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Route Achievement Badges and XP in Zwift

UPDATE: Zwift’s Dec 6, 2019 update added 42 more badges to the list of achievements–a badge for every available route!

We’ve added the achievement badge XP to our master list of Zwift routes.

To learn more about route badges on Zwift, read “All About Cycling Route Achievement Badges in Zwift“.

Included in Zwift’s recent update are some new carrots that should encourage us all to explore Zwift’s long list of routes.

Zwift has added 25 routes to its list of achievement badges, which you can access by clicking Menu>Badges in game. Here is the complete list (click a route to learn more about it):

Start and Finish Points

To get the badge, ride the route in a free ride (including workouts) or event. Important note: you don’t get badges for manually navigating a route. You must select it from the routes list, or ride it in an event.

There’s been some confusion about where certain routes actually end (see comments on this post for examples). The best approach is to assume that your lap doesn’t start until you ride through a banner of some sort, and it won’t end until you ride through a banner (typically the same banner you began with). There may be some exceptions, but this seems to be the rule for almost all routes.

Do not simply ride the distance stated for the route and assume you’re done. Nearly every route has a lead-in section which can be up to a few miles long, so if you don’t see the achievement pop up, keep riding!

How do you know when you’ve received the badge? Here’s a route badge that popped up yesterday while my butt was getting kicked in a BRT Criterium race:

XP Bonus Per Badge

Each route has an XP bonus attached, and the amount of XP is based on the length of the route. See each route’s specific XP above.

Our buddy Shane Miller did a quick video on these new achievements–watch it below:

A Small Complaint

Shane alludes to a Zwift UI foible which has become more apparent with these new route badges.

Why do I have to restart the game to pick a different route?

This is something Zwifters have been requesting for years. When starting up the game takes 2-3 minutes on a computer, it feels silly to reboot Zwift every time I want to change routes. Let me pull up the route screen and pick a new route!

Into Exploring?

We announced the Route Hunter leaderboards earlier this week. These rank riders by how many routes they’ve completed, plus their time in completing the route. Want to push your Zwift exploration to new heights? Check it out!

Your Thoughts

I like carrots, so this addition is a welcome one. What about you? Will the badges push you to explore other routes and/or ride a bit more?

Kona Heat It Up Mission Announced

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Kona Heat It Up Mission Announced

Zwift’s newest mission is now live, and we’ve only got 8 days to complete it!

Similar to last year’s Kona 112 mission, the new Kona Heat It Up mission centers around the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, which happens October 12th. Here are the details…

How to Enter

Any ride or run you do on Zwift will count for this mission, and you unlock more in-game gear the further you go (see below).

The end goal? Ride a cumulative 112 miles (180km) and run 26.2 miles (42km) just like they’ll be doing in Kona, and do it before 11:59 PST on October 13, 2019.

Unlocks

Each step closer to the final distance goals unlocks more gear:

Ride UnlocksRun Unlocks
25% – ZA Tri Cycling Socks 25% – ZA Tri Running Socks
50% – Specialized Cycling Hat 50% – SiS Run Shirt
75% – Wahoo Cycling Hat 75% – Roka GP-1X Sunglasses
100% – ZA Tri Cycling Hat 100% – ZA Tri Run Shirt

But the coolest unlock is reserved for those who complete both the run and ride portions of the mission. Those Zwifters will unlock the ZA Tri Paint Scheme for the Shiv Disc (and an automatic entry to win one of two grand prizes, see below).

We’ve seen this Shiv pain scheme in game, and it looks incredible! Certainly the coolest virtual TT steed available.

Prizes

If you complete both the run and ride portions of the mission you will be entered into the grand prize drawing. Two winners will be chosen to receive:

Events

You can complete the mission by doing any combination of solo or group events. Zwift has even organized a week of Kona-themed events:

  • Monday through Friday we’ve got Kona-themed group workouts which alternate between running one day and cycling the next.
  • Then Saturday we’ve got races: a TT cycling race and a 5k running race.
  • Lastly, Sunday’s event is a recovery ride. Spin those legs out!

