New York’s “Park Perimeter Loop” takes you on the outermost ground-level path around Central Park. Looking to grab an orange lap leader jersey? This is the only timed route on NYC’s course!
Course Profile
Every inch of this route is taken from real-world GPS data, so riders acquainted with Central Park will find these roads familiar. The course’s rolling profile is rarely flat or straight, and a few punchy pitches including Harlem Hill to the north mean you must stay vigilant when racing.
Along the way don’t miss the fall colors and many sights of Central Park: hot dog vendors, pedestrians, wildlife, water features, and of course the NYC skyline.
Start and Finish Points
This course travels north from the start pens, which means you do not ride through the start/finish banner until the end of the first lap in an event. Therefore, we’ve created two Strava forward segments: one beginning just after you exit the pens to cover your first event lap, and the other beginning at the start/finish banner for additional laps and free rides.
The main start/finish banner is the finish line for this route.
New York’s “Lady Liberty” route is named for NYC’s most famous landmark, the Statue of Liberty. The overall elevation gain on this route is more than twice her height though, so be prepared to work!
This route travels south from the start pens, then takes you up onto the reverse KOM (.7 miles, 5.9%) in short order. You’re then taken down for an uphill sprint followed by a rolling loop around most of Central Park at ground level, only missing the northernmost portion of the park.
Episode 56 of Zwiftcast has been released, with a big focus on the newly-launched NYC course.
This episode is dominated, as you may expect, with analysis and chat of the new world in Zwift: New York City. Simon, Shane, and Nathan talk about the first “future-world” ever released by Zwift, ranging across the quality of the artwork, the number of intersections and what it may tell us about game development. The Zwiftcasters have plenty to say, some of it possibly a little controversial.
But there’s room for more in Episode 56 – with hints about what may be to come in this important period for the company and indoor cyclists. With the number of worlds on Zwift now reaching five, it’s inevitable that the question of world switching is discussed again.
There’s an interview with Marge Kaufmann, who makes light of her hop-on-and-keep-going approach to completing the Kona Mission, followed up by some chat about the value, and indeed age, of some of the longer-running challenges on the platform.
Zwifter Rachael Elliott has been through a tough year – but now, as she recovers from her life-threatening stroke, she’s ready to get back to competitive cycling. But it looks as though Rachael may face a barrier in competing as a Paralympian. We get the latest.
And finally the podcasters discuss virtual cycling as an e-sport, in the context of what’s expected to be a big announcement from Zwift in the next few weeks.
Zwift execs Eric Min, Mike McCarthy, and Charlie Issendorf grew up bike racing in Central Park, and their love and nostalgia inspired the development of Zwift’s New York City course which launched tonight.
The Now and Not Yet
Zwift’s NYC is not the NYC of today, although it will look familiar to locals.
Set 100 years in the future and 260 years after the “birth” of Central Park (designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1858), the course contains many futuristic elements including elevated transparent roadways, flying cars, and sleek sci-fi buildings in the skyline. Visually, this is absolutely Zwift’s most audacious course launch to date. So it should come as no surprise that Zwift’s artists have been working on this course for over a year. Somehow the art team has managed to walk the fine line between creating a Central Park that is futuristic and fresh while maintaining the present-day elements necessary to keep it feeling like Central Park.
In a press release from Zwift Jon Mayfield said:
“Our creative approach to building New York has been inspired by some of the video games we were playing back in the 90’s. It’s helped us deliver a more challenging, and significantly, a more entertaining environment that I know Zwifters will love.”
Key present-day buildings are visible including The Guggenheim, The Met, and the El Dorado Hotel. We’ve also got the Marriot Essex House (renamed “Ezzex House”), well-known park landmarks, and of course the well-known park paths including the Shuman Running Track (for runners only!) and Outer Park Drive loop. Here are some screenshots for you:
The semi-opaque roads rise above the Park for a very cool effect
The pedestrians are wearing New York-style clothes…
Don’t look down, it’s the cops!
Horse-drawn carriage with a twist
Just warming up by the hot dog stand
View of the Reservoir, bridge and skyline
Running up the Highline
Scottie statue
It’s NYC… gotta have pigeons.
