I would assume Zwift want to stay with ‘shorter’ circuits for the social aspect. Watopia is ~9km and the Richmond circuit is (RL) 16km, Keeping it short ensures more people are ‘near’ each other and you’re not just riding with ghosts the entire time.
I’d like to see circuits from the last 5 years of UCI World Road courses.
Maybe to take this a slightly different direction, but maybe the Zwift people could comment a little on what goes into making a virtual course. I recall seeing teaser picks before Watopia was released of a person building some wire frame or CAD layout of a bridge. It looks technical, but I don’t really know.
My pie-in-the-sky vision would be that a reasonably motivated person could start with a GPX file and some design software and build a test course and publish it on Zwift. Instead of mother-may-I approach, how feasible is it to crowd source the production of new courses?
Thanks !Vatternrundan would not be a good idea imo. Pancake flat and pretty bad scenery.
I would also like many other see mountain passes. They would be great for sweetspot intervals. But probally need an ability to fast forward (like be able to set a recovery time in minutes when your are down in the valley again) the decent would be a most. Stelvio - Gavia - mortirolo combo would be an aswome pain route.
On Watopia I would like some packed beach roads ala strade bianche style. Also side wind along the coast so also heavy people with alot of power can have their glory!
The Champs-Élysées stage in Tour de France.
The first two “courses” of Rallarvegen in Norway. Beautiful scenery: https://www.haugastol.no/rallarvegen.
Pike’s Peak, CO
IMTX, IM Lake Placid, IMNC
Great Ocean Road Victoria Australia
The London ‘Nocturne’ course. It’d be so simple to add, the map is already there!
A shortened ‘example’ stage of the Tour de Yorkshire. Combining several aspects of the hills around Scarborough as used in TdY 2015 and 2016.
Combining Harwood Dale, Dalby Forest, Oliver’s Mount and then back up the coast via Burniston to Harwood Dale again. I’m sure Scarborough and Visit Yorkshire would actually pay to be included!
This would also be the chance to add a mountain bike course by including the whole of the Dalby Forest 37km loop with options to do the World Cup XC course.
Nuerburgringwould be real awesome! It features all you need. It’s a classic course (World Championship 1966). It’s a round course not too long (about 20km), so people could easily group togehter. It has some real nice climbs (up to 18%). It’s myth is well known and would attract not only cycling enthusiats. It can be expanded with the not so mythic “Grand Prix Course” which features a more flat course.
Montreal Grand Prix UCI World Tour course - up / down and around Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
17 laps, 12 kms (~7.2 miles/lap) 200 meter elevation/lap.
Anyone can decide to do the whole race, or more likely just a few laps of the circuit.
What about something completely different in Australia…from the Daintree Gateway (Ferry) crossing the Daintree River all the way along the Cape Tribulation Road to Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland. It’s not technically a course but would give everyone a chance to ride (virtually) in a World Heritage listed rainforest and it could rain here, be muddy, maybe flood now and then. It could also have included a wondrous array of virtual flora and fauna…waterfalls, river crossings, a few fresh and salt-water crocs here and there, snakes, Cassowaries, Rufus Owl, Bandicoots, Goannas,Sugar-Gliders and some beautiful Ulysses and Bird-wing butterflies. The road is about 36 kms long with total climbing metres of about 450. (Highest elevation 222 m at Mt Alexandra Lookout).
You have the volcano but what about something under the mountain like a Cave tunnel with a large spectacular Grotto. In it could be decorations/formations of Stalagmites, Stalactites, flowstones and a spring. Some bats and glowworms would add some interest too.
I still would love to see a simple 333 meter track. Easy to “fit” on Zwift island. We all can use the cadence pacing. Those of us fortunate to be near and have regulator access to a real velodrome will use it to train, those of us not bear one will love it. We can organize scratch races, sprints, intervals.
Champs Elysees.
6 laps 36k.
The ultimate wind up and sprint finish