Last week we loosely organized the first-ever mountain bike race on Zwift, named “Repack Redux”. Watch Nathan Guerra of Zwift Community Live commentate the race below:
Same Time This Week
Repack Redux II happens this week–same day (Thursday) and same time (11am Pacific).
Read more about the race below!
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
The race leader will be on the Zwift Insider Discord channel. Join the audio chat for fun banter and a more personal experience.
If you’ve completed Zwift’s new Repack Ridge steerable mountain bike course, you can appreciate how impressive Zwift veteran racer Casey Schumm’s KOM time of 5:21 is. That’s blazing fast!
With this effort, Casey grabbed the Strava KOM for the Repack Ridge segment. I asked Casey how he did it–after all, I’m riding in the Repack Redux races and I need all the help I can get! Here’s what he had to say…
It is all about where you use the power and hitting the high-speed corners right
I think I made most of the extra time on that fast flat/board corner at about 1:20 and saving a lot of power to get up the climb.
This was only my 4th time down the path and I bumped trainer difficulty up to 100% to really feel the hills. It helped me really attack the steep parts with a strong trainer fighting back.
Here are Casey’s Strava times for the Repack Ridge segment–you can see his KOM attempt’s average power was only 12 watts higher than another effort that was over a minute slower. This shows the importance of applying power at the right time, and picking good lines so you don’t get slowed down by running off the trail.
Hitting the Power
Mountain bikers know better than anyone how important it is to hit the power at the right time to keep your speed up while conserving energy.
If you watch Casey’s video you’ll see many examples of him doing exactly this, usually when the road gets steep and he ups his wattage as the resistance increases. Since he had trainer difficulty set to 100% he felt those gradient changes, which helped him naturally respond with higher wattage when needed.
But you also need to pay attention to what’s going on in the game, because there is at least one corner where automatic braking kicks in (for realism, I assume). When that happens (around the 2:40 mark), it drops Casey from 25mph to 14mph instantaneously. Casey responds by hitting the power to accelerate back up to cruising speed quickly.
Your Tips
What about you? Have you figured out some tricks to fast times on Repack Ridge? Share them below!
Zwift Academy Tri has just been announced, “a premier triathlon training program that helps you take your fitness to the next level.”
Completing the Program
To graduate the Academy, you must first join the Academy! Do that here.
Then, between November 11, 2019 and January 12, 2020 you must:
Complete the program’s six structured cycling workouts and one cycling race, which is a time trial.
Complete the four structured run workouts, and one of the running races (there are 5k, 8k, and 10k options).
Along the way you will unlock cool in-game gear as you build fitness with your fellow Academy athletes.
Key Dates
Zwift Academy Tri begins on November 11th and ends on January 12, 2020.
Graduates being considered for the Zwift Academy Tri Team (see below) will advance to a final selection process that runs from January 13 to February 9, 2020.
Zwift will announce the 2020 Tri Team soon thereafter the week of February 10th, 2020.
Zwift Academy Tri Team
Zwift Academy Tri is the best supported amateur team in tri thanks to cutting-edge gear, professional mentorship, and more. The team’s goal is to compete at the 2020 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona.
This is the third season for the ZA Tri team. Six graduates of ZA Tri 2020 will be chosen for the ZA Tri team.
To be eligible for the team, you must:
Be 18 years old or older on December 31st, 2019
Graduate Zwift Academy Tri
Use heart rate monitor for all qualifying events
Use a smart trainer or power meter and cadence in all qualifying cycling events
Used a run cadence sensor in all qualifying running events
How to Find “Repack Ridge”, Zwift’s Singletrack Mountain Bike Steering Course
Steering was launched less than a week ago as a Zwift FutureWorks test, and ever since we’ve seen lots of questions from riders who want to test it out but can’t find the new course.
We’re here to help, with a quick guide to finding and riding Zwift’s new MTB course: Repack Ridge!
Zwift Companion Required
Make sure you have Zwift Companion installed and running on your mobile device, (ideally) mounted on your handlebars.
It must be running and connected to your live Zwift session (you should see your arrow moving on the map as you ride) in order for you to gain access to ride Repack Ridge.
Zwift Companion is required in order to access the steering demo because steering only works through the Zwift Companion app on your mobile phone.
