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Homage Gravel Ride with Mitchelton-Scott This Sunday

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Homage Gravel Ride with Mitchelton-Scott This Sunday

Fans who follow cycling’s world tour have been saddened to hear of many road races being canceled/postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. First the UAE Tour was cut short, and now Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, and Strade Bianche have all been canceled. (Officially, these races are “postponed” since the organizers are working to reschedule them for later in the year.) California’s huge Sea Otter festival has also been postponed.

World Tour pro team Mitchelton-Scott made the call to withdraw from all racing due to COVID-19 concerns, and today announced the launch of an ingenious series held on Zwift called the “BikeExchange – Where the World Rides Series”.

According to Michelton-Scott’s press release:

The ‘BikeExchange – Where the World Rides Series’ is aimed at keeping riders and team staff stimulated during the non-racing period, as well as providing a unique opportunity for cycling fans to ride and interact with their favourite stars.”

About Sunday’s “Homage Gravel Ride”

The series kicks off with a “spirited gravel ride” on the Jungle Circuit this Sunday in homage to Strade Bianche, the big Italian gravel road race which was supposed to happen on March 7th.

Hundreds of riders have already signed up! The ride begins at 11am CET.

See event details on zwift.com >
See event details on ZwiftPower.com >

Route Details

For the Zwift event riders will do 3 laps of the Jungle Circuit route, meaning we’ll cover about as much virtual gravel (~27km) as the Women’s Elite race would have covered for Strade Bianche. The overall Zwift event will be ~29km long.

(The planned Strade Bianche race course for the Elite Men in 2020 was 184km long, includes 11 gravel sectors, totaling over 60km. The Elite Women were set to race 136km, with 8 gravel sectors totaling 31.4km.)

Technically set up as a “group ride” and not a race, the event description says “The pace will start out around 2.5-3.0W/kg, but surely will pick up throughout.” Ride at whatever pace you’d like, but you can be assured hundreds of riders will be going all-out by the end of this event!

Some top Michelton-Scott riders will be on the ride including world champion Annemiek van Vleuten and Tour de France stage winners Daryl Impey and Simon Yates. Check the signup list in Zwift Companion to see who is joining.

Shhh… here’s a tip about bike choice

It doesn’t look like riders will be forced to use a particular type of bike for this race, so here’s a piece of advice: if you have the option, use a mountain bike! They roll much faster in the dirt, giving riders a significant advantage over those on road or even gravel bikes.

Learn about Zwift’s fastest mountain bikes >

Series Schedule

The full series schedule will be announced after Sunday’s opening event. The team’s press release says the series will include “the following concepts and more”:

  • Mixed team races
  • Race your heroes – see how long you can hold off our Michelton-Scott boys and girls in this unique race format
  • Fan race: where fans can enter to become teammates of one of their favorite riders, who will represent them as a captain ‘on the road’
  • Training sessions – designed and led by specialist team coaches
  • A live-broadcasted race

Register with Michelton-Scott for email updates on the series >

Pure Genius

As we see it, this is a brilliant move by Michelton-Scott, Zwift, Bike Exchange, and everyone else involved. It will let the pros engage with their fans while maintaining fitness. It pushes the benefits of Zwift as a platform. And it honors these canceled/postponed races. Ride on!

What About You?

What do you think of this “Homage Series” idea? Will you be participating? Comment below!


How long does it take to unlock the Zebra Bike for the ABSA Cape Epic mission on Zwift?

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How long does it take to unlock the Zebra Bike for the ABSA Cape Epic mission on Zwift?

Does the new paint skin for the Absa Cape Epic have you drooling? Me too. But I also feel like it would be sinful to ride that beautiful bike on tarmac.

Singletrack and gravel roads are limited in Watopia (but I’m hopeful for more soon). So what route options do we have that fit the rolling resistance advantage of the Scott Spark RC mountain bike? And how long would it take to do the entire 9,350’ mission in one ride? Follow along and we find out!


