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.
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:
- Straight towards Epic KOM
- Right onto Sequoia Circle
- Left towards Italian Villas
- Straight towards Italian Villas
- Left towards Italian Villas
- Left towards Volcano Circuit (manual turn)
- Straight to go around Volcano Circuit
- Left towards Volcano Circuit
- Left towards Downtown (manual turn)
- Left towards Downtown (manual turn)
- Left onto Ocean Blvd (manual turn)
- Left towards Desert Flats
Route details:
Distance: 25.5km (15.8 miles)
Elevation Gain: 83m (273′)
Strava Forward Segment
Rebel Route Suggestions
Got an idea for a great rebel route? Share it below and maybe we’ll publish a post about it!
For some reason, this route is missing among the rebel routes listed in the VV Segment hunter leaderboards:
https://veloviewer.com/zwift-insider/rebel-routes
Also the Seaside sprint and Magnificent 8 are missing there.
Not “proper” rebel routes since they are used for events? That goes for some of the other rebel routes as well, I think? 🙂
Yes, when Zwift makes these into official routes (even if they’re event-only routes) we remove them from the Rebel Routes list.
As a flatlander (Chicago), most of my free riding is on the flatter Zwift routes, so I’ve always liked Watopia’s Waistband. I used it to map out my own versions; Waistband 8 (uses Ocean Blvd in the middle and the end to make a figure 8), and The Helix (also uses Ocean Blvd, in order to do the waistband in both directions). I’ve also done a hillier version: The Double Helix. Start with Sand & Sequoias (Fuego Flats forward, and Titan’s KOM forward) After coming down from Titan’s, turn left towards downtown Go through the banner, then turn right towards… Read more »