Virtual road links Watopia’s Southern Coast between Fuego Flats and Mayan Jungle
Zwift has expanded Watopia with a new 19km road linking the virtual world’s Fuego Flats and Mayan Jungle.
The Coastal Causeway will be available now as part of the 1.51 game release, which is expected to reach all users of the indoor cycling app by Friday.
Users can experience the roads during Stage 5 of the Tour of Watopia, which begins on 30 October.
After the Tour of Watopia, you will have to be at level 10 or higher to access the roads, unless you’re riding with a friend or in a Zwift event.
‘Natural and cultural wonders of Watopia’
Zwift doesn’t hold back from embracing the gamification of indoor cycling, drawing verbose comparisons between the real world and Watopia, one of its 12 virtual worlds.
It says the new 19km road is like “a new road into a previously hard-to-reach part of a national park” that “will enable cyclists to enjoy natural and cultural wonders of Watopia that have been completely unreachable by bike until now”.
The new road is said to take those riding indoors to “never-before-seen locales and settlements that are excited to… share their unique character”.
You will be able to access one end of the road from the Fuego Flats. This will take you through Googie Springs, a fishing village where Zwift says you can stop at Cranky’s Crab Shack.
You can ride through a forest called the Evergreen Coast that’s “foreboding to mariners, but welcomes cyclists with inviting roadside attractions and reclusive-yet-friendly wildlife”.
The road opens up to Ciudad La Cumbre at the bottom of the Epic KOM and Sandy Coast, which Zwift describes as “a vibrant Mayan community that rises from the steamy jungles of Watopia”.
The new Mayan Passage will link the Southern Coast to the Mayan Jungle at the road’s south-western end.
8 new routes
Zwift says the new road hugs Watopia’s coast and is relatively flat.
The road sees four new sprint segments introduced to Zwift: Stoneway Spring, Acropolis Sprint, Sasquatch Spring and Woodland Sprint.
Zwift has created eight new routes, using a mix of the new and existing roads, which are among the longest on the cycling app.
The new Zwift routes are:
- Coast Crusher (34km with 172m of ascent)
- The Big Ring (48km with 286m of ascent)
- Accelerate to Elevate (41km with 1,152m of ascent)
- Shorelines and Summits (46km with 776m of ascent)
- Sugar Cookie (33km with 250m of ascent)
- Going Coastal (16km with 63m of ascent)
- Temple Trek (6km with 25m of climbing)
- Canopies and Coastlines (22km with 124m ascent)
While most new routes have minimal elevation, Accelerate to Elevate and Shorelines and Summits have stings in their tails.
Accelerate to Elevate finishes atop Alpe du Zwift, while Shorelines and Summits includes the Epic KOM.
Hidden Easter Eggs and future expansion
Zwift says Watopia has received a fresh graphical treatment to go alongside the expansion of its roads.
Zwift has hinted there will be hidden Easter Eggs, or secret features, to discover during your turbo trainer workouts in Watopia, too.
The causeway is expected to form a new backbone for additional Zwift roads, giving users access to other parts of Watopia not currently developed for cycling, according to Zwift.