Zwift has just announced the Tour De Zwift, and it’s their most ambitious tour to date. With 9 stages across all 5 worlds spanning the entire month of January, this series of events is designed as a “celebration of Zwift and the worlds within.”
Here is Matt Stephens giving us a proper intro to this epic event:
Zwift’s official line for these tours is something like this: “It’s a personal challenge against the clock. Some participants will ride the event like a race, but there is no podium at the end. It’s all about getting on the bike, pushing yourself, and completing all the stages.”
With that said… many people treat each stage like a race. And the finishing order will be listed on ZwiftPower, so…
Tour De Zwift Kit
Zwifters who finish all 9 stages will unlock the official Tour De Zwift kit. As with past tours, completing the event is the only way to unlock the kit.
Can’t make one or more stage dates? Keep in mind there will be two makeup days scheduled after the final stage–see “Makeup Dates” below.
Groups
Each stage has two or three groups:
A Group: longest distance. Men and women can join this group.
B Group: shorter distance than the A. Men and women can join this group.
C Group: for women only. Distance is usually the same or slightly longer than the B group
Stage Details
To make sure everyone can fit each stage into their schedule, each stage lasts two days and has events repeating every two hours. On the first day they start every two hours on odd numbered hours, the next day they start on even numbered hours. This way over two days each stage will have taken place every hour.
A Group Lap Distance: 7.9km / 4.9 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 79 m / 259 ft
Laps: 4
Lead-in distance: 12.7 km / 7.9 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 52.2 km / 27 mi
B Group
Lap Distance: 7.9 km / 4.9 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 79 m / 259 ft
Laps: 2
Lead-in distance: 12.7 km / 7.9 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 28.5 km / 17.7 mi
C Group (Women Only)
Lap Distance: 7.9 km / 4.9 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 79 m / 259 ft
Laps: 3
Lead-in distance: 12.7 km / 7.9 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 44.3 km / 22.6 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 34.4 km / 21.4 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 544 m / 1785 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 34.4 km / 21.4 mi
C Group (Women Only)
Lap Distance: 34.4 km / 21.4 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 544 m / 1785 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 34.4 km / 21.4 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 36.4 km / 22.6 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 433 m / 1420 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 36.4 km / 22.6 mi
C Group (Women Only)
Lap Distance: 36.4 km / 22.6 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 433 m / 1420 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 36.4 km / 22.6 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 40.2 km / 25 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 286 m / 937 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 40.2 km / 25 mi
C Group (Women Only)
Lap Distance: 40.2 km / 25 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 286 m / 937 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 40.2 km / 25 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 16.1 km / 10 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 157 m / 514 ft
Laps: 3
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 48.3 km / 30 mi
B Group Lap Distance: 16.1 km / 10 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 157 m / 514 ft
Laps: 2
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 32.2 km / 20 mi
C Group (Women Only)
Lap Distance: 16.1 km / 10 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 157 m / 514 ft
Laps: 2
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 32.2 km / 20 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 19.9 km / 12.4 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 1144 m / 3752 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 7.7 km / 4.8 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 27.6 km / 17.2 mi
C Group (Women Only) Lap Distance: 19.9 km / 12.4 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 1144 m / 3752 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 7.7 km / 4.8 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 27.6 km / 17.2 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 23.6 km / 14.7 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 494 m / 1622 ft
Laps: 2
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 47.2 km / 29.4 mi
B Group Lap Distance: 23.6 km / 14.7 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 494 m / 1622 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 23.6 km / 14.7 mi
C Group (Women Only) Lap Distance: 23.6 km / 14.7 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 494 m / 1622 ft
Laps: 1
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 23.6 km / 14.7 mi
A Group Lap Distance: 9.6 km / 6.0 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 126 m / 413 ft
Laps: 4
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 38.4 km / 24 mi
B Group Lap Distance: 9.6 km / 6.0 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 126 m / 413 ft
Laps: 2
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 19.2 km / 12 mi
C Group (Women Only) Lap Distance: 9.6 km / 6.0 mi
Elevation gain per lap: 126 m / 413 ft
Laps: 3
Lead-in distance: 0 km / 0 mi
Total distance with lead-in: 28.8 km / 18 mi
This is already an interesting race recap in itself. But the guy has a mechanical. He captures the frustration nicely. Ever thought if Zwift DNFs are better or worse than outdoor ones?