“Join the Swarm” Events & Giveaways Announced

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“Join the Swarm” Events & Giveaways Announced

Zwift has announced a big series of events in collaboration with Machines for Freedom and Saris. It all starts this Sunday! Join the community for a social ride or workout, earn an exclusive kit, and participate in the sweet prize giveaway. Zwift says:

It’s all in honor of International Women’s Day. When women ride together, magic happens. Led by women at Zwift and the best of our community, these are the rides that can’t be missed! Make new friends and connect with old ones as we’ll roll at friendly paces, and share laughs, advice, and motivation.

Event Schedule

Multiple 60-minute women’s group rides are scheduled each day between March 8-26. These rides alternate routes between Watopia’s Waistband, Greatest London Flat, Volcano Flat, and Greater London Flat. See event list on ZwiftHacks >

There are also 60-minute “Join the Swarm Workouts” events that women AND men can ride. See event list on ZwiftHacks >

Kit Unlock

Complete any event in the series to unlock the HIVE Collection limited edition kit. It’s also available for purchase, along with a cap and water bottle, for your IRL rides! 

Ultimate Prize Pack Giveaway

Know a queen bee that would love to Zwift? Or a worker bee who really needs an upgrade? As part of the celebration, 5 Ultimate Prize Packages will be given away to women who inspire their cycling community!

Each package contains the full Machines collection, a Saris H3 Smart Trainer, MP1 Motion Platform, TD1 Desk, a free year of Zwift, and entry to the gravel race of your choice: Dirty Kanza, Rooted Vermont, Rasputista, or Steamboat Gravel.

Find out how to nominate your queen bees at zwift.com/machines

Learn more at https://www.zwift.com/machines


Sleep Special with Dr Ian Dunican Part 2 (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast #46)

Sleep Special with Dr Ian Dunican Part 2 (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast #46)

This episode brings you more insight into the power of sleep and how it can help improve your cycling. Tips are also included, from turning standby lights off to why you should let teenagers sleep in!

Plus, Kev delves further into the science behind caffeine and training!

Missed part 1? Get it here >

About the Podcast

The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features training tips from host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson (Coach Hendy) and Kev Poulton (Powerhouse Cycling).


Can Zwifters Draft In Workout Mode?

Can Zwifters Draft In Workout Mode?

Here’s one simple question which Zwifters disagree on: can we draft while in workout mode?

A very recent Zwift Riders thread, in fact, shows the level of confusion on this topic. Or check out this Zwift forum thread from a year ago. Some Zwifters say yes. Others say no. So what’s the answer?

Well, the answer is yes–we can draft in workout mode.

Why the Confusion?

One reason why Zwifters may believe there is no draft is that the “Close the Gap” message is turned off while doing a workout. In normal riding (outside of workouts), this message is meant to encourage riders to get closer to the rider ahead in order to enhance the draft effect, but in an ERG workout we can’t modulate our power in order to catch a rider up the road, so the message would only be an annoyance.

There’s also confusion on this point simply because the question has never been clearly answered in Zwift forums and groups, as far as we can tell. So today we’re providing a clear answer!

Prove It

Don’t believe there’s drafting in workouts? Here are a few screenshots from a recent test we did in Richmond. One rider pulled at 300 watts steady, the other was in workout mode, doing whatever wattage was required for testing.

Here you can see our drafting rider sticking on the wheel of the 300 watt domestique while only putting out 228 watts. This lines up with our free riding drafting tests, showing that the draft effect in workouts is the same as any other ride type in Zwift. Additionally, note that the drafting rider is “sitting up,” indicating that they are drafting.

We then put the drafting rider on a TT bike – and he quickly dropped off the back at 260 watts. Which of course is correct, because TT bikes can’t draft in Zwift!


How-To: Ride the Saris MP1 (and Other Rocker Plates)

How-To: Ride the Saris MP1 (and Other Rocker Plates)

Saris MP1

Editor’s note: Matt Gardiner rides for Team Indoor Specialist, which is sponsored by Saris. As part of that sponsorship, team members were recently given Saris MP1 Nfinity Motion Platforms to test and use. As a big rocker plate fan myself, I was keen to see what Matt thought of his first experiences using the MP1!

