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Watopia “Tempus Fugit” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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8
Watopia “Tempus Fugit” Route Details

Watopia “Tempus Fugit” Route Details

“Tempus Fugit” is Latin for “time flees (or flies)”, and this is certainly a flat, fast route. Released as part of Zwift’s Fuego Flats desert expansion, this route is definitely designed as an out and back TT race course, with the lead-in from the desert start pens making the course come in right around 20km in length.

Course Profile

This is the flattest route in all of Zwift as the time of its release, with only 16m (52′) of elevation gain from start line to finish. There are some ~1% false flats, but they are barely noticeable as you fly through the picturesque desert.

Landmarks/Scenery

There are lots of landmarks in Fuego Flats to help you keep your bearings. First you pass the cliff dwellings near the first turnaround loop, then you hit the forward 500m sprint segment. Next you’ll ride through the old town of Desert Flats (watch for the steam engine to come roaring through) then through a gap in the rocks to a hidden oasis complete with a waterfall and dinosaur fossils.

Continue on and you’ll ride into Saddle Springs, the 1950’s-inspired resort town where you’ll make your turnaround before heading back home. Just after the turnaround you’ll cross the start line of the 7km “Fuego Flats Reverse” segment which ends at the same rock arch where the forward sprint ends.

You’ll ride through this arch, around the first turnaround loop (the one with ruins of cliff dwellings) then finish the route with a second effort on the 500m sprint segment.

Start Points

When freeriding you will spawn just before the desert start pens, giving us a lead-in of approximately 2.5km before the sprint finish line. For our Strava segment we started and ended at the sprint finish line since this is a stable point (unlike spawn points, which have some randomness to them).

We will create another segment beginning at the start pens to cover events on this route, once events begin running here.

Route details:
Distance: 17.3km (10.7 miles)
Elevation Gain: 16m (52′)
Strava Forward Segment

Fuego Flats Watopia Expansion Released

Eric Schlange
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3
Fuego Flats Watopia Expansion Released

Fuego Flats Watopia Expansion Released

Zwift has released its long-awaited Watopia expansion, dubbed “Fuego Flats”. The ~9 miles (~15km) of winding tarmac is the flattest set of roads available in-game, making it ideal for time trials or other steady efforts.

Artwork

The expansion’s terrain takes some of its inspiration from areas near ZwiftHQ in Long Beach. This includes Death Valley, where Jon Mayfield has ridden double centuries. Fuego Flats is a nod to other American deserts as well, including Moab, the Antelope Canyon in Arizona, Mesa Verde in Colorado, and the annual California Super Bloom.

The terrain is beautiful, and unlike anything we’ve seen on Zwift. The combination of rocks, sand, and desert flora/fauna is a feast for the eyes.

Are there dinosaurs? Well, sort of. Zwift didn’t quite give us our much-requested terrible lizards, but they threw us a bone.

Nature takes center stage in this expansion, but man-made elements are scattered throughout. Key features include two towns, humorous road signs, cliff dwelling ruins, and a train trestle bridge high overhead.

The first town “Desert Flats”, an old Wild West sort of place, complete with a steam train rolling through (good luck outpacing it) and Watopia’s oldest (and only) saloon. The second town is Saddle Springs, a Palm Springs-style resort featuring Googie-style architecture from the mid-1900’s which was inspired by the “space age” of the time.

New Routes

New tarmac means new routes, and Zwift has given us five! Three of the routes are centered in Fuego Flats, while the other two routes (Bigger Loop and Über Pretzel) are enlarged versions of existing routes which are modified to include Fuego Flats.

