Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, this route was created to host Zwift Academy Road 2021‘s “standard” Baseline and Finish Line rides.Â
Launched in Zwift’s August 2021 update, this route was created to host Zwift Academy Road 2021‘s “standard” Baseline and Finish Line rides.Â
Route Basics
Length: 24.5 km (15.2 miles)
Elevation: 321 m (1,053‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Watopia
Start & Finish
Begins at Fuego Flats start pen, ends atop the Volcano KOM.
Achievement Badge: 490 XP
Strava Segments
Route Description
This route was designed to hit three different segments which test your sprint, VO2, and threshold power:
- Sprint: Watopia Sprint Forward
- VO2: Titans Grove Reverse KOM
- Threshold: Volcano KOM
Beginning at the Fuego Flats start pens, we travel south and turn left into Titans Grove for a twisty, rollercoaster warmup before beginning the first timed segment of the ride: the Titans Grove Reverse KOM! Catch your breath as you descend down to the misty valley of the dinosaurs, then climb out of Titans Grove and take the Ocean Boulevard tube over to the Fishing Village. As you hit the Italian Villas you’ll want to ramp up your wattage, because the sprint segment is just up the road! This is a longer sprint, and it begins just before you enter the short tunnel. Give it all you’ve got, then recover over The Esses and through the glass bridge to the Volcano. Your final challenge is the Volcano KOM – a corkscrewing climb to the top of the steaming mass of rock. Go go go! The route officially ends atop the KOM, but you’ve earned the right to get a few extra kilometers in by spinning those legs out while you descend afterward.
I can’t wait to race this route–It looks super fun. I love the volcano climb finish–You’d think it would be good for the climbers, but it’s so draftable that the big guys have a chance too!
Yep, type of route suits my riding to. Love an uphill finish.
And just to confirm, no XP points nor a badge for completing this route, correct?
Correct, because it’s an event-only route. Those don’t give badges or completion XP.
Wouldn’t it be neat if it did. Would encourage more participation in events.
I just looked at my “Achievement Badges” in game and there is one for this route and for Climbers Gambit (neither of them are marked as completed in my game, but I definately have done the Legends and Lava on 2 occasions as my baseline and finish ride of Swift Academy)
I saw the same thing Ruth did. Hopefully when they open this up to non-event only we will get route badge credit. I will do it again at that time if not. Kind of silly to put it on badge list if there is no badge. Treasure of Sierra Madre meme I guess.
They upgraded this to a regular route and give it a route badge.
this is going to be painful
So does an 80kg rider go with a climbing setup here?
It doesn’t really matter as long as you use the same setup for both the baseline and finish line rides. This is setup to measure your improvement between the two, not to race or compare to other people, so choose a setup you’re happy with and stick with it for both.
all rounder
Thanks for ruining Zwift Insider. There are so many pop up ads that you cannot get the annamated routes to work. I understand ads but not one every 5 seconds.
If you’re seeing popup ads every 5 seconds, you’ve got malware on your computer. That’s not from this site…
Same here, no problem with pop-up ads on Zwift Insider.
Thanks for letting me know
I think that might be you, I haven’t had any issues with pop-up ads on ZI.
Would be wonderful for route badges to exist for the event only routes. Would encourage more participation in events.
Did this last night. I loved hating it…
I hope it becomes a new open route after the Academy.
Is it ok to do a recovery pace between segments?
I’m going to do my Baseline ride tomorrow. Does this route pop up automatically?
There are two category choices when you sign up for your Baseline Ride – the category you choose determines the route you ride. “A” puts you on Climber’s Gambit, “B” puts you on Legends and Lava.
Do you know if you can do more than one lap of this course?
No, if you continue (like I did yesterday) you seem to continue going around the volcano. I turned off towards Downtown
Eric
Now that this is a proper route on Zwift, I was expecting Strava to show the segment after I had completed it but it does not show up. Do you have to do a u-turn to go back to the start pens?
The segment on Strava begins earlier then when you start the route on free ride so I guess you only get it when completing it in an event. I did the baseline/finishline event and there you see the segment. But now when I did it in free ride I don’t see the segment on Strava. They have to adjust that!
Ken, thanks very much for the answer. I guess I’d better ride it again
Sounded good on paper….hate Titans Grove unless completed a 10k warm up first. Its complete now, won’t ride it again
Hi Eric, love your site! Elevation is a bit more when doing the official route: 352m and then you get your batch.
What happens when an event that lasts 2hr chooses this course? Do you just teleport back to the start line after completing a lap like it looks like based on the elevation map presented on zwiftpower for that event?
NO XP for these routes added this week?
They have made these 2 routes public, but there are no points to complete the routes? Legends & Lava and Climbers Gambit? I did the legends as part of the Zwift academy road, but would do again. Let me know
I got 600 experience tonight 1/6/2022 when I completed the climbers gambit route for my first go.
Hi Eric, thanks for creating these route descriptions and Strava segments!
I rode this route and got the badge, but somehow it didn’t match the Strava segment.
I think the Strava segment starts before the point where I spawned. Could you take a look? Here’s my activity: https://www.strava.com/activities/6394779543
Thanks!
Troels
see the answer to my question above. In short, yes – you need to do a u-turn to go back towards the start pens and then do another u-turn
Well, I completed it in an event, but still didn’t get the Strava segment.
https://www.strava.com/activities/6411387852
Something is off. The leader of the segment finished the segment BEFORE climbing the Volcano?!
https://www.strava.com/activities/6411196182#2909091737608110670
The segement is visible in your activity now – did you get that fixed with a support request, or did it show up itself all of a sudden?
Strava has been removing segments again, the start pens segment is gone
I think the start pens segment never existed or was deleted by Eric for being useless. Generally he doesn’t create “from start pens” segments for routes where going from the start pens still traverses the whole non-start pens segment.
Would really help to know where sprint and Q/KOM segments are in a route for better route description. Appreciate you!!!
I may have missed it but I did not see any bike and wheel recommendations. Could you please provide this!
All-rounder leaning towards aero. Ride the Tron if you have it.
Hi Eric, Many thanks – I love all your speed test comparisons. I am wondering how much difference it makes if you were to do these tests for a rider of my ability and weight – say 70kg and 200W and 182cm – or for that matter an even smaller less powerful rider, eg a female at 62kg, 170W and 160cm.For us aero is not quite the same factor as we are not travelling at the same speed. I am wondering if I should be choosing more of a climbing bike on this course (I get dropped on the climbs… Read more »