Zwift released an update tonight! Here are the changes we’ve spotted so far…
Richmond Refresh
Everyone wondered why Richmond got so many days in February’s guest world calendar. Now we know! Richmond has been refreshed in a major way. The road layouts haven’t changed, but the visuals are updated so dramatically that you’ll hardly recognize the place!
And… wait for it… we can u-turn.
That’s right – Richmond is open for business. In both directions! That means new timed KOM and sprint sections, as well as 3 “new” routes (the Richmond routes we already have, but in reverse). We’ll get the Zwift Insider verified Strava segments done ASAP (here’s the full reverse course segment for now).
The new Richmond is much more visually interesting, it’s populated with people, and there are new buildings all over the place. Here are some quick shots of the new visuals:
Refreshing! Libby is still Libby in the forward direction Climbing 23rd St KOM (reverse) Supertuck down Libby Hill Cobbles are now brick
You may also notice that road surfaces have changed – what used to be cobbles in the flat portion of the route is now brick, which means it rolls faster. (For road bikes, brick rolls a bit slower than asphalt but faster than cobbles – see our Crr post for details.)
The new Richmond will be able to hold a lot more riders without overcrowding thanks to two-way traffic. Smart upgrade, Zwift: and the visuals make it feel like a whole new map. A welcome upgrade to our favorite race course!
Richmond Routes Redux
The former “prefer flat” and “prefer hilly” routes have been given proper names. Now we’ve got “Cobbled Climbs” and “The Fan Flats”.
Worth noting: if you choose “Cobbled Climbs” or “The Fan Flats” then flip a u-turn, you won’t ride the reverse of those routes – you will simply ride the reverse 2015 UCI Worlds Course.
There are also four event-only routes now on Richmond, according to Zwift Hype: Cobbled Climbs Reverse, Libby Hill After Party, Richmond Rollercoaster (which appears to be “The Fan Flats” reverse), and Richmond UCI Reverse. Strava segments for these routes are available on the Zwift Strava Segments page.
More Changes
Here are the additional changes rolled out in this update to all users:
- Additional running workouts added – “The Michigan” 1, 2, and 3 are new time-based workouts
- Added the ability to have run workouts based on time instead of distance (note: importing workouts in this format from Training Peaks is not available yet)
- Improved distance countdown calculations in events
- Fix race results time/pace for run events being inaccurate for late joining users
- Fix for the wrong segment leaderboard appearing when entering a segment
- Fixed edge case where Alpe segments would not always award a powerup
- Enabled Road Feel for Tacx Neo bike over ANT+
- Android now supports video playback, for Crit City ‘video walls’
- Various other bug fixes
Android Updates
This update includes some improvements specific to Android:
- Added UI Message in Pairing Screen to detect if user has Location OFF
- Speed/Cadence sensors now work on Ant+
- Battery/Heat performance improved
- Fixed BLE bug where Watt Bike Atom X wouldn’t get resistance
- Fixed BLE bug where Kick Bike buttons were not getting processed
iOS/AppleTV “Lone Rider” Bug
Jon Mayfield’s release notes include this:
For a brief time immediately after release Richmond users would have experienced being alone in the world. This is now fixed for Windows, macOS, and Android. For iOS and AppleTV users the Richmond world may still be isolated until a new update is released in the very near future.
Read/discuss Jon Mayfield’s release notes >
Other Changes?
Notice anything else new in this update? Comment below!
That’s spooky – just the other day I was wondering if Zwift would ever refresh the graphics on Richmond. Looking forward to giving it a ride this evening. Perhaps they’ll introduce new route achievement for the reverse options – I’m sure Monica would love that
It doesn’t look like new route achievements will be added, since the reverse routes aren’t official routes you can pick in game. But Zwift DID rename the badges for the flat and hilly routes!
I’m hoping that not only will there be official flat reverse, hilly reverse and UCI reverse routes, but also some sort of Figure 8 around Richmond set up so you don’t have to remember to do manual turns.
Even after installing this update, the distance countdown in races/group rides still doesn’t work right. Tour de Zwift stage 7, at the finish line it still said “0.1 miles”. Very annoying.
That is great news. I like lots of other Zwifters really like Richmond and I am looking forward to ride it soon to enjoy it, especially the new graphics
I’m very happy to see that Richmond now has the U-Turn feature. This is great news !!! Thank you Zwift HQ.
I was completely alone in the morning today
there might be other riders, but I couldn’t see them 
Was exactly the same, assume a patch will be out shortly – could see others in the chat page though
Same for me. Richmond was a lonely place this am
See note near end of my post from Jon Mayfield. AppleTV and iOS users will be alone in Richmond until the patch is released.
Just rode course, looks great but could not see any other riders, even thought there were another 730 riders on course.
Also start of sprint on flat course messed up, timer starts 200m before start marker for sprint.
Good to zwift is putting new life into an old classic. Going to give it a try soon
The term polishing a turd springs to mind.