  • Bigger Loop: 33.9 miles (54.6km), 2,225′ (678m) – Level 10 Locked
    A larger version of Watopia’s “Big Loop” which includes the new Fuego Flats roads. This route covers Fuego Flats, the Epic KOM, the Jungle CIrcuit, and Volcano Flat.
  • Out And Back Again: 24.8 miles (39.8km), 997′ (303m)
    Not actually an “out and back” route, this loop begins at the new Fuego Flats start pens and takes you over Fuego Flats then up the Volcano KOM before we head home via the reverse Hilly KOM.
  • Tempus Fugit: 10.7 miles (17.3km), 52′ (16m)
    A flat and fast out and back through the desert. Begin near the near Fuego Flats start pens and ride all the way to the turnaround at Saddle Springs. Come back, loop on the turnaround near the start pens, then finish through the stone arch. The flattest 19km route on Zwift!
  • Tick Tock: 10.5 miles (16.8km), 146′ (44m)
    A loop beginning at the new Fuego Flats start pens and going clockwise through the desert, down to Ocean Boulevard and back up to the start pens.
  • The Über Pretzel: 79.7 miles (128.3km), 7,661′ (2,335m) – Level 12 Locked
    Ladies and gentlemen, Zwift has a new longest route! The Mega Pretzel is already a beast, and the Über adds 20km and 700m of climbing, looping in Fuego Flats as well as the Radio Tower climb and Alpe du Zwift. Yeeouch!

Why Flat?

Some Zwifters have asked, “Why add more flat roads?” The answer is: because those are the roads most Zwifters prefer! Ride Watopia any day of the week and you’ll find much more traffic on the flat routes than the hills.

Here’s what Eric Min had to say about it:

As a New Yorker, I personally love to ride the rolling New York (Central Park) course – it brings back great memories for me. However, it’s not an easy course unless you really know how and where to make your efforts. Sometimes, we all just like to have some fun on the flats, and I know a lot of Zwifters out there will enjoy the new Fuego Flats–myself included. Not only is it something for the sprinters, but it also opens up whole new possibilities to cater for our Triathlon and Time Trial audiences.

TT and FTP

The new Fuego Flats provides an excellent place for riders to test themselves. Looking for a ~20km TT effort? Ride the new Tempus Fugit route. Prefer the visual of flat roads for your FTP test? Ride “Tick Tock” or “Tempus Fugit”.

There are also two long timed sprint sections–a 500m sprint going clockwise, and a 7km sprint beginning in Saddle Springs and going counter-clockwise. Top the leaderboard for either and get the Fuego Flats sprinters jersey.

More to Come?

The roads into Fuego Flat include a closed-off section of road through the towering redwood forest. Is this more tarmac which Zwift will be opening soon? I hope so, because the winding road through the redwoods remind me of riding near my house here in Northern California.

Indeed, the map shared on Zwift’s “Jet to the Desert” announcement includes this currently-closed stretch of road, indicating that it will be open very soon. Based on what we can see currently in-game this stretch of road includes some climbing, which makes it a welcome addition to this area of Watopia, giving riders the option of a flat route to the far west or a climbing route a little closer.

More Pictures

Check Out Jon Mayfield’s Desert Expansion Strava Ride

Eric Schlange
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0
Check Out Jon Mayfield’s Desert Expansion Strava Ride

Check Out Jon Mayfield’s Desert Expansion Strava Ride

Zwift’s game master Jon Mayfield has posted a Strava teaser for Watopia’s upcoming Desert Expansion. Here’s what we can glean from his ride…

The new expansion adds approximately 8.5 miles (13.7km) of new roads to Watopia–a substantial addition, on par with the Epic KOM, Jungle, and Alpe du Zwift expansions. Here’s where it fits into the existing Watopian road system:

This expansion is desert-themed, as shown in Jon’s screenshot below:

Most of the desert expansion is pan-flat. There is a slight climb up to the desert from where it connects with Ocean Boulevard just before the ramp down into the tunnel, and a slight descent from the desert to the connecting point which comes just after Ocean Boulevard ramps up towards the Epic KOM.

There is a special sprint jersey awarded–in fact Jon is wearing it in his screenshot and you can see the sprint point on the profile portion of the minimap.

For those who are wondering: the curious-looking loops are used for turnarounds, so don’t get your hopes up, velodrome lovers!

In the past Strava leaks have been posted by ZwiftHQ 1-2 days before an expansion goes live, so I’m sure this desert expansion’s arrival is just around the corner. Can’t wait to give it a go!

This Week’s Top 5 Zwift Videos

Thomas Eichentopf
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0

This Week’s Top 5 Zwift Videos

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Zwift Menus/Screens Explained (for Beginners)

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We have lots of Zwift tutorials and how-tos on Zwift Insider, and we also regularly share content that’s made for beginners. Since the early days, Zwift has added lots of features, so the menus can seem quite complex to the new user. Here’s a video walking you through the Zwift game interface.

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Swift Zwift Tip: “JWB” Watopia Bridge Plaque // Zwift Community Legend

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Have you spotted the small plaque on the Watopia sprint bridge? Here’s a little Zwifting history about how the bridge was named. Read more about JWB here >

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Elite Nero Rollers Detailed & Demoed | New Smart Indoor Training Tech

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Elite’s Direto and Drivo trainers have an established position on Zwift. Generally, Zwift is a lot about wheel-on and direct-drive trainers, but there are few roller options available. Elite has one smart roller option… here’s a demo video of the Elite Nero.

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Magene GRAVAT2 Smart Trainer: Details // Unboxing // Ride Review

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It might be a bit tough to get a hand on the Magene trainer if you’re outside of China. That said, it’s a legitimate trainer that’s well worth a look. Is there innovation here which may be adopted by the big names? Or is it a good budget option to consider despite low accessibility?

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The Cycling Esports Show: Keira Vs Ollie Up The Epic KOM!

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The Cycling Esports show covers the British Zwift Championships once more, but we share it for an exciting battle between the presenters. Who is fastest up the Epic KOM? And is it a victory of legs or smarts?

The Endurance Lab Coaches’ Corner 66 – Spring Training

The Endurance Lab
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The Endurance Lab Coaches’ Corner 66 – Spring Training

The Endurance Lab Coaches’ Corner 66 – Spring Training

In this episode, our topics include:

  • Spring Training Lab (01:00) – 8-week build plan plus a race/event week, targeting athletes following a power-based plan with events that fall early in the race season.
  • Who is the Endurance Lab for? (10:00) -Riders looking to maximize their time on the trainer and finding a bridge to practice skills indoors that can translate into outdoor strengths
  • Transitioning from indoor to outdoor training (17:00) –
    • Bike Mechanical and Training Considerations
    • Run Mechanical and Training Considerations
    • Nutritional Considerations
  • First time at Barry Roubaix gravel race (30:30) –

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rK1doEbwLE&w=560&h=315]

Recording Date: 04/15/2019

Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders (continued)

Eric Schlange
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Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders (continued)

Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders (continued)

This is the last of a three-part series exploring Zwift racing’s challenges and opportunities. Part one focused on spectating, part two on broadcasting, and part three on the actual race participants.

Today, in the final post of this series, we continue part 3 by taking a look at the actual in-game experience for Zwift racers–things like teamwork, pack dynamics, race visuals, etc. What’s working, what isn’t, and how do we fix it?

Challenge: Pack Dynamics

In Zwift races, the “blob” (peloton) is a churning mass of riders constantly trading places at the front. This results in:

  • Higher pack speeds: riders are essentially taking very short rotations at the front, and the pack is pulled along at the speed of the fastest rider.
  • Difficulty executing typical race strategy: many race strategies involve staying off the front entirely, or staying on the front to force a pace. Since it is difficult to maintain a particular pack position, these strategies are difficult to execute.

Opportunity: Draft Feel, Steering

Could Zwift implement a “draft feel” feature, where your smart trainer’s resistance gets bumped up to indicate that you are in the wind? This may make pack positioning more intuitive and realistic.

There has also been talk of implementing some sort of steering mechanism. This was actually part of the original game Jon Mayfield created, but was scrapped to keep the interface and experience simple and easy. I’m not sure I want to hassle with using some sort of steering controls while Zwifting, but if my phone could sense the tilt of my bike (which is on a rocker plate) I could easily steer with it.

Challenge: “Real” (Double) Draft Is Too Fast

The double draft is more realistic than Zwift’s “standard” draft algorithm, but it has a fatal flaw: packs move too fast. When you are saving even more power in the draft, and that is coupled with the front churning (see above), you end up with pack speeds which are (in my experience) 2-3 miles per hour higher than they should be.

What’s the result? Well, entire groups get coned in races as we saw in the KISS Community League Richmond race a couple months ago (this is an obvious red flag telling us double draft pack speeds are too high.) But more importantly, it results in a lack of attacks because riders know they can’t stay away from the hard-charging pack for any significant amount of time.

