All About Zwift’s New Party Crashers Events

If you’ve signed into Zwift in recent days, you’ve probably noticed the prominent Party Crashers banner:

What is this event, and how should you approach it? Dive in and find out…

Party Crashers Basics

While Party Crashers events are essentially chase races, they are technically classified as group rides on Zwift’s calendar.

When you sign up, you choose which group you want to be in:

• Category D: You’re here for the party. Keep it casual and social in whatever costume Zwift has placed you in for the week. But also, try to stay away from the Party Crashers!
• Category E: Party Crashers. You’ll start 5 minutes behind category D, and your goal is to catch them before the ride ends.

Party Crashers Strategy

Many of the D “partier” groups are led by community riders who hold to a stated pace and keep the party going. If you’re joining for the party, stay with the beacon and help pull on the front if you’re able. This shared workload will help your group stay away from the crashers as long as possible.

Party Crashers: you’ll want to stick together as well, working together by rotating pulls on the front to keep your speed high so you can reel in the partiers.

When/if the two groups merge near the end of the ride, all bets are off. Partiers who are feeling strong can up their power and try to hang with the Party Crashers. And some Party Crashers may choose to sit up and hang with the partiers! It’s not a race, so you can do whatever you’d like. Just have fun.

Schedule

This is a 4-week series running through October 4. Events are scheduled every 2 hours throughout the day.

• Stage 1 – Battle of the Space Invaders – September 14-18
  • Route: Neokyo All-Nighter
  • 24.3 km, 168 m
• Stage 2 – Cowboys vs Aliens – September 19-23
  • Route: The Magnificent 8
  • 28.9 km, 156 m
• Stage 3 – Dino Chase – September 24-28
  • Route: Canopies and Coastlines
  • 22.6 km, 124 m
• Stage 4 – Man vs Machine – September 29-October 4
  • Route: Island Hopper
  • 31.1 km, 257 m

Sign Up

See upcoming Party Crashers events at zwift.com/events/tag/partycrashers >

Bonus XP and Silly Costumes

Whenever you ride through an arch, you’ve got a 1/3 chance of landing the big XP bonus (250 XP). That can add up to a lot of XP during the ride, as Gerben shows in his recent video:

Each week’s rides place riders in a costume based on the theme. This week, for example, is Cowboys vs. Aliens. You can see the costumes in Gerben’s video above… space suits for the partiers, and a space kit (and maybe a cowboy hat?) for the crashers.

Improvements

I love that Zwift is trying a different sort of event. Keeping them as group rides and recruiting community leaders keeps it fun, too.

But could these events be better? Zwift Insider reader “Bob” had this suggestion:

…if Zwift would just add an on-screen tally showing the number of riders in the opposite group that you have passed/held off, it would really take those events to the next level. It’s a neat idea but hard to get too excited when you have almost no information about the opposing group.

I agree with Bob. On top of that, I would love to see a time gap displayed, so you know how close you are to the other group. This suggestion would really enhance chase races as well, which is why I mentioned it years ago in Zwift Chase Race Basics, Strategies, and More.

Come on, Zwift. Let’s take chase races/rides to the next level!

Your Thoughts

Have you ridden a Party Crashers event yet? Were you partying, or crashing? How was the experience? Share below!