Totally disagree. Richmond is an awesome race course. And now it LOOKS great too. Give it a try!
Do we get an addendum of the course list? I am using Monica’s list and would love to see the new routes as an addendum.
There are no new routes, they just renamed the flat and hilly options. So no addendum needed!
Please add a calarie display option next time. I know many have askes for it. Thank you
I’m not Zwift – I just run a fansite. Best place for feature requests is Zwift’s forum: https://forums.zwift.com/c/feature-requests/14
Been on this morning after the update and no one else was visible!
Did they add new route achievements for the new routes?
Nope.
Does this also mean that new route badges will be added for Richmond as well?
I certainly hope we get some more route badges for it!
Nope.
Ok, so you can U-turn… But why haven’t they actually added three extra routes? Most people WON’T U-turn, so most of the traffic will still be going in one direction.
Also am I the only person that didn’t realise you COULDN’T U-turn previously? :shrug:
For Android there are some more yummy part:
+ Added UI Message in Pairing Screen to detect if user has Location OFF
+ Speed/Cadence sensors now work on Ant+
+ Battery/Heat performance improved
+ Fixed BLE bug where Watt Bike Atom X wouldn’t get resistance
+ Fixed BLE bug where Kick Bike buttons were not getting processed
Also not that the bug when you don’t see others (everyone was affected) got patched on PC/Mac, but takes time on Android / iOS to make it available in the stores.
Just wish they would make Android graphics dynamic based on the hardware – no shadows on my S4 tab is crazy when it can display some top end graphics
Good stuff! I’ll add this to the post. Thanks @guest_32249.
I’ve raced there recently and didn’t notice any changes. I guess I need to ride more often. And pay more attention !
Surely if the cobbles have been replaced with brick then surely prefer hilly should be renamed Brick Climb, not cobbled climb
Sounds like they only changed it on the flats. Libby Hill would still be cobbles.
Monument Avenue doesn’t have cobbles IRL but pavers so this is more accurate. Libby Hill and 23rd Street have cobbles that are bone rattling IRL.
Jumping into the DIRT Friday Pacific Sprintapalooza shortly could be fun … My Apple TV has updated and looks like I’ve got the solo bug still going on… I’m not going to go through the hassle of moving my comp next to my setup, so looks like it’ll be a solo sprint ride
… not even sure you can see messages or riders on the minimap?!
@Eric Schlange … If you are leading you might have a few ghost riders along for the ride! Haha!
Sounds like Sprintapalooza is going to be a mess! Let’s see what happens…
Did a workout after the update this morning and I had constant issues with erg mode. Every couple of minutes the resistance would drop significantly (e.g., 335 watts to 225) for just a second or two. There are no dropouts in the data. After I completed the workout I continued to freeride and I didn’t have any unexpected reductions in resistance.
Dang! I always liked the Wolfenstein 3D aesthetics…
I’m glad to hear about the replacement of the cobbles on the long flat section. My house would literally shake if I forgot to turn down the volume during group rides.
Sorry Eric, but you’re going to run into the same problems with segments that you had with the Crit course because of the tight hairpins! People are already matching the Monument Avenue and Broad Street forward sprint segments, even while going round backwards, because they are triggering on the opposite carriageway of the road. Not sure there’s a solution to this one…
Hi All! I´m confused a bit because after opening ZWIFT a few minutes ago, I have version 1.0.44575 still “alive” and there´s no update available in the AppStore ?! Will the release be available “automatically” when logging in and did ZWIFT forget Germany?
ok – looks like reinstall solves the problem. I did not check the release in game up to now.
A few of us set a meetup this morning to knock off some of the 1 bidon rides in order to continue accumulating badges, and we started with the flat route in richmond. I noticed this morning the name had changed. When we finished the ride, no badge showed up. Seems like something didn’t get updated properly
Any new frames or wheels? Or Challenges?
The most buggy update so far. Zwift ran the update multiple times and then if failed to start with some cryptic error and I finally had to reinstall. Spent like an hour on it. Good thing I did it the night before my regular morning workout. I’d be so pissed if it screwed up my workout.
When you save your ride at the end, you now have the possibility to upload the in-game pics/screen without the hud/graphic, so just the road and the riders, without numbers and tabs
you have to clik on top right angle of each pics to enable/disable the hud.
That’s been there a long time, at least on PC!
I’m on a Mac
i noticed first time this evening; maybe just casual, but not noticing in 3 months, and seeing first time this evening in the first ride after update…dunno, but maybe it could have been just implemented on Mac! Let’s see if some other had same experience.
After updating today – i dont get power-ups 90% of the time. Like every 10th banner i get 1…
Yeah me too; i just did Team Italy SUB2 ride on Watopia Flat, and i got powerups only at the sprint banner (all 3 times), but never a powerup on downtown banner (2 times, as first lap from starting pens is after the banner).
i noticed not getting p/u’s on the finish banner at watopia
The downtown banner is hit and miss, and the one out in the desert is buggy, too.
