Training on mountain bike trails via Zwift

Racing
1

When I’m doing a mountain bike training on Zwift why do I have to do it on the road. Or how do I change the program from road to Trail?

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you can’t, closest you will get is the jungle circuit

3

I wrote a response but deleted it because I may have answered the wrong question.

Rich is right, there are no real MTB trails on Zwift but that’s because Zwift is a Road bike simulator.

That doesn’t mean Zwift wont help a MTB’er.
I see 3 areas of interest.

  1. Everybody can ride Zwift to increase their base fitness.

  2. a MTB’er can improve short interval power by performing Above thresh hold intervals and work on lactate shuffle type workouts.

  3. You can not improve any bike handling skills on Zwift.
    This may seem obvious but this is why the steering course of Repack ridge is of limited value.
    Zwift could design a virtual single track trail that requires low gear ratios and out of saddle hills.
    I have a non reactive trainer so I’m not sure how hard Repack ridge is but I find I can’t push high power because I’m trying to steer.
    The steering is very gamey. It’s not going to help me IRL so I would prefer Zwift stick to the areas that help us IRL.

IRL, a MTB’er can ride a road bike to increase base fitness and do hill repeats to develop short term power.
Zwift will let you do the same but don’t put your MTB on the trainer unless you have a wheel off trainer and use ERG mode because you will spin out just like riding your MTB bike on a real road.
Zwift races are good practice for the efforts required for Cyclocross and MTB racing.
The Zwift races are nothing like a real road race.
I guess it is similar to a crit race but I’ve never raced one so that may be wrong.

I’m not sure I see value in Gravel anything on Zwift.

I hope for some single track on Zwift but it appears we have to go thru a Gravel phase first.

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This is correct. IRL I ride MTB most of the time, but Zwift isn’t a great MTB simulator (no program is - and I honestly don’t know what they could do to nail the feel of MTB riding), all a MTB does in the game is slow you down on tarmac and make you a slight bit faster on gravel or dirt surfaces, and sure you can sit and do the jungle loop continuously and beat a road bike there, but it’s still slower than tarmac routes, and does not really simulate any of the things that make MTB different than road biking.

So personally I just use a road bike in Zwift, and I avoid the Jungle route like the plague because it’s just slower, there’s nothing more “fun” about it. But you will find after doing your MTB training on Zwift you will be much better at keeping up with your MTB crew IRL (or dropping them).

Over the winter Zwift took my mountain biking up a level without really needing to simulate a mountain bike trail.

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