Tiny Race Series – April 5 Routes and Last Week’s Results
See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.
An Average Cyclist at Zwift Community Live 2025
An Average Cyclist at Zwift Community Live 2025
If you ever want to feel completely out of your element, become a chubby mediocre cyclist and then head to Mallorca to participate in a high-end cycling event. That is a picture of the battle in my head these last few weeks as I gear up for Zwift Community Live 2025 in Mallorca.
Back in November I first heard of the event and as the wife of Mr ZwiftInsider (who was jumping at the chance to go) I was very happy to jump back on my bike and start training. I’ve been off my bike for maybe a year. The reason? Your guess is as good as mine.
I decided to start training with 3 rides a week, only 20 minutes per ride. I knew if I started with too high a goal each week I’d be quick to quit. The plan was to increase that time by 10% each week until I was riding around an hour each ride. Then I’d add either time or another day.
About 2 months before the event I was putting in good time and distance (I felt like a beginner again, but not for too long). I saw on the ZC app the minimum ability was listed as being able to do 75 km at 25 km per hour. Not a problem, if I was doing that once. But there would be 3 days of riding. Could I do that 3 days in a row? We shall see.
Two weeks before the event I was riding in my office as Eric walked by the door. He must have seen a look on my face as he came in to see what was going on. I started crying (not recommended while riding, by the way). I had seen the Strava events posted for these outdoor rides. The first small ride was 60km with 480m of climb. “I’m going to disappoint you. I’m going to make someone stay back with me as I’ll be so slow. They’ll be bored and disappointed. What am I doing? Mallorca is where cyclists dream to go. I’ve never dreamt it. I feel like an imposter.” I stopped riding. Eric, being the amazing man he is, told me he had no expectations of me. He didn’t care if I decided not to ride even. He just wants me at the event with him. No pressure, no expectation. The heavy burden fell off my shoulders.
Nine days before the event Eric and I rode outdoors. After an hour we realized I’d planned we’d ride 50km, he planned we’d ride 50 miles. Oops. We ended up riding 44 miles, I barely limped back hitting a small wall around mile 40. My bike handling was crap, we rode in the rain, but I was happy to have finally been outside. I had two more days of riding before we hit the road so I spent that time just doing laps in front of our house clipping in, unclipping, turning around in a bit of gravel, looking over my shoulder without swerving, etc.
We finally started leg one of the journey, beginning with 3 days in South Carolina seeing Eric’s family. Leg two was 3 glorious days in the Girona, Spain area seeing our dear friend Simon Schofield and his amazing wife Jenny.
We finally made it to leg 3 of the trip and arrived in Mallorca last night for Zwift Community Live 2025. As an “average” cyclist I know I’m atypical in that I’m married to Mr ZwiftInsider and have a bit of privilege (like showing up early to the event). But my legs and my knowhow of cycling (especially outdoors) puts me firmly in the “average” category. And so here I sit in the lobby of the beautiful Iberostar Playa de Muro Village hotel watching Zwifters check in, wondering who else is battling their thoughts of where they’ll stack up during the three IRL rides. I’m sure it’s more people than I guessed. But I do know that we’re all here to have fun, this isn’t a race! And for once, it really isn’t a race.
Stay tuned. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Zwift Update Version 1.87 (143212) Released
Zwift version 1.87 begins its phased rollout today. This release includes a new “Streak Flair” feature to reward consistent work, upgrades to the Ven-Top climb, and more…
Note: I’m at Simon Schofield’s home in Spain as a stopover on my way to Mallorca for Zwift Community Live, so this post may be a bit light on details. If you see additional changes beyond what I’ve noted below, please comment!
Streak Flair with Scotty
Ride Streaks were added to the game in December 2023 as a way to motivate Zwifters to train regularly on the platform. Today’s update adds what Zwift is calling “Streak Flair”: a visual upgrade to our avatars that changes based on the length of your ride streak.
What is the visual upgrade, exactly? Well, it turns out that yesterday’s April Fools Scotty was actually a sneak peek at a new game feature. Our jersey pocket can now be filled with a bit of Scotty flare:
- Level 1 (4 weeks): the first bit of flair is a pocket Scotty medal when your streak hits 4 weeks. (You’ll keep this flair until you reach 12 weeks.)
- Level 2 (12 weeks): the medal is upgraded to a keychain Scotty peeking out of your pocket.
- Level 3 (24 weeks): animated Scotty! Now your pocket companion moves with a fun animation. This Scotty will stay with you as long as you hold onto your streak from here on out.
Important note: at launch, everyone’s Streak Flair will default to being turned OFF. You’ll need to select FUN from the Settings screen to show your flair.
