Route specific race simulation workouts... pointless?

Hey everyone, I’ve been on the Zwift Racing workout plan for almost 4 weeks now and am enjoying it but have a bit of a gripe… so far I’ve done about 4 route specific race simulation workouts… one of my next workouts is a Crit City race simulation so basically it’s designed to be like racing on the Crit City route. This is an event only route, so having a workout designed specifically for this route is pretty pointless unless I can access the map… is there any way to do a workout on this map??

I will have to do the workout on another map, say volcano circuit or something short so it’s ‘similar’ I’ve done other race simulation workouts on Watopia Hilly route, Volcano Climb and one or two others. It’s impossible to match what’s on the screen to where I am on the map which for someone like me who is a bit OCD is frustrating. I try to start the workout on the correct map then turn around and ride the other way while warming up then turn around again hopefully in time to start the race simulation as I cross the start/finish line, but it never works. Even if I cross the start at the right time it only lasts a few turns till it’s out of sync again.

Obviously everyone rides at different speed/power so having these workouts timed doesn’t work, they need to be distance specific (as in this workout is 25km rather than 52 minutes long) then you can change the power requirements for exact parts of the route… I was riding up the Volcano Climb a couple of days ago and it was telling me to rest on this flat part of the route as we go through the underwater tunnel…

All you need to do is make the markers where the power/cadence changes and the motivational tips appear at certain points on the map rather than after 30 seconds or 2 minutes. At the start of the workout we could be on a turbo trainer in the starting blocks like a race, then released at the right time to start riding the race simulation.

I think implementing this properly would be a great way of getting more people into racing, perhaps with the addition of ghost racers just in front of your avatar to keep you motivated and chasing the pack… Having to spend most of my workout figuring out which way I should be turning or timing my warmups to try and at least make it similar to the map is very frustrating… see the screenshots for examples…

I realise this is only a small part of Zwift and unlikely to be changed, but properly done race simulation workouts with ghost riders, starting on the turbo etc. would be a really good addition I think and hopefully not that tricky to implement, though I could be wrong! :wink:



I’m not sure this would help But you could try joining a crit race. After start, leave event and see if it asked if you want to stay here. Then you’d be in the right world.

But yeah all the intervals will probably be out of sync.

1 Like

Same here - was trying these routes and the commentary is motivating - however, it is not adjusted to where you are actually on the route - so this makes it a difficult to follow. Also, there is an issue on which routes to take while navigating the maps - don’t know whether to take left or right - and if you take a wrong turn then we are completely out of sync for the remaining race.

Ideally two suggestions - there has to be a single default route when you are picking a route specific workout, secondly the comments have to sync with where you are on the route.