Zwift is an amazing resource when we are stuck riding indoors. The experience can be overwhelming though. Here is a list of resources to help you deal with any issues that might crop up.
Zwift Insider - a great site with plenty of information on the what and how of Zwift, including maps of the courses.
Zwift Hub - a great place to track your Zwift achievements and look at the course profiles very easily.
If you are brand new to Zwift here is a good overview video to get you started
Pairing your power meter correctly
One thing we are looking for in our power data is consistency. Try and use the same power meter as much as possible. If you have a power meter on your bike be sure to pair it as the power source in Zwift.
Calibrate your trainer (other than Tacx) weekly through the Zwift app.
And be sure to keep its firmware up to date via the trainer's utility app.
Accessing the Worlds and Routes
In Zwift you will find a variety of Worlds to choose from, and within each World a variety of Routes. Here is an article on how to choose your World and Route:
A great resource to help learn about the routes - elevation, distance, run in to the climbs - and to manage your badges and achievements (see blelow) is Zwifthub.com.
Zwift Worlds Calendar
Zwift Insider is another great website to learn about Zwift and all its intricacies. One very useful feature is the Zwift calendar. The Watopia World is available every day while the other maps rotate as “Guest Worlds”. The calendar is updated monthly and can help you figure out which
Getting into any World using the meet-up function
A great way to ride your favourite courses for workouts, or for those of you hunting badges to get into the courses you still need. See below on how to create a meet-up.
Once you are in the world you want to access you can quit the meet-up and then be free to navigate as needed.
Locked Routes
When you are deciding on which route you want to ride keep in mind that some of the routes are "locked". You won't be able to access them until you have reached a certain level in Zwift. Here is a good post on Zwift Insider about the locked routes:
Zwift Companion App
When running the workout in Zwift it is good to run the Zwift companion app. The app has better visuals to help with the wattage ranges that the structured workouts will be built with, makes it easy to adjust the incline you will be riding against, and allows you to move between steps in the structured workout.
It also makes navigating the routes easier. Learning how to navigate can be useful in opening up more options for doing your workouts in Zwift using various courses. This can allow you to move away from always using the structured workout and get more variation into your rides.
For the companion app to work the device running the app and the device running Zwift have to be on the same wifi.
Creating a meet-up
In the companion app you can create a meet-up so you and your friends can meet and ride together virtually.
Tip: you're in a meet-up and need to pee. What to do if you don't want to ask everyone to stop? In Zwift, as long as the gradient is negative your avatar will keep rolling - the steeper the gradient the better. So, just like a real world pro might pee on the downhill you need to hop off your bike on a downhill segment, run to the bathroom while your avatar keeps rolling, and hop back on having only lost a handful of seconds. The catch is that to pull this off you do need to know the course you are riding. Timing is everything and depends how long it takes you to pee ;) Good spots are moments like cresting the Epic KOM where the downhill will be a bit longer.
If you are with a group that has "keep everyone together" turned on this is a bit easier as it should slingshot you back to the group, speeding you up no matter your wattage to catch your friends. Caveat: we say should as it sometimes doesn't happen, but usually works :)
Add Discord into your meet-up for more communication
Discord is an app that will let you create a chat room that you can share with others. You can invite and control who is on the chat. A great way to make the riding on Zwift that much more interactive.
Pro tip: take note of step 4, the big stumbling block for many as they jump onto Discord.
To help clarify things even more here is a blog on how to join the Discord voice channel:
Trainer Difficulty
Setting the trainer difficulty correctly will make your Zwift experience better. You want to set the difficutly at 75%. At this difficulty you will still experience the changes in gradient when riding the courses, but those changes will feel relatively smooth. Too low a difficutly setting and you can't really feel the gradient changes. Too hard a difficulty and the changes in gradient become too sharp, making the ride unpleasant.
Adjusting your FTP in Zwift and Training Peaks
Your home set-up. More than just a computer and smart trainer.
Managing Zwift on your computer
Make zwift a priority on your computer so it runs well: when running Zwift on a PC alongside other apps there can sometimed be lag problems. But you can fix that.
Getting data fit files from Zwift
You might sometimes need to download a fit file from Zwift.
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