Watts Up in Watopia: Badge Hunting with a Group
The bonus XP that comes with route badges can accelerate your leveling up progress in Zwift. Add to this that you can cover the distance of a route much, much faster with a group of cyclists. Which means that route-specific events are the most efficient way to both earn route badges and level up.
Here’s some resources that may help your badge hunting:
In-Game Badge Progress
There are two ways within Zwift to check to see if you have completed a route or not. The first is within the main screen where you choose which world you would like to ride in. After selecting the world, click on the blue route button. You have completed the routes with the green check marks. The second way to check is during a ride. When stopped click on the orange menu button and the Badges icon. You can scroll down to see which badges you have earned.
Analog Checklist
If you prefer an offline, printable checklist, Zwift Insider has an updated route list with amount of XP, distance, and elevation listed for each route. My wife and I have this list on a clipboard near our trainer, and we initial the routes we have completed for a friendly competition.
VeloViewer Leaderboard
If you are interested in how your route times compare with others, you can sync up your apps with VeloViewer to find out. First, sync Zwift and Strava. Second, join the Zwift club on Strava. Third, sync Strava with VeloViewer and check your times against others. It’s a convoluted way of populating a route leaderboard, but for now it’s the best option we have.
Select Events by Route
If you have a Zwiftpower account because the races you do on Zwift require it, then selecting an event by route is easy using the route pull down menu using the Filter button on the Events tab. If you don’t have a Zwiftpower account, then you can use the event schedule offered by ZwiftHacks. The Filter feature will allow you to search for a route by name. This schedule also shows you how many people are signed up for an event, which can help you decide when there are large groups taking on a specific route. Also, you can search for event by name or description (full text) using “badge hunt” which will bring up events designed for that purpose.
Hopefully these resources will help. If you need inspiration for badge hunting, check out this interview with Josh Hageman. Happy Badge Hunting!
Guest World Schedule
Here’s this week’s guest worlds, so you can plan to earn some of the route badges you are missing:
Monday: France & Paris
Tuesday: London & Yorkshire
Wednesday: London & Yorkshire
Thursday: London & Yorkshire
Friday: Innsbruck & Richmond
Slowtwich Indoors Event Preview (All Times Eastern)
Go to Zwift Events to sign up for these rides and runs.
Monday 100/100 Group Run, 7:00 AM & 7:00 PM
Join us for a group run on the virtual track of May Field that will kick start your week. Join others who are working on the Slowtwitch challenge of 100 runs of 3 miles or 30 minutes in 100 days. Don’t forget that each of the five ride workouts and five run workouts have a short and long option. Rather than canceling a workout when you are crunched for time, you can complete the short version and still reap the benefits of the program.
Tuesday Ride of the Valkryies Workout (Women Only), 6:00 AM
This event is by and for women. It’s an almost no-drop, rubber-banded Structured Training workout, featuring a warm-up, set of intervals, and a cool-down. This week’s workout is Double Tabata Power.
Tuesday Structured Training, 7:00 PM
Our Tuesday ride features triathlon-focused cycling workouts written by coaches and pro athletes affiliated with Slowtwitch. The workouts last 60 minutes and will help add variety and interest to your weekly training schedule. This week’s workout is Keep It Simple.
Wednesday Group Run, 7:00 AM & 7:00 PM
A more scenic group run on the Quatch Quest course. This is another opportunity to join others who are working on the Slowtwitch challenge of 100 runs of 3 miles or 30 minutes in 100 days.
Thursday Rise & Grind, 5:35 AM
This workout is an early morning bracer for the East Coast crowd. This week’s workout is True Grit.
Thursday SWIFT Ride, 6:55 PM
The newest ride to the Slowtwitch Indoors family, Slowtwitch SWIFT (Strong Women, It's Fun Together!) is here to bring another women's only ride to a slightly friendlier time slot. This ride will focus slightly more on strength-based work so bring those climbing legs. But even if you're feeling more like Mark Cavendish in the mountains of the Tour de France, so long as you keep the pedals moving, you'll stay with our group. This week’s workout is May the 4th Be With You.
Friday Festina Lente, 9:00 AM
This structured training workout is designed to get you geared up for the weekend. Roughly translated as “make haste, slowly,” Festina Lente features a workout that will get your engine running but still leave some in the tank for the big rides and races you have planned for the weekend. This ride is led by members of the Kanberra Cycling Team as lead beacon. This week’s workout is Aerobic Ramps.
Other Events To Watch For
Here are two badge hunting series currently running this month:
NEOKYO BADGE HUNTING SERIES
This series runs from November 29th to December 20th. The series includes four routes in Neokyo and includes a kit, shoes, and helmet awarded in game for progress in the series.
GARMIN NEVER STOP SERIES
This series runs from December 2nd to the 18th. The series includes four short routes and four long routes for cyclists, and four shorter routes and four longer routes for runners.
