Introduced in Zwift’s December 2020 update, Serpentine 8 is the first route to use the new Mayan Bridge road – a twisty stretch of dirt/stone/wood road crossing the jungle waters and bisecting the Mayan Jungle Circuit. This is a figure 8 route in terms of road layout, but it is ridden in such a way as to cover all roads (the Jungle Circuit and Mayan Bridge) in both directions. It also features a substantial lead-in which includes your first trip over the bridge.
Introduced in Zwift’s December 2020 update, Serpentine 8 is the first route to use the new Mayan Bridge road – a twisty stretch of dirt/stone/wood road crossing the jungle waters and bisecting the Mayan Jungle Circuit. This is a figure 8 route in terms of road layout, but it is ridden in such a way as to cover all roads (the Jungle Circuit and Mayan Bridge) in both directions. It also features a substantial lead-in which includes your first trip over the bridge.
Route Basics
Length: 19.2 km (11.9 miles)
Elevation: 199 m (653‘)
Lead-In: 7.3 km (4.5 miles)
Map: Watopia
Start & Finish
You will spawn near the Jungle start pen, and have a long lead-in down to the Jungle start/finish banner before the actual route begins.
Achievement Badge: 385 XP
Sprint & KQOM Segments |
| None |
Strava Segments
Bike Selection
The fastest bikes on this route are mountain bikes or gravel bikes with name-brand wheels Read more about Zwift MTB performance and Gravel Bike performance >
Route Description
Route profile by ZwiftHub – the place to plan and track your route achievements!
You’ll begin with a downhill lead-in from the Jungle pens, starting on tarmac (the only pavement on this route!) then changing to dirt. Partway down the Jungle Circuit descent you turn left onto the Mayan Bridge road, which twists and rolls over dirt, brick, and wood sections. 
These ruins are quite elaborate and a bit mysterious – word is Zwift may have some sort of steering game planned here in the future! Climb your way out of the Mayan Bridge section and continue your descent to the bottom of the circuit. When you ride through the Jungle start/finish banner you begin the actual Serpentine 8 route. The route begins on the Circuit in the clockwise direction, climbing up past the turnoff to the Alpe, around the top of the Circuit, and over the rope bridge before beginning the descent portion of the Circuit. Partway down this descent you will turn right onto the Mayan Bridge road, first descending in then climbing out (it is a bridge over water, after all). 
Then it’s a left turn back on to the Circuit, descending past the Alpe turnoff and riding through the start/finish banner in the counter-clockwise direction. It’s time to climb again – up this side of the Circuit, over the rope bridge, and descending down (wave hello to the sloth) before turning left onto the Mayan Bridge, like we did for the lead-in. Complete the bridge section, turn right to descend the rest of the Circuit, then go all-in for a fast finish over the line. Well done!
If the bridge is made of something non-dirt, gravel bikes may be competitive with MTBs on this loop. Or maybe not, since the bridge isn’t flat and MTBs with their significant additional weight may still have the edge on the short downhill …
There’s still too much dirt for the gravel or road bikes to win here. MTB still wins, hands-down!
I like the idea of a segment where you could steer a line to be on a specific surface. A narrow patch of ‘tarmac’ that favored a road bike but with slow dirt either side… It would promote steering and add an extra dimension if raced, IMO
So why do gravel bikes exist in Zwift? An excuse to spend drops?
The France world looks to have a lot of opportunity for the gravel bikes (i.e routes with a reasonable mix of tarmac and dirt), but who knows when they will actually get around to opening up those routes.
Usual case of Zwift starting something and then completely losing interest. If gravel bikes are ever going to be useful then Zwift needs to build the roads for them. Zwift management has the attention span of a goldfish. If Zwift ever make a smart bike it will probably be orphanware within 12 months when the next shiny thing comes along (see Sterzo smart).
Just like IRL, FS MTBs dominate on dirt roads. Everyone rides gravel grinders on ‘em. Oh, wait…
Are MTBs the best bike for this course?
Yep.
I tracked this route as having an 4+ mile lead in. :/
Yep. 4.5 miles, to be exact…
I not much of a fan of the route, but the new road detail is nice. Missed opportunity (IMO) for more sprint/KOM segments. The new road would suit this well… and make a detour in future more compelling
I agree that the details are nice (if somewhat reminiscent of classic Indiana Jones), but the road itself with the dirt and the long lead in make this one just . . . meh. I rode it once, but I like the KOM bypass segment on the lava cliffs route better.
Even ignoring the rolling resistance there’s something about the Jungle that just doesn’t hit home. It should do as it’s still some of the best graphics in Zwift but it’s still just not interesting.
The KOM bypass has a lot less interesting stuff but it’s nicer to ride!
I think one problem is that the roads are much too wide. Jungle roads are never wide! The new bypass has narrower dirt roads – feels more enclosed and realistic.
Hi eric i was wondering if you could make a post about my rapha 500 attempt. People can follow me on zwift companion and then look at the activities, it would be like ben and josh’s everest attempt, i will be riding every day for 62.5 kilometers, and i am only 12, i can send you more info in an email, there is no fundraiser but i wanted people to know i can do this, and it would be a great way to gain followers.
Any idea when Apple will approve and release these new routes?? So looking forward to them
Wow that’s service – just checked again and they are there.. Time to go find my shorts…..
Sometimes I wonder if nobody in charge of user experience checks those new routes? I did the Serpentine 8 today and didn’t have to worry about it because getting the badge fit easily into my 60min workout with or without the lead-in. But based on comments from previous routes, a lot of people are going to be very disappointed when they finish the advertised 11.9 miles and are nowhere near the end of the route. If I didn’t know better I’d think the only reason why somebody would create a route with a lead-in of almost 40% of the actual… Read more »
Exactly the same with me I ended up doing 14.92 miles and hated every minute of it
Gosh, I rode till 25.1km but still no Finish Arch on sight and it was already dinner time. Ended up quitting not finishing the route. Wasn’t it supposed to be 19.8km??
It has a lead in (see above). So total distance is about 26.5km.
oh man, you were so close! i was also about to give up at 25km but i was just under an hour so i pedaled for a few more minutes and then hit the finish line. it is deceptive, though. now that i know this may become one of my new favorite routes.
Anybody know why the Serpentine 8 is not listed in my Watopia routes?
Update your zwift to the latest version
Thanks Lee, I thought my apps were on auto update but obvs not! Cheers
The dirt on this route is a slog. How much of the route is dirt vs regular tarmac? The lead in seems all tarmac.
The route’s about 98% dirt. 🙂
Such a slog. I’m doing it right now and I saw it went from cracked pavement to dirt very quickly. So much for trying to do a lot of it on a TT bike.
Long lead Ins are ridiculous. Just add those in to the course length so we know the deal without having to look at Zwift insider, in addition to logging into the game to check badges, and then logging in again to choose a route. Or put all the info in the route section like most games would…I love Zwift but it’s not set up for ease or convenience.
Eric, i did this today in a meetup and we averaged a speed and elevation gain that was way out of whack with the WPK and terrain. I used my tron bike. We did nothing different RE the trainer. I was in reg mode and teammate in ERG.
Rodé 40k in just over an hour.
Please must actually analyze Length and Elevation of the routes because most of it is not the real one. This is 26.5 km and 239M.
Thanks you
I’ve just rode on Serpentine today… and it’s definitly my favorite one, for all the stuff made around the road. Big congrats to them !
agreed. normally i don’t like riding through the jungle but this was more fun than i expected, even on a road bike. next time i’m taking a MTB, though, for sure!
For what it is worth, I rode Serpentine 8 this afternoon. “Spawn to banner” distance and climb data fed to Strava was 20.55 mi (33km) and 1001′ (305m). Looks different from what is advertised.
…and the same distance and climb info is shown on my Zwift Companion record…
Rode it again on 1/29/21. This time it pretty much came out as advertised. I have no clue what I did to make it longer the first time.
Rode this yesterday for the second time on a gravel. Next time will be MTB. Is there some place to go off road because there was bikers coming out of the woods on one section. Even did a U turn and went back and sure enough someone else came out. What gives?
Badge will be received only after 26,5km, not 19,9km.and 239m.
Did 27k (245el) starting in workout mode on serpetine 8, after that ‘ride on’ to finish route by passing the arch again at about 26.5k. Unfortunately no route complete or badge seen/received. Don’t know if the lead-in might be even longer than the 7.3k…strange thing there.
Just finished it. 26.3km. Keep riding until you get the badge.
thanks4info und good2know to use mtb!! 🙂
Given the bike updates, is this still best on a MTB or the Canyon Grail (or similar)?
Canyon Grail with the “newly released” wheels (e.g. Reserve 25 GR) is faster than MTB (https://zwiftinsider.com/reserve-cadex-gravel-wheels/)
With the lead-in it was 16.4 miles today. Use a mountain bike for this route. I used a road bike and this was a drag – at least 4 mph slower than a normal road route.