Zwift - the road may be paved with pixels but your sweat will be real

When outside mother nature is storming - it's cold, snowing or raining. The roads are covered with ice. The single-tracks are all muddy and the days are short. Do you really feel like going outside for a ride (if it's even possible)? Same goes for the hot and humid days of summer. Riding outside does not sound really inviting or conducive to a good interval workout. What's the solution? get on the trainer or roller and spin ourselves crazy on the way to nowhere?

Recent development in the "Pain-Cave" World  

Indoor riding creates negative connotations for many of us riders (myself included). It’s boring, it’s so much harder, mentally and physically. It’s monotonous, the heart rate is much higher and all of a sudden everything starts hurting due to sitting on the saddle in the same position for a long period of time. In the past I’ve written about how I survive the cold winter in the Midwest (here). This time I will expand on what I started there and will review the development in what I called the “pain-cave world” and talk about Zwift, the social platform that is turning such world into an interactive computer game and is claimed by many to be the Strava of the indoors world. I was asked to review Zwift for BikePanel Magazine. This is the English version of my review.       

A computer game for training? I’m an outdoorsy girl. Ever since I was a little girl I have preferred playing outside, running, playing hide and seek, basketball, getting all covered in mud. I still do. The few times that I tried as a kid to play computer games, I couldn’t even pass the first stage of pacman or some other basic game. So would Zwift be able to convert this tomboy and allow me to pass to stage 2?

What was clear to me was that Zwift will have big shoes to fill in this case … let’s see how they did:

What’s Zwift

Zwift is an interactive computer game that by spinning your legs on a bike will cause your avatar to ride on different courses, alone or with others, in a race or a group ride. It will climb uphill and descend. It will even draft other riders. All this without moving an inch from your trainer and home. While on the screen your road may be pixelized, but your sweat will be real! So don’t forget to bring a towel. If you are not in the mood to sweat but are looking for entertainment, you can log into Zwift just to watch and maybe cheer (use the Ride On button).

I will start by saying - yes, this is not the first or the only platform that does this. Other platforms exists. Some I’ve tried in the past (like the one that comes with my Tacx trainer or Prefpro) and some that I plan to review in the future. So what is so special about Zwift? It’s the social aspect of it. That’s the hook.

Before I start to dive in, I will note that to join the Zwift social revolution you will need to pay. After a 1 week of free trial it will cost you $10 per month and you can stop any time. Because we all love free stuff, if you have a Strava Premium account you can get 2 more months for free

 

On my way to the Volcano

How To Start?

What do you need - computer, an Ant+ stick, trainer or rollers, a bike and do not forget a fan. After you downloaded the program to your computer or the app to your Iphone/Ipad and created an account, the setup is very easy and quick. Here is the bad news to Android users (like me), your will have to use your computer because an app for you does not exist. About the trainer or rollers - Zwift will work even if you don’t have a smart trainer. In this case you will need either a power meter or a speed/cadence sensor.

What’s next - As I said the rest is easy. Make sure your Ant+ is plugged in, turn Zwift on and just follow the instructions. Zwift will ask you to sync your trainer and other devices. Once you pair them at the beginning of each ride you will need less than a minute for Zwift to recognize them and connect. If you forgot to, do not worry the little squirrel will remind you.    

Step 1 - Zwift will search for your trainer, Heart Rate monitor and Cadence sensor 

Android owners, you should download the Zwift Mobile Link App. It will allow you to at least partially remotely control the game. Like stopping, communicating with other riders (physically like with an elbow flick or verbally), make a U turn and the most important function - take a screenshot, because if it’s not on Instagram how will people know you actually rode ;-)

An important function of the App even while you are not on Zwift, it allows you to check the event calendar and to find out which of you friends is on the course now.  

Snapshot of the Zwift Mobile Link App

How Does It Work

OK devices are synced and you are ready to roll. Here comes the next screen and the moment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s time to chose our riding options. We are now facing a very tough decision: are we just going to go for a ride? Should we meet another rider or two on the way or maybe join a group ride? Maybe even test our legs with a race or a challenging interval workout that will make our legs scream. Zwift can make any of your wishes come true. Just click in the right place.   

Workout or a Ride, Join a group or a race, or even once of the challenges

After you picked your poison and one minute before you start riding, you have to upgrade your avatar’s look. Even if we neglected our own look because we are in the basement alone; so who cares, but our avatar is going out there for a ride with thousands of other riders and she must represent. So what kit should she wear today? Which bike and wheels? Color? With or without a helmet or gloves? And most importantly - will she go with the latest trend and wear cool socks (I wrote about this before here) or stick to the triathlete look? Those are super important and difficult decisions that cannot be taken lightly, and they sure make Zwift more fun and interactive.

