Custom challenge: Single gear Alpe du Zwift

Events
1

Challenge: Single gear Alpe du Zwift

Today I finished a workout ending up at the foot of Alpe du Zwift.
I had some power left in me and decided to keep riding and climb the Alpe.
Since Zwift is a game :space_invader: I though about a challenge for myself that I would like to share with you.

I decided to select ONE single gear on my bike and ride al the way to the top without changing.
Of course ERG mode OFF.
I tried to keep my cadence at a constant 85rpm (80-90rpm).
Trainer Difficulty is set to 50%. Increasing your trainer difficulty will (probably) result in bigger power changes (extremes).

It took me 62min46sec. The ride averaged around 210W - with a 350W peak and 97W lowest power.
I ended up more tired than I thought. It took longer than expected.
My “regular” AdZ PR is around 54minutes @243W.

So if you like the idea - take on the challenge, give it a go and enjoy the fun.

HINTS:
Select your gear wisely. Choosing to low and you will be on the mountain for a while (but you will get to the top eventually). Choosing to high and you might risk stalling on the mountain side at a 13% incline segment. :wink:

Enjoy!

El Frigo

2

Oh man, this makes my legs ache just thinking about it! Cracking effort on your effort!

1 Like
3

So we’re talking about ride to the foot of the climb however you want (any gears you like), but once the climb itself begins, it’s one and only one gear to the top?

How often did you wish you could grab an easier gear along the way?

4

Exactly … you ride to the foot of AdZ (beginning of the segment) any way you want. Make it a good warming-up.

Than select “the one” gear and keep that one to the top.

I wanted to shift down 3-4 times. But I presume that if you start with a higher gear, that amount increases quite a bit.
Also, when using a (to) low gear you want to shift up but never down.
So it probably bottles down to finding the highest gear you just can manage on the steep parts while maintaining 85rpm and getting to the top.
This will result in the quickest time for you.