It’s no secret that Saris has received some pushback due to the MP1’s “tightness”, lack of adjustability, and price point. (I’ve even written about it on Zwift Insider, and GPLama Shane Miller’s recent MP1 review video mentions the tightness as well.) That said, users seem unanimous in saying they love the MP1’s fore/aft movement, solid build quality, and additional comfort afforded by the rocking motion.

Shane Miller mentioned in his recent video (linked above) that there is a learning curve to using a rocker plate, and that’s true to some extent. It’s especially true if you’re accustomed to riding a typical rigid trainer setup, which doesn’t replicate outdoor movements well at all. But here’s the good news: the learning curve is not steep, and it’s well worth the trouble (in my humble opinion)!

After spending some time riding and racing the MP1, Matt put together a solid tutorial to explain how to properly use this motion platform. But the videos and advice apply quite nicely to all rocker plates. In fact, it may be the best rocker plate “How To” tutorial I’ve seen so far, which is why I asked Matt if we could share it on Zwift Insider.


You may not realize it, but riding your bike on an unmoving indoor trainer is not at all like riding your bike outdoors. Indoors, there is no need to contend with gravity to balance yourself (unless you are one of the lucky few who has managed to fall off the indoor trainer).

As you pedal, your upper body subtly leans towards your powering leg in an attempt to gain leverage through the power-phase of your pedal stroke. Outdoors, this motion is enabled by leaning your bike away from that powering leg as you propel yourself forward and work to stay upright. On the static trainer, it is not necessary (or even possible) to lean the bike as you would outdoors.

This video demonstrates the proper and improper forms for riding an indoor trainer rocker plate such as the Saris MP1:

When you introduce a rocker platform to your indoor riding setup, immediately you will notice your natural inclination to lean towards your powering leg (i.e. applying power with right leg, and leaning body towards right leg). This motion gets the rocker platform moving, but it will feel a bit foreign, as your entire bike and body will lean in the same direction: towards the ground.

To get the bike moving more similarly to how it would outdoors, you will need to apply gentle pressure with your hands — moving the bike away from your powering leg. To do this, as your right leg is entering the power phase (down-stroke) apply gentle pressure with your left hand, rocking the bike and MP1 to the left. As you progress through the power phase with your right leg, transition that pressure to your right hand as your left leg enters its power phase. The platform should rock side-to-side with each pedal stroke.

This concept is a bit hard to grasp by reading, so check out the following videos to get a clearer view on how to ride the MP1!


Seated

This video explains the simple motion involved in riding the Saris MP1 Nfinity at a steady, seated effort. Subtle use of your upper body by applying pressure on the handlebars makes riding on the MP1 far more like riding outdoors than a static setup.

Through each pedal stroke, push your bars away from the foot that is currently in its power phase. The MP1’s fore/aft movement will be felt as you do this, giving you the sensation of speed and inertia. The sensation of inertia on the stationary bike makes for an incredibly immersive experience in games such as Zwift!


Climbing

This video explains the motion involved in riding the Saris MP1 Nfinity out of the saddle in a climbing effort. Apply pressure on the bars through your upper body, leaning the bike away from your powering leg for each pedal stroke. This allows you to generate constant force to maintain a fluid motion.

As you rise out of the saddle, the bike will respond to the movement by shifting backwards. Begin maneuvering the bike to initiate the fluid side-to-side rocking motion. Each pedal stroke should be met with a corresponding lean of the bike towards the other side.

This motion is comfortable and replicates the motion of climbing outdoors far better than simply raising the bike’s front end.


Sprinting

This video explains the body’s motion involved in riding the Saris MP1 Nfinity out of the saddle in a sprint effort. Sprinting is the most complicated of the efforts on the MP1, requiring complete upper body interaction with the bike.

As you throw the bike side-to-side, you will be pulling and pushing with your arms to generate leverage. Your legs will work to push against that leverage to produce as much power as you can through the pedals.

Once this motion is nailed down, you will be sprinting with the best of em’!