Not all turbo trainers work with thru-axles. If you have the trainer you want, and the bike that you love, Kinetic has developed a thru-axle that (should) make it work. Here’s a short review.
In keeping with tradition, we appreciate to shed a spotlight on other training platforms out there. CVRcade is the newest kid on the block. Here’s what you may expect to see if you manage to earn a spot in their beta program.
Another cool race recap video. Illustrates how C races often work out. It’s especially great for those who haven’t done much racing but are interested in picking it up.
Last week, we had that video on FTP testing. And then there are all these debates about how useful FTP even is as a number. Xert is one of the strongest challengers to FTP testing. Here’s a deeper look at the platform and what’s in it for you.
Zwift Community All-Star Justin Purificati Discusses KISS Super League
Editor’s note: Originally posted on the Bereda Training Journal, author Dennis Cottreau interviews Zwift Community All-Star member Justin Purificati about his upcoming participation in Zwift’s new KISS Super League.
We sat down with prolific Zwift Racer Justin Purificati to discuss his upcoming participation in Zwift’s new KISS Super League series where he’ll race against pros as a member of the Zwift Community All-Star Team.
While they both require horsepower, professional road racing and Zwift racing are a bit different, to say the least, and it’s yet to be seen how the best of the best of everyday Zwift Racers will hold up to the wattage put out by riders on teams like Dimension Data, Hagens Berman Axeon, Team Wiggins, and more.
“It’s definitely exciting!” Justin told us in an interview.
“I mean, when I first heard they were starting up a new league and it was going to be basically all pro teams I was like, ‘okay that’s a bit of a different approach… it’ll be interesting to watch,’ and then I got asked to join!” He laughed.
Zwift decided to include a team of community all-stars in the virtual racing mix. For Justin, it’s not an all-new experience.
“Alright here we go again!” he said.
Justin’s Progression to the Pros
This hasn’t come out of the blue for Justin, he’s been working his way through the ranks in the Zwift racing world over the past few years, having already been invited to race in live events.
“Yeah, it’s definitely been a journey,” Justin reflected. “ The first time I got asked to go to one of these events was two years ago in Las Vegas…”
“And you won one of these things before, eh?” I interrupted, “was that the first one?”
“That was the one!” Justin laughed.
Justin had never been to Las Vegas and got to spend a week there doing some and then getting to meet all the people that he raced against on the computer all the time.
Justin won the race in dramatic fashion.
“Yeah, so, I think I wasn’t feeling the greatest during the race,” Justin recounted. “We hit the Richmond climb pretty hard the first time and I was a bit on the ropes, so I was like, you know, maybe I can’t go really that hard again the next time around and wait to see what happens, so… I kind of got a bit of a gap going into the start/finish to the first lap and it turned into a solo lap then I JUST held off the ‘GP llama’ [Shane Miller] by a tire width.”
KISS Super League Strategy
We asked Justin what he could tell us about the KISS Super League, which, at the point of this interview, was still unveiling news on a weekly basis.
“Well, it’s still so early in the works that we don’t entirely know everything ourselves. I mean, at this point we basically know it’s going to be a weekly series that’s supposed to be on Wednesdays starting the 23rd of January.” Justin said.
Otherwise, not a lot of details had been provided.
Even to the racers.
“They haven’t given us too much details.” Justin said, “I know every race is going to be fielding four riders from each team, so basically, at some point, we’ll sit down and discuss who will be participating in what events, who’s available, and all that.”
“I mean, also, we had a race earlier today so we just got the guys together and just kind of got each other feeling each other out, you know?” Justin explained.
Even though this team has been assembled from around the world, these teammates are not strangers.
