Zwift approximation of local climb?

General Discussion
1

Wondering if anyone is aware of a route within Zwift ride that would emulate or approximate the following local climb?

  • Total Distance: 13 miles
  • Start Elevation: ~3,500 feet
  • End Elevation: ~7,500 feet
  • Elevation Gain: 4,000 feet
  • Average Gradient: 5.5%
  • Steepest Mile: 6.9%
  • Max Grade: Up to 15%–20% in the most demanding switchback segments
  • PDI (PJAMM Difficulty Index): 22.3
  • Grade Distribution:
    • 0–5% grade: ~3.3 miles
    • 5–10% grade (bulk of the ride): ~7.2 miles
    • 10–20% grade: ~0.5 miles (located near the steepest quarter-mile of 10.7%)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

2
3

Ven-Top looks pretty nasty! With that average of 8% I wonder if it would not be tougher than my local climb, but I really appreciate the suggestion. I rode half of Col Du Platzerwasel a couple of days ago and was thinking that it was much tougher than the local climb I posted about here, but I have not ridden the local climb in a bit.

4

If you find something in the climb portal, you can always try it at an alternate gradient percentage, also, if that might give you a better option.

5

Thanks, good to know.

6

Master List of Zwift Climb Portal Routes | Zwift Insider Master List of Zwift Climb Portal Routes | Zwift Insider

You can ride any of these at 50, 75, 100 or 125% so it’s easy to calculate the total elevation.

7

If you fiddle with the trainer difficulty slider you can probably find a setting that gets at least the average gradient lined up.

8

It has some brutal sections part way up but once you pass those it flattens out a bit.

You don’t have to do the entire thing, there is a shorter lap as well.

9

You have to complete the climb at 100% in order to unlock 125%.

10

There is also the option of making a route of your local climb on RideWithGPS or other mapping program and re-riding it using your bike computer like a Wahoo or Garmin. I realize that’s not Zwift, though, but with some work, you could probably combine the two by having your Wahoo or Garmin control the gradient of your trainer.
Some people find indoor riding harder than outdoor. When I simulate an outdoor ride on my Wahoo, I often find it harder, probably because you don’t get the same cooling as you do when riding outdoors.

11

Don’t I know it. I’m trying to complete every climb at every difficulty.

Some of the 125% ones are horrific. Over 2hrs long.

12

I discovered another certainty in life.
I rode Col de la Croix de Fer the other day at 100% and it took 2:21:58.
I won’t be riding that one again.
At least not in the Climb Portal.

13

It would be better if it had some nice scenery to go with it:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vv58wcX/2/MJ5PCxD3v8pC83rLBZh9H4LTXLBXvt92mNxwB7jLT/X5/i-vv58wcX-X5.jpg

That was from when I rode up that climb. Unfortunately at the top in climb portals you get nothing more than a bland loop. The real thing has some quite nice scenery to take your mind off how hard it is (especially is very high temperatures). It has a few fairly steep parts (not excessive), but once you’ve passed those it’s not so bad - just long.

For all the climb portals, imagine that they could have some AI generated scenery added to them based on real life. Other platforms can do it on a huge scale (the entire planet!) - it would make the portals less boring. Especially necessary for the really huge climbs like Col de la Bonette. If people require some colour shading on the virtual road to know what the gradient is, perhaps it can be an overlay they can turn on.

Try doing Col de la Bonette in Fulgaz, it is brutal and endless - just like the real thing.

You need a lot of strength to power up it and a comfortable saddle if you did Col de Vars immediately before it and have to ride up to Auron after it. :face_exhaling:

Anyhow, we are all getting off-topic from what is approximate to the topic authors local climb.

I have previously done this using PerfPro Studio and creating the elevation profile from Strava Routes, but you need to tweak it a bit. It’s never 100% to the real thing (I did this with Col de la Madeleine from Notre-Dame de Briançon).

14

BigRingVR is adds a couple of climbs per week to their platform. I tried it a couple of years ago when I was sorta on the outs with Zwift and really liked the platform. But I am getting older and bigger (and wiser!) and only do big climbs on occasion. I have done the Alpe (in Zwift) a few times but have only made it up 2/3 of VenTop. I have done the Radio Tower at 100% TD…overheated my H3 with the grind. Now on big climbs I lower the TD to 30-40% to get some gears.

15

So what I’m gathering here is that when you are provided the choice of 100%, 125%, etc., that the gradient is altered to match your choice, correct? I used 100% for my ride on Platzerwasel.

16

I wondered about this or some way of building a custom route within Zwift.

17

Is there any way to determine the effect of adjusting trainer difficulty on gradient without actually doing the ride following the adjustment?

18

It is yes. So you can easily calculate the gradient in advance.

19

Adjusting trainer difficulty doesn’t change the total elevation.

Just the resistance you’ll feel during it.

20

at 100% or all the way to the right, you are at the full real feel of the gradient so a 6% climb will feel like a real 6% climb.
At 50%, or right in the middle, that same 6% climb now feels like a 3% climb and at the same power will take longer to get to the top.
etc…