Interested in learning more about the Saris MP1 or indoor riding in general? Leave a comment below!

This post originally ran on teamindoorspecialist.com


Tour of Watopia 2020 Pro-Am Race Series Details

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Tour of Watopia 2020 Pro-Am Race Series Details

Zwift has just released the news that Tour of Watopia 2020 will include “Tour of Watopia Live”. Here’s how Zwift describes it:

The night before each stage, get a preview of the stage to come as pro riders throw it down in a live race.

This sounds a lot like the Pro-Am Invitational Series Zwift organized for Tour de Zwift… except this ToW series includes overall series leaders jerseys (see below).

Schedule

The ToW Pro-Am races will happen at 12pm PDT/7pm GMT the day before each new stage begins. Here’s the full 5-stage schedule:

Points and Leader’s Jerseys

These races will be scored based on a points system, with the top-scoring men’s and women’s riders being given a yellow leader’s jersey to wear for the next race. The points system isn’t new (Zwift used it for Tour de Zwift’s races) but this is the first time we can remember Zwift giving an overall leader’s jersey to the points leaders. Cool stuff!

Women and men will each have three races, with the final points leaders after the third race being crowned the overall yellow jersey winners.

Where to Watch

Zwift has created a page where the live streams of each race will be available – see it at zwift.com/video/tour-de-zwift-live. Races will also be broadcast on Facebook via the Zwift Live.

We’ve also included each stream below, where it can be watched once Zwift goes live.


Couch to Route Hero, Active Rest Week Done

Couch to Route Hero, Active Rest Week Done

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’ve found there are two horrible things about taking an active rest week. The biggest one is that you can’t eat as much as you do on the big ride weeks. Sad. The second is the feeling of guilt and sadness as you pine for your bike. “It’s okay, little bike. I’ll be back. It’s not you, it’s me.”

On Monday I rode the Volcano Climb route for the badge and while I did finish I just didn’t have anything in me for that ride. Both Sunday and Monday I had a sore throat and general fatigue. Also, my left hip/lower back/leg weren’t really happy with me anymore. A handful of people had told me I might consider a rest week in the middle of this 11-week challenge and it seemed my body was beginning to agree with them. So with bravery I resigned myself to an active rest week. 

The Rides Lined Up

Because I didn’t decide until Monday that I’d take time off I did end up getting one badge this week, making that 48 done!

Route completed: Watopia’s Volcano Climb

The ACTIVE part of the rest week

Wednesday I rode Watopia’s Tick Tock (which I already have the badge for). It took me 47 minutes as I forced myself to stay in Zone 1. That was HARD to do! I averaged 71 watts, trying to keep my heart rate between 105-110bpm. Haha! Was I even riding?

Thursday I walked outside. It was a warm, sunny day here in Northern California. As I was about to leave I called up to Eric, “I’m going on a walk!” He yells. “Have fun!” I inform him, “I won’t have fun. It’ll be slow. I’m walking. Slow isn’t fun! Fast is fun!” And there it is, folks! My first time finally realizing what Zwift’s new tagline meant! Fast is fun! So true!

On Friday I rode Innsbruckring. A whole 8 miles on the bike since I was trying to stay in Zone 1 again. I averaged 81 watts, this time with a goal of keeping my heart rate between 110-120. That kept me just inside Zone 1 but let me push the ride just a little bit more than when I rode Tick Tock.

Saturday found me itching to just ride again already. I no longer had a sore throat or fatigue. My body was feeling better after going to the chiropractor on Wednesday. He said I must use my left side more as my hip was so tight it was rotating my entire pelvis in that direction anytime I moved. No wonder I was in pain! Since I was feeling better by now I really had to resist the temptation to give a real effort. Instead, I stayed in a lower Zone 2: 115-125 bpm, averaging 81 watts.

The NON-ACTIVE part of the rest week

I found I was really behind on some projects at home and at work since I started this whole challenge. Riding was consuming more and more of my time so each of my real jobs were being done more sloppily. This week I caught up on projects. What a relief!