Opportunity: Slow the Packs, Create Attacks

If Zwift could slow the packs in double draft races we would get more animated events. Riders could sit in the draft to conserve energy, then attack and possibly stay away.

How could Zwift slow down the pack? That’s a question for the programmers!

Challenge: High-Speed Cornering

If you’ve bombed down Alpe du Zwift or even raced London’s Classique route you know our avatars take corners at unrealistically high speeds. Not only does this make your head swim at 55mph, it also makes the game feel less realistic and makes races more TT-like and less animated.

Opportunity: Auto-Braking

If riders automatically slowed heading into a corner, races would immediately become more animated. Just like outdoor crits, a hard short effort would follow each tight corner as riders worked to get back up to speed. Certainly, some sort of “auto-braking” could be employed to make this happen.

Challenge: “It’s Just a TT”

Some riders complain that Zwift racing is just a power contest. Obviously, this is an over-simplification: recent KISS Super League pro races pitting pro riders against experienced Zwifters showed us that experience on the platform is a major factor when it comes to winning. Even knowing which frame and wheelset to use for a particular course gives more knowledgeable riders a distinct advantage.

That said, the complaint holds a bit of truth: Zwift does lack many of the variables found in outdoor racing. This results in more predictable races and, perhaps, a less engaging experience overall.

Opportunity: Powerups and Other Randomness

Modifying pack dynamics (discussed above) would be some help, but even more could be done to make Zwift races less TT-like. Zwift is currently testing an event mode which always gives “useful” powerups (aero helmet, feather, van) at arches, giving racers more opportunities to strategically use a powerup. This is a step in the right direction.

What else could be done? Zwift could introduce new powerups just for racing. Perhaps a Ninja powerup where a rider disappears for 15 seconds, or if auto-braking in corners is implemented, a “sticky tires” powerup that lets you maintain more speed through the corner.

We could also increase the number of powerups given. What if you could qualify for a powerup by putting in a hard effort? Maybe a breakaway off the front would give you a powerup, or a PR on a particular stretch of road (much like Alpe du Zwift works currently), or closing the gap to a group up the road, or setting a new 5-minute critical power PR.

Other randomness could also be introduced. One obvious idea is wind. Outdoors, attacking into a crosswind is usually the best plan, while attacking with a strong tailwind or headwind is less useful. In a game, of course, anything is possible: the sloth could reach down and scratch random riders, slowing them down for a short time. Rain could cause wheel-sucking mud to form, or increase the level of auto-braking into corners. Rock slides could slow the pack. As long as race organizers can choose the level of random wackiness allowed in their events, why not create more options?

Challenge: Lack of Spectators

No matter how strong of a rider you are, most of your Zwift racing experience will be you, alone, in your pain cave without spectators to cheer you on. For some Zwifters may not be much of a change from their outdoor racing experience at nearly abandoned office parks. But if we’re looking to bring pros onto the platform we need a way to inject some of that spectator excitement into their experience.

Plus, wouldn’t it be motivating and exciting to have others cheering you on, even as a lower-category racer?

Opportunity: Streaming + Spectator Interaction

Zwift racers who want to take the platform seriously have been streaming for years, building an audience of fans. This will continue to grow as Zwift racing becomes more popular, but I hope to see racer streams somehow integrated into the game so spectators can easily watch live video of riders. Live-streaming your race provides an added level of motivation in itself, knowing others are watching your race effort.

Allowing some level of spectator interaction would also help motivate racers. Currently, spectators can give a racer a Ride On, but that’s it–and it’s not very easy to do! Zwift could start by making the Ride On process easy for spectators, but even more could be done. Why not allow spectators to private message a rider, send audible encouragement (Hammer time!) and more?

Lastly: we’ve got virtual spectators on the streets of London and NYC. Why not build some race-specific blocks of rabid fans who light smoke bombs on our way up the Watopia KOM, or scream their lungs out in the final sprints?

Challenge: Teamwork is Difficult

Cycling is a team sport, and Zwift is a social platform. So it’s no surprise that teams have been active in Zwift races since the early days. And yet, everyone knows team dynamics on Zwift are muted compared to outdoors.

