New Ride Announcement: 100km Thursday Pizza Burner with James and Eric

January 7, 2025

LAST UPDATED January 10, 2025

Saturdays are typically my long days on the bike, but lately I’ve been looking for one more long ride each week to help build my endurance base. With that goal in mind, I’ve collaborated with James Bailey to add a new weekly 100-kilometer ride on Zwift’s calendar: The Thursday Pizza Burner with James and Eric.

Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/4724051

Here are the details. Join us!

When

The ride happens on Thursdays at 1:05pm UTC/8:05am ET/5:05am PT.

Where

We will rotate between courses, sticking with routes that are flattish but not so flat that we get bored.

This week’s kickoff event (January 9) is on 25 laps of the Volcano Circuit, so finishers will unlock the Warmed Up, HotHead, On Fire!, and 100 Clicks badges if you haven’t already done so. (Each of these badges includes a healthy XP bonus.)

Why

While most events on Zwift are less than 60 minutes long, experienced cyclists know that longer rides are an essential part of building fitness, endurance, and overall performance on the bike. These longer efforts are often called “base” rides because you’re staying in zone 2-3 and building your aerobic “base” which is required if you want to sustain efforts at even higher intensities.

Long rides also build mental toughness and resilience, which are useful qualities that prove beneficial in other areas of life.

Fun Stuff

Each week’s ride will feature something a bit fun or different, including silly bikes (big wheels, perhaps?) and rare unlocks. This week’s ride will feature big heads, and finishers will unlock the coveted pizza socks.

Pacing

While you aren’t required to ride this event at a certain pace, it’s always more fun to do these long rides with the helpful draft of others. With that in mind, James and I will both have yellow ride leader beacons over our avatars for easy visibility. I will ride at ~2.5w/kg and James will ride at ~1.8 w/kg.

Voice Chat

Longer rides always pass faster with voice chat, so join us on Discord if you’re able! Find us in Zwift Insider’s Discord server at https://discord.gg/zwiftinsider

About the Ride Leaders

James was an avid Zwifter and community race organizer well before he got hired on at Zwift. He now works in Zwift’s Content Team as a Content Manager, which in practice means creating many of the events you see on the calendar. He also provides support to other areas of the business in terms of competitive features, like Racing Score and ZwiftPower.

Eric is the founder and chief bidon-washer at Zwift Insider, which in practice means losing Zwift races at a startling rate while blogging about all things Zwift.