Zwift Academy Road 2021 Baseline Ride FAQ

Zwift Academy
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Thanks all for being such productive, engaged members of the Zwift community. Our team that’s driving ZA has been intently following all of the experiences you’ve noted and we’re looking at how we can continually improve.

This idea of a semi-structured performance assessment utilizing a course rather than ERG mode is super exciting and we’re learning the right steps and UI to help guide, regardless of pack size. We’re pumped about the potential of this.

Thank you.

Mark

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I know this isn’t a race and we’re competing against ourselves but is there a leaderboard where we can see how the other riders did on this ride or globally?

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I normally have ERG mode off and didn’t see where I would look for this setting for the baseline ride yet somehow I seemed to be in ERG mode – I didn’t feel any elevation changes. Is this a glitch or user error on my part? Where do I check to see if I am in ERG mode for this ride? I just hit the big orange ride button and then it asks if I want to join the event I registered for and it drops me into it.

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Keep it up Mark - I love this format (semi-structured assessment).

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Hi @Beth_Z, welcome to the forums.

ERG mode is not available for the baseline ride, so if you weren’t feeling elevation changes then something went wrong with pairing your trainer to Zwift. What type of trainer do you have and what devices do you use to run the game?

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Hey @Ron_Aloha!

Welcome to the Zwift community!

There is not a leaderboard for these rides. The goal is to get a baseline for where you’re starting, then do a retest on the same course in 8 weeks to see how you progressed after Zwift Academy. Good luck with this year’s Academy!

Ride On!

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Hi @Mike_Rowe1 , I have a Wahoo Kickr and re-paired it last night after trying the ride and not feeling elevation. Tried again this morning and the same thing. But, when I did the orientation ride on Monday I could feel it. I was running the app on a Samsung Galaxy tablet. There were others in the ride with me who had the same problem…Oh, and my trainer difficulty was set to right in the middle and I tried adjusting that but didn’t feel a difference.

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This may be what you’re experiencing: Kickr Bike & Trainer resistance is non responsive in free ride [August 2021] [1.16.0] - #71 by Lee_H

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Because so many new Zwifters are doing this training event series, it is extra important for ZHQ to make this as easy as possible. Obviously it would have been possible to give notice of the start for the test sections since there’s new 500m to go signs.

So many riders in my event this morning had no idea of when the sections were going to start. I had the start distances list on my table and messaged the group as we rode. Judging by the number of “Thanks” I got there were lots who had no idea where the sections were.

Maybe a ride leader bot. They could speak to all of these questions when we leave the pen.

And how in the world did I end up with a black cap? I couldn’t switch it out and that was annoying.

Come on, I know you can do better than this.

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I did this a couple days ago, I think I saw GP Lama in the pens.

I was confused with the segments and purple markers. I did the advanced/A grade ride.

I missed the first sprint, because I saw the 500m marker and thought it was 500 meters TO GO and assumed I had missed the start.

Then after this, you encounter a KOM that is standard for the map and I didn’t want to miss out again, so I went for it, only to discover that it was a fakey and you get pulled off to the left.

Then you see another 500m purple sign, but for no reason. Don’t know why it’s there.

Then you see another 500m sign and that is warning you of the START of the mini climb segment. There is also another identical 300m meter sign (distance remaining) at the end.

Then there is only one more segment, the final KOM. So I assumed this was it.

So my feedback is, remove the sprints and KOM’s triggers that are not relevant. And also, if you’re not going to have a pop-up warning (like in a workout) at least make the markers indicating upcoming segment start and upcoming segment finish look different, not just a purple marker with a very blurry 300 or 500 written on it.

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Thanks Mark, seems similar for sure. I tried a free ride today (not the baseline ride) and it worked just fine…maybe I’ll try the baseline ride again soon just to see if the problem is fixed or not…I did close and reopen the app per the thread’s suggestion. Appreciate you hunting this down for me!

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Alright. I finally did the baseline ride today and would like share my thoughts.

  1. It is great that drafting is disabled. The purpose behind this was to make before and after comparison easier. However, bike choice will still play a role. This can be fixed by choosing the same bike and wheel for both baseline and finish rides, but who is going to remember that. I would have preferred if there was one bike used (e.g. Zwift Carbon for everyone).
  2. One of the two important things missing (as every other person here stated) is visible indicators of distance left to each segment and where each segment starts. There is no excuse for having a banner for segment finish but not for segment starts.
  3. Other big thing missing is how long each segment is and progress. Pacing is nearly impossible without knowing how long a segment will last. Before a segment starts, there should be information on how long it is, and once it starts there should be distance left bar. The first segment, for instance, was much shorter than I thought. So I paced conservatively, but I could have done much better.

Just due to #3 alone, a lot of people will improve their times the second time because they will pace much better.

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I have completed the baseline ride and it doesn’t show as completed within the companion app on the first baseline tile. The activity is visible in my history. I have done the workout 1 and it appears, but not the baseline test.

Can this be resolved somehow? I’m not redoing the baseline!!!

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So this is required before starting the workouts? It’s not available as a workout and the scheduled times are not convenient for when I ride (doesn’t seem like they are alternating either). This is keeping me from starting ZA this year.

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The baseline ride is not required to do the workouts. You will have to do a baseline and finish line ride at some point in order to “graduate” in Zwift Academy.

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Agreed with those points. I did it today. Well, I got 30 minutes in, was still thinking “is this a warmup?”, where are the marker points? When do these tests actually start?". I had no idea. I gave up after 33 minutes and started googling for answers when you’d think all the pointers would be provided “in game”

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Now you know where the sprint and KOM starts you can go get some awesome times.

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This is one of the reasons why I have said that Zwift should level lock the routes and maps.

There’s to many options for the new riders and they don’t learn the routes.

We got a new route every few months starting with only the hilly KOM. That gave us the time to learn the routes.

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I did the baseline ride this morning. One thing that can be improved is the placement of the purple 500m banners. Currently they are placed 500m from the KOM and sprint finish. The correct place should be 500m before the start of the KOM and Sprint.

I knew where the segments started so I could help those around me.

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@Gerrie_Delport_ODZ
You’ll be glad to know that we’re going to make a change with the upcoming v 1.17.0 game release.

We agree it’s important to know where the start of each segment is, so there will be an inflatable archway marking the start of each segment that can be seen from some distance away.

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