Much of this is due to Zwift’s drafting algorithm which makes precise pack positioning nearly impossible (ideas for improving the draft are shared above). But it’s also due to a lack of any team functionality in game.

Opportunity: In-Game Comms, Team Powerups

Teams most commonly use Discord to talk to each other during races, and it works quite well. That said, this is a third-party app with its own idiosyncrasies, and streamlining the racing experience is important. ZwiftHQ has talked about building voice chat into the game, and this would prove quite handy for team racing, as long as you could choose which Zwifters you want in your ears.

Another teamwork-encouraging feature would be some sort of “team powerups.” I recently chatted with Zwift Community Live host Nathan Guerra who shared several mind-bending team powerup ideas inspired from his time in other gaming environments. For example: what if a team could give teammates different roles (domestique, sprinter, leadout man, etc) then Zwift would deliver powerups based on those roles?

A leadout man may receive a leadout powerup where, if that team’s sprinter is behind the leadout man, the sprinter receives the equivalent of the van powerup while the leadout man gets the aero helmet equivalent as a reward. Or if the domestique is working on the front on a climb and activates their domestique powerup, any team members behind them get the equivalent of the feather powerup.

You get the idea. More advanced powerups that help teammates when used properly.

Both the audio chat and team powerup features would require some sort of in-game team features where riders could join teams and enjoy a higher level of interaction with those teammates.

Conclusion

The experience of Zwift racing differs greatly from outdoors, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In creating its virtual world, Zwift has the opportunity to create a variety of race experiences… some which mimic outdoors, some which do not.

Additionally, there are clearly many tweaks which could be made to make Zwift racing more animated and strategic for individuals and teams. Many of these changes are already in the works at ZwiftHQ, and it’s only a matter of time before we begin to see them in game.

What Do You Think?

What parts of the Zwift racing experience could be improved, and how should it be done? Share your thoughts below!

UCI President Announces E-Cycling Plans

Eric Schlange
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UCI President Announces E-Cycling Plans

UCI President Announces E-Cycling Plans

Three years ago, people laughed when Zwift CEO Eric Min talked about UCI or Olympic-sanctioned racing on Zwift. But who’s laughing now?

David Lappartient, president of the Union Cycliste Internationale UCI, has released his 18 months “progress report” which includes an interesting section for anyone involved in virtual cycling. Here is the e-cycling portion of his statement:

First of all e-cycling, which has seen huge growth in the last few years and is enjoyed by a growing cross-section of cyclists. A number of fun apps have been developed along with smart trainers, and people are taking up the sport in large numbers, attracted by the many advantages it has to offer. Enthusiasts of e-cycling can train and take part in races (some take place on routes used at previous UCI Road World Championships), in a very realistic manner and as part of a network, regardless of the weather outdoors. The UCI must support and promote this growing trend, which is why we have included e-cycling in our Regulations and are organising the first UCI e-cycling World Championships in 2020.

The key role the UCI plays in this area has been recognised through my appointment as head of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) e-sports Liaison Group, which will facilitate communication between e-sports and the Olympic Movement.

Founded in 1900, the UCI is the world governing body for cycling. In their own words, the UCI

…represents, for sporting and public institutions alike, the interests of 194 National Federations, five Continental Confederations, more than 1,500 professional riders, more than half a million licensed competitors, several million cycling enthusiasts and two billion bicycle users all over the world.

Therefore, it’s exciting news when the UCI turns their attention toward Zwift, further legitimizing virtual bike racing as its own discipline.

It’s About Zwift

First, let’s be clear: Zwift is the only platform where this is happening. While the UCI wants to remain platform-agnostic, I don’t foresee races of any importance happening outside of Zwift anytime soon. All competitors are years behind Zwift and simply do not have the software, user base, or capabilities to make it a reality.

Additionally, we know Zwift has been talking with the UCI about “e-cycling” for months now. I’m sure ZwiftHQ will be working with the UCI to help advise on regulations and events in some manner.

Regulations

Lappartient states that the UCI has “included e-cycling in our Regulations”, but as far as I can tell there are no existing UCI regulations for e-cycling. Perhaps they are working on these regulations currently?

It will be interesting to watch as a set of rules is codified for e-cycling, because those rules will have to work with multiple software platforms, hardware devices, race formats, etc. No small task!

