For the past few months I have been putting together recce’s for the weekly Thursday Team Time Trial from WTRL. I race in a hungry mid-pack Latte (usually) team for Rowe and King – the Hyenas, and now I captain the R&K Ewoks on Tuesdays as well. Eric asked me to put together a similar recce for the Zwift Racing League TTTs every-other Tuesday.
One lap of Watopia’s Waistband
We are staying in Watopia this week. This time we have one single lap of Watopia’s Waistband – and I believe it is the flattest 30km route in Watopia. The route was originally one of the community-created rebel routes but was adopted as an event only route by Zwift shortly after.
The route itself is 25.5km – with the long desert lead-in of 2.5km on top, making this 28km all-in. You start in the desert pens, head through Fuego Flats to Saddle Spring. Up the Col du Saddle Springs – the most arduous climb of the circuit (which tells you how flat this is) then down the other side and through the undersea tunnels. Turn left at the T-junction and carry on towards the fisherman’s village. From the upramp out of the tunnels to the land bridge to the volcano is probably the most challenging segment for the teams – it’s a mix of gravel, false flat, and downhill – nothing to break you… but the changing terrain will throw off momentum. Round the volcano across to downtown and back to the desert. Phew, I’m out of breath!
Here’s the fantastic VeloViewer segment view along with a map.
And here’s a course preview from Rick at No Breakaways:
What to ride?
Bike recommendations on this route are straightforward. It’s flat and aero rules the day. For me it will be my trusty S-Works Venge and Super-9 wheels.
The recent changes to the performance of the Canyon Aeroad don’t change much – it’s still fast on the flat, just not as lightweight for the hills… and we don’t have hills here! Here are my recommendations.
- Level 6 Zwift Aero frame and DT Swiss ARC 62 wheels
- Level 13 Canyon Aeroad 2021 and Zipp 808s
- Level 18 Specialized Venge with Zipp 808s
- Level 25 Cervelo S5 with Zipp 808s
- Level 33 S-Works Venge with ENVE SES 8.9
- Level 35 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808/Super 9
- Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge
I know I say it every week but I cannot stress highly enough that if you are racing you need to be working on Tron. It’ll take a while, but just set the Everest Challenge and forget about it for nine months… like having a baby. On this course the only thing that beats Tron is the level 45 setup.
Route Recon Rides
Being so flat there are quite a few rides coming up on the Waistband route! As always, Zwifthacks has the up to date events listing – all you need to do is click here.
If you want to be adventurous though, you can go old skool and ride it like the original rebels had to.
Here are the turns you’ll make to complete this route. Only turns labeled (manual turn) require a change from the default turn selection, so this route only requires 4 manual turns:
- Start by selecting “Out and Back Again”
- Select Left towards Volcano Circuit (manual turn)
- Left towards Downtown (manual turn)
- Left towards Downtown (manual turn)
- Left onto Ocean Blvd (manual turn)
Race breakdown
Here’s how the ride breaks down for me:
- Pens to Saddle Springs
- Col du Saddle Springs then through the tunnels
- From the tunnels to the land bridge
- Around the Volcano and home
Pens to Saddle Springs
Flat. Hot. Desert.
You know this route well… straight across the desert practicing your formation and gathering speed the whole way. It’s almost exactly 10km from the pens to the base of the “climb”.
Col du Saddle Springs then through the tunnels
Some wag on Strava coined this term for a segment and I couldn’t resist using it. After 10km flat this is the first real rise – a perfect opportunity for your lighter, stronger climbers to jump ahead and create a split! Rein in those riders and keep everyone together. This little hill is just 2% for 900m – but as you can see from the VeloViewer profile it starts around 3% before flattening out.
After the hill it’s a nice downhill… but if you’re serious you won’t be resting on the downhill, you’ll be accelerating… then into the tunnels under the ocean.
From the tunnels to the land bridge
The rather convoluted segment is tricky. It starts with the bump out of the ocean then heads into some gravel… from there it’s the false flat up the hill which tightens at the top. The downhill from there to Italian Villas isn’t enough to supertuck, but it’s enough to pick up speed before hitting more gravel. They really need to fix these roads.
As with Col du Saddle Springs, the challenge here isn’t that the riding itself it hard – it’s not… the challenge is the constantly changing terrain can throw off your formation. The descent into the Italian Villas in particular is enough to create a split with heavier riders breaking away faster than the poor lightweights can keep up!
Volcano, downtown, and home
This last segment is pretty straightforward. Nothing that’s going to tax the team. The final sprint marker is a good time to begin a final acceleration and bring it home with a flourish.
Wrap up
This race doesn’t have a defining segment – I believe this is about pain and suffering in the last third – from the Volcano to the finish line. The longer you can keep the team intact the faster your overall time… while that’s always true in a TTT, there’s nothing in this route that should break you apart.
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