This is where Zwift is throwing us the first carrot: the more you ride, your avatar will have more customization options. A different jersey, aero wheels, TT bike, carbon, steel, you name it. This is heaven for upgrade-itist patients like me. Of course, some of these will also give you an advantage and will make you faster, if not in real life at least in Watopia.    

Upgrade your avatar's looks

Ride Mode

In this mode you can ride freestyle in one of the 3 main courses that are available on Zwift: Watopia, London and Richmond. The course itself is picked everyday by Zwift in accordance with a preset calendar. You can pick one of the few sub-courses - with the option of flat course, hilly course, a mix or if you are feeling frisky Zwift can surprise you. Watopia is a made-up world and London and Richmond (Virginia) are both famous race courses.  

Ready?

Even if you decided not to join a group or a race, Zwift spices things up by including sprints and KOM sections. The leaders in those will get to wear the coveted green or polka-dot jersey, respectively. When you ride in a group or behind another rider, you can actually feel the benefits of the draft. More carrots that are sprinkled along the way are the various boosts that you can pick - like the aero boost or the feather (that one will make you faster uphill, well at least for a few seconds). There are also longer challenges that you can sign up for with virtual and real prizes.

Talking about climbing, Zwift simulates climbs pretty well and when the grade goes up so does the resistance of the trainer (if you have a smart trainer that is). So here is a tip from this flatlander to maximize the benefit of the climbs. Stick a thick book under your trainer block to raise your front wheel even more in order to simulate climbing angle. Your climbing muscles will thank you for this.    

Getting ready for a group ride

Workout Mode

As an alternative, you can ride in a workout mode. You can pick one of the many workout options offered by Zwift, anywhere from a single workout to a 12 week training plan. Alternatively, if you already have a coach or you are just type A, you can create your own workout very easily.

In my opinion this addition to Zwift raised Zwift up to the next level. As regardless of the weather, riding on a trainer has many advantages for an effective interval workout. The trainer allows for an uninterrupted ride by “nuisances” like red lights, stop signs, pedestrians or even other riders. It neutralizes the road conditions and the environment, which allows you to maintain the required intensity (either by Watts or HR) for the entire interval length. It is true that all those can be achieved also on an old school trainer, but the Zwift workout mode brings in a new dimension to the workout and some very needed encouragement.  

A big library of workouts or create your own

The effort level of the intervals is determined by Functional Threshold Power (or FTP). In a nutshell FTP is the maximal power you can maintain in an all out effort of 1 hour. You can insert your FTP at the bottom of the workout or in settings. If you don’t know your FTP, or want to retest (recommended from time to time), Zwift has a built in test that you can take.

In the workout mode we will still ride the same course as everybody else, see other riders and can try to stay on their wheel during the interval, but the resistance will be controlled by the trainer and there is no need to change gears if you have a smart trainer. If you don’t, like on the road, that’s what your gears are for. On the screen you will get alerts if you are out of the intensity range, you’ll see a timer with the interval time, and the golden arches (no, I don’t mean McDonald's) will mark the start and end of your interval. Personally I found that doing my interval workouts on Zwift, with other riders around me made me push harder and longer and not give up on the interval. It made riding on the trainer and intervals (yes even threshhold - my weakness) more bearable and achievable. Although I wouldn’t go as far as saying I look forward to them, I will say that I no longer dread them.

Of course you can save your ride on Zwift and even sync it with your Strava, Training peaks or Today’s Plan accounts.

Tip - in order not to waste valuable time to program your workout right before your ride, you can create them when you have time and they will be saved. Just click OK without syncing your devices to move to the next screen.   

Zwift will let you know if you are not in the range and when your interval starts and ends

My Experience

In the virtual world of Zwift, the road is smooth, without bumps or potholes even if the graphic on the screen shows a dusty gravel road (although I was told that on some trainers you can actually feel the gravel). There are no angry drivers that cut you off or pedestrians jumping in front of your wheels. Just you and other riders. In the past month, though, I have been seeing some runners (btw - runners - don’t forget to take off your helmet before the run, it looks ridiculous). The temperature is just right and the birds are signing. Even when it’s raining in Zwift you stay dry (well at least from the virtual rain). You can feel like the Little Mermaid and ride under the sea or like Indiana Jones riding through a field of hot lava. For those of you who do not like the great outdoors, you can always ride in London or if you really desire Richmond, VA. Speaking of the Richmond course, really? Yes it was the world championship course and Sagan won, but Come’on Zwift, of all the courses and places in the US you pick this one?  