See the full Kona Heat It Up event schedule on Zwift.com >


Cam Jeffers Sanctioned, Disqualified from British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships

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Cam Jeffers Sanctioned, Disqualified from British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships

The Zwift racing community is buzzing about a recent announcement from British cycling that Cam Jeffers (Team CyclingHub) has received a disciplinary sanction from British Cycling.

Since this is the first Zwift race sanction involving paid fines and suspension from racing, I figured it was worthy of discussion.

What Are the Charges?

It is stated that Cameron Jeffers participated in the British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships qualifier on the 24 February 2019 and the British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships Final on 28 March 2019, using in-game equipment that was obtained in a manner that contravenes the Disciplinary Rules for Cycle Sport, the Code of Conduct and the regulations stipulated in the General & eRacing Technical Regulations.

This constitutes misconduct under Clauses 3.1 and 3.2 (a), (c) & (h) of the Disciplinary Rules for Cycle Sport.

See the actual disciplinary charge >

Just what are “Clauses 3.1 and 3.2 (a), (c) & (h) of the Disciplinary Rules for Cycle Sport”? You can access the full British Cycling Handbook PDF here, and those clauses can be found on page 196-197. They’re worded in a fairly vague, broad fashion though. For instance, clause 3.1 states:

For the purposes of these Disciplinary Rules, ‘Misconduct’ means any conduct that is unsporting and/or has the potential to bring the sport of cycling, other Participants, Race Officials or British Cycling into disrepute.

So I did a little more digging to find out what actually happened…

What Did Cam Do Wrong?

Cam used an ANT+ simulator to move his avatar around Zwift, accumulating the elevation required to unlock the Tron bike for his account.

He then used that Tron bike in the British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships.

Here’s a video Cam posted today in which he explains how the Tron bike thing happened, and his thoughts on the whole matter:

What Is the Punishment?

  • Disqualification from the 2019 British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships
  • 6-month suspension of Licence and participation in Events commencing 19 September 2019
  • £250.00 fine.

The disqualification means Canyon ZCC’s James Phillips is now the winner of the 2019 British Cycling Zwift eRacing Championships.

As far as I know, this is the first time a fine has been given in relation to a Zwift race. Also the first Zwift-related suspension from a cycling governing body that I know of.

Some Thoughts

It’s worth noting that Cam didn’t win the race by “doping”–that is, having intentionally inaccurate power numbers, weight, or height in the system. His power numbers were real, but he got in trouble because he didn’t earn his Tron bike by actually doing the climbing required to get it.

The bitter irony is that Cam probably did enough elevation on Zwift before the big race to unlock the Tron bike, if he had taken the “legal” approach. He had the time to do it, at least.

But racing on virtual equipment obtained via simulated efforts can’t be allowed since it goes against Zwift’s own terms of use (and really, the spirit of competition).

Was the sanction too heavy-handed? Perhaps. The DQ I understand. The fine? Sure. A 6-month ban from BC racing? It seems a bit much to me, but then again, there’s a reason I don’t make these rulings.

I like Cam’s video response–he explains the full situation, seems genuinely sorry about what he did, and points out some issues with the process which British Cycling may need to address. When was the last time you saw a cyclist be this candid after being sanctioned? So kudos to Cam for that.

What’s Next?

Cam is looking to move forward from all of this. I asked what his Zwift racing plans were in the upcoming season, and he said

Of course I’ll be taking part in races! With my WahooEsportTeam mates.

I love Zwift racing, and I wouldn’t want something like this stop me from racing.

Good for you, Cam. See you out there!

Want to read more on this topic? Check out DC Rainmaker’s thorough piece.

Missed the big race? Watch it below. The women’s race is first, and the men’s race begins around the 1:18 mark.

Your Thoughts

What do you think of this situation? Share your thoughts below!


Welcome Back, Foul Weather Zwifters–Here’s What You Missed

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Welcome Back, Foul Weather Zwifters–Here’s What You Missed

While many Zwifters use the platform year-round, there are others who only zwift when the weather gets bad and days grow short.

This one’s for you foul-weather Zwifters who have been outside all summer. Curious what you missed? Here’s a quick summary of all the big news on Zwift from April 1st through the end of September.

Ready to start your Zwift subscription? Here’s how to get it done >

It all began with us burning rubber for April fools

New Roads and Routes

Zwift has released more new roads and routes in the past few months than ever before.