The climb to the KOM is no joke!
Upcoming Events
Many events are scheduled in-game to celebrate the launch of NYC. It will be the default course for a week (October 19-25) then again October 28-30th. Launch event details are a little sparse at this time, but we do know:
Eric Min’s Big Apple Ride and Big Apple Run in NYC will be held in the next few days, allowing Zwifters to join and ride or run with Zwift’s CEO.
A 5-stage Tour of NY will begin Oct 23, running through the beginning of November. Finish all five stages to unlock the exclusive in-game kit.
Zwift staff will be leading runs all week so you can ask any of your burning NYC questions.
About the New Roads
All of New York’s roads basically fall into two categories: flat or rolling terrain on the ground and twisty, pitchy (16%!) stuff above ground on the suspended glass roads. There is are sprint points in both directions on the perimeter road in Central Park, while the KOM is on the suspended glass roads above Manhattan. This new course offers lots of fun options for race organizers, and plenty of pain for racers brave enough to hit the glass pitches.
Speaking of races and group events, New York is the first world to feature two starting pens: one for runners (in the Reservoir) and another on the main park loop.
The course features 13 routes: 10 for riding and running and 3 for runners only. Zwift Insider verified segments are being created and linked below, along with detailed writeups for each route.
Ride/Run Routes
ASTORIA LINE 8 – 11.5km // 142m
Named for the first NYC subway line, take a figure 8 path around the park
EVERYTHING BAGEL – 34.3km // 545m
Hit the Sprint and KOM in both directions on this long, looping route
GRAND CENTRAL CIRCUIT – 6.8km // 144m
Circuit course that takes the steep route up and down the KOM with a short loop around the Sprint in between
KNICKERBOCKER – 22.4km // 365m
This mostly flat route has some grit in it with one trip up the KOM via the steep route
LADY LIBERTY – 12.3km // 206m
A steep climb up to the KOM before a long lap around the park
LAGUARDIA LOOP – 2.7km // 27m
Quick and fast lap for special events only. Named for famed NYC mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
MIGHTY METROPOLITAN – 20.0km // 318m
Traverse most of the park and elevated roads in a meandering loop
RISING EMPIRE – 20.7km // 376m
Hit the KOM in both directions on this climbers course
THE 6 TRAIN – 6.5km // 69m
The shortest route around the park is flat and fast
THE HIGHLINE – 10.5km // 179m
Ride the elevated roads in the skies above Central Park
Run Routes
FLAT IRONS – 14.8km // 146m
Run two laps of the Shuman Trail with a long lap of the park in between. Flat Irons is named for the downtown Flatiron district
HUDSON ROLL – 9.0 km // 80m
Take a lap of the reservoir before braving the inner loop on the park roads
SHUMAN TRAIL LOOP – 2.5km // 9m
Runners Only! Explore the sanctuary around the reservoir on this sneaker friendly path. You won’t find cyclists on this section
Astoria Line 8
Everything Bagel
Grand Central Circuit
Knickerbocker
Lady Liberty
Mighty Metropolitan
Park Perimeter Loop
Rising Empire
The 6 Train
The Highline
Flat Irons
Hudson Roll
Sherman Trail Loop
See you all in New York!
Want to ride New York on an “off schedule” day? Use the world hack: NYC is world 4!
“In The Pens” Racing Podcast Episode 10: Transitioning and Training with Racing
Greg and Adam discuss the UCI eSports announcement, the transition from riding and racing outdoors back into Zwift and how to incorporate Zwift racing into a training schedule to promote long-term gains.
While it’s been hinted that there is more to this course than Zwift is revealing pre-launch, we can analyze the Strava data and get some ideas as to what NYC may hold for Zwifters.
First, the Ride
Surely Mr. Min is excited to be riding in virtual NYC, since he grew up riding and racing in Central Park. Zwift execs Mike McCarthy (Head of Partnerships) and Charlie Issendorf (Head of Events) were there as well.