Feel like the Little Mermaid or Ride in Hot Lava 

So, after I got used to all the commotion on the screen, to the fact that everything happens at once, a huge peloton passes me from all over and tons of data is spread out all over the screen. Like a seasoned roadie, I’ve learned to focus on what’s really important and I started to enjoy my Zwift experience and even more than that, to look forward to it. On every one of the courses I found myself really getting into the game. Chasing other riders, drafting them. My body started to imitate my avatar getting out of the saddle on a climb or sprint and I almost skipped drinking because my avatar wasn’t drinking at that time. On my interval workouts I was so into the screen and the game that I actually almost fell with the bike because I tried to powerfully steer my bike on a switchback. I didn’t even care that I’m on my who knows what number lap on the London course. I realized that my condition is serious when I found myself thinking about what to wear for my workout (me, not my avatar!), because I have a date with a few thousand riders and I have to look good for the occasion.

Another tip: to make your Zwift experience more enhanced, I recommend connecting your computer to your TV. With today's TVs all you need is an HDMI cable. Of course if you are lucky and own an Ipad/Iphone and an apple tv - you can airplay it.   

You can switch your view at any time

A Little Bit of Critic and Points for Improvement

Limited number of courses - as I mentioned there are 3 main courses and yes, while each have a few sub courses,the number is limited. I also didn’t like that not all courses are available all the time and that Zwift decides which one will be available on a particular day. I understand that more courses and more options means less riders on each course, which kinda defeats the whole point of social riding. So instead - maybe work on the existing courses and especially on Richmond.

Simple Graphics somewhat - I needed to get over the initial shock when a peloton of riders just ripped through me (it happens even with a single rider). Otherwise, the simple computer game graphics didn’t really bother me. Despite the fact that there are other platforms out there with more realistic graphics, let’s focus on what matters - it works and works very well. Plus, I can afford to wear a Rapha jersey on Zwift.

Background Music - is it me or that the background music at the start is just annoying? Anyway, It’s not something that I couldn’t fix with my very simple headphones and a good playlist. I read that there are background sounds while riding but to be honest I wasn’t listening - I was focused on my music and my avatar (I call her Jessica).

Android Support - this is my biggest issue. Really Zwift? You have an Apple version, but what about the other half of the world (probably more than half to be exact). Even if the Android version is still being developed (and I hope so), at least add full control through the Android App. Yes it was improved since I started using Zwift but there are controls that are still missing - like starting the ride, the option to pause when the app switched to allow you to turn, the option to lower or increase the FTP by more than 10%, just to name a few examples.

The Social Aspect - YES, this is the huge advantage of Zwift but it's a disadvantage on those days that you want to ride easy. It’s hard to do when you have a huge peloton storming by you and your competitive side kicks in. This one is more to us the riders and not really Zwift. All I’m saying is that we need to take it into account and maybe on easy day not to ride on Zwift or if you are really addicted, you can program yourself a Z1 workout and Zwift will remind you if you are doing to hard.     

My Setup

What’s in the Future

Zwift has been constantly improving the platform and continues to do so. They also added a few sub-courses (but on this I would like to see much more and faster). As I mentioned above I have been seeing a few runners on the course in the last weeks. A quick google search revealed that in a Beta version for IOS only you can log in as a runner. I cannot wait to try that and add this option to my previous blog post (here). Last summer at EuroBike and then again at the CES a VR Zwift platform was introduced. Time will tell if this platform will in fact be released and available to all, but looks like we got something cool to look forward to:

Bottom Line

When over one weekend at the end of February the temperatures reached mid 40s in Chicago, a rare event and an outdoors ride was totally called for to celebrate the moment. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. The first thought that went through my mind was - but there is a group ride on Zwift. There is also a race and I have to get more points so I can upgrade my wheels, kit, and there is a new challenge to meet.  

Dressed up in my latest challenge kit

So I have only one thing to do - admit to the world “Hi, my name is Sharon and I’m an addict”. My puppy still refuses to follow me down to the trainer room, but I don’t care anymore, because I am not alone and I’ve made it to Stage 2.

Runners on Course

See ya and and if you are looking for me you can find me on Zwift.

Thanks for reading