Originally published as a Rebel Route by Zwift Insider in February 2020, “Eastern Eight” covers the easternmost roads of Watopia (Fuego Flats, Titans Grove, and most of Ocean Boulevard) in both directions.
Zwift’s February 2022 update included this route as an event-only route that awards an achievement badge. The April 2022 update then made this route free ridable.
Originally published as a Rebel Route by Zwift Insider in February 2020, “Eastern Eight” covers the easternmost roads of Watopia (Fuego Flats, Titans Grove, and most of Ocean Boulevard) in both directions.
Zwift’s February 2022 update included this route as an event-only route that awards an achievement badge. The April 2022 update then made this route free ridable.
Route Basics
Length: 51.7 km (32.1 miles)
Elevation: 413 m (1,355‘)
Lead-In: 2.4 km (1.5 miles)
Map: Watopia
Start & Finish
Begins and ends at the Fuego Flats rock arch. There is a lead-in from the event pens to the arch.
Achievement Badge: 1345 XP
Strava Segments
Route Description
Route profile by ZwiftHub – the place to plan and track your route achievements!
This medium-long route begins with a lead-in from your start point to the desert rock arch. This arch will be your finish line as well, 51.7km (32.1 miles) from now.
Hit the flat, fast Fuego Flats desert, climb out of Saddle Springs, then hang a right into the Titans Grove Nature Preserve. This rollercoaster through the redwoods is a great section of road for sightseeing, but if you’re trying to keep your speed up it’s a real challenge, as the road continually rolls up and down while twisting through (and beneath) the trees.
When you come to the end of the Titans Grove road, turn left toward downtown Watopia, then another left onto Ocean Boulevard. This takes you into Ocean Boulevard’s underwater glass tube. You will turn another left at Sequoia Circle, then left once more to head toward Fuego Flats.
Now it’s time to hit all of our roads in the opposite direction. After climbing up from Ocean Boulevard we’ll pass the Titans Grove exit, but stay on the road to Saddle Springs and Fuego Flats. This takes us all the way through the desert and past the start pens, then it’s time to turn left for a ride through Titans Grove.
Hit the Titans Grove reverse KOM hard if you’d like (it’s short, and you’ve only got about 9 miles left!), wave goodbye to the redwoods, then turn right to head down toward Ocean Boulevard.
Ocean Boulevard will take us back toward downtown Watopia, but we’ll hang a right before we get there to head back to where we began. You’ll stay on this road all the way to the desert finish. Got legs left? Go all-in for the final Fuego Flats sprint to the arch. You did it!
Seriously, why restrict routes to events only, and why not allow people simply to create their own routes. This is just backwards having all these unnecessary restrictions.
There is a _ton_ of routes, they can’t all be regular routes? Making your own routes requires implementing that functionality.
For the same reason that Strava set all segments to private except those by Eric. It would be a gigantic mess.
I’m not sure if PockD is suggesting anyone can create a new route that is visible to all users. It would make more sense that users are able to create their own private routes that just show up for themselves.
Or better, own routes that clubs and organizers can use for their own events. Imagine how Zwift would not be boring anymore!
BTW, just did the Easter Eight in free ride mode and was dropped right before the start/finish banner. I got the badge with 2.4km to go when I crossed the line. Why? Because it’s Zwift!
If you did it in free ride mode you’d be plopped in front of the start finish banner instead of the event pens, since this is an event only route I’m guessing the distance between the start pens and the start finish banner is included in the distance here, and you guessed it, that distance is about 2.2km.
If you want to creat them for others, no thanks, they’ll be too many. If you want to ride it privately, there’s nothing stopping you riding literally anywhere you want to, you just aren’t going to get a badge for it
When is the event
You can see the events if you goto https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/ and search for “ToW Stage 5”. The events run every hour March 25-29.
So they enable more clubs and they can schedule ‘events’, except for ‘event only’ routes.
I suppose this makes sense to someone, but it escapes me…
Will Zwift allow clubs to schedule events on these routes? It seems ridiculous that we can’t. Doesn’t it?
Probably because both of these things (clubs and event-only routes) are basically brand new features and they need some more shakeout time and to see how people use them before they add more risk and complexity by combining them.
Off subject, how long will I be stuck at level 50?
I certainly understand your position, but at what point should Zwift stop moving the finish line? I am pretty confident that there are more riders below level 50 than at level 50, and think of how it would feel to those that are so close to reaching the goal. Also, think of how much more daunting of a herculean task it would be for new riders to reach the “new finish line.” I don’t think more levels is the answer, but perhaps more challenges, other than the three available, or perhaps challenges that are only available to level 50 riders,… Read more »
…Those close to reaching level 50 will remain close to 50 even if the number of levels is increased 😂
That is a good question… some cherries to chase would be nice. Even if they go from 20.000 XP per level to 40.000, something should be done. I am only level 37 but I fully understand your concern.
Why is the XP bonus for this route so much more than for routes that are shorter, contrary to the standard XP-award practice? Is it simply extra incentive to do this event-only route?
Bonus XP for route badges is proportional to route length.
Sorry: I mean longer. Compare to something like Bigger Loop, which is 53.2km for bonus of 1060XP. This route is 51.7km for bonus of 1345XP. It is out of the ordinary.
Because bigger look has a longer lead in which doesn’t count towards xp
Lead-ins aren’t included in the route lengths (compare Roule Ma Poule and Casse-Pattes, same length and same XP bonus but quite different lead-ins). Even if they were, the XP bonus proportions still don’t work out. I assume at this point that it’s simply to incentivize riding this route when events use it, since that’s the only way to get the bonus.
hi
is there plan for Zwift to have update(better) in game route description.
eg: distance next segment, next segment gradient distance and where exactly you are on the course?
thank
Seriously? 1345 bonus XPs for this route?! That’s on par with what is awarded for the PRL Half and Big Foot Hills routes, both of which are longer and have far more climbing. I guess I am not complaining but just wondering if what was posted is accurate or if there might have been a typo.
Today I have done the route but at the end, the countdown go to 10 000 meters, for a total of 61km and 500m ascend. But I have not the badge.
I have a much simpler question: what’s the “eight” in Eastern Eight? There are two roads ridden in both directions and one climb ridden in both directions, so perhaps it’s 6 + 2 = 8? Who knows? No, seriously, who knows? 😀
I know. View the track from above. This is the lying number eight or the sign of infinity. Eights are also in other worlds.