Eric’s ride was on the Outer Park Drive Loop, which is 9.7km (6.03 miles) in length. We don’t see any long climbs, but with 225m (741 feet) of climbing in his ~30 minute effort, this is certainly not a flat route. It looks to include a lot of rolling terrain, which should be fun for racers.
The route includes a sprint section, as evidenced by Eric’s green jersey pic uploaded to Strava.
Green jersey for Eric!
Next, the Run
Jon’s run was around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, known to locals as the Central Park Reservoir or simply “The Reservoir.” It covers the Shuman Running Track, which is 2.4km (1.5 miles) long. Zwift has said there are 13 running routes on the new course and 10 riding routes, which means there are 3 “run only” routes. Certainly this Shuman Track loop is one of them?
Whenever HQ posts rides of new routes on Strava, the release of these routes is just around the corner. My guess is we’ll see NYC before the weekend hits, but early next week at the latest.
Looking forward to seeing what Zwift has up their sleeve!
Announcing the Ronde van Flahute p/b Team DRAFT Race Series
Team DRAFT is presenting a new weekday morning race series beginning next week. Held Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings at 8:45 EST/5:45 PST Pacific. Called the “Ronde van Flahute” (which roughly translates to “Round of the Hard Men”), these races are meant to be hilly and hard, sort of a virtual version of the Ardennes classics.
Here’s the official race description:
A weekday morning race presented by Team DRAFT. These will be fast races from the start, be sure you have plenty of fluids and a fan ready. We encourage riders to bring teammates or work together with others around in these races. Our main goal is for riders to better themselves and help others get better at Zwifting. Go fast and most importantly have fun out there!
I spoke with Team [DRAFT] member Matt Brandt to get more details about the race. Here’s what he had to say:
There are currently not many races out there doing the courses that we are selecting, when is the last time you saw a race go up Keith Hill? Triple loops? The courses may change with the Zwift schedule changes, but generally the races will be hilly and hard…
Our goal from this is hopefully to attract the best racers on Zwift. When the fields on Zwift have the best it makes everyone better. If you are chasing Scottie Weiss or Leandro Messineo up a hill you are going to push yourself more than you normally would.
Getting the Points
These new races are also designed to help riders boost their ZwiftPower Skills points rankings. The ZP “skills” rankings have 3 points categories which accumulate for your overall ranking. For most people, the power portion is pretty hard to improve significantly by much unless you’ve just started racing. The racing portion many regular racers have already maxed out on. That leaves the “segments” portion, which for many experienced racers is the biggest area for people to gain points and move up the ZP rankings.
You can view your current skills points breakdown by clicking “Skills” under your ZwiftPower profile.
Team DRAFT was founded on the simple idea that together we can make each other stronger than we would be alone. Set your fans to high, bring plenty of energy and a positive outlook on hills. Together we can help each other achieve flahuteness.
Thanks to yesterday’s update (version 1.0.30589) Zwifters now have their custom workouts syncing between all their Zwift devices.
This means you can create a custom workout in Zwift on one machine (say, your office PC) then go home and have that workout available on another device (perhaps your AppleTV Zwift setup). Workouts are automagically synced across all your devices.
Zwift’s workout mode is a powerful, flexible training tool. The ability to create custom workouts makes it so you or your coach can lock in precise workouts tailored specifically to your needs.
Custom workouts are typically created from within the Zwift game, since doing so is quite simple. In fact, with just a little practice, you can lay out a custom workout in less than a minute! (If you need to create a workout but aren’t on a computer running Zwift, check out ZWOFactory.)
Here are the simple steps to creating a custom workout from within Zwift.
Step 1: Press the “Training” button to access workouts
Step 2: Under “Custom Workouts” click “Create a new workout”
Step 3: Drag and drop elements from the right-hand bar, creating your workout
The quickest way to figure this out is to just do it. The interface is intuitive and simple. Give it a try!
Step 4: Save your workout
Make sure to give your workout a sensible title (at the top of the screen) then click “Save”. You can always edit the workout later.
Step 5: Click “Workout” and start sweating!
That’s it. Now the real work begins… time to complete that workout!
Want a video walkthrough? Check out Shane Miller’s intro to the workout editor as he lays out a TT Intervals workout below:
