Favorite/least favorite sections of Zwift roads

General Discussion
1

Curious what roads in Zwift people like and dislike. I know there’s the usual suspects like the skyways in New York, Ven Top, the jungle, etc. but wondering what other sections of road people love or hate.

For myself…

Favorites:
The Esses - Good blend of rollers and scenery that doesn’t go on too long or too steep
Richmond UCI route - Really like this world with its blend of flats and then steep kickers. Too bad it’s so short
Innsbruck KOM - Varied enough gradients to keep it interesting, long enough to be challenging
Innsbruck Leg Snapper - Great for 1min power training

Least favorites:
France Balloon Sprint area - Constant up down up down with the same gradients in the same timing patterns make it impossible to hit a stride and gets so damn boring
Yorkshire - Over time has become one of my least favorite worlds. A small world with nearly zero flat areas and scarce scenery makes things unenjoyable to me
Makuri Islands Temple KOM - Long, dirt, and slow. Like the Watopia jungle, only worse
Makuri Islands Rooftop KOM - Doesn’t feel like it goes much of anywhere, the frequent level points get a bit annoying, and generally feels uninspired

2

Yorkshire is terrible. The whole thing.
Much of London is pretty boring too, straights and ramps and such are too long and unvaried.

I’ll ride anywhere in Makuri/Urukazi/Neokyo, maybe my favorite world. Specifically, I quite like the Rooftop KOM because of the variances–the level bits breaking up the climb. It’s also a KOM that a big sprinter like me can get sometimes, lol. Ditto for the Temple.
Probably my least favorite part of that map is the climb through the James Bond Villain Caves back into town from Urukazi. Cool scenery, boring climb.

I’m also liking Scotland these days too, the whole map, good variety in a small package there. Particularly that little KOM at the bottom of the map is nice, both directions.

I will say I’ve never understood the gravel/dirt hatred people have. Literally the only difference is how fast the scenery is going past you, and what your Strava says later for speed. But if you’re bragging/worrying about your Zwift speed on Strava…well, there are some issues to be resolved there :slight_smile:

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3

Jungle section to get to ADZ.

Annoying section that just slows things down. I just want to ride ADZ, not the jungle part which is boring.

Also don’t like Road to Sky start with some folk able to start far ahead near the 100m sign while others get an extra distance and rolling hills. Everyone should start in the same location.

4 Likes
4

Right, so if you were playing a biking game with levels/XP based on distance, and let’s say you’re trying to unlock some kind of socks-of-fire for said game, and there were two route options where literally the only difference is one was slower, granting less XP, I don’t see why you’d decide to pick the slower one.

I guess I’d turn the question around… Why would you proactively prefer picking the slower route if that was really the only difference?

5

Think the upcoming new roads will give us a more flat path to the start of the Alpe :thinking::wink::blush:

BòóX

1 Like
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Least favourite
The Whole of New York map - dont know why, just dont like it.

Favourite
Not a section as such but a route - absolutely love Mukuri 40
Great blend of flats, climbs and scenery. Time always flies by doing that 40k loop

7

I’ll believe that when I see it.

Time flies you say? Hmm, needs more gravel. :wink:

8

I dislike any ride start that has very little lead-in (warm up) to a climb…France to the mountain, any new portal climb, Hilly Route of Watopia, etc…

Really like the Innsbruck KOM…not sure why as I am a big, old man with no VO2 capability…

I like any world I have not ridden in awhile.

9

I like the jungle as it is, and I choose to ride in it, but there is really no reason to have it on the way to the Alpe. When I’m riding AdZ I’m doing a different kind of ride. I bet if they created an alternate approach to the climb and left the jungle as it is, that would satisfy a lot of people.

Imagine if something like this existed…

Screenshot 2023-10-11 at 09.20.44
Screenshot 2023-10-11 at 09.20.441904×1378 146 KB

5 Likes
10

I really enjoy the Duchy Estate course in Yorkshire - it makes for very exciting racing.
Titans Grove is awesome - I love the rollers, and the fact that the descents are bumpy/rollery too.
Libby Hill and the Watopia Wall KOM are brilliant for 1-2 minute efforts.

Dislike much of France, and much of Neokyo, because there just aren’t enough features to let you know whereabouts you are.

11

I meant of course the only difference in workout experience. Again, if you want higher numbers–I mentioned strava, but game unlocks would be another similar issue–then sure. If you’re working out to get fire socks, then this will matter to you.

Why would I choose a slower route? Maybe the digital scenery is better. Maybe the elevations are better. Maybe just for variety.

I’m here to workout. The gamification stuff is cool. Levels are fine. But it’ll come. I’m not on some kind of time limit to reach any particular level. Getting fire socks this week versus next month, or February, or next Fall, is not going to make my life any better.

If you are here to get fire socks, why not use some software to bump up your speed and get the fire socks even faster? I’m assuming you just ride on Tempus Fugit every day and not on the much slower routes that have hills? :slight_smile:

I could understand preferring fast over slow if the game was just our individual avatars on a grey screen not moving anywhere. Or if you were sitting on a trainer just staring at the wall and people were giving you likes for ever km you turned over :slight_smile: And leveling up is fine. But I don’t get the need to do it as fast as possible. Zwift has racing, but ‘getting to a level before someone else’ is not part of it. If that’s important to you, that’s fine. I just don’t get it, myself.

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12

My question is why would you choose slow vs. fast if all else was equal as you said in your post. i.e. Why would you prefer a gravel jungle vs. a paved jungle (paved with brown pavement)? There would be no scenery difference in that case.

