Watts Up in Watopia: Climbing on Zwift
Are you signed up for the Wahoo Climb Mission that starts today (January 24) and ends on February 26?
The mission is designed for you to climb 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) in four weeks. There are milestones along the way to incentivize your climbing. You earn entries to win prizes for the following mission milestones:
10,000 feet (3,048 meters): Wahoo Bolt
15,000 feet (4,572 meters): Wahoo Kickr K.O.M. Bundle
20,000 feet (6,096 meters): Wahoo Kickr Bike Ultimate Bundle
While you are working on completing the Wahoo Climb Mission, you may as well also work toward unlocking the Zwift Concept Z1 Bike (a.k.a. Tron Bike). In order to do so, you’ll need to select the Climb Mt. Everest challenge in the menu. It’s not the easiest option to find in the menu, so look for the Ride California logo in the menu, which is the default selection.
The Tron Bike isn’t that great for climbing, ironically. However, it is a good all-around aero bike for flat and rolling races. Check out Zwift Insider’s Speed Test from earlier this year.
Another tip for climbing on Zwift is decreasing your smart trainer’s difficulty settings. This will give you a wider range of gears to use when climbing instead of grinding away at your bike’s granny gear. It’s not cheating because watts are watts in Zwift. See GPLama’s field test.
And, if you aren’t lucky enough to be climbing on a Wahoo Kickr Climb or an Elite RIZER to automatically raise your front end, you can always prop up your front wheel the old school way: with a phone book.
Happy Climbing!
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: London & Yorkshire
Tuesday: Richmond & London
Wednesday: Richmond & London
Thursday: Richmond & London
Friday: France & Paris
Saturday: France & Paris
Sunday: 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 Give Me A Break.
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 Going Up Or Going Down?.
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 Mix It Up.
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 Chutes and Ladders.
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 Threshold Intervals.
