indieVelo's Mid Loops West course is an 18.7km (11.6 mi.) route with 142 m (466 ft.)-a "mostly flat course with a few short punches to help break a race up."
Route Description
When indieVelo’s developer released the pair of courses, Mid Loops West and East, together in July 2024, you might expect them to be closely related. However, they only share the same start and finish on the Forest Velodrome and road to the coast. At sea level, they diverge, offering significantly different course options for event organizers and users.
Like Mid Loops East, the Mid Loops West course begins with half a lap around the velodrome, then a quick trip down Velodrome Hill to the coast, 1.4 km (0.87 miles) into the route. The road is flat and uneventful along the coast until the 3.7 km mark (2.30 miles), when the route offers you a choice for the High Road or the Low Road as you approach the 500-meter (1640 feet) divide in the road.
One of the most significant differences between the East and West Mid Loops options is that the West version includes two passes of the split road per lap, while the East route has none.
The next key point in the race, and most likely where the peloton first splits into multiple groups, is at 7.1 km (4.41 miles)when you encounter the North Lake hills. Here, the advantage goes to punchy racers who use the draft and momentum well in the several rollers for the next 4.3 km (2.67 miles) until you again reach the coast.
At 13.8 km (8.57 miles), the course asks you once again to choose High or Low Road on your final pass of the split this lap. Ambitious racers might attack here when rivals go another way with just 4.8 km (2.98 miles) remaining in a single-lap race.
The last key feature of this course is the Velodrome Hill climb, which is encountered at 17 km (10.56 miles) with 1.6 km (1.0 miles) remaining. The ~90-second climb is not steep and quite draftable. You enter the velodrome with half a lap or 250 meters (820 feet) to the finish, so you’ll need to time your sprint perfectly to outwit your rivals.
Thank you, Beta-tester Rob Miller!
Route Profile
For more indieVelo coure recons check out the indieVelo-Route Descriptions page!
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