New France Routes/Badges
Nine new France route badges have been added to the achievement list, although these routes won’t be available to ride until April 7th.
- Ven-10
- Croissant
- Three Musketeers
- Gentil 8
- Bon Voyage
- Hell of the North
- Knights of the Roundabout
- Sacre Bleu
- Macaron (event-only)
Read more about the France expansion, including screenshots, in This Season on Zwift.
Ventoux Upgrades: Sections and Spinner
Zwift’s release notes say, “… the Ven-Top route now includes a HUD display mirroring the Grade’s climb experience with 10 equidistant sections highlighted on screen. Additionally, when you summit this epic climb, you’ll now receive the Alpe du Zwift spinner!”
This is a welcome upgrade. Ventoux is the longest climb in game (apart from a handful of climb portals), yet it has always lacked the segments and spinner that help make Alpe du Zwift a more attractive climb. I predict we’ll see increased traffic on Zwift’s Ventoux KOM in the coming days.
Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
- Standardized the look and feel of scrollbars throughout the game.
- Fixed an issue that could cause an incorrect value to be shown in the Weekly Goal Met in-game banner.
- Improved the reliability of The Zwift Big Spin reward spinner.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a Zwifter’s kit to revert to the default Zwift kit after leaving a group ride or event.
- Enabled more detailed 3D lighting on newer Apple devices and Windows machines with dedicated GPUs.
- Improved an issue that could cause intermittent shadows to flicker on Zwifter avatars in some conditions.
- Android: Improved readability and usability of form input fields (login, profile settings, custom workout editor on tablets, etc.).
Discuss this update in Zwift’s forum >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
Woman Racer Spotlight: Sharon Byun
Woman Racer Spotlight: Sharon Byun
Name: Sharon Byun
Hometown: Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, USA, currently living in Gainesville, FL, USA
How did you get into cycling? I guess you could say I’m a bit of a late bloomer. I started competing in triathlon at age 43 in 2012 as a way to cross-train to manage running injuries. That was the first time I raced on a road bike and then eventually a TT bike. Prior to that, I had done some recreational mountain biking but it had been about 15 years since I had ridden.
How many years have you been racing on Zwift? My first official Zwift race was in November 2023! I had no idea what I was doing at the time. When I started, I was at Level 10, Cat E with zero races and didn’t have many options in my garage. So I did a few races to get assigned to a category and build a ZwiftPower profile. It took me about a year to get a Tron bike, and I was so excited that day. That felt like a HUGE milestone accomplishment. I’ve since done 96 “races” (some of which are just group recon rides or organized training events and practice TTTs), am now Level 57 and have managed to move from Cat C to Cat A, although I bounce back and forth between A and B and really consider myself to be a Cat B rider.
Are you part of a Virtual team? I joined the Level Racing Team thanks to Elyse Gallegos who introduced me to the team. She was incredibly helpful in getting me onboarded and racing on Zwift. She connected me to our team Captain Mim Taylor and Richy Howell who runs our sprint training sessions and is DS for many of our races among many other team responsibilities. Pam Schamber coordinates our weekly TTT sessions. Lisa Hopkins has been instrumental in helping to create more women’s race opportunities and encouraging us all to race in women’s events. I also race on a ladder racing team captained by Scott Farrow. I absolutely love the Level team. Everyone is so encouraging and welcoming and hilarious. I love being part of a team that has so many strong riders yet they are humble and don’t take themselves too seriously.
What do you love most about racing? Definitely the team camaraderie. It’s so strange to feel connected to people who I have only interacted with in a virtual format yet I feel as if I know them IRL. I’ve been so happy to get other women and friends who I’ve trained and raced with IRL to join Level as well as connect with women from other teams. It’s been fun to send and receive messages of “well done” after a race with people from other teams.
What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)? My favorite is definitely TTT because that is the format that makes racing feel the most like a team effort. Surely we also race as a team in other formats but there is something about a TTT that makes me find that extra gear to push myself for the team. My second favorite is a scratch race mainly because I don’t have the sprinting or climbing legs to ever be FAL or FTS to earn any intermediate points for the team. I also really enjoy ladder racing on a mixed team with the men.
What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series? So far, I have mostly raced in the women’s league in ZRL, but I did do the Warrior Games Tour de Boudicca at the beginning of this year which was loads of fun, and I have also done one Mini Race Series, and a couple of FRR events.
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? My very favorite Zwift racing experience so far has been the Women’s EMEA-E Central A1 Triple Flat Loops TTT race 4 during round 2 of ZRL. Our team of mixed Cat A and B riders surprised a lot of people to come away with 3rd place. As for outside, all of my racing IRL has been in triathlon. I have many favorite race experiences including Ironman Alaska, the 70.3 World Championships in St. George, UT, Escape from Alcatraz, and also competing in age group World Triathlon Championships in short course draft legal racing and mixed team relays over the years.
