Roads of Watopia: Gerrie Delport’s Favorites

Gerrie Delport is an experienced Zwifter who helps guide others on the forums. After 5 years, he sure knows the ins and outs of Zwift and its virtual roads.

“About 90% of all my riding (winter and summer) is done on Zwift,” says Delport. “Most of my friends are Zwifters that I never met IRL [in real life].”

Originally from Pretoria, South Africa, Delport now lives in the USA after relocating to Connecticut in 2011. He started riding when he entered a 100-kilometer event with some co-workers, thinking it would be a good challenge. With only a little preparation, he finished the ride in “almost 6 long hours.”

“I was determined to do better and started training for the next year, and before I knew it, I was hooked,” he says. “I moved up in the ranks up to A cat racing in South Africa.”

When Delport bought a controllable Elite RealAxiom USB wheel-on smart trainer in 2009, he began looking for software to use with it.

“I tried everything that was available,” he says. Several years later, “I found Zwift and saw Nathan Guerra streaming his rides on Jarvis. I wanted to be part of that and applied to be a beta tester, but unfortunately my trainer was a USB trainer and it was not supported so I had to wait until January 2016.”

Now, Delport is a level 50 Zwifter. He plans on doing some Tour of Watopia 2021 events to put some double XP in the bank, even though he won’t level up right away. Since there aren’t standard race categories, he likes to ride the events as group rides rather than race them.

He also enjoys “badge hunting” for route achievement badges. You can ride Zwift’s different routes in the Tour of Watopia, other group events, in Meetups, or on your own.

“Always look at the map on ZwiftHacks to make sure you know where it starts and ends,” advises Delport.

Gerrie Delport’s three favorite routes in Watopia include an off-road adventure in the jungle, a mountain climb, and a flat loop with a kick at the end:

Serpentine 8

• Length: 19.20 km (11.9 miles)
• Elevation: 65 m (259 feet)
• Lead-In: 5.7 km (3.5 miles)

Why he loves it: “I always liked the jungle. It is a lot of fun to get on the MTB (mountain bike) and pass people that did not change bikes. The graphics in the jungle are some of the best parts of Watopia.”

Spot the wildlife: “I like passing the sloth in the jungle.” Keep an eye out for tropical birds like toucans!

Landmarks: The Serpentine 8 route includes a bridge that connects some of the Mayan ruins found throughout the jungle. A suspension bridge along the main Jungle Circuit (which overlaps this route) takes you across a ravine beside a magnificent waterfall. Both of these jungle routes are mostly dirt roads, so we suggest a mountain bike or gravel bike.

Mountain Route

• Length: 29.5 km (18.3 miles)
• Elevation: 682 m (2,238 feet)
• Lead-In: 0.5 km (0.3 miles)

Why he loves it: “The Mountain Route is just the right amount of distance and climbing. I like to do workouts a lot and find that doing a 1-hour workout will get me to the top of the epic KOM. Then I can spin my legs out on the downhill.”

Landmarks: Delport’s favorite part is “the rollers before you get to the top,” a section of small, snowy peaks that break up the climbing before the last push to the banner. You’ll see some brightly-colored hot air balloons while you’re up there!

Volcano Climb After Party

• Length: 40 km (24.9 miles)
• Elevation: 266 m (873 feet)
• Lead-In: 0.5 km (0.3 miles)

Why he loves it: “The Volcano Climb After Party is an event-only route so it is always done as a race. Climbing is not my strong point so that route really challenges my weakness. The route is nice and flat and then it kicks up to the top of the volcano.”

Landmarks: This is basically two laps of the Volcano Flat route followed by a lap of the Volcano Climb route. You’ll ride through some underwater tunnels and the docks of a fishing village, then turn at another village toward the land bridge that leads to Watopia’s volcano. Delport points out, “The volcano route has a nice view of Watopia once you get high enough.”