Hi. Can you please clarify how the 3 segments in the baseline ride are being measured? Are they using the usual segment start and finish markers that we are used to on Watopia or are they between the new 500m markers? I ask as in particular I noticed riders sprinting over the normal sprint finish line and then coasting only to find another 500m marker a bit further on. The same happened at the top of the volcano climb, some riders stopped after the finish arch presumably unaware that the actual new finish line was out of sight around the corner.
I would have expected a notification on screen at the 500m markers to say Go! and Stop! (or ease up) but there weren’t any.
Please can you clarify which segment markers we are using. Thanks!
Segments are the usual in game segments starting from the strips across the road.
The 500m markers looked to be placed 500m from the end of the segment. These worked
OK on the sprint segments but it based on comments during the ride it would have been useful to have markers, or a message, before the start of each segment.
I just did the baseline ride and found the experience rather frustrating. In the world of zwift episode from today it was explicitly mentioned that only the three sections short/medium/long count for the evaluation and not to go too hard in between, but I basically had no idea when each segment started and missed the start for all of them. If it’s the usual line markers on the road it’s almost impossible to see those if riding in a pack, and expected some on screen commentary guiding you through the ride.
Agree with F Wagner - it would much easier if they just let us know at which KM each segment starts and finishes. I only sprinted when i saw the 500m to go signs as i’m not familiar with the circuit and didnt know i was on the climb so set a poor baseline.
Paul - It did add the results to the baseline ride in the Academy Road tracker in the companion app - have you tried reloading it
Agree. This was terrible. No warm up and straight into sprint. Pulled out of first attempt this morning after missing sprint and unsure where anaerobic segment started and finished. Will try again later.
For newbies like myself the following information would be useful.
Be Warned there is no warm up in the event so 15/20 minute warm up is recommended
The lead in is X Km to the 1st segment which is a Sprint/Climb distance of XKm
The next segment is at XKm which is a Sprint/Climb distance of XKm
A 10/15 minute warm down is recommended
If anyone knows the route (C) and the relevant distances and segments could they post and i will try again thx
I’m quite sure it is the regular KOM and sprint segments with the green (sprint) or red (KOM) dashed line on the road where they start. For the C ride it would be the Titans Grove KOM, sprint in the Italian villas and the volcano climb. Not sure what the distances are to each point. They are not where you see the 500 meter signs, why would you test the same distance 3 times?
Mike - That’s great if you’re a regular and know the locations but new people would have no idea and if in a bunch the normal indicators are easily missed.
I thought its purpose was to establish a baseline over different distances/terrain with recovery in between each to get some value from it?
Zwift Insider has given previews and descriptions of the new routes (Climbers Gambit and Legends and Lava) used for these rides. While they don’t seem to provide km markers for the start or finish of each measured segment, they do give an overview of where they come, and what to expect.
A/B Route (Advanced)
C/D Route (Standard)
The embedded animated map provided by ZwiftHacks (https://zwifthacks.com/) shown at the top of each description may be particularly helpful.
Thanks Lebasi - I had a look at the maps but could seen no indication of where the segments start or end. I will do a recce tonight and note the different km segment starts / finishes and update
Edited with distance into the ride - beware that there are a couple of 500m to go markers that are misleading
Medium Effort - at 4.2km Titans Grove Reverse KOM 6.6% 900m
Hi John,
Sorry, definitely no km markers of startd and finishes on the links I sent earlier, just color coding that is a bit hard to read.
I’ve found that a few folks have recorded themselves doing both routes and posted to YouTube. Reviewing their rides and fast forwarding may be a quicker way to identify exact km point where each segment starts and finishes. I put links below. For those more familiar with Watopia it will probably be enough to be on the lookout for the 500m markers before segment starts and the purple arches at the finish. (Edit: further research had revealed 500m markers appear 500m before finish regardless of segment length, so for sprints they appear before the start line which can be a tad confusing. So for all starts keep your eyes peeled for the normal marker on the road.)
I think the 500m markers only served to confuse riders. Zwift should have used some on screen notifications like in workouts to count down to the segments - I’m surprised they didn’t do this. I noticed a couple of Zwift staff on my ride so hopefully they will feed back to Zwift HQ.
@Paul_SE_Florida_Schu from your screenshots it looks like you have done an orientation ride and not the baseline ride.
I didn’t check the baseline details beforehand as I assumed there would be some sort of prompt or commentary. I eased off part way into 2nd segment as no one else around me was attempting it. They hadn’t realised the segment had started. At least it will be easy to beat my baseline perfromance!
Agree with most comments here. Not nearly enough info provided for non-experts to figure out what to do or when to do it. They need on screen prompts and descriptions and real-time information about the current and upcoming section. I guess the game code doesn’t currently have capabilities to do this without modification or they would have done it. The marketing material far surpasses the actual experience IMHO.
The sprint is not when the sprint leader leaderboard pops up. Its maybe 200 meters after. Me and the other smooth brains around me started sprinting at the leaderboard and then had to try and double sprint. Dont do that.
I wonder if the coding which allows on-screen prompts to appear in Zwift workouts only allows them to put up prompts at fixed times from the start, rather than distances?
If this is the case, I’d put up basic explanations at the start, and then have it repeat a simple reminder every five minutes, something like:
“Remember, today’s segments start at x.xkm, y.ykm and z.zkm (x.x, y.y and z.z miles)”
If that’s not possible then adding some basic bullets to the event description would be nice. Something like:
Segment 1: ABC SPRINT. Starts x.xkm/x.xmi into ride. Length: x.xkm/x.x mi.
Segment 2 - XYZ KOM REVERSE: Starts x.xkm /x.x mi into ride. Length: x.xkm / x.xmi
… etc.
That’d make the info easier to digest than in the paragraphs of text they currently have.
Hey Paul, are these the actual km start points for the advanced baseline course? I’m beginning to wonder whether it’s worth even doing this, since it’s so poorly explained. Even with the TT, I’m not clear whether to take it easy until some sort of official start of the climb, or whether the watts from the very start count. The description is so confusing.
