Awesome, I can't imagine doing it in Sim mode. I've been riding it the past few days but run trainerroad workouts, yesterday got 57mins while doing 30min intervals at 90%, but it's way different. I really have to try it in sim mode at trainer at 100%, I did an HC climb this past summer and was woefully unprepared for the brutality of 12-14% gradients and paid for it with some terrible quad cramps because I hadn't done enough low cadence work! If I had done some alpe work I'd be way better off!

New to Zwift and I’ve done it twice.....1st time was mentally a crusher. 2nd time was just hard! Doing that climb once or twice a year is enough for me.

Nice job! That last bit is a killer when you're not expecting it. What did you get for a prize from the wheel of fortune thing? I did it today a well - might have seen you if you climbed it not too long before posting. Averaged somewhere around 205 watts @83kg with the Trek Emonda & Meilenstein wheelset for 75 minutes. I'm wondering what it will take to go under 60. Seems like I pick up around 4 minutes for 10 extra watts of effort. It's going to be a while before I put out that type of power.

I ran up alp du zwift this morning.

Also, the difficulty doesn't make it easier. It just lets your trainer spin faster. You still have to put out the power.

Just did it yesterday again after one year. Not sure what trainer setting I've got it on but some sections where it goes to 14-15% I was in the 39/28. Made it in 47:30 for 2min PR. Held 4.2w/kg (300W)... I did a 1h at IM pace before so maybe I could squeeze a few extra watts if I'm well rested. I really like how they are now showing you the current sector stats and previous PR, really makes it easier mentally.. Except the last sector which takes forever 😂

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What's your CdA?

My sub 60 was at 3.5 w/kg 247np for 57mins

egad - 3.5w/kg. Maybe I'll just have to be happy getting the Tron bike haha!

Damn, 4.2w/kg is impressive as hell. My average was a bit over 2.2 w/kg. Gotta improve the thrust to weight ratio by getting leaner.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Yeah, I realize that, but having to get up out of the saddle for extended periods of time and really putting out low RPM/high power loads probably would have been the end of me. I have no idea if this is scientifically valid, but to me there is a difference in watts at a higher cadence vs watts at a substantially lower cadence.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

I got a laser aero helmet, totally stoked to be protecting my virtual noggin. I went quite a bit earlier today, so didn’t see you. I deliberately kept it well within myself for the first half, which I think worked out well as I didn’t have a whole lot more to give on the last couple sections.

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

Yes, you're right about cadence. High watts, low cadence is different than high watts high cadence.

I did it once as kind of a goof just to see, got mad at my time, and then did it again the next day to set a better time. I ended up with 57 minutes doing 282 watts, 3.3 watts/kg. I really enjoyed it, but also haven't had the urge to go back. lol. 57 minutes isn't bad for somebody weighing 185 lbs.

I was planning to do it tonight!

After reading this thread just changed my mind completely - Easy ride it is!!!! lol

I rushed home from work on a Saturday morning to race the Norseman Winter series, it finishes at the top of Alp Du Zwift. I had no idea what I was getting into! Once I got started I saw I had 27k to go, thinking I’d be done in less than an hour. Well it took 1.5 hours, those km’s were going by so slowly! I almost bailed 3 or 4 times but wanted to see what was at the top. I won’t be rushing home again anytime soon.
Congrats on making it up!

Good work. I leave my trainer on about 60% because I have no interest in low cadence efforts on the trainer--locked in, suboptimal for knees. It's a great climb and so much better than doing threshold efforts.

I've done the real Alpe d'Huez and it seems harder on Zwift!

Looks like the first place guy was lying unless Froome or Richie Porte showed up toy around (their real world time is 40.54).Below is the alltime list and it is 95% populated by known dopers.

