Would love to have a replica of the Kona course for Triathletes to get our teeth into, instead of Kona distance events round Watopia etc.
I realise it’s quite specific, and would need to be a selectable course, but this could be done by selecting Kona as a training session, taking us straight to the Island Course.
I’m sure this would be a huge hit amongst people like myself training for IronMan events.
I would rather see a 28 mile flat route with turns and a few small elevation changes (no particular IRL course). I don’t see the entire Kona course being on Zwift for a long time.
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Does it really make sense for Zwift to devote the amount of time and effort it would take to create 112 miles of road (okay, technically 56 if it’s an out-and-back) that serves only a select group of people, and only during certain points in their training? I mean, sure, you can ride a course without finishing the lap, but let’s say most people ride an average of 25 miles of it… that’s still nearly 80 miles that people won’t complete unless they “ride with” someone (or Zwift adds different starting points, I suppose). And while Hawaii is quite beautiful, I was watching the Kona race coverage yesterday, and it doesn’t seem like the scenery or the terrain of the course would be all that varied or interesting.
(Of course, this isn’t counting the running portion, which I imagine very, very few runners would see in its entirety, too.)
What would a Kona course specifically add to Zwift?
You can say a lot of the same things about Alp de Zwift and a lot of the long mountainous/hilly routes, but Zwift put those within the game.
Triathletes have been for the most part been ignored on Zwift and that is surprising considering Jordan Rapp is an ex-pro triathlete. There is only 1 TT/Tri bike, no long flat route for Z1/Z2 training, no tri suits available, and no real triathlon training plans.
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Totally agree Paul. I am a cyclist but full on triathlete as well and despite what Karissa Minn said, there are massive amounts of triathletes all over the world and a Kona course would fill up for sure just for the training on that course but also so we don’t have to do loop after loop after loop. There is Zwift run as well so lets fill in the last one with a tri specific course. I have a pool just two minutes away and will come back quick after my swim session and jump on the bike, then run on the treadmill right after the ride. Would be hugely successful! Come on Zwift, lets get with it. Whats the point of a “Kona challenge” when we are in Watopia?
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Alpe du Zwift is not equivalent at all, in distance, time it would take to complete, terrain, or variety of scenery (do you want a Kona course that looks nothing like Kona? If so, what is its purpose?). And not all triathletes do full-distance Ironman races. In fact, I’m guessing most of them do not.
How, specifically, would a Kona course serve triathletes any better than what Zwift already offers? How would a very long, flat, visually uninteresting course help with triathlon training any more than what is already on Zwift? I know a triathlete who set out to do one of his long training days on the Four Horseman course. That has a lot of variety in the scenery so you won’t get bored doing lap after lap. Set trainer difficulty to zero and your legs won’t know the difference. Train on time and not distance. 
Zwift has a limited amount of money and time it can spend. This is really not the best use of it.
I’m not asking for the Kona course I’m asking for a relatively flat 28 miles course with turns and a few small inclines. For me it’s not about the resistance, and I’m sure A LOT would agree it’s about speed. When doing Z1/Z2 miles it would be incredibly boring to do long inclines, it’s more engaging when you are doing a similar speed that you would do in real life. A course like the one I’m asking for would be wildly popular for races, easy rides and group rides.
I didn’t just sign up for Zwift today, I have been using it for over 3 years and have been extremely active on the forums for the last 2 so I know a little bit about Zwift and what it takes for new courses.
Hell the climbers cried enough and got Alp de Zwift (which is not that popular any more), so I don’t see why the triathletes can’t get something.
Btw, I do sprints and Olympic distance at the moment, but am moving up to 1/2 and full in the next couple years so a course like I’m asking for would be beneficial for training.
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I agree. I think a coastal road, with optional inland hills, similar to the coast from Genoa to San Remo in Italy (Milan San Remo) would be nice. Perhaps a loop around the mountain climbed by L’Alpe. Then instead of flat rides being a convoluted tight paths, or many short laps of the volcano, a nice 40-50 km loop would be much more attractive.
Part of the challenge is in how much work goes into the modeling, and a nice thing about a coastal road is much of the scenery is water, so a few boats or distant islands go a long way, and some beaches. Then it could pass thru some coastal towns.
If people want another steep, long climb, it could be added inland off this loop, for example the backside of L’Alpe, for example Zoncolan if people really want to do that sort of thing.
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This discussion was before tempus fugit existed. I think tempus serves the flat purpose pretty well for running and riding.
Maybe at one point Kona will exist on zwift, I’m sure it exists on some other platform. I’d actually like to see Mauna Kea if we are all dreaming big. But I’m sure people are more likely to use something a bit more interesting that Kona or Mauna Kea.
Yeah – Tempus Fugit is nice, but it’s an out-and-back, with less than 8 km of actual roadway. I know, we’re incredibly spoiled here, and it’s easy to ask for more-more-more, but a long loop would still be nice.
I realize the Watopia map is subject to expansion, but it appears the peninsula with Col de Zwift is roughly ellipitical, with an (extrapolated) 6 km major axis, and a 4 km minor axis, and the perimeter is thus around 30 km, so a convoluted road would be near 40 km around. Access would probably be another 3 km. The most direct access would be provided by the jungle pens (but going the opposite direction).
Here’s an example of what I’m thinking, showing only the coastal road, none of the inland hill options:
It crosses the L’Alpe de Zwift road, proving a paved option for reaching that.
If you wanted to add another epic climb, Monte Zoncolan is 4 km as-the-crow-flies from bottom to top, so that would fit to the west of the peak, and with a long coastal road needed to reach the base, would provide an added challenge.
BTW here is the Kona course profile, so not flat, but also an island coastal road, so this sort of profile would map nicely:
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Even better, because why not… extending the coastal road to the east would provide close to 100 km of coast to explore. I’m guessing this is overkill.
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I’d love to see this. Every weekend now there are 100km rides and longer even with the ZHR audax gang, though they aren’t huge rides above the 160km distance, I think just the loop around AdZ would really be useful. I’m so sick of laps on tempus fugit and it’s so crowded right now that it’s tough to get a nice rythym going as you get stuck in groups or someone’s sticky draft when they’re doing intervals.
Also getting rid of the jungle to get to the alpe would be welcome for many.
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I later updated the map to include a backside climb to Alpe and also some inland hills. So many options…
