The shortest route in the Urukazi map, Mech Isle Loop takes you on a quick circuit of Mech Isle. What do they do here, anyway? It’s all a bit hush-hush, but the gigantic robo-parts seen here and there would indicate that the island lives up to its name.
The shortest route in the Urukazi map, Mech Isle Loop takes you on a quick circuit of Mech Isle. What do they do here, anyway? It’s all a bit hush-hush, but the gigantic robo-parts seen here and there would indicate that the island lives up to its name.
Route Basics
Length: 4 km (2.5 miles)
Elevation: 38.7 m (127‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Start & Finish
Virtual start/finish line just south of the start pens.
Achievement Badge: 80 XP
Sprint & KQOM Segments |
| None |
Strava Segments
Bike Selection
Bike choice is tricky here, because the route is approximately half dirt and half pavement. The finish line is paved, while the key climb is dirt. Where do you want your advantage? Races here will be spicy…
Route Description
Route profile by ZwiftHub – the place to plan and track your route achievements!
Many of the structures on Zwift’s Mech Isle take inspiration from the Aquapolis, built in Okinawa for Expo ’75. You’ll notice there aren’t any residential buildings, but plenty of industrial structures: this island is clearly the center for work in Urukazi.Â
The Mech Isle Loop begins just past the start pens with a virtual banner – this will also be your finish line. As you ride, the paved road along the well-developed northern shoreline gives way to a dirt road on the “wilder” southern part of the island. This road then tilts upward, winding its way up the island’s main climb and ending at a bridge.
Then it’s a quick dirt descent back to pavement as you spin along the more developed northern shoreline, back to where you began.
A note about bike choice: with approximately half of this route being dirt, and the other half a mix of pavement/sand/wood, you’ll want to give some thought to whether you want to race on a gravel bike or a road bike. The key climb is dirt, but the finish line is paved! In our solo rider test, the Cervelo Aspero + name brand gravel wheels bested the Specialized Venge S-Works + DT Swiss Disc bike by 4 seconds across a lap of this route (which takes ~7 minutes at 300W steady).
Whatever you choose, keep in mind that riders on the “other” bikes will be attacking at your weakest spots and struggling to hold pace where you’re strongest. This will make for challenging, restless racing.
This combined with the upcoming new pack dynamics will be interesting as you should be able to create a break on the gravel
Would those be the same huge robot parts that can be seen, being transported by train, in Neokyo?
Are we going to see Godzilla in a scrap with a Mech? 🤔
FYSA looks like you can’t free ride this route… Is that all routes with virtual banners?
I used the gravel bike in a tiny race on this route and can confirm that it is definitely very fast on the dirt climb/descent (got an 8-second gap over everyone in that section), but the group of road bikes caught me very quickly once we hit the pavement and I finished several seconds behind the lead group. It’s certainly not impossible to win on a gravel bike on this route, but you’ll need to commit more than I did. I didn’t want to completely explode since there was another tiny race to go.
I’m a pretty weak (heavy!) climber and the gravel bike definitely suited me, I gained more places off-road than I lost on the tarmac plus overtaking so many people on the climb was a revelation.
Any idea if a tt bike beats a gravel bike in a tt?
While running, should you wear the trail running Merrells or the carbon plated Nike 2%s?