Six months after I first wrote about Zwift I thought it would be good to write about my longer-term thoughts. I’ve had a bit of an on-off relationship with Zwift, some caused by it and some caused by me and other external factors.

Likes and Dislikes

It’s fairly easy for me to write down the things I like and the things I am less keen on with Zwift:

Likes

  • The gamification of Zwift (and I’m including all of the stats, goals and performance tracking here) is a big plus for someone like me. I love the data Zwift generates and that I can see my best segments, race against my ‘ghost’ to try to beat them, can track routes I’ve ridden, etc. It all helps motivate me and gives me mini-goals to achieve.

  • Going for a Zwift ride is incredibly easy. I have my Zwift Ride set up in a permanent location and so I can jump on and go for a ride with very little friction. The helps remove any excuses and also means that I can fit in a ride when time is limited. Being indoors it also means that the weather is never a consideration… well unless it is ferociously hot when even my fan struggles, particularly since my setup is in a south-facing room.

  • The workout plans are great for both improving fitness and performance and also for providing a structure and plan for when you need to ride (more on this below).

  • The community is great and that covers the general Zwift riding community where a stranger will give you a “Ride On” shout of encouragement, the clubs where group rides and races are arranged, or the Discord servers where like-minded people swap advice, are encouraging and supportive, and become friends.

  • The variety of activities is excellent. I can go for a casual ride, do a workout, join a race, ride a flat route, ride up a mountain, follow a pacer, etc. There is an awful lot you can do and I’ve never been bored.

Dislikes

  • I had a pretty good bike setup until I got a more professional bike fit which never really clicked with me. My physical form might have looked better but it was not as comfortable and I’m now tweaking it again to try to find a good compromise. My main issue has been knee pain but sore wrist and hands indicate that I’m putting too much weight on my arms too.

  • After six months I still tend to struggle with longer rides on the standard saddle and I separate this from the overall bike fit. I need to try some other saddles but I know that this is a bit of pot luck so I’m procrastinating about it before I spend money on it.

Not Riding Regularly

As of right now I’ve not done much Zwift riding for a few weeks. I rode regularly (two or three times a week) until the end of May and then things fell away.

During February and March I was tending to do two Zwift training plan rides each week and then two or three other rides which tended to be a bit of a mix of sociable group rides and me just riding and exploring Watopia.

In April I started the Couch to 5K plan which required three runs each week. The two Zwift training plan rides filled out most of the rest of the week so I would usually do one group ride at the weekend and have a rest day.

I June I finished both the Zwift training plan and the Couch to 5K plan and the subsequent loss of the routines resulted in me loosing focus and direction. I rebuilt a new routine by starting two CrossFit sessions each week (which I badly needed to help introduce some strength training and improve my flexibility) and by running more, particularly after deciding to do a 10K run in December. Between the two of them I didn’t have much time for Zwift.

A Side Note About Mental Health

As I have mentioned before in my blog posts, I am finding one of the biggest benefits of regular exercise to be with my mental health. Whilst CrossFit and Zwift give me a huge sense of achievement and a great endorphin hit it is running that has the most benefit. A 30 minute run is better for clearing my head than Zwift or CrossFit, perhaps because I am slowly thinking less about the act of running and that gives my head more time to process “life” whereas with Zwift and CrossFit I still tend to concentrate on what I am doing a lot more. It’s very hard not to prioritise running because of this.

The Next Six Months

I can’t predict what the next six months will hold but I’m anticipating that I’ll carry on with CrossFit and, for the next couple of months at least, focus more on running than Zwift whilst the weather (hopefully) remains good and the evenings are still light enough to run without worrying about lights and high-vis. But I expect that as soon as the weather turns I’m going to get back into Zwift.

For me, like it is for a lot of people I imagine, it looks like Zwift may be a seasonal thing.