Suggesting someone use software to bump their stats is missing the point of personal achievements within a game, and not what any of us are really here for - games do have a progression system, and unlocks intended to motivate people to move forward, and some people do care about that in Zwift as evidenced by many posts of folks over L60 looking for more levels already.

But XP was just one example, fire socks was also just one example, some people do have weekly distance goals on Zwift, average pace goals, and other things that motivate them etc.

So, I don’t think you answered why the average person in a game with XP (hence unlocks and progression) based on distance would logically choose a slower surface with no added value on top of a paved version of the same path (i.e. Jungle paved in brown pavement vs. current gravel).

The best answer I have on this by the way - is to add strategy in races where there are multiple surface types. Then it’s not just watts, and weight, but bike choice and possible bike switches adds another angle. That said I don’t think it applies to most folks who are training or just riding around, as in those cases stopping and swapping bikes etc is more of a burden than enjoyment, and people do complain about it in races too, so not everyone sees that as a value-add there either.

In terms of the original post, I enjoy the alpe because of the segments and progress towards completion, and I do like innsbruckring for the legsnapper which provides a pretty fun and predictable interval workout during races. I also find Titans grove fun.

1 Like
13

When it comes to scenery, I love the Two Village Loop in Makuri Islands most, especially the dirt road that takes you up through the Golden Forest where the old watermill is. Did you know that you can find one of the few view points in Zwift on this road, where the camera is zooming out and back in automatically?

14

Maybe I’m not explaining my own position clearly enough (not being salty). So let me try this way:

The game doesn’t give me the option to turn road surfaces in a given place to other road surfaces. So the question of what I would choose if I could do that is a non-starter–I have no idea what I would choose, because I’ve never been in that situation. Maybe I’d choose a faster road, sure. Maybe I’d choose gravel sometimes because of the dust trail behind the bike. I can’t tell you for sure, and that choice might change from instance to instance.

But Zwift doesn’t give me the choice. And yes, as I said, gaining levels is a motivator in the game. But I don’t understand the need to gain them quickly. I’m not on Zwift to achieve some sort of level and then drop the mic and leave. Levels help motivate me to keep going, but they don’t motivate me to ride faster, to achieve them any faster. Things like FTP and racing motivate me to ride faster.

(In fact–given how much angst there is among people at Level 60, it’s probably best for mental health to not gain levels too quickly. I used to see this in martial arts too–I’d see little kids get handed black belts at age 10, and they’d be out of martial arts by the time they were teens. Because they’d hit the big achievement quickly, and lost all that motivation.)

If some of the XP based awards were only achievable in limited times, I would understand the need to gain levels more quickly. But they aren’t. The fire socks will still be there when you level up.

Again, I’m not saying that anyone is wrong for thinking the way you do, having those attitudes. I just don’t understand them myself. You can choose to not see value in different paving surfaces. But that’s your choice to not see value in them. Others find value simply in diversity–and not just of appearance (which could be done without speed changes). As you indicated above–the choice of bike for various courses, for example, is indeed interesting to me. My first second place in a race (iirc) came via choosing a gravel bike for a race that finished at the temple kom in Makuri. That choice being available, and the attendant risks, added value to the experience for me. And someone else may not understand that, and it’s fine.

But given that the road surfaces are the way they are, and given that I see no particular value in the rate at which levels are gained, I just don’t understand why people choose to be upset about road surfaces. Someone who’s not racing but rather training has carrots out in front of them in the form of levels, unlocks, etc. And they’ll be there when they get there, whenever that is. Zwift doesn’t give out awards for ‘Fastest to Level X’.

That said, I guess if someone was competing with their friends to see who could hit whatever level faster, sure. Avoid gravel. My IRL team has an offseason competition, how many kms can you rack up. There’s a motivation there for me to go faster in the game. But I don’t see why I would choose to be upset in those instances that Zwift also has gravel roads.

Being upset is no fun. Why should I choose to be upset about it?

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15

I wouldn’t say i hate it but what you posted is the exact problem.

if your speed changes you should feel it in the trainer. if hills just sped you up or slowed you down would you say the same thing? what’s the difference?

if something slows you down it should get harder and if it speeds you up it should get easier.

but, having said that it doesn’t bother me too much.

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16

Maybe if there was, oh, I don’t know, some sort of tunnel that had been started, but not completed, that could just be finished to allow those headed to the AdZ to bypass the dirt. :rofl:

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17

I like all of Makuri, plenty of variety and stuff to look at. Not a fan of Titans Grove, all those short ups and downs do my head in :slightly_smiling_face:

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18

Mostly I just dislike New York and that’s due to the glass roads. I have a bit of a fear of heights and they just trigger me.

France is OK but just needs more roads and routes.

Scotland feels the most “natural” in terms of gradiants - but that’s just because that’s the sort of roads I like to ride IRL.

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19

It’s harder work now I’m less fit and heavier, but I love Grand Central.

So rarely used for races, but was great to see it on Mad Mondays a few weeks ago, so had to sign up and feel dead for a few days after the four lap race.

20

For sure, there are things that could be different/better/etc. And sometimes I’m not terribly precise when I speak/write :slight_smile: But I really do mean that what I don’t understand is the ‘hate’–the really strong negative reactions.

I think it’s strange that you can ride from sea level in Urukazi and ride uphill for kms and kms into Neokyo and come out at sea level :laughing: (And maybe that’s a bad example because I don’t even know if I’d change it, honestly–it’s quirky) But I have seen people flip their **** about it, and I just don’t understand that kind of response. Same for gravel roads.