Where Is It?
Zwift’s new Repack Ridge MTB course is a one-way side trail off of the Titans Grove. Here you can see its location in relation to downtown Watopia and other points of interest.
If you enter Titans Grove from the north and ride south for another 2 miles you will arrive at the trailhead, which is on the right.
Which Route Do I Choose?
There is no route choice which puts you directly on Repack Ridge–the best you can do is choose a route which will take you to the trailhead after a few miles of riding.
Choose “Dust In the Wind“, “Muir and the Mountain” or “Quatch Quest” Watopia routes for the most direct line to the new trail. This way you won’t need to select any manual turns until the (?) prompt comes up near the new trail (see below).
Riding the Course
As long as Zwift Companion is connected to your ride, and you approach the trailhead from the north, you should get an intersection popup where you can choose to turn right onto Repack Ridge. It looks like this:
Select the right turn (?) and you will be taken to the start of the trail, where you must confirm that you want to try the Zwift Steering Test.
Then just center your bars (with the phone mounted on them) and proceed as directed. Have fun! It’s time to unlock that Zwift Mountain bike!
Sam Appleton on Gaming and Esports (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast #16)
70.3 specialist Sam Appleton joins us coming off of an impressive 8th place at 70.3 World Championships in Nice last month. For many users, Zwift is an outlet combining their love of gaming with their necessity for quality training. This is very true for Sam, and we take the chance to chat with him about his (and Jordan’s) love for gaming and esports.
We, of course, get a breakdown of the World Champs race as well as some exciting news about Sam’s plans for the rest of the season.
In the tech corner, Jordan talks about what to him was a surprise at Eurobike—that no one has released an answer for a 12-speed drivetrain on a smart trainer?!
About the Podcast:
The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.
World Championship Special #6 with Rohan Dennis and Craig Edmondson, CEO of Zwift Esports (Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast)
In the final installment of the World Championship specials, Matt, Dani and Kev cover all possible topics, from where Rohan Dennis keeps his rainbow jerseys, to what the future of Zwift Esports is.
Sitting down with both Rohan Dennis and Zwift Esports CEO Craig Edmondson, the final episode winds down from a jam-packed week of racing and podcasts.
There’s also an esports exclusive thrown in to soften the blow of no more Worlds week specials. Join Greg Henderson and Kristin Armstrong on the next episode as business returns to normal.
Everybody hates experiencing ANT+ signal drops, and if you have been riding in Zwift with an ANT+ connection for very long you’ve probably experienced the frustration of watching helplessly as the group rides away from you. Even two seconds of signal drop can be enough to ruin a race!
Kinetic has a new device that just might help: an extended range ANT+ USB dongle. It works with any ANT+ trainer or power meter and has a signal range of up to 40 meters.
We shared two prototype units with some Zwift Insider readers who have been testing them for the past 9 months. Here’s what they had to say:
From Eric Halverson
So far it’s been fantastic. I went from having to use a USB extension cable to get my ANT+ dongle right next to my trainer and still having occasional dropouts–especially if it was to the right of my trainer instead of right under my bike where my sweat drips–to leaving this one out of sight on the back of my computer just over 7′ away from my trainer and Zwiftalizer only showing the initial expected reconnect at the beginning of a ride.
From Jonathan Levie
Jonathan already had some experience trying to solve ANT+ signal issues and shared his history of increasing clutter, finally concluding that the new device worked very well.
In my attempt to reduce dropouts when Zwifting, I went from a standard Garmin ANT+ dongle:
Then added a USB extension:
Then switched to a powered USB hub:
And then put that on an extension to get it closer to the trainer.
And then put the USB stick on an extension to get it further from the hub!
And now I’m just using the Kinetic antenna in the back of the PC tower!
It’s been flawless in the house, but it’s also good at picking up the Japanese microwave I imported. I’m not sure if the regular microwave has the same effect, but it’s probably not ideal for riders in apartments. The riding room has been so much cleaner without the mess of cords running directly to the trainer.
From Duane Gran
I personally have used it in testing as well and have had very good experiences like Eric and Jonathan. There have been a few drops outs but nothing like what I saw in the past. It is an ideal solution for a frustrating problem.
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):
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?
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 Unlocks
Run 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:
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.
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.