In April we welcomed the Fuego Flats Watopia Expansion, a beautiful desert-scape made for flat, fast TT efforts. This release included a handful of new Watopia routes:

Start banner

Next came May’s release of the Giro d’Italia Bologna TT course, an exact replica of the prologue ridden at this year’s Giro. Released on May 11th so Zwifters could ride it the same day as the pros, it’s a smaller course which is only used for events (not free riding). You can learn more about the route here, and get tips for getting your best time on this short but challenging TT course.

August 1st saw the release of Titan’s Grove, the “National Forest” add-on to Fuego Flats. Titans Grove is a rolling course connecting to the ends of Fuego Flats, and it came with several new routes:

Start/finish

Lastly, the Yorkshire UCI route was released in early September. This replica of the finishing Harrogate circuit of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships lets us ride what the pros rode, without getting wet! Here are the five routes available in Yorkshire:

Also worth noting: we’ve been having some fun creating “Rebel Routes”–routes not available from within Zwift, meaning you have to manually navigate. Here’s the current list of routes we’ve created. Try them out if you’re looking for a new sort of challenge!

Looking for a complete list of Zwift routes? Check out our newly-published Master List of All Zwift Routes.

Game Updates

By our count, Zwift has released 8 game updates since April 1st. Here’s the list, if you’re curious what each update contained:

Major Events

Zwift’s event organizers have kept up a steady stream of Zwift-organized events to complement the hundreds of community-organized events happening each week. If you take a look at the events calendar you’ll see there is a wide variety of events available daily.

Here’s a list of major Zwift events since April–click for more details:

Big News

There’s been a lot happening in the world of Zwift beyond new routes, game updates, and big events. Here are some other fun bits of news you may have missed:

Catch Up with the Zwiftcast

Simon does such a great job with his Zwiftcast, helped of course by sidekicks Nathan and Shane. If you prefer to catch up on Zwift news by listening to podcasts, you can’t go wrong with the Zwiftcast! Here are all the episodes since April 1st:

Lastly–make sure listen it to this Zwifter’s song which won the Internet on April 15th.

Ready to start your Zwift subscription?


Zwift Update 1.0.40555 Released

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Zwift Update 1.0.40555 Released

Zwift released an update late Tuesday night which includes FutureWorks:Steering and several other interesting and fun changes. Here are the details!

FutureWorks:Steering

The biggest news in this update, Zwifters are now able to steer their rider over a mountain bike singletrack. And it works really well!

Read all about Zwift Steering here >

Route Achievement Badges

1 down… 24 to go!

25 routes have been selected from the big list of 100+ as “route achievements.” Finish the route, get the badge. That’s the kind of carrot we like!

In our limited tests, it appears you get credit for finishing the route whether you do it as a free ride or a group event.

Looking for more “route completion” achievements? Check out our new Route Hunter Leaderboards, p/b VeloViewer >

Wheel/Tire Rolling Resistance

Jon Mayfield’s update notes included this very interesting item:

Various wheels and tires now have different rolling resistance based on the surface they are rolling on. IE, a mountain bike or gravel tire may be the best on the Jungle circuit, while a road/TT bike is fastest on the tarmac. More to come here in a future update.

Interesting! I’ve got an email to ZwiftHQ trying to get more clarification on what (if anything) has already changed in terms of wheelset performance, but I like the idea of adding another layer of gamification, requiring riders to know their virtual equipment and race route if they want to be as fast as possible.

We’ll certainly publish more speed tests once we know more about what has changed. Watch this space.

New Kona Heat It Up Mission

A new Ironman KONA-related mission has been added, but won’t be live until October 5th. We’ll publish a post all about it at that time.

Read all the mission details on Zwift.com >

More Changes

As always, the update comes bundled with lots of smaller changes. Here’s the rest of the list from Jon:

  • Added beginner 5k run training plan
  • Enabled running on new off-road section in Titans Grove (watch out for MTB’ers!)
  • Started building out new paddocks near the Jungle Circuit for future events
  • Low memory desktop machines (ie, 2-4gb of ram) will now use slightly reduced texture detail in order to fit into memory more reliably
  • Tweaked graphics for iPad Air 3, iPad Mini 5, and iPhone 11 (which now gets full shadows!)
  • Various bug fixes

Read Jon Mayfield’s release notes >


Join Us Tomorrow for the First-Ever Repack Redux MTB Race!

