Performing Crisscross Intervals On Zwift

Performing Crisscross Intervals On Zwift

Zahid Buttar
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Here’s a quick guide to doing Crisscross (and other complicated intervals) on Zwift.

But first the situation:

  • I’m training for a race called Leadville 100 MTB which is 7 days away (as of this writing.)

  • This block of training was designed by a coach.

  • I’m also participating in the Leadville 100,000 Ft. Challenge (it’s a fund raiser where you pay an entry fee and try to climb 100K feet in elevation in 2 months.)

  • I am a Zwift beginner.

So… because I wanted to mitigate unnecessary risks on the road AND I wanted to score some elevation for the challenge I decided to do this workout indoors on Zwift. (Typically I would do these intervals on TrainerRoad but there isn’t any way measure elevation on that platform.)

The workout was:

  • Warm Up

  • Do 4 crisscross intervals on a climb

    • Minute 0 to 1 at zone 5

    • Minutes 1 and 2 at zone 4

    • Minute 3 at zone 5

    • Minutes 4, 5, 6, and 7 at zone 4

    • Minute 8 at zone 5

  • Do enough endurance to finish up in 2 hours

As you can see this is what I was referring to as complicated intervals.

Here’s what I did:

  • On Zwift I went to Watopia -> Bigger Loop

  • By the time Bigger Loop gets you to a climb called Epic KOM my warm up was complete

  • As I started Epic KOM the KOM clock started ticking up, basically the start of interval 1 - I stayed in zone 5. I wrote my zone wattages because I don’t typically pay attention to what the numbers are.

  • Because minutes 1 and 2 were in zone 4 and I had plenty of climb left (Epic KOM is good for a 30 minute climb for me) I dropped my leg speed to drop into zone 4.

  • Minute 3 in zone 5 - increase leg speed going up the same climb.

  • Minutes 4, 5, 6, and 7 at zone 4 - drop leg speed going up the same climb.

  • Minute 8 at zone 5 - increase leg speed going up the same climb.

  • AS SOON AS THE INTERVAL ENDED… I did a U-turn to head back down the climb which served as the recovery. (hit the arrow keys and you’ll get a menu, scroll over and hit U-turn)

  • The only other caution is this: for some reason when I climb Epic KOM the timer turns off mid way up the climb. So it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to glance at the elapsed time to know where you are during the interval. eg. If the elapsed time was 34:09 when I start, I would tell myself “ at 35:09 switch…” When the time hit 35:09 I would tell myself “…switch at 37:09…”

It took me an hour to figure this out and had to dig around in Zwift Insider, I’m hoping this saves you some time. I think the key is to treat Zwift as if it is reality, just like on a real road on interval day you have to figure out the right route - the same applies to Zwift. If the Epic KOM hill is not steep enough for your needs you can do one of the other climbs. Good luck.

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