Zwift user creates New York skyline workout to celebrate new course

An avid Zwift user has employed the power of interval training to create a workout which celebrates the New York course introduced in October.

Greg Leo 'The Lion', an active Zwift community member, completed fourteen efforts (opens in new tab) to create the visual representation that might remind readers-of-a-certain-age of a 1990s sitcom set in the city.

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The hour long session is titled 'New York #intervalart' - and represents a new dimension to the Strava art that has proved popular enough for marriage proposals (opens in new tab) and yielded some true works of beauty in the past.

With an average power of 195 watts (for Greg), the session includes greyed out efforts below zone one, as well as zone four/zone five combos that are particularly pleasing to the eye - plus two special sprint spikes for the Worldwide Plaza and the Chrysler Building (we think).

In the comments, Leo warned: "it’s not easy" - and with a Training Stress Score of 78, it looks like he's not wrong.

Zwift allows users to create workouts, follow existing sessions (probably based more closely on exercise and physiology than colours and height) - as well as providing group rides and races.

Zwift New York was unveiled last month, and marks the fifth 'world' for the indoor training game, following the recent release of the Innsbruck-Tirol 2018 UCI Road World Championship course.

Other creations include the original and mythical 'Watopia', London and Richmond.

The newest Zwift course is not an exact representation of New York as it is now. In keeping with other Zwift worlds, such as the Volcanic islands if Watopia, users have been transported 100 years into the future - to a city where cars hover (which would be most handy for all involved).

In New York, Zwift riders can choose between ten different routes - including a 9.7 kilometre route around Central Park, spinning (or smashing) past landmarks including The Guggenheim, The Met, the El Dorado Hotel and Tavern on the Green.

Other routes Zwifters can explore in New York are...

• RISING EMPIRE - 20.7km // 376m Hit the KOM in both directions on this climber’s course
• PARK PERIMETER LOOP - 9.7km // 126m The outermost loop of the park
• THE HIGHLINE - 10.5km // 179m Ride elevated roads in the skies above Central Park
• LADY LIBERTY - 12.3km // 206m A steep climb up to the KOM before a long lap around the park
• MIGHTY METROPOLITAN - 20.0km // 318m  Traverse most of the park and elevated roads in a meandering loop
• ASTORIA LINE 8 - 11.5km // 142m Named for the first NYC subway line, take a figure 8 path around the park
• KNICKERBOCKER - 22.4km // 365m This mostly flat route has some grit in it with one trip up the KOM via the steep route
• GRAND CENTRAL CIRCUIT - 6.8km // 144m Circuit course that takes the steep route up and down the KOM with a short loop around the Sprint in between
• EVERYTHING BAGEL - 34.3km // 545m Hit the Sprint and KOM in both directions on this long, looping route
• THE 6 TRAIN - 6.5km // 69m The shortest route around the park is flat and fast