More FLAT routes, please

Jon Mayfield also mentioned it in his “Where is Map Choice” article.

https://zwift.com/news/9309-mapchoice

“Watopia has been continuously built out with many routes to become a main hub world (and, spoiler alert, it has a mostly flat expansion coming this winter).”

Although “mostly flat” doesn’t fill me with confidence that it’s not going to have a climb in it.

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But “mostly flat” could also just mean “not absolutely flat”. Apart from the much asked for, but poo-pooed by Zwift Velodrome idea, does anyone actually want a long route that 0% the whole time? Even you said “nothing steeper than 2%”, which to me would come under mostly flat.

winter is over in less than a month (for northern hemisphere) so they better get cracking

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And if it’s 28 miles long it will basically have to be a circular route around the whole of watopia on/through the ocean.

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What’s wrong with that?

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Can’t imagine the view would be great, but each to their own.

I am sure Zwift would make it more enjoyable.

I don’t see why so a vocal few are so against Zwift implementing a flat route. We are not asking for any climbs to be eliminated, just a long flat route added. I am sure it would be one of the most popular routes on Zwift given how busy all the other “flattish” routes are.

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Like I said, tropical savannah.

Think Serengeti. We can have prowling lions and herds of wildebeest to look at. :smiley:

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Or be chased by!

I’m not against it in principle. I just think there are pretty credible alternatives and I’d like to see some of the more fundamental issues addressed first.

Incentives! :wink:

Make sure you vote those up in any existing request.

Making a long flat route will make Zwift much more inclusive to all fitness levels and could assist in expanding the user base.

Seems this request has hit a nerve within you.

Again, this is a request for a flat route (there are a few on these forums), if you would like other issues addressed make sure you vote those up and/or create a new request.

Paul: Your suggestion is a good one. Another reason why an extended ‘Flat route’ makes sense, is that for group-rides, it is a lot easier to keep a large number of riders with the leader on a flat course (as even minor hills tend to split the pack). This is the reason that even the strongest group leaders (like Tim Bacon, etc.) choose the existing flat courses. Let’s hope the new flat section coming to Watopia soon will be just what you have been describing (and not just another short 5 - 6 mile loop)!

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Ideally, I’d like a 100-mi route that is flattish (rolling hills totalling roughly 5000 ft) that doesn’t repeat or double-back on itself.

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A 100 mile course could be interesting – a challenge just to complete it. But a long, rolling hills route is not what is being requested here.

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I think I meant more like 2000 ft over 100 miles, not perfectly flat. I don’t see perfectly flat as a requirement, especially with the gradient difficulty slider. And you could still go pretty fast up gentle grades (e.g., up to 3-4%).

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u-turn ???

did you see this.

Stage 5: 18km with 25m elevation

Look Flat to me.

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Looks too short also, but at least it would be something if the stats are correct.

Also depends on how the elevation is configured.

Comparison from ZwiftPower’s James Hodges:

Richmond Flat has 46m of elevation per 18km
Volcano Flat has 67m of elevation per 18km
Watopia Flat has 95m of elevation per 18km

So this looks pretty flat. Half the elevation of Richmond Flat.

11mi is about right for a standard “UK 10” TT type course. A good 25-30 minutes for me I expect.

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