How to Climb the Alpe du Zwift FASTER! 📈 Zwift Cycling Tips and Tricks Tutorial
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🎬CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Intro
0:17 - AdZ info
0:54 - Tip 1: Execute a pacing strategy
3:11 - Tip 2: Proper bike selection
3:44 - Tip 3: Use your seated power
4:15 - Tip 4: Pedal at a high cadence
4:40 - Tip 5: Fuel during the effort
5:42 - Review of my AdZ attempt
6:38 - Outro
📈 The Alpe du Zwift is a challenging climb in the virtual world of Zwift, and a benchmark climb for many cyclists. Here are five tips to help you climb it faster than ever before:
The first and most important tip for improving your time up the Alpe du Zwift is to have a pacing strategy. Maintaining a steady effort without surging is what we’re aiming for here, and there’s a couple simple ways to help you to figure out which wattage you should be aiming for. One way is to look at the data from your previous personal best time up the climb, like I showed you in the beginning of this video. Give an honest assessment as to what your Rate of Perceived Effort was on that attempt, and then adjust your wattage goal to be correspondingly higher than that personal best. If your personal best Alpe du Zwift time was achieved with a 200 watt average and your rate of perceived effort was ten-out-of-ten, then your next goal may be to hold 205 watts. If your personal best was achieved with a 200 watt average and your rate of perceived effort was an eight out of ten, then you can aim for something higher, such as 220 watts.
So that’s one great method for setting your pacing strategy, and the second method for determining a realistic wattage for the climb is to use your FTP. If you’re doing a climb that will take over an hour, you can’t realistically expect to maintain a level of effort that is above your FTP. So, even if your FTP is different than mine, the concept is the same: if you do your homework prior to entering the climb, you can set a wattage pace that you can hold steady for the duration of the entire climb. I’m not saying it will be easy, because it will most definitely be the opposite, but if your FTP is set properly, the science says that you can closely estimate the amount of watts you can hold for a specific duration. The closer that duration is to one hour, the more accurate your estimation will be.
The Alpe du Zwift is the best climb within Zwift for nailing your pacing strategy, too, because it displays your average watts for all 22 sector times on the left side of the screen. You should use these sector averages to ensure you’re sticking to the pacing strategy.
Make sure you’re using the best bike and wheels available to you, as this can make a significant difference in your overall time. The ZwiftInsider website has all the different frames and wheels ranked in order of their climbing abilities. As a level 28 Zwifter, the best climbing combination currently available to me is the Canyon Ultimate CFR frame on Zip 353 NSW wheels that you see here. Listen, there’s plenty of great choices, use ZwiftInsider’s website and don’t let me catch you slogging up this climb on a mountain bike.
I’ve said it a million times, and now I’ll make it a million and one: the next tip is stay seated: Try to stay seated as much as possible while climbing, because standing up is less efficient, and therefore it’s more tiring. However, if you need to shake out the legs or the gradient is too steep: don’t be afraid to get out of the saddle for short bursts. At the end of the day, though, your body will generate power more efficiently while seated than if you’re standing, so do your best to remain in the saddle and focus on being smooth and maintaining a good cadence.
Speaking of cadence, the fourth tip is to pedal at a high cadence. Select a gear that allows you to pedal at a cadence of around 80-95 revolutions per minute, as this will allow you to pedal more efficiently and reduce the strain on your muscles. This goes hand-in-hand with the previous tip, and falls under the bigger umbrella of movement efficiency, which results in less wasted energy where it can be avoided, meaning you can spend more energy where it matters.
The fifth and final tip for climbing the Alpe du Zwift faster is to fuel your body during the effort. You’ve probably noticed a trend by now, where the previous tips have been been focused on making the most efficient use of the energy you have in your system. The average time spent climbing the Alpe du Zwift is between 60 and 90 minutes, and you’d be crazy not to be putting energy into your system for a grueling effort that takes such a long time. PPut more energy in, so you can push more energy out.
Climbing any mountain takes practice, especially one as intimidating as the Alpe du Zwift, so don't get discouraged if you find it difficult at first.
#cycling #RideFaster #cyclingperformance
Пікірлер: 63
🚵♀️ What is YOUR favorite real-life climb?!👇
@comewizme
Жыл бұрын
Flat area, no climbs :-)
@jhestekin
Жыл бұрын
Latigo in the Santa Monica Mountains
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
@@comewizme hahaha no way, surely you enjoy a little hill here and there, right!?!?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
@@jhestekin I had to look that up, but it looks amazing. Was the weather nice when you rode it?
