Alpe Du Zwift

[Dan77]

Been riding on Zwift now for 5-6 weeks and will finally have enough drops for the Canyon Aeroad tomorrow.

I have Friday off work and thought I would punish myself by having a crack at Alpe Du Zwift.

Looking for tips. I can generally hold about 1.7w/kg on a decent length ride so it's not going to be quick.

Trainer difficulty is currently set to 50%. I have a 36-34 bottom gear. Would it be a good idea to change difficulty? I hit an 18% section on Innsbruck and found that pretty hard. Could have used another gear or two but I don't know how steep ADZ gets and for how long.

Planning on doing the tour of fire and ice route as it appears to me that those extra km are pretty much downhill (starts at the top of the volcano) and why not take the extra free km if you can get it.

Previous biggest Zwift climb in one session about 550m.

Is 2 hours a realistic goal? Any tips?

 

[DCLane]

My suggestion: don't go to hard and pace it steadily. I've done it a few times, and got the wheels.

Also set your trainer difficulty to 0%, or at least that's what I would do.

 

[BurningLegs]

I don’t see the logic in doing a climb on 0% difficulty? Just go ride the fuego flats...

Id suggest that you start at a pace that feels too easy. If you feel like you’ve still got something in the tank then increase speed towards the end.

If you think it’s going to take you a long time then also worth planning your food and drink I.e sugar and salt rather than just water or just salt.

Nothing stopping you taking a break either.

Finally - not sure if you like to climb seated but definitely try and get out of the saddle for 30 secs here and there to prevent discomfort over a long period!

 

[fossyant]

I've done it a couple of times, it's about an hour for me.

 

[Dan77]

I've done it a couple of times, it's about an hour for me.

Presume that's just the climb? What w/kg are you averaging? Sounds an unlikely pace for me.

 

[fossyant]

Presume that's just the climb? What w/kg are you averaging? Sounds an unlikely pace for me.

Yes just the climb. Probably about 2.5w/kg average from memory. There are quite a few on here that have gne faster than my time - it's not particularly quick. You'll average higher w/kg going uphill on Zwift

 

[newts]

I'm 92kg & went up at 1.7-1.8w/kg. It was a long slog but an achievable pace. Whichever difficulty setting you use, it'll take the same watts to get to the top.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

You'll still need to put the same power out to get up whether it's 100% or 0%, all trainer difficulty actually does in reality is change how much of the cassette you use.

 

[Solocle]

My best crack at the thing was 51:20. Think effectively a 1 hour FTP test, although I had my trainer difficulty set at 100%, I always do. It doesn't exactly matter when you're pushing 3.7 W/kg, I'm not sure I was ever in bottom gear!

I also went for a lie down on the lawn immediately after getting off the trainer.

Ignore the dodgy HR monitor.

 

[Dan77]

You'll still need to put the same power out to get up whether it's 100% or 0%, all trainer difficulty actually does in reality is change how much of the cassette you use.

It effectively gives you a lower gear though doesn't it? At 18% on Innsbruck I wouldn't have been able to keep that up for long in my lowest gear. If it's more like 12% Max then I don't think I need to change difficulty.

 

[BurningLegs]

I quite like the Alpe, and according to Strava I’ve done it 15 times. I don’t subscribe so can’t see full data but the slowest I can see of my efforts in preview is 1:10 and the fastest is 45:21

So whatever your result first time round @Dan77 you can be almost certain you’ll beat it significantly in the end 🙂

 

[BurningLegs]

It effectively gives you a lower gear though doesn't it? At 18% on Innsbruck I wouldn't have been able to keep that up for long in my lowest gear. If it's more like 12% Max then I don't think I need to change difficulty.

Yea it does. This is a controversial point with the “Watts are Watts” crew but people do it because it makes it easier for them. If it didn’t then they wouldn’t bother...

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

It effectively gives you a lower gear though doesn't it? At 18% on Innsbruck I wouldn't have been able to keep that up for long in my lowest gear. If it's more like 12% Max then I don't think I need to change difficulty.

Yep.. What trainer are you on?

 

[steverob]

Compared to other climbs on Zwift, the Alpe is fairly uniform in terms of gradient except round the hairpins where it gets steeper or shallower just for those few seconds. I don't recall any parts that go over 13% and the vast majority of it is in the 9% to 11% range.

The first time I did the climb I probably did it at about 1.8 w/kg (170 watts average according to Strava and guessing my weight then was around 93kg) and it took me 1 hour 40 minutes, plus a 2-3 minute break at halfway. I have since done a 1:25 (no breaks) which was done at more like 2.2 w/kg.

 

[Dan77]

Yep.. What trainer are you on?

Elite Suito. Only simulates up to 15% but can definitely feel the difference between 12% and 15%+.