I’ve done a few rides in the France area recently. In all cases, the maps exported to Garmin and Strava are completely incorrect and relate to an inland area of New Caledonia (an island in the Coral Sea, off the east coast of Australia). The maps shown in Zwift are fine (the area around Mont St Michel).
I’ve done Zwift rides in the London, Paris, New York and Innsbruck areas - the exported maps for these all seem to be fine.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Short answer; what you’re experiencing is intended behaviour.
Slightly longer answer; the “France” world doesn’t correlate much* to any place in France, more a “homage” to certain French landscapes, icons and locations. As such the GPS coordinates that Zwift uses for France -or Watopia, or Makuri Isles- (which are then exported out to Strava/Garmin) are just for some islands off in the Pacific Ocean; rather than anywhere in France where none of the routes you’d ride would line up with any real-life French roads*
*I should mention that Zwifts “Surrey Hills” being just past the Southern banks of the Thames, is a particularly egregious example of what happens when you mix real life roads and “virtual” roads within a course
Thanks Colin.
With a bit more Zwift experience I would agree with your answer. The “locations” don’t really agree with anywhere real (the Surrey Hills - in Bermondsey - really?).
However, whether they’re real or not, the routes “feel” real, and I guess that’s what really matters - and the workouts definitely ARE real (all of us have had jelly legs at times)!
I’m thinking that Zwift would have liked to export their map interpretations of the world, but that maybe Garmin/Strava/etc had to have real GPS locations to plot around?
I ride routes on Zwift, like Surrey Hills and France, and now want to go and ride the routes in reality … it would be great to know where the Surrey Hills are to be found and the routes in France. Think, too, of tourism? Maybe some locations should get on Zwift to advertise their area to THE WORLD. Sort of like different brands getting used by actors on tv shows? Now, I did jog and run once through New York’s Central Park and can imagine being there again when on the real routes. It’s sort of like what I remember … I think the skyline routes are fictitious but it’s been awhile since I was in New York in reality.
A lot of the Surrey Hills roads are fictitious and just loosely based on Surrey Hills scenery.
The main bit of real road are the Box Hill and Leith Hill climbs which are real and easily found via Google, cycle route websites etc.
One other bit of road which is possibly modelled on reality is the straightish drag if you don’t turn right up Box Hill and just carry on. It’s reminiscent of Richmond Park, but I’m not familiar enough with the real park to be sure on that.
Hopefully most people realise that Zwift have been creative with the geography, and the Surrey Hills aren’t immediately south of the river but somewhat further away.
In reality, the Surrey Hills cover a much larger area than is modelled in Zwift, and while it’s not exactly the Alps there are miles and miles of great cycling to be found there.
the France map has one part based on reality, mount ventoux (Ven Top), the rest is all made up.
I read an article recently, which I will probably never find again, about someone who had ridden Box Hill numerous times on Zwift, and had a trip to England so decided to bring their bike to try it IRL.
Long story short: It sounded like a mess, and not at all what they were hoping for. LOT of cars, plus other bikes, plus the road being narrower than it appears in Zwift, all contributed to it being a lesser experience than they had hoped. (The author noted that they had, effectively, been ‘spoiled’ by the Zwift experience.)
So, going to ride some of these routes IRL might, indeed, be amazing, but be sure you go in prepared for an entirely different experience than what you get in Zwift.
Pat,
The Zwift “Surrey Hills” is only loosely based on reality. They are also much further away from central London than Zwift would imply.
The Box Hill climb feels generally OK, but it’s also very popular with motorcyclists; some of whom are nuts (speaking as an instructor for advanced motorcycling in that area)! There’s a motorcycle cafe roughly at the bottom of the hill.
Leith Hill is close (but not too close) to Box Hill and it’s not a climb I like at all! It’s rutty and full of potholes and the sides are steep, tree-lined muddy embankments, full of tree routes. In wet conditions it’s VERY slippery and the camber of the road and the steep gradients don’t help at all (I’m always relieved when I arrive back at Shere).
The Surrey Hills area is generally very picturesque and it’s full of climbs, most of which are short and sharp (similar to Titan’s Grove; but with poor road surfaces).
Audax UK has a ride called “Tour of the Hills” - about 65 miles and it covers pretty well all of the area Zwift does (and more). The route is freely available as a GPX file, for those who are interested.
Richmond Park is much closer to town, and it would be a pretty long ride from Box Hill.
In general, the Surrey Hills area stretches from Guildford to Leatherhead to Dorking (in the north) and from Cranleigh to Horsham (in the south).
Sorry for the long reply.