“We all know each other a little bit and we all know how we race, but we always race against each other so it’s a bit of a different dynamic.”
They’re hoping to overcome that difference with communication and time.
Referring to their recent practice race, Justin gave some insight: “we were chatting quite a bit on Discord and just feeling out the race. Right now it’s all about learning my new teammates.”
Horses for Courses
With only four of eight team members racing each week comes the ability to tailor the roster for the specific course each week, playing to racers’ strengths and weaknesses.
“One thing they did tell us was that there wouldn’t be any ‘hilly’ races, so, I don’t know what their definition of ‘hill’ is for the pros but I imagine we’re not going to be racing up the Alpe du Zwift anytime soon.” Justin mused.
But would it actually be boring to watch these professional teams virtually race uphill?
Justin’s thoughts: “No, but I mean, I think they’re just trying to give, maybe, the average guys a bit more of a shot or… they don’t want to just make it a watts per kilo battle, you know?”
Justin’s Zwift Power profile currently has him at 5.32 watts per kilo for 20 minutes and in the 98th percentile of all Zwift racers.
Personally, I know he’s been way higher than that, and would love to see how a peak form Purificati stacks up w/kg wise against pros…
I like his chances.
Justin: “All-Stars have a shot”
But how does Justin like his team’s chances in the KISS Super League series?
“I mean, I think we have a pretty decent chance at putting in some results,” Justin said. “We have guys that can sprint pretty well and, I mean… there are some guys that are former pros and they’re getting beat out on Zwift, right? I mean it’s not… the translation between riding out on the road and on Zwift isn’t the same.”
And that comes to the crux of the issue.
There’s a difference between racing on Zwift and on the road, obviously.
If we took the Zwift All-Star team and the professional racers in the KISS Super League and threw them out on the road, no competition.
But on Zwift?
The All-Stars have a shot.
And it could be exciting as hell.
Secrets of a Prolific Zwifter
Professionals may train more hours, but the All-Star team trains more hours on Zwift.
Without giving too many away, I asked Justin what he knows about Zwift racing that the pros don’t which he’ll use to his advantage.
He offered up this:
“When you’re winding up for a sprint you don’t have to worry so much about positioning. When you’re racing out on the road, you know, you can’t start from the back of the pack and just start sprinting directly through guys but… that’s definitely something you can do [in Zwift]. You just start your sprint from a little further back but then you basically get a full draft riding through the peloton and then just slingshot your way through the front!”
Expect Tactical and Attacking Racing
Stuck together as a group or all blown apart?
Pace-setting or attacking?
“I think it’s definitely going to get blown apart in the sense that there’s gonna be a lot of teamwork involved. Guys will definitely be attacking, counter-attacking, putting guys up the road,” Justin predicts.
“You don’t see as much of that in Zwift. It tends to be what’s known as “the blob effect” where everyone’s just kind of riding together as a group, hard, and everyone’s just stuck together.”
But that isn’t how he thinks things will unfold with the pros involved.
“I think with this it’s gonna be a little more reserved in the sense that you’ll see a lot more fireworks and guys attacking, going way harder, trying to break up the group, so that should be interesting.”
I asked if, with the professionals involved, he thought the tactics would be elevated.
“Oh yeah,” Justin said with no hesitation. “That’s what the pros are used to. I’m sure that’s what they’re going to do on Zwift.”
Tactical Race, Tactical Communication.
If attacks are flying, the All-Star team needs to know how to respond.
They’ll be relying heavily on Discord.
Justin told us, “Yeah! We worked on it a bit today so we’re just working out the kinks, but it seems like everyone’s pretty comfortable with that already, so…”
Overall, this KISS Super League is an experiment in seeing how racing virtually compares to racing in real life.
The same experiment extends to communication.
The professional riders could be traveling together to and from races and team camps over the course of the series, so they might have a chance to race altogether in the same room, speaking in person, while the All-Stars are scattered around the world in their basements, using Discord.
“There was talk of getting team Wiggins together [for races in the series] and have a Zwift booth set up,” Justin told us. “Then they can all race together side by side like we would have a live event.”