World Championships

This is exciting news: the UCI plans to hold the first-ever e-cycling Worlds Champs in 2020. Surely this competition will be held on Zwift: now that will be an exciting race!

Olympics

Eric Min has shared his dream of seeing e-racing at the Olympics, and the UCI looks to be interested in the same with Lappartient being appointed as head of the IOC’s e-sports Liaison Group. Can you imagine: Zwifting in the Olympics? What a time to be alive!

New Name Needed

Just tossing this note in: the UCI really needs to separate e-cycling from e-bikes. Lappartient writes about e-mountain biking, but this refers to mountain bikes with motors, not mountain bikes on a trainer competing in a virtual environment. Let’s separate our terms and reduce confusion, UCI!

Onward and upward. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold for Zwift racing!

KISS Super League Wrap-Up (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast #26)

Eric Schlange
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KISS Super League Wrap-Up (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast #26)

KISS Super League Wrap-Up (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast #26)

Matt and Kev talk KISS Super League (KSL) with Zwift Community All-Stars cyclist Adam Zimmerman. He opens up about what the KSL means to him, the pressure of representing the Zwift community, team dynamics, as well as the physical demands and tactics for sprinting on Zwift.

Afterward, we get into the McCarthy Special workout and whether wearing a base layer on Zwift is worth it. Find out Matt and Kev’s thoughts, plus the usual Q&A section that we got Greg out of bed for!

About the Podcast:

The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson (Coach Hendy) and Kev Poulton (Powerhouse Cycling). The hosts share tips on how road races can get faster in-game and outdoors.

This Zwifter’s Song Wins the Internet Today

Eric Schlange
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This Zwifter’s Song Wins the Internet Today

This Zwifter’s Song Wins the Internet Today

I’ve seen plenty of articles and videos from Zwifters praising our favorite virtual cycling platform… but I’ve never heard a song. Until today!

DADurday?

For those unaware, DADurday is a chase race organized by the DIRT Zwift team. Chase races aren’t like “normal” races… instead, these are “handicap” races where slower categories begin first, with faster categories released at measured time gaps behind.

The goal is for each category to work together to catch the category(s) ahead, and eventually have all the categories mixed together and going hard for the line. The mix of teamwork and individual efforts make chase races a unique and rewarding experience.

DADurday races happen early Saturday morning (one for Eastern time zone, one for Pacific) and are famous for wringing the last bit of effort from your legs, resulting in FTP increases and race category upgrades.

About the Song/Writer

Songwriter Les Chadwick has been on Zwift since 2017 and is a level 35 riders/16 runner. He’s turning 50 this year. As a US Navy veteran he had been a part of the USMES Zwift team, but joined the DIRT (Dads Inside Riding Trainers) team a few months ago (he’s a dad of three kids, all grown). He’s really enjoyed his time on the team, saying, “It was evident right away just how much of a TEAM this team was.”

He wrote the song in honor of DADurday because the races have helped push him to higher levels of fitness:

I’ve gone from getting dropped in the first few minutes to hanging with a group just off the back of the lead D’s and getting passed by C’s and B’s on the 3rd leg snapper this last Saturday. And I’ve never been so happy to get DQ’d at the end of the race because ZwiftPower upgraded me to CAT C.

Les wrote the song this past weekend after getting his upgrade to cat C.

I think I wrote the words in about 5 minutes on Friday. On Saturday, I pulled up the Beatle’s Yesterday song on karaoke on my wife’s iPad and sang the song literally in one take. I sent it to just a few of the DIRT crew that I knew and it exploded. I have been overwhelmed by the response and can’t wait to do more. I have one that I’m working on and will record it and get it out in the next day or two.

Ride on, Les!

Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders

Eric Schlange
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Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders

Racing on Zwift – Challenges and Opportunities for Riders

This is the last segment of a three-part series exploring Zwift racing’s challenges and opportunities. Part one focused on spectating, part two on broadcasting, and now we’ll take a look at the actual race participants.

I’ve broken this into two posts because there are so many challenges and opportunities for Zwift racers today. In this post we’ll focus on getting Zwift set up, making race entry and results work smoothly, and mitigating cheating. In the follow-up post we focus on the actual racing experience (team dynamics, pack dynamics, etc).

Ready? Let’s dig in!

Challenge: Getting Set Up

Let’s start at the beginning.

For many cyclists, Zwift is still too difficult to set up and use. While a tech guy like me loves the wide variety of platforms Zwift runs on (PC/Mac/iOS/AppleTV and soon Android) and the variety of cycling hardware it supports, all these options confuse newbies.

On top of that, racing on Zwift requires even more setup, namely getting an account activated on ZwiftPower and making sure you join the right category when it’s time to race.  Accomplishing these tasks isn’t easy or straightforward for a Zwift rookie.

Opportunity: Make It Idiot-Proof

As much as it pains me to say, Zwift needs to take a page out of Peloton’s playbook. Or maybe Apple’s. Create a simple hardware-based solution anyone can buy, plug in, and be up and running on Zwift quickly. Yes, continue to support a wide variety of platforms and trainers, but create a dead-simple solution which is sold on Zwift.com.

On the software side, Zwift’s user interface could be streamlined and various bugs could be fixed, all in the name of making the experience more pleasing to new users. And as much as I appreciate ZwiftPower (it’s what makes Zwift racing really work), we need a simpler solution for viewing/managing race results. There shouldn’t be a need to register at another website, or to go anywhere but Zwift Companion or Zwift.com to view race results. Bring that ZwiftPower functionality in-house and streamline it, ZwiftHQ!

Challenge: Unrestricted Entry

Today, anyone can race on Zwift in whatever category they’d like. Silly, right? You won’t find this in outdoor racing, where the reg booth verifies rider categories for safety and fairness. Yet somehow on Zwift it’s been allowed to persist since beta days. It results in two things:

  1. Lower-category races getting blown up by stronger riders
  2. Weaker riders entering too high of a category then being discouraged because they get dropped quickly

Neither of these situations needs to exist.

Opportunity: Create a Groundbreaking Classification Scheme

There’s a big opportunity here for Zwift to create a methodology which classifies riders automatically. It could be as simple as implementing what ZwiftPower already does, which is tracking a rider’s 20-minute critical power and categorizing them based on their 3 best performances in the last 90 days. It could be as complex as CVR’s intricate results-based scheme from early 2017. Or something in between.

If a rider is new, only allow participation in “open” races until they’ve established enough of a history for classification.

Organizers could still hold “open” (no category) races if they’d like, but the standard race setup would follow the default Zwift categorization scheme, and riders would be automatically placed in the appropriate category. Simples.

Challenge: Confusing Results

Zwift Companion shows race results, but those results are very different from what ZwiftPower shows. Why?

  • Because thanks to GDPR ZwiftPower can only display riders with a ZwiftPower account. Many Zwifters don’t have a ZwiftPower account.
  • Because race organizers can modify results on ZwiftPower, whereas they have no control over the results shown in Zwift Companion.

Serious Zwift racers know that the real results live on ZwiftPower. But many Zwifters race regularly and have never created a ZwiftPower account, which means the number of results on ZwiftPower is always lower than what you experienced in-game.

Here’s a sample of results from a race I did this week. (The screenshot is ZwiftPower, the phone is Zwift Companion.) 24 riders finished according to Zwift Companion. But only 13 show up on the official ZwiftPower results. Did I get 6th or 10th? Depends on who you ask!

Opportunity: Deliver Immediate Results. Beat IRL.

Coupled with requiring riders to enter races in the correct category, Zwift could display much more accurate race results in-game and on Zwift Companion immediately after the event.

As a next step, perhaps Zwift would need to create an interface for race organizers to further alter and finalize those results. But I think automated controls are the way forward, and the way for Zwift to protect itself and the race organizers.

This sort of solution would actually be better than what we get outdoors, where we finish a race and have to sit around in our sweaty chamois waiting for officials to finalize results. Cross the line, see the results, go eat breakfast. What a time to be alive!