What is your favourite food to eat post race? Immediately post-race or workout typically I have a scoop of protein powder and creatine in almond milk in a shaker bottle. I eat a pretty healthy predominantly plant-based diet so maybe some veggies with tofu or tempeh, lentils and/or beans over rice or farro or quinoa. I also love sweet potatoes and avocados.
What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race? There is a very steep learning curve, so don’t worry about feeling like you don’t know anything in the beginning or don’t have the fastest bike or wheels. You will catch on very quickly! I actually got DQ’d in my very first race because I raced Cat C and I guess I was able to push myself just above the Cat C limit into B. Racing on Zwift has made me a stronger rider in terms of power, and you will get stronger also! Most importantly, you get the chance to race with and interact with a like-minded and fun group of people!
Any upcoming race you are looking forward to? So far on my 2025 calendar, I’m racing IRL at the iconic Wildflower Triathlon in May and World Triathlon Age Group Championships in Wollongong, Australia in October. Of course, I’m looking forward to racing on Zwift with the Level Team.
Where can people follow your racing adventures? I don’t have a social media account strictly dedicated to racing, but I am on Strava and Instagram @sbyun9.
Zwiftcast Episode 214: Zwift Academy Special Featuring Matt Stephens, Plus Winners Emily Dixon and Noah Ramsay
Zwiftcast Episode 214: Zwift Academy Special Featuring Matt Stephens, Plus Winners Emily Dixon and Noah Ramsay
Co-hosts Rebecca Charlton and Dave Towle are back to explore the result of this year’s Zwift Academy finals.
- Friend of Zwift, ex-pro, and the ever-entertaining Matt Stephens drops in for a chat about his role in the process and his impressions of the finals for 2025.
- Emily Dixon discusses the moment she won as a 17-year-old and her gratitude for what’s coming next.
- Noah Ramsay discusses his fascinating background, giving us the scoop on his journey into the peloton.
And finally, Dave is off to Zwift Community Live to rub shoulders with Sir Chris Hoy, Kristin Armstrong, and many members of the Zwift community to bring us all the best chats in two weeks’ time.
- 01:22 Matt Stephens delves deep into the Zwift Academy finals
- 18:33 Dave chats to Zwift Academy female winner Emily Dixon
- 33:37 Dave chats to Zwift Academy male winner Noah Ramsey
- 46:07 Rebecca and Dave look forward to Zwift Community Live
Zwiftcast is available on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Amazon Music, and Spotify.
Pocket Scotty Arrives for April Fools’ Day on Zwift
Pocket Scotty Arrives for April Fools’ Day on Zwift
This is our 11th April Fools’ Day on Zwift, and each year ZHQ has come up with something fun for the community. In 2024 we ironically wore VR Goggles, then before that it was two years of special April Fools’ Day events. 2021 saw us big wheeling, in 2020 we were transported to 1989, and in 2019 we were burning rubber. The year before that it was Paperboy. In 2017 we had big heads, 2016 gave us the old-timey effect, and in 2015 we rode big wheels on Jarvis.
This year Zwift has a new surprise – Scotty the Squirrel in our jersey pockets:
About Scotty
Scotty the Squirrel is Zwift’s official mascot, showing up in game as an actual squirrel but also as various statues, including one with a cone on its head in Glasgow.
Here’s a bit of Zwift trivia: did you know that Scotty is named after Scott Barger, one of Zwift’s four co-founders? (The other three are Jon Mayfield, Eric Min, and Alarik Myrin.) Apparently, Scott carries a bit of infectious energy, and it seemed like the perfect fit…
All About the New Specialized Tarmac SL8 Frame on Zwift
All About the New Specialized Tarmac SL8 Frame on Zwift
Zwift’s latest update includes the welcome addition of several new bike frames, including two versions of the highly respected Tarmac SL8 from Specialized. We’ve already covered the S-Works version, and today we’ll cover the non-S-Works version, which Specialized refers to as the Tarmac SL8 Pro on their website:
On Zwift, you’ll need to be updated to game version 1.86+ to see the Tarmac SL8 in Zwift’s Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 35+ with 700,000 Drops to buy it. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop (the same text as the S-Works version):
“Nothing is faster than the Specialized Tarmac SL8 thanks to the bike’s synergistic combination of aerodynamics, light weight, and ride quality previously thought impossible. After eight generations and over two decades of development, it’s more than the fastest Tarmac ever – it’s the world’s fastest race bike.”
In real life, the S-Works Tarmac is a bit lighter than the Tarmac SL8 pro, and also ~$6,000 more expensive. But how do the two compare on Zwift?
See our master list of all frames in Zwift >
It’s rated 3 stars for aero, 4 stars for weight, like a handful of other top newish all-arounders. But a 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, so we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!
Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm Carbon wheelset.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
The Specialized Tarmac SL8 is slippery, trimming 60.7s off our baseline Zwift Carbon frame over an hour of flat riding.
That puts it within 2.3 seconds of the game’s fastest frame, and 1.2 seconds behind the S-Works version of the same bike. Considering that our tests have a 1-second margin of error, one could reasonably lump this frame in with the other fastest frames in terms of performance on flat roads.
Climb Performance
The S-Works Tarmac is currently the fastest climber in our tests, at least at 4 W/kg. The Specialized Tarmac SL8 holds its own, though, coming in 4th overall in terms of climbing performance, just 7.5 seconds behind the S-Works version over an hour of climbing.
This Specialized Tarmac shaves 48.5 seconds off of our baseline Zwift Carbon’s time on an hourlong climb.
Upgrading Your Specialized Tarmac SL8
Like all frames in Zwift, the Specialized Tarmac SL8 can be upgraded in five stages. As a high-end race bike, each of the five stages results in a performance improvement. The S-Works Tarmac SL8 upgrade stages are as follows:
- Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
- Ride 260km, pay 200,000 Drops for a weight reduction
- Ride 320km, pay 350,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
- Ride 380km, pay 500,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
- Ride 440km, pay 750,000 Drops for a weight reduction
You can expect a fully-upgraded Specialized Tarmac SL8 to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hourlong climb vs the “stock” Specialized Tarmac SL8.
Conclusions
The Specialized Tarmac SL-8 is beaten by the S-Works Tarmac SL8 in all areas but one: affordability!
While the S-Works version requires level 40+ and 1,750,000 Drops to purchase, the Specialized Tarmac SL8 can be purchased at level 35+ for just 700,000 Drops. Apart from the wildly attainable Canyon Aeroad 2024 (level 10, 1,100,000 Drops), this Tarmac is the only frame in the top 5 of our stacked percentile rankings that isn’t unlocked at level 40.
Will riders choose to buy the more easily attainable Tarmac, or wait another 5 levels for the more expensive, slightly faster version?
Regardless of this Tarmac you choose, this much is true: you’ll get no color slider. #sadtrombone
Questions or Comments?
Will you be buying this Tarmac? Why or why not? Share below…
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
Woman Racer Spotlight: Jen Panteluk
Woman Racer Spotlight: Jen Panteluk
Name: Jen Panteluk
Hometown: Edmonton, AB
How did you get into cycling? Mountain biked when I was younger and bought a road bike after university when I decided I needed to do a triathlon to ‘check it off’ my bucket list. I was terrified to clip in and went to a local park and rode around in circles until I had it mastered. Looking back on this now I laugh and think about how I could do it in my sleep now!!
How many years have you been racing on Zwift? In 2021 I signed up for Zwift and would enter a community race here and there but was mostly on the platform for workouts and to chase badges. A friend of mine encouraged me to join Coalition in August 2022 and I raced in ZRL that September and I was hooked!
Are you part of a Virtual team? Yes – Coalition which is such an amazing community!
What do you love most about racing? Everything – I love the journey to get to the start of any race, the intensity and strategy that goes into racing, and most importantly the dynamic of virtually racing with a team.
What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)? Ooo…this is such a tricky question! TTT is fun because of the team dynamic working together, but points races with a team are also enjoyable trying to figure out how to leverage the strengths of each person and how you can support each other. As a triathlete, I also love a little duathlon action too! For me, who you’re racing with is more important than the format.
What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series? Warrior Games runs a number of fantastic series throughout the year which always engage a wonderful women’s field. I also have a soft spot for ZRL – I was placed on the most amazing team and honestly was inspired by each person on that team. The support and encouragement from those women was (and continues to be) phenomenal!
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? Triathlon World Championships in 2014 – representing Canada as an age group athlete at home in Edmonton was a really special experience.
What is your favourite food to eat post race? I like a good recovery shake – sometimes it takes a bit before I want to eat after a race.
What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race? Have fun and don’t overthink it! Sometimes there is a lot to wrap your head around, but if you take the pressure off and go in with a goal of enjoying the race you get that first one under your belt and grow from there.
Any upcoming race you are looking forward to? Virtually, the mini 3-day series are a lot of fun to challenge yourself multiple days in a row. In person – 1/2 Ironman World Championships next November.
Where can people follow your racing adventures? On Zwift and when I remember to post on Instagram @trijenpanteluk.
