Zwift workout unable to load in companion app (RESOLVED)

I have created a workout in the web workout creator and downloaded a .Zwo and published to my zwift account

The workout loads fine in zwift on iPad but the free ride sections are ignored and remain in erg mode.

But more annoyingly the workout fails to load in the companion app and displays “Unable to load workout file” before resuming as if I was doing a free ride.

The zwift app on iPad keeps the workout going unchanged - please help?

Edit: attached link to Trainerday workout I wasn’t allowed to upload the .zwo file

I downloaded your .zwo file from the linked training and there’s a couple potential problems.

  • You have a multi-line text event. I’m not sure if this is a problem or not. Maybe try making it one line?
  • Your Intervals aren’t actually free ride events, they have an On Power defined of 115%
  • Your final ramp has a higher PowerLow than PowerHigh. Not sure if this might be a problem.

This is your .zwo file

	<author>TrainerDay.com</author>
	<name>TCTP 2x 3x3 SEPI 60 min - TrainerDay.com</name>
	<description>8 min mid break</description>
	<sportType>bike</sportType>
	<tags></tags>
	<workout>
		<Ramp Duration="300" PowerLow="0.45" PowerHigh="0.7"/>
		<SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.7">
			<textevent timeoffset="280" message="The next interval is the first steady effort power interval

   

   Free ride mode will be activated

   

   Use the first 30 seconds to build to a peak power & then hold on for the remainder of the interval"/>
		</SteadyState>
		<IntervalsT Repeat="3" OnDuration="180" OnPower="1.15" OffDuration="180" OffPower="0.4"/>
		<SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.55"/>
		<IntervalsT Repeat="3" OnDuration="180" OnPower="1.15" OffDuration="180" OffPower="0.4"/>
		<SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.7"/>
		<Ramp Duration="240" PowerLow="0.7" PowerHigh="0.45"/>
	</workout>
</workout_file>

I recreated your workout in Zwift and this is what it looks like

    <author></author>
    <name>New-Workout-2022-1-21-12-10-55</name>
    <description></description>
    <sportType>bike</sportType>
    <tags>
    </tags>
    <workout>
        <Warmup Duration="300" PowerLow="0.45" PowerHigh="0.7"/>
        <SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.7"/>
        <IntervalsT Repeat="3" OnDuration="180" OffDuration="180" OnPower="1.15" OffPower="0.4"/>
        <SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.55"/>
        <IntervalsT Repeat="3" OnDuration="180" OffDuration="180" OnPower="1.15" OffPower="0.4"/>
        <SteadyState Duration="300" Power="0.7"/>
        <Cooldown Duration="240" PowerLow="0.7" PowerHigh="0.45"/>
    </workout>
</workout_file>
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By your title, I would assume you’re trying to (re)create a workout from the Time-Crunched Cyclist, specifically a SEPI PowerInterval. I’m no expert but given we have trainers with ERG mode, it might make sense to target a specific power (VO2Max ~115%) in the interval than to free ride. My feeling is that the book focuses on outdoor riding while riding on a trainer allows us to better target a specific power zone.

Search the workouts on Trainer Day with ‘Zone: VO2Max’ to take a look at what people have created.

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Thanks for the thorough response, all good observations and points :+1:

I agree with prescribing a %FTP for the VO2 intervals using erg mode - I was just interested in trying the method that the book outlines (albeit as you pointed out, better suited for outdoor training)

I deleted the text event and the free ride events and kept the 115% for the VO2 intervals and this synced and worked as expected with Zwift and the Zwift companion app.

I think if I wanted to try the free-ride version of the workout I would need to delete the prescribed %FTP so they aren’t contradicting each other. When I composed the workout in the editor I had assumed it would be a target range as opposed to a prescribed erg power. Now I know!

In terms of the cool down ramp interval with a higher PowerLow than high PowerHigh - It would seem the PowerLow & PowerHigh fields are misleading and the assume the ramp climbs, though inputting a descending power has the desired effect without any errors thrown. Is this the wrong way to create a cool down ramp?

Zwift has a funny terminlogy for power high power low. If you just put 50-100 for example in our ramp the ZWO file will be correct and start at 50% and ramp up to 100%.

Also free ride works correctly but you just have to type “fr” in the type field in our editor and then you can see in the zwo file it is called free-ride. You must put a power value but it will be ignored. I hope that helps.

See fr below

hm ok - that is how I originally composed the workout with fr in the interval type and 115% in FTP%

The .zwo generated however kept me in erg mode and tied to the FTP% target, free ride was never initiated & the companion app didn’t like it either!

Oh there must be a bug. It is trying to put merge your FR into an zwift interval. Can you send me a link to your workout (not just the ZWO)? We should be able to get this fixed early next week.

ok - sure please see below, note this is a copy of the original as I have updated the original to contain no free ride intervals for now

Got it thanks yes we will get this fixed ASAP.

Harry this issue with free-ride is fixed. Also the original issue you had with line breaks in the description is also fixed. Thanks for taking your time and reporting this issue.

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