Yesterday, Zwift quietly rolled out a new “Route of the Week” Challenge card on the homescreen:
What’s the big idea? Simple, really: ride the Route of the Week and earn 500XP:
Note: “accidentally” riding the Route of the Week won’t earn you the XP bonus. You have to click the challenge card, which brings you to the blue screen shown above, in order to “register” for the Route of the Week challenge for that week. Then you can ride the featured route in any way you choose, in order to get the XP bonus.
Tip: If you’re new to Zwift and don’t understand how the XP (experience points) system works, read All About Zwift XP, Levels, and Unlocks for Cyclists.
About This Week’s Route: Triple Flat Loops
Triple Flat Loops is a Watopia route that began life as Zwift Insider’s first-ever Rebel Route back in April of 2019. It does what it says on the tin, covering three connected loops of Watopia’s flattest roads, including the Tempus desert, Ocean Boulevard, the base of the Volcano, and the Esses.
Learn more about Triple Flat Loops >
XP Express Events
Want even more XP? Zwift has also scheduled “XP Express” events on Tuesdays and Thursdays through May 22 where you earn double XP (so 40XP per kilometer/64XP per mile, vs 20XP per kilometer/32XP per mile).
These rides are 50 minutes long, open-paced, and held on a different route each day. Events are scheduled every three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
See upcoming XP Express events at zwift.com/events/tag/xpexpress >
What’s Next?
Zwift tells me we’ll see a new Route of the Week featured each of the four weeks of May. This looks to be just the initial launch of a “weekly quest” concept that could include other small weekly goals that deliver an XP bonus. Being a big fan of carrots, I support this initiative!
As for the XP Express events, it sounds like these will continue to be added to the calendar strategically, and community events may also strategically get set up as double XP events in order to give them a boost. My guess is you won’t see XP Express events when other bonus XP series are happening (like Tour of Watopia), but you may see them more regularly otherwise.
(The XP Express idea is clearly popular. There are 193 riders signed up for the next event on the calendar, which is over 2 hours away as I write this!)
Your Thoughts
What do you think of this “Route of the Week” idea, and what sort of weekly quests (apart from route completion) would you like to see Zwift set up? Will you be riding in the XP Express events? Share your thoughts below…
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