RankTimeNameYearCountry136' 40"Marco Pantani1995 Italy236' 53"Marco Pantani1997 Italy337' 15"Marco Pantani1994 Italy437' 36"Lance Armstrong2004 United States537' 40"Jan Ullrich1997 Germany638' 03"Lance Armstrong2001 United States738' 04"Miguel Indurain1995 Spain838' 04"Alex Zülle1995 Switzerland938' 06"Bjarne Riis1995 Denmark1038' 20"Richard Virenque1997 France1138' 34"Laurent Madouas1995 France1238' 35"Floyd Landis2006 United States1338' 35"Andreas Klöden2006 Germany1438' 40"Jan Ullrich2004 Germany1538' 55"Richard Virenque1994 France1639' 00"Carlos Sastre2006 Spain1739' 08"Iban Mayo2003 Spain1839' 12"Andreas Klöden2004 Germany1939' 14"José Azevedo2004 Portugal2039' 14"Levi Leipheimer2006 United States2139' 20"Francesco Casagrande1997 Italy2239' 21"Bjarne Riis1997 Denmark2339' 22"Nairo Quintana2015 Colombia2439' 30"Miguel Indurain1994 Spain2539' 30"Luc Leblanc1994 France2639' 30"Carlos Sastre2008 Spain2739' 37"Vladimir Poulnikov1994 Ukraine2839' 40"Giuseppe Guerini2004 Italy2939' 41"Santos González2004 Spain3039' 41"Vladimir Karpets2004 Russia3139' 42"Fernando Escartin1995 Spain3239' 42"Claudio Chiappucci1995 Italy3339' 42"Paolo Lanfranchi1995 Italy3439' 46"Denis Menchov2006 Russia3539' 46"Michael Rasmussen2006 Denmark3639' 46"Pietro Caucchioli2006 Italy3739' 48"Tony Rominger1995 Switzerland3839' 48"Nairo Quintana2013 Colombia3939' 51"Pavel Tonkov1995 Russia4039' 51"Joaquim Rodríguez2013 Spain4139' 52"Beat Zberg1997 Switzerland4239' 52"Udo Bölts1997 Germany4339' 52"Roberto Conti1997 Italy4439' 52"Laurent Madouas1997 France4539' 56"David Moncoutié2004 France4639' 57"Carlos Sastre2004 Spain4739' 58"Ivan Basso2004 Italy4839' 58"Stéphane Goubert2004 France4940' 01"Piotr Ugrumov1994 Russia5040' 01"Alex Zülle1994 Switzerland5140' 02"Jan Ullrich2001 Germany5240' 07"Laurent Jalabert1995 France5340' 07"Michael Rogers2004 Australia5440' 12"Joseba Beloki2001 Spain5540' 14"Óscar Pereiro2006 Spain5640' 14"Michael Rogers2006 Australia5740' 14"Cadel Evans2006 Australia5840' 14"Ivan Parra2006 Colombia5940' 15"Laurent Jalabert1997 France6040' 15"Marco Fincato1997 Italy6140' 18"Abraham Olano1997 Spain6240' 23"Orlando Rodrigues1997 Portugal6340' 27"Gianni Bugno1991 Italy6440' 27"Marcos Serrano2004 Spain6540' 28"Miguel Indurain1991 Spain6640' 29"Luc Leblanc1991 France6740' 29"Cyril Dessel2006 France6840' 29"Haimar Zubeldia2006 Spain6940' 31"Richard Virenque1995 France7040' 31"Ivan Gotti1995 Italy7140' 32"Oscar Pereiro2004 Spain7240' 32"Mikel Astarloza2006 Spain7340' 33"Christophe Moreau2001 France7440' 39"Manuel Beltran1997 Spain7540' 40"José Enrique Gutiérrez2004 Spain7640' 42"Alejandro Valverde2015 Spain7740' 42"Christopher Froome2015 Great Britain7840' 43"Roberto Conti1994 Italy7940' 43"Oscar Pelliccioli1994 Italy8040' 43"Pascal Lino1994 France8140' 43"Fernando Escartin1994 Spain8240' 43"Armand de Las Cuevas1994 France8340' 45"Fränk Schleck2006 Luxembourg8440' 46"Georg Totschnig2004 Austria8540' 49"Johan Bruyneel1995 Belgium8640' 49"Sandy Casar2004 France8740' 49"Gilberto Simoni2006 Italy8840' 53"Alexander Vinokourov2003 Kazakhstan8940' 54"Richie Porte2013 Australia9040' 54"Christopher Froome2013 Great Britain9140' 56"Floyd Landis2004 United States9240' 56"Damiano Cunego2006 Italy9340' 57"Oscar Sevilla2001 Spain9440' 57"Mikel Astarloza2004 Spain9540' 57"Juan Miguel Mercado2004 Spain9640' 58"Alejandro Valverde2013 Spain9741' 00"Christophe Moreau2004 France9841' 02"Jean-Francois Bernard1991 France9941' 03"Gilberto Simoni2004 Italy10041' 07"Fernando Escartin1997 Spain

My 1st time up was during the L’Etape du Tour Sportive which was a 56 mile ride and 7000’ of total climbing (4 major climbs) so I was more in survival mode. 2nd time was a bit better at 69minutes and 235w although I’m a SLUG at 190lbs (what’s that, 86kg?).

At a lower cadence there is more pedal force per stroke. Depending on the person, arterial blood flow can change. I heard these long sustained high force low cadence efforts are not great for people with iliac artery endofibrosis but I might be wrong. For example on the Tour de Ski final Val di Fiemme Hiilclimb, which is 6 km up a steep hill which is like biking uphill at low cadence, Canadian Pierre Harvey would not do that stage in some years on doc's recommendations.

I did it for the first time a couple weeks ago as part of the tour de zwift. Pretty tough mentally and I only had my trainer difficulty set to 50%. I have smart power on rollers, so it gets pretty sketchy if I have resistance set to 100%. You still need to do the same work regardless of trainer setting, but i always find it easier to make efficient power with a higher cadence, especially when climbing for so long.

Congrats, it's a blast of a climb on a trainer that can simulate the slope. I mess around with the percentage too just so that I'm not grinding away at 60 RPM's the whole way up. Even still, I spend quite a bit in the 70-80 RPM range. I've considered a few times about taking the road bike 53/39 off the trainer and sticking my cross bike on there instead 46/36.

I actually find the Alp the best feature on Zwift...great for a 45min-1hr thresholdy effort once maybe twice a week. I’ve hit 46 min up it and really want to go sub 45”. Wondering how others treat the switchbacks? Haven’t quite figured out what to do there. Do ppl shift to the big ring and put power down or use them for a brief reprieve? Figured I could get some time there if hammering.

I think "trainer difficulty" in Zwift means how much the resistance is changed with respect to the grade. If it is at zero the resistance will be flat no matter the grade, if its 100 then it 14% will feel like 14% etc. Its not the same as trainer resistance in trainerroad. Thats my experience at least.

Yep either need a bigger engine or less nonreactive mass. Or both.

Congrats to the op!

I just passed level 10 and have the emonda.

So tomorrow i plan my first attack of the alps.
60kg, 20min ftp 186w. 1hour closer to 174. So i am sitting at just under 3w/kg.

Currently in my trainer is a tacx neo2 with a cx bike with w 1x 40 and 11-42... so the gaps are big, but i have 10% more climb than a 34-32 (which will become my standard trainer gearing as that is what i run on my road bike). I always run resistance at full.

Should be fun