I also decided that my brain really needed a rest week as well. Remember the time I almost jumped out of my skin during a ride because of Eric sneezing while I was intensely concentrating? This was my week to let the brain relax. So I quit berating myself over food choices and I ate a piece of cake mid-week. And I sat out in the sun during some of my lunch times instead of trying to catch up on work while I ate. And I put my loud cycling music on while I cleaned instead of listening to a podcast. Little things that made a difference to me.

Lastly, I was intentional about doing what my chiropractor told me to do: use the Accugun on my hip and IT bands, do plank exercises, and continue to stretch my legs for long amounts of time. 

What I learned

This is the first time in my entire life I’ve ever started to get sick and was able to stop myself from it. Between the active rest week, taking my supplements, praying and sleeping well things turned around for me! So exciting!

It was apparent in the first half of the week that I was slacking off about drinking lots of water. Drinking lots of water during a rest week is still important. I ramped that back up.

And my biggest aha moment came when Eric told me one key system the body uses when trying to recover from hard effort rides: the immune system! THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH! 

Coming up this week

Since I already rode one of Route Badge Quest routes this week I’ll finish up with the other 4. Likely riding Tour of Fire & Ice, Greatest London Loop, Surrey Hills, and the 2018 UCI Worlds Short Lap in Innsbruck. 

Coming up this month: London PRL Full

I’m planning to do a world-wide group effort on the London PRL Full! Read all about it here and start preparing now to join me!

How about you? 

What did you do this week?


Absa Cape Epic Mission Announced for March 2020

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Absa Cape Epic Mission Announced for March 2020

Zwift has just rolled out an in-game mission for the month of March: its first MTB mission ever! This mission is centered on the Absa Cape Epic, a race held on South Africa’s western cape that covers 600+km and over 50,000′ of climbing in 8 back-to-back daily stages.

Here are all the mission details…

Completing the Mission

Begin by joining the mission – click “Let’s do this!” from the startup screen, then agree to the terms.

This is important: only rides done on the Scott Spark RC bike count toward the mission.

You can “Auto equip Scott Spark RC”, which puts you on that bike for your ride. Or uncheck that option to use a different bike.

This option is confusing a lot of Zwifters already – we’ve received several emails from people saying “Why am I on a mountain bike?” Just uncheck that box and you’ll be good to go!

As long as you’re riding the Scott Spark RC bike, your climbing will count toward the mission. Ride a total of 2,850 meters/9,350′ (you can do it in one epic ride, or across multiple rides) and you will unlock the extra Drops and Absa-inspired paint scheme (see below).

Why 2,850m? Because that’s how much climbing riders will be doing for the 85km (53 mile) long stage 5 of the Absa Cape Epic race. Wow!

The mission ends at 11:59pm PT March 31st, so make sure you get your MTB climbing in by then!

Forced (Accidental) Bike Swaps

Zwifters are reporting a bug wherein the game is placing them on the Scott Spark when the Zwifter hasn’t yet signed up for the mission.

The quick fix: sign up for the mission! Then you can turn off the “auto equip Scott Spark RC” option and it will stay off.

Important: if you’re joining an event, especially a race, make sure you’re on the right bike beforehand! You won’t win a road race on this (or any) mountain bike, since it rolls much slower on tarmac.

Mission Unlock

When you complete the mission you will receive a bonus of 100,000 Drops, while also unlocking the zebra-inspired paint scheme for the Scott Spark RC bike.

Absa-inspired paint scheme

Note: you will need to own the Scott Spark RC in order to ride it outside of the mission. It’s one of the best mountain bikes in game currently, so it’s worth picking up!

Grand Prize

Everyone who completes the mission will earn an entry into the grand prize drawing for a custom-painted Scott Spark RC bike.

**Note from Zwift: the image is a representation of what the bike will look like with paint applied. The components shown will differ from the prize bike. The prize bike will have Sram XO1 or XT level components and alloy wheels.

For more details on the mission, see the Zwift’s official mission page.


How Long of a Break Can You Take In the Middle of a Zwift Session?

How Long of a Break Can You Take In the Middle of a Zwift Session?

Here’s a question someone recently asked us:

Sometimes I’m working to complete a long route and get the badge, but I can’t do it all in one session because of scheduling issues. I know I can get off the bike, keep my Zwift session running, then come back and finish the route even an hour or two later. But is there a limit to how long of a break I can take in the middle of my session?

That’s a great question! Here’s the answer…

Why Take a Break?

We’ve all taken short intermissions during a Zwift session, pausing things for a nature break, a bidon refill, or a variety of other reasons. But why would someone want to take a longer break? Here are a few reasons:

  • Schedules: you’re trying to complete an event or route which will take 3-4 hours, but you only have 1-2 hours free at a time. Parents of young kids, people with busy schedules – you know how it is!
  • Recovery: you desperately want the PRL Full badge, but your nethers can’t handle being in the saddle that long. So you consider splitting the effort up over two days.
  • Unexpected emergency: we’ve heard of Zwifters who were in the middle of a long session when they got a phone call requiring them to drop everything and address an urgent matter. They may want to pause their workout and come back to it hours later so they can get all the stars for completing it and/or receive the route badge.
  • Hardware malfunction: if your trainer or bike breaks in the middle of a long, hard session, you may want to finish the session hours or days later after everything gets fixed.
  • Internet outage: your Internet connection may drop in the middle of a session, and you want to ride with others and/or make sure the session will save properly when you’re done. This may mean waiting hours or days before your Internet is restored.

How Long Can It Be?

Zwift shows the overall time, not the moving time

The official word from Zwift is that there is no limit to the length of time you can rest in the middle of a Zwift session.

Zwift does automatically put you into a “lurking” state if you’re inactive long enough, which basically means you stop being broadcasted to the network so others won’t see you on course or see you in the list of active riders to join. Once you start moving again, though, you’ll be taken out of “lurking” mode. We aren’t sure how long you must be inactive before you’re set to lurking status, but it’s at least 5 hours in our tests.

To test how Zwift would behave if we took an especially long break, we began a session at 10:23PM on February 23rd, rode a couple of kilometers, then got off the bike and left the session running. We returned at 9:25AM on February 27th (~83 hours later), rode a few kilometers, then saved the ride. Here it is on Strava >

Everything worked perfectly fine on Strava’s side. The only weirdness we spotted is Zwift displaying the overall ride time (from the start of the ride to the last pedal stroke) instead of the “moving time.” So it shows the activity time both in Companion and in our zwift.com dashboard as 3 days, 11 hours, 4 minutes, and 38 seconds!

A Few Considerations

So Zwift allows us to take very long breaks if desired, which is great. But that doesn’t mean we should all start recording crazy-long Zwift sessions! Here are a few things to consider:

  • Hardware/software glitches: the longer you leave an active session running on your device, the better chance some sort of glitch will occur and you’ll lose your session data. Sure, it can usually be retrieved one way or another, but there is a risk you could lose your activity to a computer crash, power outage, or other unexpected glitch.
  • Training data accuracy: taking big breaks in the middle of a “single activity” can play tricks on your training metrics. The various calculators and tools are really built around the idea of measuring one continuous activity, and throwing a long break in the middle can have some unintended consequences.
  • Tainted achievement: taking a 12-hour break in order to finish the PRL Full route may let you get the badge, but that’s a different “achievement” than doing it all in one go. There’s nothing wrong with it as far as we’re concerned, but make sure you’ll be able to live with yourself if you make the decision to take a long break in order to complete a route.
  • Massive “ride time”: again, as mentioned above, Zwift currently displays the total time from your first pedal stroke or step to your final one, which will make it look like you did one very long activity.
  • Loneliness: if you’re riding on the guest map then stop to take a long break, you may return only to discover everyone is riding on a different guest map due to the scheduled world changing (Zwift’s version of the first Twilight Zone episode). You may be rather lonely for the remainder of your activity.

What about you?

What’s the longest break you’ve ever taken in the middle of a Zwift session, and why did you take it? Share below!