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Join Us Tomorrow for the First-Ever Repack Redux MTB Race!

Announcing Repack Redux: an informal mountain bike race on Zwift’s new Repack Ridge singletrack.

About the Race

This is an informal mountain bike race on Zwift, a virtual remake of the Repack races in Marin County, CA, where mountain biking was birthed in the ’70s. It’s all about having fun doing something new, since we’ll all be testing out Zwift’s new FutureWorks:Steering capabilities.

How the Start Works

The race will begin promptly from the Repack Ridge trailhead at 11am PDT.

Getting to the trailhead: you will want to choose the “Dust In the Wind“, “Muir and the Mountain” or “Quatch Quest” Watopia routes then ride to the trailhead well before that time, to be safe. You will have to have Zwift Companion running and connected to your ride. For further instructions on how to get onto the Repack Ridge trail, read this post.

Don’t pass the fence until the race begins. Wait for the race leader (Eric Schlange) to message “GO REPACK REDUX, GO!” then go for it! You will be stopped and prompted to center your bars before you cross the line–make it fast, then go go go!

Race Rules

Have fun. Go hard. Extra unicorn points if you give your rider a funny name and/or look.

Everyone wins because we have fun getting a good workout. But the first rider through the finish banner really wins!

We may even do a second lap.

Discord Voice Chat

Race leader will be on the Zwift Insider Discord channel. Join the audio chat for fun banter and a more personal experience.

How to use Discord on Zwift >

Link to join Zwift Insider server: https://discord.gg/ceTPdDt

About the Course

Distance: 3.1km (1.9 miles)
Elevation Gain: 94m (308′)

Strava Segment

Questions or Comments?

Post below!


Setting Up Your Front Wheel and Phone For Zwift Steering

So Zwift has launched steering, if only in FutureWorks testing. And while it’s easy to give it a quick spin, you may find that dialing in the ideal setup for Zwift steering takes a little doing. Here are some quick tips and recommendations...

Steering Setups for Zwifting

At first, it may seem that turning your front wheel on your indoor setup would be easy. But it’s actually a surprisingly challenging setup to get right, for two reasons:

  • Your steering pivot point isn’t where your front tire touches the floor–it’s a few inches in front of that. This causes your bike/trainer to “walk” forward as you steer.
  • Your tire’s friction will wear a hole through any foam/rubber mat it sits on, if you do enough steering.

So a solution is needed which allows us to turn our handlebars without putting force on our entire bike/trainer setup, while also saving our floor from wear and tear.

Here are a few solutions we’ve come across:

Shane’s Turntable

Our buddy Shane Miller released another quality “first look” video last night, all about Zwift steering. In it he shows how he used a basic lazy susan/turntable, with a little something underneath to make the angle match his front fork. Looks like it works great!

Looking for a turntable? Here’s a heavy-duty two-pack on Amazon for less than $13, or another for $7.

Kinetic Turntable

Kinetic has been in the indoor training game for a long time, and their Turntable Riser Ring has been around for a while. At less then $40 it doesn’t cost much more than most risers, but it lets your wheel turn quite freely.

It doesn’t solve the problem of the pivot point being in front of the floor contact points, but a few Zwifters have told us that it seems to work well enough for Zwift steering.

Budget Approach

One simple (and perhaps temporary) approach is to place something below your front tire which will reduce friction as much as possible. A spare piece of laminate flooring, perhaps.

This coupled with a trainer sitting firmly in place may be enough to let you ride Repack Ridge quite a bit without inching forward or stressing your bike.

Other Solutions

Zwifters are a smart bunch, and we’re already seeing community members coming up with novel solutions to this steering challenge. Got one of your own? Share it in the comments!


Phone Mounts for Zwifting

If you don’t already have your phone mounted to your handlebars, you’ll need to do that for Zwift steering to work. There are many phone mount solutions on the market, and you’ll need to pick one that fits your preferences and needs.

