Tour for All: Prepare to Ride

Join the Tour For All and come together with the Zwift Community to support Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in their response to COVID-19.

Together, we can make the Tour for All our most impactful multi-stage event yet. We’re kicking off the Tour with a $125,000 donation to MSF’s COVID-19 Crisis Fund to support the organization’s global emergency response to the pandemic and its consequences.

We’ll match that donation at the end of the Tour if 250,000 Zwifters finish at least one stage. Let’s go—there’s power in numbers!

This post? A quick way to prepare to have an awesome and smooth experience.

Group rides on Zwift are a great way to meet people and build camaraderie. The Tour For All lives and breathes this sentiment. Our community is strong and powerful. Together we can make a difference.

Chat while you pedal, find a pack, and take in the sights during each stage. Are you a cyclist looking for a race? You’re in luck. We have some in addition to a lot of group rides. Running? Plenty of group runs for you, too.

If you’re new to Zwift and need to gear up, watch this How To video.

 

SCHEDULE YOUR RIDES

You’ll find info on each stage under the “Tour For All Schedule” on the Tour For All homepage. Details include a description of the stage and the available dates. You can sign up for specific stages here, too.

 

CHOOSE YOUR DISTANCE

Like a fondo, group rides for Tour events are organized by distance. The A Group rides a longer stage, but they’re not necessarily a faster group. The B Group rides a shorter stage. You’ll find Zwifters of all levels in both groups. Both men and women may join either A or B Group. The C Group is for women only.

 

GET WARMED UP

Make sure to Zwift for a few minutes pre-event, because some rides go hard out of the gate. And almost all races do! These minutes before the event starts are 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!

 

GROUP RIDES

Group rides are all about strength in numbers. Stay with a pack to get in on the draft, so you don’t have to work as hard as you would solo. More on the draft effect below.

Group rides typically attract large fields of Zwifters at all ability levels, so you can find the pace you’re looking for. Sit in, take some pulls, and get to know a new Zwifter or two. Group rides are all about having fun.

 

READING THE HEADS-UP DISPLAY

Zwift’s Heads-Up Display (HUD) includes a lot of information to help you understand your data:

 

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 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:

 

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.

 

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 others going up grades.

Ride On.