Rebel Routes: Watopia’s Waistband

May 2, 2019

LAST UPDATED February 24, 2020

UPDATE: Zwift has made this route available in-game, for events only. Perhaps the first time the community has created a route which Zwift later implemented!

“Rebel Routes” are Zwift rides which are not available on Zwift’s routes list, thus requiring manual navigation.

See all rebel route posts >

The reward for your rebel ride? Exploring a new route, knowing you’ve gone where few Zwifters have gone before. And a Strava segment rank in the tens or hundreds instead of the thousands!

Route Description

This perimeter route covers portions of Watopia’s three “flat” routes, (Tick Tock, Volcano Flat, Watopia Flat). We call it “Watopia’s Waistband” because it nicely encircles key landmarks in Watopia proper including downtown Watopia, Fuego Flats, the Italian Villas, the Volcano, and the Fishing Village.

We begin on Fuego Flats at the spawn point, moving clockwise around the desert loop until it drops us off on Ocean Blvd. Take Ocean Blvd toward the Fishing Village (away from Downtown), turn left toward the Italian Village, then another left at the fountain to head toward the Volcano.

Ride around the Volcano clockwise, make our way through the downtown start/finish line and onto Ocean Boulevard before a quick left back to Fuego Flats.

This route was inspired by Zwifter Ryan Goldenberg, who created a Strava segment for this route but in the opposite direction and beginning at the downtown start/finish line. We prefer the desert start/finish in the clockwise direction due to how the finish lays out, with little rise near the end leading into a long finishing sprint.

Profile

At 3.25 meters of climb per kilometer of travel, Watopia’s Waistband is flatter than all official routes except Tempus Fugit and Tick Tock. The only noticeable uphills are the rise outside of Saddle Springs, the ramp out of Ocean Boulevard and the climb to the Italian Villas which follows, the volcano kicker and the shallow climb back into the desert.

Getting Started

When freeriding, select the “Out and Back Again” route to begin–this reduces your number of manual turns required to just 3.

You will spawn just before the desert start pens, giving us a lead-in of approximately 2.5km before the sprint finish line rock arch, which is the official start/finish line for this route.

Turn by Turn

Here are the turns you’ll make to complete this route. Only turns labeled (manual turn) require you to change from the default turn selection, so this route only requires 4 manual turns: