What is Zwift?
If you’ve set foot in a bike shop, landed
accidentally on a cycling website, or ever visited Strava, you’re bound to have
caught sight of the flashy orange branding of Zwift. Flinging the tagline
“serious training made fun†to all four corners of the internet, Zwift is a
virtual cycling program that gamifies indoor training. With a turbo trainer,
the right sensors, and a towel (there will be sweat, lots of sweat) – not to
mention the blessing of your ever-patient family – you’ll be ready to make your
first visit to the unique island of ‘Watopia’.
If you’re still none the wiser, here’s the story and how to get started.
The story
Co-founders Jon Mayfield and Eric Min have backgrounds in computer trading systems and video game programming. Both were also massive cycling fans and had watched friends embarking on long and lonely winters on turbo trainers. Mayfield had designed and uploaded 3D cycling graphics to an online forum which Eric Min stumbled upon, and the partnership was born. Their primary goal was to take indoor training from a tedious experience of staring into space into the realms of social and virtual computer games. Once they’d entered beta testing, the small team knew that they had something big on their hands with twenty times more requests in the first ten days than the 700 they had anticipated.
Welcome to Watopia
If you think virtual training might be your ticket to enjoying indoor training, your best option is a smart trainer, which automatically alters resistance as you work your way around Watopia island (the immersive virtual landscape in which Zwift rides ‘happen’, complete with views to admire as you pedal). But you don’t have to have a smart trainer. All you need to get started – besides the monthly subscription – is a speed sensor which communicates with a computer, phone or tablet via ANT+. Zwift will then estimate your power based on height, weight and cadence. The resultant figure translates into your speed on the virtual course.
Making the most of it
The best thing about Zwift is the facility to join social rides with others on real world routes, not to mention the structured workouts available and live on-screen data. Its multiplayer setup means that you can race riders from all over the globe at every level of the sport, including the best of the best. Mark Cavendish, Alex Dowsett, Marcel Kittel, Hannah Barnes, Dani King, you name it, they’re riding it.
Perhaps you’re training for a particular event like the RideLondon Surrey 100, in which case you can train on the race route without leaving the comfort of your ‘pain cave’. The Zwift team have just this week added a brand-new section to the London route, taking virtual riders up the infamous Leith Hill, Surrey’s highest ‘peak’. Some of the world’s best riders incorporate Zwift into their own training, none more famously than Mathew Hayman who broke his elbow six weeks prior to winning Paris-Roubaix in 2016. He prepared for his historic victory almost exclusively on Watopia with his whole arm immobilised in plaster.
You never know, Zwift might just be your ticket to the pro ranks. Both Canyon//SRAM women’s pro team and the Dimension Data for Qhubeka continental team have recruited amateur riders for the 2018 season, from Germany and New Zealand respectively, following the virtual training and racing Zwift Academy program.
Whether you want to opt for a basic trainer or go for a top-of-the-line smart trainer, we’ve got something for you, and it doesn’t stop at the turbo. There are also a whole catalogue of accessories including the Wahoo adjustable laptop desk. You don’t know the full scope of your potential until you’ve visited the island of Watopia. Kick start 2018 with a Zwift subscription and you never know where you might end up.
