TOUR OF WATOPIA: PREPARE TO RIDE

Welcome to Tour of Watopia! This multi-staged event is like a real-life fondo—a giant party on wheels where we’ll push watts and see beautiful sights together. Tour of Watopia brings riders from different countries together with the same goal: crossing that finish line and completing the tour. This post helps you prepare to have an awesome and smooth experience. 

Group rides on Zwift are a great way to meet people and build camaraderie. Chat while you pedal, find a pack, and take in the sights during each stage. As this is not a race, there is no winner. If you’re brand new to Zwift and need to gear up, watch this How To video.

SCHEDULE YOUR RIDES

From the Tour of Watopia homepage, click into each stage page. You’ll see a description of the stage, the available dates, and the scheduler feature for upcoming events.

CHOOSE YOUR DISTANCE

Like a fondo, group rides for tour events are organized by distance. The A Group is a longer stage—not necessarily a faster group. The B Group is the shorter stage, and also not a slower group. You’ll find riders of all levels (and speeds!) in both groups. Both men and women may join either A or B Group. The C Group is for women riders only.

GET WARMED UP

Make sure you give yourself a good 15 minutes to warm up because most rides go hard out of the gate. This is also a good time to make sure all your connections—heart rate monitor, cadence sensor, and trainer—are calibrated and working properly. We notify you in-game when your event is about to start, so don’t worry about losing track of time while warming up.

Make sure your bottles are full, nutrition is within reach (at least for longer rides—most Zwifters don’t eat during events shorter than one hour), and a dry towel is handy. Don’t forget about your fan!

FAST STARTS

Just like in real life, everyone is excited and fresh at the start of the event. Be ready to pedal hard from the get-go. You may have to push watts above your category level for a bit as the pack settles in. This initial burst usually only lasts for the first mile or so, as Zwifters begin to find riders at similar levels to work with.

READING THE HEADS-UP DISPLAY

Zwift’s Heads-Up Display (HUD) includes a lot of information to help you understand your data while in free-ride mode. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne5SoFcxZEc&list=PLjaxpWLm1cBfWUU0AKWCOusaZMaf_yxFv&index=21&t=0s

THE DRAFT EFFECT

To better mimic the real world, take full advantage of drafting. Simply put, if you are on someone’s wheel, you can put out less power and still stay with them. This essentially allows you to “rest” while someone else does the work. It’s a good tactic to use, but don’t expect someone to let you sit on their wheel for an entire ride. Catch your breath and take a pull. 

INTERACTING WITH OTHERS

Learn how to chat with friends and motivate them with a Ride On.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjeLZDycZqw&list=PLjaxpWLm1cBfWUU0AKWCOusaZMaf_yxFv&index=31&t=0s

USING POWERUPS

Zwift PowerUps are like superpowers! They give you a temporary edge in the game. Pop a PowerUp and set a new PR on a solo ride or sprint, or surge ahead of the pack. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMb8LJjhmUU&list=PLjaxpWLm1cBfWUU0AKWCOusaZMaf_yxFv&index=30&t=0s

HOW WEIGHT WORKS

Weight impacts your ability to go up hills. You may see Zwifters put out massive watts on steep hills and charge up ahead. This is because lighter riders ascend easier than heavier riders and need less power to do so. Keep this in mind as you try to catch someone going up the Watopia mountains. 

Ride On.