Nice! I’ve been waiting for time based run workouts.
Does this mean I can create my own as well within zwift?
No, you still can’t create run workouts in Zwift.
You can manually create the run structured workouts by editing a zwo file directly (outside of zwift), however doing that for a time based interval still doesn’t appear to work (I can’t figure out how to duplicate the Michigan with a custom workout). So maybe the update message is misleading. It should say “there are now time base run workouts” but you still can’t create any yourself.
I got zwift support to tell me how to create a time based running workout. You need to add a durationType tag to the workout_file and set it’s value you time. Here is an example: <workout_file> <author>VictorT</author> <name>30 minute quickie</name> <category>VictorT’s Workouts</category> <description>10 minute warmup, 15 minute run, 5 minute cool down</description> <sportType>run</sportType> <durationType>time</durationType> <workout> <Warmup Duration=”600″ PowerLow=”0.7″ PowerHigh=”0.95″ pace=”3″ /> <SteadyState Duration=”900″ Power=”1.0″ pace=”3″ /> <Cooldown Duration=”300″ PowerLow=”0.8″ PowerHigh=”0.65″ pace=”3″ /> </workout> </workout_file>
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Zwift send me a congratulations mail for being part of their family for 4 years, Thanks for that, but Zwift is showing (a lot of) signs of a company which is about to be caught up with its own reality. Kudooz for their ground breaking activities in the first years, but now it seems the perfect moment for a new initiative, a industry disruptor. Zwift is expensive, to buggy, has lost its momentum and seems to operate on a easy, middle of the road pace. Probably all the Zwift boys and girls are working like hell, but somewhere along the… Read more »
I have a Tacx Neo and even though the cobbles were switched to bricks, the road feel was still cobbles for most of it (always the annoying thing about this course IMO). Only near the end of the bricks did it switch to a smoother road. Don’t know if the friction was still cobbles too.
The friction isn’t for cobbles, it’s the brick Crr. Interesting that road feel is still happening though! Are you sure it wasn’t bricks you were feeling?
Positivo. Near the end of the brick stretch it feels like bricks – much smoother than cobbles. But most of the brick stretch still feels like cobbles. And I just meant that if Zwift somehow missed changing the road feel to bricks for most of the revamped stretch, did they also forget to modify the Crr? I don’t have a good way to tell.
Sorry if this is old news (I only noticed today if it’s always been there), there seems to be a pretty complete expansion road going up off the second little down hill of the Innsbruck short lap before the river. The road goes straight up, this might have always been there, but the map shows a pretty expansive loop up above the river road re joining before the bridge.
Once again sorry if the road has always shown up on the map.
Since the update, zwift keeps failling at keeping the power or the RPM on multiple times during rides. Please fix it, it is really annoying.
I believe that starting with this update, you do not get a power up the first time through a lap counter finish line. So the first time through the Volcano line I no longer get a 10XP PU on a TT bike. Maybe this was always the case and don’t remember correctly. If this is correct, it means that the Volcano Circuit is probably no longer a better course for XP grinding than Tempus Fugit. These updates to the Richmond map increase the nostalgia effect I get when using it: I ran a marathon IRL in Richmond once and the… Read more »
It looks like the latest iOS version of Zwift (1.0.45410) now has other riders visible in Richmond, as of 11 Feb. The App Store says that the visibility issue was the only thing this version fixed. Just FYI.
Are the two Richmond reverse KOMs going to be added to the veloviewer route hunter?
I just rode Richmond yesterday and was just thinking that they either need to update it or punt it. I use the mobile app, which doesn’t seem to have been updated yet. Any news on when the mobile app update will be released?
It’s already released, at least on iOS.
That’s weird. I have the iOS update from a week ago (1.0.45410), but there were no spectators, there were still cobbles (blech) and the building were all still those really old graphics…hmmm…..but all the segment times were in seconds and not minutes/seconds.
My application hasn’t been updated yet neither on my iPad nor on my iPhone. They are both running on the latest IOS version. My iPad and my iPhone are both setup to automatically download/install the application updates and none are pending installation as of today (02-19-2020)
Hi Eric, can you please answer a question for me please. Is it possible to pair my resistance from my bkool smart pro trainer through 4K Apple TV. I can connect to the power and Cadence but don’t get the gradient. I have a CABLE Ant+ to Bluetooth but still can’t get it to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Jim
Issue: KickR16 displays estimated cadence with latest update. But… I am using KickR16 with ATV4K with the Wahoo BT HRM and has accepted the ATV4k BT limitation that I will not get cadence unless I use the ZWift companion app and all that, which is a pain to set up each time. Anyhow, on a recent ZWift group ride, a friend was looking at me from the ZWift app and has commented that my cadence was a tad low. I insisted that he was wrong since I do not have a cadence sensor, and that no cadence number was showing… Read more »
Woah, that’s weird. Sounds like a Zwift issue to me.
Come vaccino l’aggiornamento?grazie