The Zwift Alternative – Prudential Ride London

The Zwift Alternative?!? I’ve been reading too many Jason Bourne novels.

I managed to get a place for the very first Prudential Ride London but have failed miserably since. That’s me and lots of other people.

Fear Not Fellow Cyclists…There is a solution. And it lies, lurking menacingly in your shed.

Of course along with the trowel and gardening gloves you also have a fan and turbo trainer in there as well. Some may call it the Potting Shed…others call it the Pain Cave.

You’ve obviously already got the electricity in there for your fan so now all you have to do is rig up a PC and log onto Zwift. A bit of Zwift-wizardry later and you will soon be able to ride along sections of the course with your lucky Ride London buddies. It will be similar to sections of the real thing, except you will be in a shed 🙂

But in all seriousness Zwift are obviously growing (see info below in press release). they used to have only one route around an imaginary Pacific Island. They are clearly expanding and the Ride London expansion is a neat idea.

–Press Release Follows ————————-

PRUDENTIAL RIDELONDON PARTNERS WITH ZWIFT

Social fitness entertainment platform for cyclists to stage virtual events on newly created Prudential RideLondon routes.

(London, England 27^th April 2016) Zwift, the social fitness entertainment platform for cyclists, is collaborating with Prudential RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling, to create an all new virtual 3D rendering of the famous event.

Scheduled for release this summer, the route design is currently in development and will include the iconic landmarks and roads of London and Surrey familiar to cyclists from across the world.   

“Our new partnership with Zwift means that thousands more riders from all around the globe can be part of the world’s greatest festival of cycling,” said Hugh Brasher, Event Director for Prudential RideLondon. “There will be a week of festival activities hosted on the Zwift platform in July including virtual versions of the women’s Classique and our two famous sportives: the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 and 100.”  

“London is the world’s leading city for cyclists and we’re proud to partner with its most celebrated event,” said Eric Min, Zwift CEO and co-Founder. “Our Prudential RideLondon course will be a smash hit with Zwift users across the world and I’m looking forward to riding with them on the virtual roads of London and Surrey!”

Zwift has also announced the launch of a Prudential RideLondon Training Club. Open to all Zwift users, the Training Club will focus on preparing sportive riders for Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 and 100 – and other events they are training for in 2016. The Training Club begins on Saturday 30^th April and will comprise twice weekly group rides for all abilities, with structured training plans and a bespoke virtual Prudential RideLondon training kit.

”We work hard to help our riders prepare for the challenge of the sportives,” said Brasher. “Taking  on 100 miles can seem very daunting.  We’re committed to inspiring more and more new cyclists take part which is why we’ve added the new 46 mile event this year. Our work with Zwift demonstrates the forward thinking we’re bringing to mass participation cycling”

The partnership with Prudential RideLondon builds on Zwift’s recent collaborations with the 2015 Richmond Road World Championships and Amgen Tour of California. Despite only launching as a subscription business in November 2015, Zwift recently announced its user base from 145 different countries, clocked up a staggering 16 million miles (25.75 million KMs) between January and March 2016.