But unlike other live Zwift racing events that have happened, where all racers are lined up side by side but racing as individuals, the KISS Super League series will feature riders lined up with their teams.
Where previous events had a quiet line up of racers, there could be discussions happening in this series.
They’d be discussing their tactics.
“Oh yeah! Communication is going to be huge. They’ll definitely be at an advantage compared to the other guys if they’re not like on Discord, or not in the same room, or at least communicating with some way.”
Audience Engagement and the Future of E-Sports Racing in Cycling
In NASCAR there are feeds of drivers talking to their pit crews available to the TV audience. The Zwift world could move in the same direction with their KISS Super League.
Could we get a chance to hear what racers are saying to each other in the heat of competition?
“Possibly!” Justin thinks.
“I mean, it’s definitely been done before where guys like Nathan [Guerra, of Zwift Community Live] will have access to our group Discord while we’re doing a race. He usually won’t share it with the public, just because, obviously, we’re discussing race tactics and stuff, but he’ll often chime in and give a bit of a sense of what we’re talking about without giving too much away.”
Zwift Community Live is a social broadcast dedicated to showcasting the Zwift Community in all its forms and has already been leveraging the insights from team discussions in Discord to create a more engaging viewing experience while broadcasting Zwift races.
That insight is already proving to be quite engaging.
“I know in the past, just riding with the ODZ guys, we have had instances where we’ve had people not even racing just on the Discord watching everyone else and basically acting as a DS [director sportif] for the race and just giving us a heads-up of what’s going on.”
Early Opportunity in E-Sports Market
Zwift recently raised $120 Million in venture capital to help them set up an e-sport league, specifically the KISS Super League.
Currently, it’s viewed as “an additional opportunity” for professional teams and sponsors to get exposure, but just as cyclists specialize in different disciplines (crit racing, for example) one must wonder whether this could be the beginning of a new type of professional bike racer.
“I think there’s definitely some opportunity to be had,” Justin commented. “I mean, it’s still developing quite a bit… but especially with how the state of affairs is with racing on the road right now, I think this is definitely more of a usable market for the public.”
Cycling is nothing without its fans, after all.
“It’s definitely more inclusive, so I think we can get a lot more people involved and that’s generally been the big problem with racing,” Justin continued. “I think the more people we can get involved, I think there is something to be had here.”
When asked how he’s approaching training for the series, Justin said:
“Well, I’m definitely managing my training around it. I’m definitely not going to try and hinder my chances of doing well in races, so I’m definitely catering my training right now to make sure that I’m in good form during the week for the race, so…”
A bit understated, but knowing Justin personally and as a teammate since our university cycling days through to the elite amateur level, he’s taking this seriously.
Watching it all unfold
Bringing the interview to a close, I wished Justin the best of luck and invited him to return for a follow-up conversation after his first race.
“Yeah, for sure!” he said. “Maybe we’ll see YOU out there racing, too!”
Once I composed myself after bursting out in laughter, Justin probed further: “What are we on, come back 2.0 or 3.0 now??”
With so much going on with Bereda these days, I’m not sure a comeback to high-level cycling is in the cards for me in the next few years. We’re too busy trying to be part of the industry’s evolution in our own way with Peer-to-Peer Coaching for Endurance Sports, but everyone at Bereda is keen to watch Justin be part of the first wave of professional e-sport bike racing and can’t wait to see the watts per kilo flow.
Today Zwift announced the details of the KISS leagues which will soon be launching for pro and amateur racers.
Zwift is billing these races as a “demonstration sport” in 2019, and their press releases reference a “complete Zwift eRacing product launch expected in 2020.” Much could be said on this topic, but let’s get to the league details for now!
League Rules
The rules for all leagues are the same and can be found here.
Men’s Super League
Schedule: every Wednesday at 11 am PST, from Jan 23rd to Mar 27th.
League Teams:
Hagens Berman Axeon Cycling Team (Professional Continental)
Last weekend while suffering my way up Alpe du Zwift on TdZ’s stage 6 I began to wonder how much double draft was adding to my speed. We all know drafting doesn’t help much at low speeds, but it still has some effect.
When I finished with a new PR the question was stuck in my head: how much of that PR was from the draft?
Fortunately, I didn’t need to put together an automated speed test to figure it out. Soon after finishing my effort I noticed another Zwifter had already done the test for me: and he did it with his own legs!
Meet John Bytheway, a level 25 Zwifter from Bournemouth, England. He rode the Norseman Winter Race event up the Alpe on Saturday, then followed it up the next day with TdZ Stage 6. Two Alpe efforts only 1 watt apart in terms of average power–impressive pacing! Same bike (Tron) for both events, but the Norseman events have drafting disabled, while TdZ used double draft. A nearly perfect experiment.
Mind you, this experiment isn’t perfect: John could have applied his power differently between the two efforts. And he wasn’t constantly in the draft during his TdZ climb, although with thousands of riders participating he was in the draft for most of it (John estimates he was drafting for 75-80% of the effort).
That said, I’m comfortable enough with the numbers to say double draft trimmed approximately 45 seconds off of John’s no-draft effort. As speed (and w/kg) increase that margin would grow, since the draft effect would be amplified.
How to recover better, faster (Advice from Coaches)
Editor’s note: this is part of a series of articles focused on training advice for Zwifters. In each article, coaches bring their experience to the table and answer a single question. Here is this week’s…
We all know that proper recovery is an essential part of any training plan. What can I do to “boost” my recovery: that is, recover more and recover faster?
Your recovery starts prior to you finishing your current training session, since you want to be eating and drinking through that current session or towards the end.
Guidelines for Eating and Drinking
If you’re on the turbo trainer, Zwifting away, it’s quite likely that the session has been intense. This will have eaten into your glycogen stores (the body’s carbohydrates) and they will need replacing. If the session has been less intense you may need more ‘mixed’ foods. Evidence shows that consuming 1.0 to 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass (e.g. 70 to 105g if you weigh 70 kg/154 lb) within an hour of finishing will help you recover faster. Additionally, consuming up to 1.5 times the amount of fluid lost in session will help you rehydrate (make sure the fluid has electrolytes in). To calculate your lost fluid, subtract your post ride (nude) mass from your immediate pre-ride (nude) mass and multiply that number by 1.25 to 1.5. This is the amount (in liters) you should aim to drink. For example, if you started your session at 70 kg, and finished at 68.5 kg (1.5 kg difference) you should aim to drink 1.875 to 2.25 L of fluid. This fluid could be combined with some of the carbohydrates you’ll need.
It’s also important to get some protein in after exercise, although the evidence shows that carbohydrates are far more important.
Other ways to help your recovery process are to gently cool down on the bike, maybe doing some post-ride stretches/yoga, and perhaps even getting in a cheeky quick nap if you’re really tired! Last: don’t make your session too intense. Try to finish some/most sessions with something to spare, rather than being on your knees!
Training stress created by riding, intervals, and accumulated fatigue pushes your body beyond its comfort zone. During recovery, your body makes itself stronger in order to handle increased training demands in the future. You can help support your body by adding a couple of tricks to your arsenal.
1: Sleep! Your body needs rest to rebuild. The more and harder your training, the more sleep you need to recover from that effort.
2: Eat! When you’re expending thousands of calories doing intervals, you have to replace them. It’s ok to run a few hundred calorie deficit if you’re trying to slim down, but being a thousand calories short will hurt your ability to get stronger. Make sure those calories come in the form of muscle building proteins and high-quality carbohydrates to replenish all the muscle tissue you beat up during training.
3: Supplement! Training takes a LOT out of you. Supplementing with essential nutrients can enhance your body’s natural recovery processes. Some of my favorite supplements are BCAAs, Glutamine, Vitamin C, Creatine, magnesium, zinc, and a high-quality protein supplement. Each one has specific biochemical effects and can improve your ability to recover from a hard workout block.
