Route Chaser: The Grade Challenge Launched

October 3, 2024

LAST UPDATED February 13, 2025

Update (February 10, 2025): Zwift updated this challenge with an expiration date, saying it must be completed by February 28.

Zwift launched Cardio Crusher, their first “mini Challenge”, on September 9th. And today, the next mini Challenge showed up in game. Named “Route Chaser: The Grade”, the challenge is to complete five different Watopia routes that each include all or part of The Grade climb.

The selected routes are:

Mayan 8
- 26.2km, 249m elevation
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 13.7/100
Elevation Evaluation
- 27.7km, 410m elevation
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 16/100
Radio Rendezvous
- 23.5km, 736m elevation
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 19.6/100
Snowman
- 44.1km, 577m elevation
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 24.6/100
Power to the Tower
- 44.7km, 1497m elevation
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 36/100

Note our ZIMetrics difficulty ratings for each route; they get more challenging as you move through the challenge! In fact, our estimates say Mayan 8 will take 43 minutes to complete at 3 W/kg, while Power to the Tower is estimated at 113 minutes at 3 W/kg.

Challenge Rewards

Your reward for completing all five routes? Boosted fitness of course. Because any ride is a good ride, right?

But also, you may earn a route badge or two, as these are all fairly new routes. You’ll also get a 1000 XP bonus!

Joining the Challenge

To sign up for this Challenge, first click its card on the home screen (the big banner at the top, or the smaller card under “Challenges”:

If your Route Chaser challenge card looks like the one above, you aren’t yet signed up. Once you’re signed up, it will show a progress bar.

IMPORTANT: to finalize your sign up, you must also click one of the routes on the Challenge’s homescreen:

Clicking a route from this screen will take you into Watopia to ride that route. You don’t have to ride the route at that time, but now you’re officially signed up for the Challenge.

You’ll know you’re signed up because the card will show your challenge progress:

Getting Creative

Once you’re signed up for the Challenge (see instructions above), you can get creative about how you complete the routes. Do them in workouts, do them in events, do them as free rides. You do you!

Here’s a 200IQ move from Zwifter “Jenny” in the comments below: she got credit for both the Cardio Crusher Challenge and this Route Chaser Challenge by doing one of the Cardio Crusher workouts on one of the Route Chaser routes! (But again, make sure you’re signed up first. If the card on the homescreen shows a progress bar, then you’re good to go.)

FTP Tests on The Grade

The Grade is a climb that can be ridden at whatever pace you’d like. But did you know it was created as an FTP test that steps outside the bounds of typical structured FTP tests?

Instead, The Grade pits you against the mountain in an all-out effort to the top. Get to the top as quickly as possible, and when you ride through the KOM arch a sign will show your detected FTP. The game will also update your stored FTP if it’s an increase.

For more info, read Review: Zwift’s New “The Grade” FTP Test >