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Riding Zwift(ly) Through New York

Byrichard

When I heard that Zwift would allow us to ride our bikes through a virtual New York I joked that I would use my singlespeed and I hoped that I could ride through the streets. Unfortunately you get to ride through the New York countryside, otherwise known as Central Park. Imagine riding through the Autumnal Hamptons at this time of year. 


I have ridden three or four times in virtual New York, once for pleasure and two or three times for training. As you saw from a previous post I really suffered on my second to last ride. I went rock climbing Saturday, to take a break from cycling and Sunday I returned and succeeded. 


The glass cycling paths are an interesting idea. It’s nice to be able to ride above the traffic and see small parts of the city from a drone’s eye view. ;-). This isn’t today’s New York. Is is 2099 New York, with flying cars, glass roads and despite this modernity people wearing rather ordinary jackets as they “watch” cyclists go around the routes. 


The Riding in circles glitch


Some people have found a “feature” whereby they can run around in a circle as if they were turning around over and over. When I asked them what the track looked like on Strava they showed that it shows that bug so it’s should not be complicated to resolve this issue, if it is always at the same point. Imagine if Zwift and Rockstar games created a mod so we could have virtual rides in GTA V. 


Some elevation gains


In a one and a half hour session riding through Zwift New York, I climbed six hundred and sixty-six metres. A few people have commented that this version of New York is too hilly and others have commented that smart trainers can be set to 0 difficulty to negate those hills. 


Two video summaries


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKkfcfa0N3c&t=16s


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m38XZd_1ic

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New York

Byrichard

10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80. The doors open. I walk forward a little more, a picture is taken, go up another 6 floors and I’m on an observation deck.

That’s the experience people get as they go up to the observation deck of the empire state building. It’s amusing because although the view is great it doesn’t feel that high, probably because the structure is so massive compared to other parts of the world.

What you see are many buildings, some sticking out by themselves and others clustered together. There are a lot of sky scrapers although it’s hard to see them with the haze.

When down at ground level you see the valleys or canyons of buildings. Structures are tall requiring you to look up more than usual to see the top. The streets are long and straight making it easier to see for miles. The taxis and buses are numerous. The emergency services always have the lights on which is different from other countries I’ve visited.

During my time in New york I visited a number of sights around the city. I went to Ellis Island, Statten Island and Liberty Island. Manhattan itself is an island connected by several famous bridges and a number of tunnels.

Plane crash

Byrichard

I saw the aftermath of the plane crash which occured today in New York. I took some video of people on phones, asking to reach loved ones and commenting on what they saw.

It’s a small cessna aircraft with a yankee star that crashed killing two people.

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Third day in New York

Byrichard

Today I’m going to Statten Island in New York.

It’s the third day I’ve been here so far and I’ve already visited the UN, Battery Park, Central Park, Times Square (at night), and other locations.

I transited through Amsterdam from London, stopping there for a few hours. The flight was aboard a 777. I watched both Tsotsi and The Devil Wears Prada.

I have another seven days here and it should continue being good fun.

When I have a little more time I’ll add some pictures for people to view