behind the fence you won’t see it at all, but if you get close enough you’ll see the red “wall.” Ride through the fence and a countdown warning pops up telling you to return to the group within 1 minute.
The fence is visible if you are close enough
Ride through the fence and you’ll get this warning and countdown
Here is what ride leaders see for fence controls and stats
If you don’t return to the group within a minute you are automatically booted from the ride.
The Broken Fence
On February 20th, 2020, ride leaders were informed that Zwift was disabling the fence immediately. Here is what Zwift said about the reasons for disabling the fence:
Why did we turn off the fence? In certain situations and conditions, a non-trivial number of users were being removed from events, even though they were well behind the fence or the leader. In other words, even though some users were riding well, they were still getting removed. Since this is not a good experience for those users, we temporarily removed the fence feature from group rides.
Any Zwifters who regularly participate in group rides can confirm the truth of what Zwift said – there were definitely riders getting booted by the fence even though they were staying behind it. And nobody wants that!
The fence still exists in-game, it’s just disabled for all events. A few events, in fact, have accidentally had the fence enabled in recent days! But this isn’t Zwift testing anything – it’s just an event that wasn’t quite set up properly.
When Will the Fence Return?
This is the question many Zwifters and especially ride leaders are asking. Here’s what Zwift told us yesterday:
We have tracked down a few issues that we feel were impacting event fences and fixed those issues. We’ve also added telemetry specifically for fenced events to get more data if new issues arise. We will be turning the fence back on for select rides with the upcoming game release scheduled for the end of March.
ZHQ will be actively monitoring the rides to evaluate the fixes we’ve put in place. Once we are confident that we’ve solved the issues, the fence will be made available to all rides that wish to use it.
So that’s good news: Zwift has obviously prioritized fixing the fence, and it looks like we’ll see it when the next update arrives at the end of this month.
Do We Need the Fence?
The fence being turned off has led to discussions within the community about whether or not the fence is needed. Some riders like the “freedom” of no fences, while others like the more controlled groups created by the fence. Who’s right? Do we need a fence?
To be sure, some group rides don’t need a fence: long events like Zwift centuries, for example, typically work better if groups are allowed to form naturally. And a small number of group rides use categories as pace groups, allowing riders to select the pace they want to ride.
That said, group ride leaders are overwhelmingly in favor of bringing the fence back. Why? Because without it, group rides get strung out, gaps form, and someone will inevitably complain that the pace is too high even though they’re riding off the front well ahead of the leader’s group.
Here’s a screenshot of me leading this morning’s Pacific Sprintapalooza ride. As you can see, our group was rather small (64 riders), and it routinely split, with half the group riding several seconds ahead. This isn’t what we want for a ride like Sprintapalooza, where the intent is to spin together between group sprint efforts.
In this morning’s ride, the front group was pretty good about returning to the beacon group when I messaged and asked them to ease up and join us. But that’s not always the case, and I would much rather have the group just stay together without constant messaging. (Ride leaders prefer to use their messages to provide encouragement and banter, not to corral those off the front.)
With the fence enabled, group rides stay together as a pack. With it turned off, group rides split into multiple pace groups. For some rides that’s ok – for others it is not. Simple as that!
Your Thoughts
Have you missed the fence, or are you happy it’s gone? How can ride leaders best control their rides in the absence of a fence? Please share your thoughts below!
Editor’s note: Monica is undertaking the “Couch to Route Hero” challenge of riding all 67 “free-ridable” Zwift routes (and getting all the badges) in 11 weeks. Each week she shares her story of the previous week’s struggles and accomplishments. Follow along on her journey, take the challenge yourself, and be sure to give her a Ride On if you see her on course!
After taking a rest week it sure was amazing to get back into the challenge! Even more amazing were the messages you all have been sending me as I ride or after I post about a ride. I hope you’re all messaging others in the community to spur them on too, because it’s so motivating to receive encouragement from others! Like I keep saying, “We’re stronger together!”
The Week Lined Up
Because I rode 1 route during my rest week I only added 4 new badges this week, But that brings me to a total of 52 badges! There’s only 15 more, which I can’t believe! (We won’t discuss the fact that I have many very difficult routes left!)
I rode 84.82 miles, with 9,807’ of climb which took me 8 hours and 21 minutes.
Lots of people headed up the mountain in Innsbruck, which was fun! I got 944th out of 951 people. I guess staying in Zone 2 isn’t the way to beat everyone else up the climb!
Tour of Fire & Ice
Tour of Fire & Ice starts in the volcano and ends at the top of the Alpe. It’s not too horribly bad compared to some rides, although I am getting a little tired of that Alpe! I believe with the routes I have left I’ll only have to go up it 2 more times… of course those are both 5+ bidon routes. (I should NOT have researched that info!)
When the wheel at the top of the Alpe spun I thought SURELY it was time for me to get the Meilenstein Wheels. Alas, I got another helmet (and 250XP for getting a helmet a second time)!
I also noticed some people were climbing the Alpe on mountain bikes. Come to find out, they were working on their Absa Cape Epic Mission. Heavens! I’m slow up the Alpe even with my sweet Specialized Tarmac Pro with Enve SES 3.4 wheels. I can’t imagine how slow I’d be if I was climbing with a mountain bike. Kudos to them!
London’s Surrey Hills
I actually didn’t mind Surrey Hills too much. You just have to know ahead of time that the lead-in is a trip up Fox Hill (which happens to be my favorite hill in London). Just count your climbs as you ride. A total of five. No big deal!
If lead-ins throw you off, here’s my one tip: pay special attention when you first click on the route in Zwift. It’ll animate on the map what direction you’ll go. The blue parts are the lead-in, with the white being the rest of the route.
Next Week
This will be a big week for me as both The Mega Pretzel and Four Horsemen are scheduled. Honestly though, with all this Coronavirus talk all over the world I may have to throw in extra rest days in the last 3 weeks of this challenge. I don’t want to deplete my immune system just so I can write an article about it. I’ll take it one ride at a time and watch what happens with the virus in our part of the world and go from there!
How about you?
What did you ride this week? What are your plans for next week? And has the Coronavirus affected your riding in any way?
