Could Zwift please add virtual routes in Wisconsin?
Here is why routes in the Badger state are a good idea.
Trek is headquartered in Waterloo, Wisconsin.
Waterford Bikes is headquartered in Waterford, Wisconsin.
Fixation Single Speed bikes is headquartered in Wisconsin.
Cateye is headquartered in Wisconsin.
Saris is headquartered in Wisconsin.
Two major racing series are held in Wisconsin
The Tour of America’s Dairyland. The Tour is Pro/Am series. The pro teams use the race as a kind of farm team. Many riders end up racing in Europe in the Grand Tours and Monuments. The series draws literally thousands of spectators.
The Wisconsin Off-Road Series or WORS. It is a Mountain Bike racing held each summer in northern Wisconsin. It is the largest state mountain biking race series in the US.
So, as you can see, Wisconsin is a bicycling hub.
I suspect, that given Wisconsin’s winter weather, many of us in the Badger state use Zwift in the cold months.
So, Wisconsin would be a natural place to have Zwift courses.
Any request for a specific new course location seems like the requester dooms any chance of it being created - you were better off saying nothing as chances were possibly greater that it would be created!
Just kidding, loads of great suggestions around the forums for new courses/routes and I’ll vote for yours as I have never been to Wisconsin but fixing bugs they broke years ago would be a priority for me.
Bike course for IM Madison is no joke too. The whole Driftless area is incredibly beautiful, hilly. Would make a great Zwift world.
Edit: and USAT Nationals are held there every so often, in Milwaukee (although that course is not quite as visually impressive…not really at all, actually.)
Here’s the issue… Yes, you have awesome rides that would be great on Zwift… so does Calvin in Marin County… so does Edwardo in Phoenix… so does Will in the UK… etc. IF they were to do that it would open up requests for every little area wherever there are Zwifters. It’s a great idea but it’s not easy to implement.
I don’t think you’re wrong, but I don’t think it’s a problem either. The Olympics takes bids from host cities, just like Worlds and other events. If Zwift is looking to expand with real-world locations, people who live there pitching those locations could be a good thing. I grew up in WI, so I know it could make for some good riding. But other people in other parts of the world pitching their locations would be great too. Colombia? Let’s hear from you!
I like it! Sponsor some Zwift racing, work with local clubs, organize rides. Local businesses could be sponsors (riding through Zwift and see a banner for a local grocery store )
It’s pretty clear that they’re looking for almost the opposite of that and they completely tune out new road suggestions. If there were a FAQ for this kind of topic it would say “don’t bother”
Do they not do anything about it because they don’t want to, or because they don’t have the capacity to? If it’s the second case, sponsorship $ could make something happen. Cities that bid for the Olympics don’t get to do it for free.
as much as I really want more money for our sport I think we’re over estimating the interest or even knowledge of e-sports outside of our community. I encounter so many people on the daily that have never heard of online cycling let alone Zwift. It means there’s still huge potential for expansion but at the moment there’s very little interest outside of our relatively small context.
The “obvious” new routes would be to duplicate the World Cup courses. There will already be a focus on these, media interest and the desire of many Zwifters to emulate the real-life stars. However, the Zwift world would then end up with a disparate collection of routes around the globe rather than an expansive - and flexible - environment which can be used to create many routes of varying lengths.
I’ve talked to folks in Bentonville, back when I was thinking about heading down for Cross Worlds. It’s apparently an island of tolerance for cyclists (and various people in general) in a surrounding sea of…well, the not very bike-friendly US.
Arkansas also has some politics as a state that many people might object to, but Bentonville area is also different from the rest of the state that way. Again, according to a few people I talked to about it. The trails Walmart has been building down there are supposed to be great, though.