4: Move! Most people think recovery is all or nothing, but moving is a great way to help your body recover. I tell my back injury patients that moving helps to push inflammation out of tissues and prevent muscle stiffness and shortening. Athletes are no different. The occasional recovery ride or even a walk with the family dog can help to loosen and flush out your legs, getting you ready for the next big block.
Don’t neglect your recovery! You wouldn’t want to put in hours of quality work just to sabotage it by wasting your recovery time.
Proper recovery comes down to three things for me: diet, hydration, and rest (sleep)… I haven’t found there to be a magic “boost” or anything otherwise.
Diet: Protein and carbohydrates are paramount for recovery, especially at the right time. Hoffman and Falvo (2004) found the best protein to consume after exercise is whey protein, since it has the highest rate of absorption, and in the 10-20g range, because your body can only absorb approximately that much per hour. Overnight, casein protein works best as it has the slowest absorption rate. In between, soy, egg, meat, etc. proteins are best as they have a medium absorption rate. Carbohydrates should also be consumed directly after exercise when they will be absorbed best by the body, the amount continues to be up for debate, but it is generally accepted that 1-2g/kg of body weight is sufficient after a long and intense workout. Protein and carbohydrates should be consumed simultaneously as they have a synergistic absorption relationship.
Hydration: Hydration levels have an effect on many things, including recovery. The next time you ride in the heat or do a longer and more intense Zwift ride, I recommend figuring out your sweat rate. This will give you a better idea of how much fluid you should be consuming on the trainer / in the heat and will prevent dehydration from occurring and a resultant decrease in recovery rate.
Rest: The highest release rate of growth hormone and muscle repair occurs when we are sleeping. Sleeping is also important for mental acuity (should I attack or not!?) as well as motivation, so if you can only do one thing for your recovery, get some shut-eye! As the old adage goes “Don’t stand when you can sit, don’t sit when you can lay down, and don’t lay down when you can sleep.”
Cyclists as a whole tend to be a bunch of ‘Type A’ overachievers: athletes who regularly push themselves to the limit and keep close track of their weekly data like ride time, distance, elevation, and training stress score (TSS). These are all very important metrics and if you want to become a great rider, you do need to put in a significant amount of quality saddle time.
However, to benefit from your hard workouts, you need to allow your body sufficient time to rest and recover. Recovery can be enhanced by things such as good nutrition, compression wear, ice baths, massage, yoga, and numerous other recovery tips and tricks. To me, however, there is only one recovery method that really matters and that is SLEEP!
Sleep is the most underrated pillar of health and the one that is most often neglected. The amount of sleep required each night may vary by athlete, but I can bet that almost every person reading this post does not get enough sleep on a regular basis. A good night’s sleep or a quality nap provides your body with, among other things, a surge of Human Growth Hormone, which aids in muscle regeneration.
If my athletes are ever feeling overly fatigued or on the edge of illness and they don’t feel like riding then I always suggest they listen to their body and take a pass on the workout. What I do demand of them in this situation, though, is that in lieu of their ride they lay down and have a nap instead of riding.
So, next time you are having a post ride espresso with your training partners, instead of bragging about who put in the most K’s last week, I suggest that you also brag about who put in the most ZZZ’s!
ZwiftHacks Updates Popular Zwift Preferences Tools
You can customize your Zwift experience by adjusting the settings in-game but there are some additional things you can do by changing prefs.xml–the configuration file.
ZwiftHacks has created several scripts for Zwift users, and one of the most downloaded and used is zwift-preferences for Windows computers. This script lets you set trainer difficulty effect, choose which world and course to ride, toggle Neo road feel, and set a variety of other preferences.
A very similar tool but for Zwifters with macOS computers is ZwiftPref.
The benefit of both ZwiftPref and zwift-preferences is that they make it easy and safe to make changes to prefs.xml. You could write the same changes manually but why run the risk of messing up the file in a text editor when you could just toggle an option and click on a button?
This is zwift-preferences:
And this is ZwiftPref:
Get the Tools
Get zwift-preferences here – I highly recommend downloading the compiled version at the bottom of the page if you’re looking for a quick and easy install. Once installed, just launch ‘zwift-preferences executable’ from the Windows Start menu or the shortcut on your Desktop.
ZADA/CEVA Z Shuts Down Performance Verification Efforts
ZADA (Zwift Anti-Doping Agency) began in late 2016. Its unofficially-stated purpose was
to have an objective, impartial review of whether someone’s performance is plausible rather than have long Facebook threads of uninformed opinions on whether not a performance is real.
Essentially, ZADA verified that top racers were actually able to put out the power they were showing in-game. This was necessary since it’s not hard to “tweak” power numbers, to e-dope, if one were so inclined. We ran a post about ZADA over two years ago which gives a good rundown of how it all worked in its early days.
ZADA changed its name to CEVA Z (Cycling Equipment Verification Administration for Zwift) in late 2018.
It was announced last week that CEVA Z is ceasing its efforts. Here is the full announcement from CEVA Z volunteer Greg Leo:
ZADA / CEVA Z was started when eSports cycling was still very young. It was developed to celebrate and recognize extraordinary performance. Over time, the project slowly evolved to become a governing body for Zwift racing.
With the growth of eSports, and the recent acceleration due to Zwift HQ’s injection of energy into our discipline, the volunteers at CEVA Z have decided it is time to shut down. The project simply could not keep up with the growth and was not properly organized to act as a governing body.
We hope the end of this era of performance verification on Zwift will open doors to new, better, and more efficient methods of regulating eSports cycling. For now, performance verification and the duty of keeping our discipline clean will fall on the teams, race organizers, and the community.
Thank you to the numerous volunteers who put many hours into CEVA Z and congratulations to all of the athletes who earned their badges over the years.
Ride On.
First, a Thanks
All those volunteers who worked to pore through Strava files and power numbers deserve a big thank-you for their efforts. It was a thankless job, really, but they put their time into it anyway for the love of the game. So thank you, ZADA/CEVA Z volunteers!
What Now?
If CEVA Z was performing a needed service for Zwift racing (and I believe it was), the obvious question is, “What happens now?” With ZwiftHQ turning more attention to racing on the platform (including its first-ever pro race series starting in just two days), what can be done to encourage or ensure fair play?
Lots of smart minds have attempted to figure out ways to verify Zwift performance, but no one has arrived at a better solution than CEVA Z. In the end, there’s just no easy way to ensure that the people you race against are truly capable of performing at the level they are on Zwift. This is why the big cash prize race finals (CVR, Zwift) have been held in one physical location, where trainer calibration has been tested and verified and riders weighed in the day of the race.
I think the “holy grail” here would be an automated solution which looks at a rider’s outdoor Strava history, comparing speeds and/or power numbers to Zwift stats to verify performance. But this is no small thing to develop.
As a B category racer, those who I compete against were never CEVA Z certified anyway (they only worked to certify top A racers). So long ago I had to come to terms with the fact that, on any given race day, I may be up against riders with inaccurate power. And you know what? I don’t think about it anymore and haven’t for years. The competition is always good, I feel like I have a podium shot (at least on flatter races) and riders who perform outside of the B category limits get automatically DQ’d or upgraded to an A. It works for me.
What about you? Do you think Zwift racing needs a governing/verification body? How should it function?
Zwift has announced what is probably the final set of teams to be added to the inaugural KISS Super League. Six more teams have been added, bringing the league up to fifteen teams.
There are fifteen teams in the KISS Super League–the six listed above plus:
UCI Pro Continental Team: Hagens Berman Axeon
UCI Continental Teams: Arapahoe Resources–BMC, Madison Genesis, Oliver’s Real Food Racing, Team WIGGINS Le Col, Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes, and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka U23
Each team is made up of 8 riders selected prior to the first round. Four racers from each team will be selected for each race round, and the overall standings will be based on points.
Watch the First Race
The first race is this Wednesday, January 23rd. Watch it on Facebook at the Zwift Live page.
More On the Way
Additional announcements of a KISS series for amateur riders will be released soon. The women’s pro and amateur leagues will begin in early February as well.
It’s been a while since my last post.You feel abandoned.I get it.You’re not alone.My running shoes, my swim gear, and my Zwift setup all feel the same.It’s not that I don’t love you anymore.I still feel the same.It’s just a different feeling now.Yes, I am talking about injury, illness, work, and cold weather.
The last three months have been a bit difficult.After coming back from the hip flexor injury, I decided to get back in the pool.I was out of the pool for about two months because I couldn’t really kick very well.Ok, my kick is garbage anyway, but the injury made it actually hurt just to kick a soft two-beat kick.Of course, as a coach I know about coming back from injury and taking it slow.As an athlete, though, I’m an idiot.I decided the best workout would be a 6 x 400-yard workout with paddles.I know what you’re thinking, and yeah, it was a bad idea.I tweaked my rotator cuff and couldn’t even do 1000 yards two days later.Two more months out of the water.Boom!At least I freed up some time.
Basically, October through mid-December saw me working a lot of hours, which is not abnormal, but I don’t control my schedule right now.Basically, work kept me limited to one workout per day plus my 15K commute on my bike.But, it gets worse!
What is this white crap falling from the sky?
It’s been a while since I lived north of Miami.I’m talking a decade of living in tropical weather.Let me tell you, a man changes under those circumstances.It does something to you.Apparently, my body now rejects temperatures below 50 degrees F as unlivable conditions.Seriously.I used to run in shorts and a t-shirt down to the mid-30s with maybe a hat and gloves.Now, I need that for 50.Then, one day this white stuff started falling from the sky.It accumulated on the ground and turned into this slushy, icy stuff.The inhumanity of the scene made me think that the world was about to end.It turns out that the white stuff is just snow and happens a couple of times per year.I still don’t get it, but I chose not to pursue the discussion further.That, and despite my moral objection to the cold, it won’t go away for a couple more months.So sad.
Time to get all swole.Do you even lift, bro?
Since I had some downtime due to injury, I decided to put some time into working on developing some strength and power that I hope will eventually transfer to faster swim, bike, and run times.Fortunately, I have a bit of experience in strength training, having done it off and on for the past 20 years, and I found a great resource at work.A friend of mine was the strength coach for the Washington Redskins for about ten years, so he offered to help me build an 8-week program with three strength sessions per week.
I also suckered a few of my TeamODZ teammates and a few folks at the Endurance Lab to serve as guinea pigs to test out the program.Did I say suckered?I meant offered them the opportunity to try out the program.The program has a lot of exercises aimed at building raw, explosive power and strength.That means lots of squats, deadlifts, power cleans/high-pulls, weighted pull-ups, and press exercises.The first two weeks had most of us walking around a little funny, as we’re not used to lifting heavy weights.It’s also important to put “heavy” in context.Let’s face it.Most of us cyclists aren’t known for throwing around big stacks of weights, especially for upper body exercises.
After mastering the form for the more technique-based exercises (again, loose use of the term mastering), I started seeing some huge improvements.At the mid-point testing, I was already able to deadlift over 300 pounds and high-pull 185 pounds.I know, it’s not a ton, but I’ll take it for a 140-pound guy.
Getting ready for 2019
Now that we’ve closed out the year, it’s time to get back to work at my triathlon-specific training.I don’t know my schedule after the month of June, so it’s a bit difficult to plan my season.I do know that I will be moving sometime between late July and mid-September.I won’t be able to race after that for the rest of the year, so I’ll have to get in as much as I can in the first part of the year.I have set some pretty tough goals for myself, including some times I want to achieve for a 10K off of the bike and a 1500-meter swim.So, we’ll see how that goes.
Well, that’s it for now.I’m on my way home from holiday travels, so expect to see more of me on Zwift in the coming months.I’ll probably jump in the occasional race, but I will be doing a bunch of workouts.I’m glad to be getting back into focused training, and I’m really glad my Zwift compatriots have been there over the last few months to keep me motivated to get in what I could.Until next time, Ride On!