Remember to consider where you want your phone mounted on your handlebars, whether you want it to be used outside as well, and how much of the mount you’re willing to carry around attached to your phone throughout the day.

Here are a few of our favorites.

Quad Lock

A proven leader in this industry, Quad Lock is a solid, quality solution.

You’ll need to use the Quad Lock case, or attach their universal adaptor stuck on your case or phone.

Get it on Amazon >

Roam Mount

Not the prettiest thing, but it does the job, and cheap!

For only $17 on Amazon, this mount holds a variety of phone sizes, doesn’t require sticking anything on your phone or case, and fits a wide variety of handlebar widths.

Once you’ve set the width where you want it, just strap your phone in quickly to get going.

Note: the straps may get in the way of some Zwift Companion buttons along the bottom of your phone, although they are flexible enough to allow you to move them out of the way to tap buttons.

Get it on Amazon >

KOM Cycling Garmin Mount

We actually reviewed this product last year. The little $13 disc sticks on your phone or case, adding only 7 grams and 6mm of height to your phone.

This allows you to click your phone into your Garmin mount, providing for a solid connection safe to use outside.

Get it on Amazon >

iOmounts Convert

Zwift has been selling this little gadget for a while now, and it’s sleek. A slim steel disc sticks on the back of your phone, and this attaches to the magnet in the Garmin adapter.

So you can use your existing Garmin mount, and your phone doesn’t have a big mount stuck to it. All for $30.

Keep in mind this is for indoor use only.

Buy at Zwift.com >

Share Your Ideas!

These are our ideas for ideal steering and phone mounting. What about yours? Share them below!

Steering Launched on Zwift’s FutureWorks

Steering Launched on Zwift’s FutureWorks

Zwift rolled out steering tonight, a beta feature which is the first release under Zwift’s new FutureWorks platform. Never before have Zwifters been able to control the direction of their avatar… but that all changes today!

How To Start Steering

Want to give it a go? Here’s how to do it:

  • Make sure your Zwift install is up to date
  • Make sure Zwift Companion is installed and running on your phone, and your phone is mounted to your handlebars
  • You’ll want to have your front wheel set up in a way where it can be easily turned (perhaps a tilted lazy susan) and/or allow your entire bike to lean (perhaps using a rocker plate)
  • Choose “Dust In the Wind“, “Muir and the Mountain” or “Quatch Quest” Watopia routes for the most direct line to the new trail
  • When you begin riding, make sure Zwift Companion is paired up and showing your location on the map. You will not receive the steering prompt unless Zwift Companion is connected to your Zwift session.
  • When you reach the fork in the road with a right turn marked by a question mark–take the right turn!
  • Follow the instructions to start steering

Once you finish riding Repack Ridge, you can ride down the paved road, flip a u-turn after passing the trailhead, then turn right onto the singletrack again if you’d like. Repack Ridge is a one-way road for now, so you can only enter from one direction.

Need more specific directions? Check out this thorough support page on Zwift’s site.

Unlocking Your MTB

According to Zwift, if you finish the course is under 12:30 with all 10 stars and you’ll unlock the Zwift mountain bike frame and wheels. (I finished with just 9 stars and still unlocked the bike and wheels.)

The mountain bike can be ridden anywhere in Zwift. Prepare to see some fat tires on the tarmac!

About the New Course (Repack Ridge)

The new singletrack section is named “Repack Ridge”, a shoutout to the Repack course in Marin County, CA which played a crucial role in the early development of mountain biking between 1976-1984.

Why was it called Repack? Because the bikes’ old hub coaster brakes would get so hot the heat would vaporize, and riders would have to repack the hub with new grease after a run or two!

Zwift’s course is a bit like Repack–similar in length, and both courses finish with a tough climb containing multiple hairpins.

Here’s a Strava segment details for Zwift’s Repack Ridge:

Distance: 3.1km (1.9 miles)
Elevation Gain: 94m (308′)

Strava Segment

Skeptical?

Steering not for you? Jon Mayfield says there’s no reason to be concerned:

For those that are skeptical, don’t worry. Steering will most likely never be mandatory for just riding around, training, or even most event formats – but we do see an opportunity for some new modes as well as enhancing existing experiences for those who want it. For now, we’re simply testing whether the phone is a workable solution.

What Do You Think?

Be sure to share your feedback in the popup Zwift gives you after finishing Repack Ridge–after all, that’s what FutureWorks is all about! But feel free to share your thoughts below as well!


Giving Multiple Ride Ons via Zwift Companion

Giving Multiple Ride Ons via Zwift Companion

Everyone loves a Ride On. Did you know there are two easy ways to give multiple Ride Ons with a single tap using Zwift Companion?

Give Ride Ons to Active Followees

A recent Zwift Companion update made it easy to give a Ride On to everyone you follow who is currently zwifting. Just tap the Ride On icon at the top-right of the app’s homepage, and you’re done!

To Nearby Zwifters

If you are actively zwifting, Zwift Companion lets you tap your location arrow and give a Ride On to up to 5 nearby Zwifters.

After you tap, you must wait a few seconds before you can tap again and give out 5 more.

Other Zwifters must be quite close to you for this to work, but it’s a fun way to show random Zwifters some love as you ride or run around, or to say “thanks” to riders you’re working with in a race or group ride. Sometimes I use this functionality to distract myself during long or difficult rides, making it my personal goal to hand out as many Ride Ons as I can!

Not seeing the tappable white circle on your arrow in Companion? Try zooming in a bit.

What About You?

Do you use the multiple Ride On features?


Announcing Zwift Route Hunter Leaderboards, p/b VeloViewer

After seeing the new Master List of Zwift Routes, many Zwifters told me they were amazed at the sheer number of routes available–over 100! They (like me) realized there are many routes they have yet to complete. But how do you keep track of which ones you’ve ridden?

Enter Ben from VeloViewer, who approached me with an idea: what if we created a leaderboard which tracked your progress in completing all Zwift routes?

Better yet: what if that leaderboard could rank Zwifters based on how many routes they had completed, and their performance on each route?

One week later, here we are, introducing the Zwift Insider Route Hunter Leaderboards, available at veloviewer.com/zwift-insider

How It Works

There are 9 different leaderboards, each containing their own Zwift routes:

Leaderboard rankings are based on points. You receive points for

  1. Completing a particular route/segment (20 points for each), and
  2. How quickly you completed the route

These two numbers are then added together for your total points count for each leaderboard.

Getting Started

Getting your data into the leaderboards is easy! It’s probably easier on a large screen than a smartphone, but it can be done with either.

Start by visiting the Zwift Insider Route Hunter homepage on VeloViewer.

  1. Click “Connect with Strava”. (If you’re already signed into your Strava account in your browser, skip to step 3.)
  2. Log into your Strava account. You will be redirected back to the leaderboards homepage.
  3. Click “View” beneath one of the leaderboard titles.
  4. If you are not yet a member of the Zwift club on Strava, click the link to join the club, click “Join Club”, then return to the leaderboard page and click “Recheck Club Membership”. (If you are already a member of the Zwift club on Strava, skip to step 5.)
  5. Click “Check Your Times” to import your Strava rides into this leaderboard.

You will need to visit each leaderboard and click “Check Your Times” whenever you want to update your data.

Using the Leaderboards

Here are a few tips for using the leaderboards:

  • While they will work just fine on a smartphone, the leaderboards are much easier to browse on a large screen.
  • Click any column title in a leaderboard to sort by that column.
  • Click “View” next to the route title to view that segment’s details in VeloViewer. It’s not always clear where particular segments may stop and start, so looking at the actual Strava info is helpful if you’re chasing segment times.
  • Filter by gender using the buttons at the top-right.
  • Clicking a rider’s time for a particular route will take you to their Strava activity, where you can look for reasons to rationalize them beating your segment time 😄

Who Will Be the First?

My guess is there are already Zwifters who have ridden every official route available. But I bet nobody has ridden every route, including the Rebel Routes! Let’s see who can tick off all 71 routes first. I’ve got 27 to go!

Shout Out to VeloViewer

Ben over at VeloViewer is giving us this functionality free of charge. But if you find it useful, I’d encourage you to upgrade your VeloViewer account to a Pro or Pro+ account. Cost is only £10-£20 per year, and you get lots of premium features–read more about those here.