“Zwift Games 2024 Epic” Route Details (Watopia)
Created to support the “Epic Championships” in the inaugural Zwift Games, this long route includes 5 KQOM and 5 sprint segments!
Route Basics
Length: 79.6 km (49.5 miles)
Elevation: 821m (2,694′)
+1.9km (1.2 miles) lead-in with 57m (187′) elevation
Map: Watopia
ZIMetrics
Rating: 43.2/100 🛈
Time Estimates 🛈
lead-in + first lap
4 W/kg: 124 minutes
3 W/kg: 138 minutes
2 W/kg: 171 minutes
Start & Finish
Events begin with a lead-in from the downtown Watopia start pens, but the route officially starts and ends at the Hilly KOM banner.
Format: Loop
Restriction: Ride Only
Ride Achievement Badge: 1594 XP
Run Achievement Badge: none
Route Description
Route profile by ZwiftHub – the place to plan and track your route achievements!
We begin at the downtown Watopia start pier and quickly head up the Hilly KOM. Technically, this portion of the route is considered the “lead-in,” but that doesn’t mean it won’t be full gas in a race!
Descend through the statues on the backside of the Hilly KOM and hang a left to ride across the Fishing Village docks and through Ocean Boulevard’s tunnel, then turn right toward the desert and another right into Titans Grove.
The Titans Grove road is an uphill rollercoaster taking you through a redwood tree and past Jarvis the unlucky bear. Before you know it you’ll be hitting the start line of our second KOM, the Titans Grove KOM Reverse. Go hard on this short, draftable climb, then catch your breath as you descend the other side into the mysterious valley filled with dinosaurs.
Leaving Titans Grove, we turn left for Saddle Springs then right on the roundabout for the Southern Coast road. Breathe in that fresh sea air and hit the four sprints in succession: Woodland, Sasquatch, Acropolis, and Stoneway. Then we hit the dirt of the Jungle Circuit and take the Mayan Bridge cutoff to keep things interesting before climbing our way out, crossing the rope bridge, and returning to tarmac. Over halfway done!
Enjoy the cliffside views of the Epic KOM cutoff road, then turn left and descend on the bridge before heading back up to Titans Grove, but this time in the forward direction. Wave hello to the dinos once more, tackle the forward KOM, wish Jarvis good luck with his honey seeking, and head back into downtown Watopia. Almost there!
Over The Esses, after hitting the JWB Reverse sprint you’ll attack the Hilly KOM Reverse then take the cutoff road on the descent to head back toward The Esses, which take you back into downtown.
It’s been a long ride, but there’s still a sting in the tail. Just like the start of the route, you’ll now head up the Hilly KOM. First one through the banner wins. Let’s hope you’ve got some gas left in that tank!
Brutal
Thats exactly what I said out loud to nobody in my living room as I reviewed it. lol
My first reaction was “Oh, this is exactly the sort of longer ride I should be doing on the weekend. This will be great” My first reaction when viewing this page a second time after racing it now matches your first reactions.
Looks super interesting.
If the official race only starts at the KOM that might mean 90%+ of the field are already out of contention before the start line.
Is that a Zwift first for a big event? I don’t think I’ve ever done a race like that.
That said, I wish they would have put in one of the bigger hills on the second half of the course. Doesn’t have to be an Alpe finish but something like Epic KOM (minus radio tower) would have been pretty cool.
Lots of routes are like that with “lead ins”. They are still part of the race so not sure why zwift continue to use the term lead in as it’s all part of the race.
Lots of routes have a lead in, but I have never done a race where the vast majority of riders are going to be dropped before the start line.
Usually everyone willing to do 4-4.5 w/kg at the start is able to stay in the draft with the lead group. Here I can imagine people going 6-7 w/kg up the KOM and dropping everyone who isn’t capable of doing that.
I think there’s more than enough time for the big diesels to chase down the few that make it over the top with a 15-30 second lead.
Agree. I doubt a group of say <10 could maintain a breakaway against a pack of possibly a hundred riders over 80km. Pretty sure splits will happen later in the race on the longer ascents.
The start line is the pen. Time and distance start in the pen. The RACE starts in the pen. I’m not sure why this is so concerning and so misunderstood?
Because if they didn’t have that section as a ‘lead-in’ you couldn’t have the finish line a few kms after. It’s meant to be a repeatable route (who would on this one though?). By having a lead-in you get to have the start and finish at strategic points.
Innsbruck’s Lutscher and Lutscher CCW have an entire mountain for a lead-in!
I Like these longer rides thrown into the mix, I get they don’t get the same numbers as the shorter rides but its great to push the duration every now and then.
Eric, is there a special reason, that u didnt add the Achievement Badge in 3 of the 4 routes?
Because I don’t know what those numbers are yet.
Refreshing with a longish Watopia route that does not include the Epic or Alpe. Good to see that the new southern road(s) are being used.
This will hurt. I will need to clear my schedule for a week after I think. Why do it you ask? Well because of a silly little digital ‘badge’ that I didn’t know existed 1h ago…
Very happy with this course.
Call me crazy, but all that needs doing are some roads around the base/edges of Alp du Zwift and the outside of the desert (to the south and southeast).
Basically, the circumference of Watopia.
Would make for a great Fondo course.
