Black Celebration Series 2021 FAQ

The Black Celebration Series is all about supporting our Black community. Ride or run with notable athletes, community leaders, and their friends during special events throughout the month of February and beyond.

See the event series homepage for the schedule of events

Ride Route:

  • 1 hour long
  • Includes a climb up NYC’s KOM
  • Ride through the roads where IRL legends Major Taylor and Nelson Vails paved the path

Run Route:

  • 6.8km // 4.2mi long
  • Includes a run up NYC’s KOM
    Explore the boroughs where IRL running legend Sir Mo Farrah found his stride during the NYC Half Marathon and inspired generations of runners everywhere.

What is the Black Celebration Series?
The Black Celebration Series is an invitation for members everywhere to join our year-long series of events highlighting the history, athletes, heritage, and joy the Black community brings to Zwift from around the world. With group rides and runs led by featured athletes, we are creating an inclusive environment that empowers and uplifts the community as a whole.

What type of events are these and when are they?
These events will all be group rides or runs. Ride leaders will keep between 1.5 - 2w/kg along the Mighty Metropolitan route in New York with the event lasting for one hour.
Runs will be along the Grand Central Circuit and will cover a distance of 6.8km/4.2mi. Find a group at a comfortable pace to ride or run with in support of the Black community.

What is the LA Bicycle Academy?
Los Angeles Bicycle Academy (LABA) is a youth education program, community bike shop and youth cycling team with a mission to empower, educate and develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills with boys and girls aged 8-18. LABA’s cycling team seeks to expand the capabilities of youth from communities where exposure and access to the sport of cycling and lifestyle are limited.

For more information, follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Why is Zwift supporting LA Bicycle Academy
LA Bicycle Academy is an organization committed to supporting and sponsoring youth athletes that may not have had the resources to continue their cycling career.

LABA was formed by the former co-founders of Major Motion, Damon Turner and David Pulliam, who helped mentor some of the most amazing athletes in the sport today, including Justin Williams, Cory Williams, Rahsaan Bahati and Coryn Rivera. Rahsaan Bahati credits much of the work he has been able to accomplish in cycling and through the Bahati Foundation to the guidance he received from the Major Motion team.

LABA’s mission centers on supporting communities without exposure and access to cycling - knowing they benefit most from the organization. Zwift hopes to expand LABA’s impact through a donation as well as provide the young cyclists with mentoring opportunities that will carry them beyond a professional career.

How much is Zwift Donating?
Zwift has committed to donating an initial $25,000 to the LA Bicycle Academy program.

Is there an in-game event requirement to unlock this donation?
There is not an in-game requirement to unlock the donation.

How can I help to support LA Bicycle Academy?
LA Bicycle Academy welcomes donations through this link.

What else is Zwift doing to progress Diversity and Inclusion?
Zwift is committed to progressing diversity and inclusion within the game, within the organization, and within the larger Zwift community. Learn more about our efforts here.


What inspired the colors of the Black Celebration Series jersey?
The Black Celebration Series colors are inspired by the Pan-African flag. This flag holds significance within the Black community and symbolizes Black freedom in the United States. Wearing this kit will show support for the community all year long.

Why do these events take place in New York?
New York is where many legendary Black cyclists, including Major Taylor and Nelson Vails, got their start. Ride and run on the virtual roads where these trailblazers made history and get inspired to carve your own path for the generations to come.

We’re incredibly excited to get the Black Celebration Series underway because representation matters in a sport that’s short on diversity.

We welcome open discussion about this series, but insist that discussion is kept civil. There is no place for discrimination of any kind in Zwift, our communities or society. Comments of this nature will be moderated and removed.

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This is great news I hope it will be followed up with support and promotion for Asian cycling. There are plenty of us around too and in Asian countries cyclists are just road kill.

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This is really excellent. Thanks so much for doing this.

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One way that Zwift could help bring more people to cycling would be to finally implement a family plan. I know there are free kids accounts, but only if they are 16 or under. LABA supports riders up to age 18. Many families can’t afford to support numerous accounts on Zwift, and we all know that there is a large barrier to entry for cycling, especially virtual cycling.

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Hello, I noticed there is only 2 rides and I want that slick jersey. Is there going to be other rides since the ride will be during work hours? Thanks

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Hi @Tami_Baca_she_her welcome to Zwift forums!

The two rides on Feb 1 are just the first ones we’ve made available so far because we don’t want to overfill the busy Zwift calendar. And yes - there are slots later in the afternoon / evening depending on which US time zone you’re in.

This is a great initiative - it does feel very US centric though, with the majority of the userbase elsewhere in the world, particularly in Europe. (I don’t mean in terms of this issue itself, which is obviously prevalent globally).

Things I would like to see that can really help:

  • A much wider variety of avatar customization options. I can’t even have blonde hair.
  • Accessibility options - a lot of this comes down to making the HUD customizable, but also options like being able to clearly highlight your own avatar in a bunch (maybe with a symbol above your head, or make your own avatar glow) or audio cues
  • Handcycles that can be used in free ride or handcycle specific races
  • Support charities that have a more global reach
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What utter nonsense is this?

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It’s the 21st century, Jackie.

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Ignore Jackie, Steve. “She” appears to have only joined to make that comment, so who knows what “her” agenda really is

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Hi,
Glad to see this event series. Just wondering if all the rides will be on the Mighty Metropolitan route in February or there will be some other routes to explore? It might attract people to attend more than once if there were different routes on different days.

Thanks.

Would be helpful to have the rides listed on companion app several days eg week in advance. I have to plan my rides ahead of time d/t work /family obligations so the more lead time the better !

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Hi,
did the ride today but didn’t see a ‘Ride Leader’.
Really liked it though :smiley:

Thanks Shooj. Do you have any sense of what, if anything can be done about hate speech that takes place during an event? I rode the 2/1 8:30 Mountain Time BCS event. Everything was fun and supportive, until just a few minutes to go, when a rider made a disgusting and disgraceful comment that nearly made me fall of the bike. I wish I had, but I was too gassed to take a screenshot. I was hesitant to ask this question, not wanting to add any fuel here, but at the same time I believe that hate speech should have some consequences…Thanks in advance

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Zwift will have the logs, but if you want to find the comments yourself for reporting purposes they’re in your log.txt file (if you’re on PC). Which is probably a GDPR breech in some way, but whatever.

Depressing news, though.

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Hi @Brackdagg welcome to Zwift forums.

Hate speech anywhere in Zwift is never acceptable. There are ways to report another member using hate speech, and my colleagues can take appropriate measures.

As Dave mentioned - chat from your sessions are recorded in the log.txt files on your computer, and our Support agents may ask for that as backing evidence. Grabbing a screenshot of the chat by using the camera icon on the game app or the Companion app is also nice, but it’s not as complete as the log file

We ask that all this be handled offline, to protect your privacy as well as that of the person you’re reporting, thanks.

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Entry removed

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I was able to participate in a ride today and really enjoyed it. Very nice that it was set for time so that the focus could be on the ride and not how fast everyone was going.

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Didn’t realise it was a race.I thought it was a group ride.Wondered why they went off like a “Bat out of Hell”