Challenge: Weight/Height/Watt Doping

This is a big one, isn’t it? In a sport known for scandalous cheaters, it’s not surprising that we’ve seen “e-dopers” since Zwift racing’s early days. Apart from sandbagging (racing too low of a category, addressed above) cheating on Zwift typically happens in one of three ways:

  • The Biggest Loser: enter a lower weight, climb and accelerate faster.
  • The Shrinky Dink: enter a lower height, get less air resistance: go faster.
  • The Watt Assist: ride a miscalibrated power meter/smart trainer and get watts you aren’t giving.

(To be fair, many Zwifters have done some form of watt doping without realizing it. Many cyclists have never trained with power, and they don’t know if holding 350 watts for an hour is impressive or not. This is especially common on virtual power setups, where something as simple as not tightening the resistance knob sufficiently can move you from Cat 5 to World Tour level.)

It’s worth noting that the sorts of cheating outdoor cycling famously deals with aren’t even on the list of common Zwift cheats. While “outdoor cheating methods” have certainly been used on Zwift, it’s much too easy to cheat using weight/height/watts. Nobody is even paying attention to banned substances!

Opportunity: Break New Ground, Boost eRacing’s Reputation

To date, Zwift has tried to mitigate cheating by holding real-world finals and (recently) bringing ZADA back to life to verify performances of top Zwift-sponsored races. These methods are smart and get the job done, but they are very resource-intensive. Which means they aren’t scalable.

What we need is some automated way to verify that a rider’s weight, height, and power numbers are accurate. Much stronger minds than my own have tried to figure out a solution to this quandary for years, so I don’t expect to be able to solve this problem here. But I will offer a few ideas:

  1. Make Weight and Height Public: maybe if you want to race, you’ll need to accept that people will be able to see your profile’s weight and height history. This would stop much of the tomfoolery we see now.
  2. Improve Calibration Tech: surely there is a calibration technology/methodology that would be difficult to game. Perhaps it’s done automatically during a ride at random times, or perhaps the device simply never needs calibration, like the blessed Tacx Neo. We shouldn’t be able to game calibration at this point, hardware manufacturers! Fix it!
  3. Partner with Governing Bodies: if a rider is a registered USA Cycling Cat 2 road racer, I can believe them holding of 4.0 watts per kilo in a Zwift race. What’s that? You say they’re only a cat 5, with 2 outdoor races to their name? Hmmm… might want to check that.
  4. Show Avatar Weight and Height: avatars on Zwift don’t accurately reflect your profile’s weight and height. Making avatars which match the actual weight and height of a profile would make it pretty easy to spot those who are way out of bounds–and it would add nice visual variety to the peloton.
  5. Strava Cruncher: if heart rate monitors were required for races and Strava data could be automatically pulled from outdoor efforts, Zwift could crunch numbers and automagically decide if a rider’s Zwift performance matches what they can do outdoors. Verification in the cloud.
  6. Create Verification Methods: create different ways for riders to be verified, like having them complete a sanctioned test at their local bike shop, linking up their cycling license, automatically analyzing their outdoor Strava data, etc. This wouldn’t verify every result, but it would provide much-needed verification of a rider’s abilities, even a “reputation score.” If the verification methods were simple enough, certain Zwift races could begin to require verification as a condition of participation.

Obviously, there is no quick solution to solve the cheating problem. But a variety of methods could be smartly employed to knock cheating down significantly.

Zwift has the opportunity here to innovate in a groundbreaking way. If they can create automated verification methodologies/technologies which can reliably verify race performances, everyone wins. Racers will have a better time, and Zwift racing will receive a welcome reputation boost.

Conclusion

There is much to be done if Zwift wants cyclists to embrace its eRacing vision en masse. The entire system needs to be simplified on the frontend (signing up, race results, etc) while growing more powerful on the backend (performance verification, event/results management). This is no small task, but Zwift has two things in its favor: a strong community with lots of Zwift racing experience, and a good chunk of working capital to fund development.

Zwift has certainly grown more focused on eRacing in recent months, but it will take at least several more months of strong focus to develop a platform which racers can truly embrace. I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress this year.

Up Next

Watch for the follow-up to this post, continuing the discussion of challenges and opportunities for riders.

We’ll dig into the actual game experience: pack dynamics, team tactics, routes, gamification, etc. So much more to discuss!

What Do You Think?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the challenges and opportunities Zwift racing holds for riders today, especially related to my points above. Share below!

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