I’d call it…“The Really Big Ring”. 😊
Nope, it’s called “The Big Ring”. https://zwiftinsider.com/route/the-big-ring/
Matthew is suggesting more: an additional loop on the coastline around Alpe de Zwift. I completely agree! Surely this has to happen sooner or later.
Did it last night… first one on the route… only KOM i’ll ever get on zwift 😅🤣😂
Sorry, had to take it before the real hitters come swinging. You set a hot pace!
Can’t wait for badge and bonus XP’s for that one. Looks great.
Man, so frustrated right now. I rode the course at a decent clip, averaging 40.4 and 315W. Uploaded it to Strava, and the segment didn’t show up. After comparing closely, I saw that the Strava segment starts in the start pens, which isn’t represented in the animated map at the top of this page. Bummed, since it would have set the KOM right at the 2 hour mark.
https://www.strava.com/activities/10821050929
Just created the “Banner to Banner” segment (https://www.strava.com/segments/36357669). You can try refreshing your Strava activity achievements, but you may need to re-upload it to get it to match.
That’s very kind of you, Eric, thank you! Refreshing the activity achievements didn’t do it, but I did get it to show up after cropping the activity a few meters (I have a feeling this triggers the same code as a new upload on Strava). Segment time just under two hours.
I will admit that my stubbornness might make give the original segment another try on Monday perhaps, two hours of sweet spot is good fun. 👍
Dwayne congrats for your time!
This was fun. I’m wondering if they’re ever going to build a badge longer than the PRL full.
acropolis and Stoneway sprints should be swapped I believe in the graphic above
If a zwift race is category enforced, why are racers not disqualified for finishing with higher average power than the category?
Organizers CAN do that DQ in ZwiftPower, but most do not.
Why not? For me as an organizer it’s because they entered their “correct” category for the event, then got upgraded to the higher category for future races.
DQing them would be like kicking out a cat 5 racer because they won, instead of letting them celebrate the win then giving them a mandatory cat upgrade.
Missed this the first time and can’t seem to find a make up date…. thought I had seen March 20, but can’t locate any time slots…
See upcoming events on this route at https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/?route=%3Dzwift%20games%202024%20Epic
NOW THIS IS A RACE COURSE!!!
Presume this will be open as a “normal” route after the Games finishes? I’ve just looked at the times for the remaining catch up rides of it and I can’t make them…!
Do you only get the badge if you ride the Zwift Games 2024 Epic” Route? Group A and B. C and D drive a different route or does that not matter????
Yes. You have to ride this route to get this route badge. 😀
I saw this route badge and wanted to ride it, but it said category enforced, with only categories A and B available, while I ride in category C, so I didn’t attempt it. Why was it not available for riders of all categories? And how were we supposed to be able to earn the route badge then? Thanks.
Yeah – I’m a little pissed off TBH – I only realised it was the AB route when it was the final weekend catch rides and I was away for my wife’s birthday and couldn’t do them… so if that means there’s no opportunity to get the route badge now, that’s a bit crap
I am really not sure right now. Is this route a loop so we can also do two laps in an event/meetup or is this an A to B route?
Putting the year 2024 in the name of the route is going to age poorly unless they add another one every single year.
Completed this route today in order to collect the bonus XP which would take me to level 65 before my transition to outdoor riding at the end of the week (and also before the levels change in May). Imagine my horror when at half distance (approximately) the display ceased to show that I was on any particular route and ceased to display the remaining distance. I thought that I would get to the 81.2km required distance and not get the badge and bonus. BUT I GOT THEM BOTH! Thank you Zwift x
Riding this today the route progress monitor disappeared somewhere around 47km in! Seems to still be making the correct turns after disappearance, but doubt I’ll get the route badge on completion ..
The same thing happened to me at about the same distance, while I was in the Mayan jungle, coinciding with me pausing for a break. So i thought it was that. As a precaution I stopped shortly after and will aim to do it non-stop next time.
This is a known bug that is being fixed soon.
Is the bug fixed by now?
As of this (Sunday) morning it’s not fixed, the progress banner disappears at about 27.7 miles as you climb out of the jungle. But at the end of the route you do get the route badge and XP points, I can safely vouch for this through experience completing it this morning. This was done by not deviating off-route or pressing any direction arrow buttons, so leave them well alone. Let it do its thing.
One thing worth emphasising is what is correctly described in the route description above: the end of the route is not at the downtown banner as you might expect, it is (cruelly) about a mile further at the Hilly KOM banner, so make sure you do that final climb before ending the ride. Enjoy!
Hi Martin, did the route today, too. The progress bar did not disappear, it was all as it should be. The error does not seem to be consistent, seems I was lucky for a change. Yeah, cruel last climb, was my first 80 km + route….next goal is the 100 km shirt, but on flater routes…
Hi
has this route been fixed yet?
regards
Roger
Fixed in today’s Zwift update, according to the release notes.
@Eric Schlange not fixed I’m afraid, disappeared somewhere around Mayan route. I’m 45k in and the bars gone.
Ignore me, i haven’t updated in UK doh!
Did the route on Saturday in the 3R group ride, no route badge after completing. Some sort of bug going on?
I got booted off the route some how at 50ish k
Speaking of routes, why haven’t there been any new and really long routes for many years? Many new roads have already been built in Watopia, and cyclists have become stronger 🙂 There are many ways to make a long route with new roads.
This still has a lot of climbing i was hoping for less than 300 feet
You’re not going to find a Zwift route with “Epic” in the name and less than 300’ of climbing. 😁