“Shisa Shakedown” Route Details (Makuri Islands)
Announced July 2024 as a route for the inaugural Zwift World Series, Shisa Shakedown is basically a flat route with six VO2-length climbs thrown in. It’s an attritional race course, and most riders will want to recover on the flats and descents so they can push hard on the climbs, all while saving a little for the finishing climb up to Shisa Sprint!
Announced July 2024 as a route for the inaugural Zwift World Series, Shisa Shakedown is basically a flat route with six VO2-length climbs thrown in. It’s an attritional race course, and most riders will want to recover on the flats and descents so they can push hard on the climbs, all while saving a little for the finishing climb up to Shisa Sprint!
Route Basics
Length: 53.3 km (33.1 miles)
Elevation: 557 m (1,827‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: Makuri Islands
Start & Finish
Begins from Mech Isle pens, ends at Shisa Sprint.
Restriction: Event Only
Strava Segments
Route Description
Beginning from the Mech Isle start pens, we head toward Festival Harbor but stay right to take the high road up to the Shisa Sprint. Pay close attention, because this looping climb and and the drag to the sprint finish is how this route ends!
Descend from the Shisa Sprint and head through the Mangrove Maze before climbing up through Pain Cavern toward Neokyo’s urban perma-night.
You’ll wind your way through the city, hitting the long Alley Sprint then climbing up to hit the even longer Railway Sprint. Then it’s a twisty climb up the reverse Rooftop KOM, which isn’t an official in-game segment although it may hurt like one.
Descend from the rooftops and head out of Neokyo through the tunnel and into Yumezi’s idyllic countryside. Enjoy a bit of flat road, then watch as you pass the Castle KOM start line and the road begins to tilt upward. You’ll cross a bridge and really begin this two-part climb, which flattens out once more before the second key climbing section. Hold on!
Next we head out of the Castle complex and up the dirty Temple KOM. This is the longest climb of the day because of pure elevation but also because most of it is dirt, which rolls slower in Zwift! Once you ride through the giant mystical tree at the top of this climb, descend back to through the castle complex and down to the flat countryside once more. Only 10km to go.
Let your legs recover as you enjoy the scenic descent through the slot canyon, because you’ve got two crucial climbs just up the road! First it’s the Mech Isle climb: a punchy little dirt corkscrew. Then you’ve got the final climb up to the Shisa Sprint, which you rode at the start of this route. Legs will be knackered by the time you hit that final sprint line. Remember: everyone else is suffering, too. Allez allez!