“The Big Ring” Route Details (Watopia)
As one of the longest of the eight routes released with Zwift’s October 2023 southern coast expansion, “The Big Ring” is a big ring that lets you stay in the big ring. It’s the longest flat route in Watopia!
As one of the longest of the eight routes released with Zwift’s October 2023 southern coast expansion, “The Big Ring” is a big ring that lets you stay in the big ring. It’s the longest flat route in Watopia!
Route Basics
Length: 48.9 km (30.4 miles)
Elevation: 270 m (886‘)
Lead-In: 2.2 km (1.4 miles)
Map: Watopia
Start & Finish
Begins with a lead-in to the desert arch, which is also the finish line.
Restriction: Level 10+
Achievement Badge: 977 XP
Strava Segments
Route Description
Begin in Fuego Flats and travel clockwise, riding through the flat, fast desert before turning onto the new coastal road at the LAX roundabout in Saddle Springs.
Enjoy the coastal views and hit four sprints as you travel through Googie Springs, the Evergreen Coast, Ciudad La Cumbre, and Sandy Coast. Then it’s into the Mayan Jungle for a dusty climb up and out before descending past the Spruce Goose and into the Fishing Village.
From here, you’ll ride through the Italian Villas, onto the Volcano land bridge, around the Volcano, and into Watopia downtown.
All that’s left now is a quick climb back to the start line at Fuego Flats, where the route ends at the desert arch. You did it!
with the new crrs for gravel (are those for the jungle dirt too btw?) this one would also be good for longer pace partner sessions =)
New Crr is gravel only, but word from inside is that dirt Crrs will be changed in a similar way very soon.
How is it in the name “the big ring” that it’s flat 😀 “The Big Ring is a fairly flat route (hence the name)”
When cyclists talk about riding “in the big ring” they’re talking about their large front chainring, meaning they aren’t on a big climb.
awesome. Would you need a gravel bike for this route?
no gravel on this route, only dirt in the jungle
But anyway, changing to a gravel bike in the jungle is faster than staying on whatever race- or TT-bike, if this is relevant for somebody.
can you change bike while you are riding?
You have to stop moving before you can change bikes.
Any idea when it will be available in the companion app ? That it can be used for creating an event ?
They already are! Just make sure you’ve got the latest Companion app version installed (v3.52).
Which bike (gravel or race) is best for “the big ring”
unless you are into bike switching mid-ride, flat and fast tarmac means aero road, and if you do wanna switch, gravel bike should be faster than MTB for the dirt since it is more up than down
I rode it yesterday and started on TT, before changing to gravel in the jungle to the top of the climb and then back to TT. No idea whether I gained more time versus sticking to Tron (say), but provided a bit of excitement as I tried to remember where my gravel bike was in the garage!
ride the TRON. wasting your time with swaps.
I gained 40 positions overall by switching to gravel for jungle climb (Tron-Gravel-Tron) during ToW Big Ring this morning
truly???
Agreed. Finished in 1:11 on the TRON
How long is the lead-in?
The event in zwift companion says 51.1 total, so guessing 2.2km lead in
Thanks, it’s updated now. I *thought* t started earlier than the arch. Interesting ride. For ToW, it was listed as being over 60 minutes. Did it quicker then that.
when i did it, i started right at the finish arch
I thought it started earlier then that, but it’s not shown here, so how long is it?
its right at the arch. you start basically at the line.
I welcome the addition, but I guess it mixes road with gravel “swapping bikes” etc… it is a route I would never ride outside ToW…
Rode this route today as part of the Tour of Watopia. Zwift really missed an opportunity for a great longer route by including those ridiculous three miles of dirt roads that necessitate a bike switch (unless you want to spend all day climbing at less than ten mph). I lead a number of real-life outdoor rides for my local bike club every year and I would never take road cyclists over dirt roads unless there truly was no other option. Why Zwift makes us do so routinely is beyond my understanding. Caveat emptor—the route is neither “flat” (almost 900 feet… Read more »
The addition of dirt is simply ridiculous. I wonder if those working at Zwift have a car following them when they go out for a ride so they can swap bikes for dirt section. Or maybe, just maybe, they avoids dirt section IRL? lol. As always, a missed opportunity by Zwift but I’m no longer surprised by their illogical decisions.
Again completely agree!!
Couldn’t agree more !!! Please get rid of the dirt/gravel sections on some of these routes !!!!
Or you could just not ride routes with gravel.
“You don’t like gravel? Well then just don’t ride a bunch of the routes that you like other than having one stretch of gravel.” Yeah, tell that to customers who are paying for every zwift route.
The problem is that it is very hard to find out whether there are gravel/dirt sections on these routes as they are not included in route descriptions or maps. Even here you’d need to know by heart that ok yeah that section is dirt, and have to scroll down to comments to see that it’s better to nope out of this route if you hate the stupid way dirt is implemented in Zwift.
Yeah, it’s not easy to tell. You’d think they would make it clear on the maps.
The netherlands are flat. This route isnt.
Just pretend it’s Limburg
I wonder if people realize they can just ride through a dirt or gravel section on whatever bike they want and not switch bikes or care about their imaginary speed being a little bit lower or freaking out and complaining in the comments about it.
WhY DoN’T PeoPlE JuSt NoT cArE AbOuT tHiNgS tHeY cArE aBoUt bEcAuSe I dOn’T cArE aBoUt ThEm?
Because he’s gotta put down other people for caring about things, so he seems so cool and above it. But by commenting he shows that he cares more than anyone lol
Rode it today as part of a workout. Didn’t bother me in the slightest that my virtual speed dropped on the dirt. My effort required of my legs was just the same, which is the primary point of training, no?
If training is your only goal then why don’t you just set your daily workout on your bike computer, connect it to your trainer, and then stay at your garage wall for 90 minutes? We are all on zwift because we want something more fun and engaging than that, it’s fun and engaging because we care about the virtual world to some extent.
Because that would be boring, and is why I rarely trained indoors before Zwift. But Zwift provides plenty of motivation and distraction in a variety of ways. My enjoyment of the Zwift world and my motivation to keep hitting the desired watts is not affected by having a one hour ride include 5 minutes in which the virtual scenery (which I have seen multiple times before) moves past my eyes at a slightly slower pace. I am not criticising anyone who is bothered by that, merely commenting (in reply) that it does not bother me and does not affect my… Read more »
Because judging by the length and elevation of the route you can guesstimate how long it will take you to ride the route, and then that becomes a feasible target for you for a training session if you have e.g. a certain time to ride. Having inane virtual dirt, of unknown length, on the route means you progress at half speed for that time and so probably won’t be able to finish your ride, which is frustrating. It’s not the biggest problem in the world but would be nice if the surface was somehow visible on Zwift maps or if… Read more »
Elevation is 270m not 238m
Correct. Fixed!
Excellent flat route with great distance. We need more of these.
unfortunately ruined by the worst section in Watopia (jungle and mayan routes) just kills the pace and fun of the route.
must do better Zwift……
I completed 2 this laps in a row in one activity during ToW with 40xp/km. But only 20xp on the third lap. Why? What are the rules for XP on the repetition of the route?
Love this app… full of information