@jhestekin
Жыл бұрын
@@BreakawayB I was just there earlier this month. It was around 55 for a high, so it could have been warmer, but it was dry so I can't complain!
Dude, that is so strong! You had that KOM jersey for 9 seconds than I ever will! Great vid!
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Maybe I’m a little faster than you, but at the end of the day we have the same goals: have fun in the bike and spread positive energy!
Solid!
@BreakawayB
4 ай бұрын
Thank you, Anders!
Thanks for the tips; I plan on trying them out on the Alpe before outside road riding begins here. Question for you: Many years ago when I was running competitively I used to use negative splits - running the second half of a race faster then I ran the first half - when pursuing PRs. What do you think of trying this approach on an effort like the Alpe?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
The negative split approach works really well, and if you don’t want to take my word for it: watch any of the recent one-hour world record attempts. Those guys keep a steady pace for the first half, and then slowly turn the screws in the second half of their effort. It works well if you’re confident in your abilities. The risk you run is the feeling of “I’m already in my limit, there’s no way I can up the effort,” which can be very mentally draining if it hits you early in the effort. BUT, the negative split approach is definitely a viable strategy!
Great demonstration 😅
@BreakawayB
7 ай бұрын
Thank you very much, Oliver.
You are a machine my dude. Is there any competitive biking that you participate in?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Yup, I try to race IRL as much as I can. I’ve raced two weekends in March, and have five races in my April calendar.🏁
Tips yang luar bisa trima kasih
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
You’re welcome, Bengkel Jowo!
Wow great time and i still think you can go sub 40 shortly for sure. Seems you still have something left 🙂 💪
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Benjapol, thank you so much! I think so, too…maybe a second video is in order?🤔
Great tips and amazing effort! Q - On a wahoo kick bike, would you ride the alpe with the "climb" feature turned on or off?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Thanks Brian! I’m going to preface by stating that I have never ridden a Wahoo Kickr, so this is only based upon my experience with a TACX NEO 2T. I think it’s a better experience when you have the Trainer Difficulty set to “Max.” Feeling the difference in gradient changes helps the experience feel more immersive, which is one of the reasons Zwift is more engaging than other virtual platforms.
@brianmcintyre3632
Жыл бұрын
@@BreakawayB Thanks! The kickr bike inclines up or down with the elevation level, which is definitely immersive, just not sure if it's more or less conductive to putting out a constant effort or not.
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
@@brianmcintyre3632, since the Kickr bike inclines up and down like a real-life bike, it will be less conducive to maintaining a constant effort. But, I personally still feel like it's worth it to use the climb feature, for the sole purpose of keeping the experience more immersive even if it ends up costing a few seconds.
@brianmcintyre3632
Жыл бұрын
@@BreakawayB Thanks... that was my hunch! I've been trying to break the 1 hour mark this winter,... I was over by 40 seconds last time so every second counts for the next effort!
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
@@brianmcintyre3632 dang you are SOOO close! Tag me in a message in here when you go sub-60 minutes, I’m cheering for you.👏
You’re likely not using any of the carbs consumed during the ride. You’re better off hydrating and preloading carbs if you need it. Check out the CTS episode about endurance and energy. I’ll post the link
@ortizma13
3 ай бұрын
kzread.info/dash/bejne/eZx-3Kmmm6vNeLQ.htmlsi=ee-akjIdHxQtZvY_
@BreakawayB
3 ай бұрын
Send the link and I’ll check it out
What trainer difficulty setting did you use for the your PR?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Hello W, here are my specs and settings. Bike: 2023 Trek Domane SL6 Trainer: TACX NEO 2T on rocker plates Trainer Difficulty: Max (In my opinion, feeling the difference in gradient changes helps the experience feel more immersive)
@craigsmith5134
6 ай бұрын
@@BreakawayB What's your view on setting say 75% difficulty? On my trainer I've got a 30 tooth cassette but on my actual wheel I use a 34 tooth. I'm 80kg on a good day and things above 10% grade I need like 350w just to keep a cadence of 60rpm. I got the training with the goal to improve my climbing. Nice vid btw!!
👍👍
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
👍👍
i guess we also need to be realistic. i've tried recently and took me 80min. this fits quite well with my current FTP of 2.8w/kg, so i without improving my w/kg in general, there is no way of achieving it in less than 60 min. it seems that in general, a 3,2 w/kg would to the job...thanks for sharing
@BreakawayB
8 ай бұрын
Absolutely, it’s healthy to set realistic goals for YOURSELF, instead of comparing our numbers to others. Good luck on your fitness journey!
Depending on your metabolism, it takes roughly 15 min before carbs because available. Pre hydrate and preload carbs. Then just drink to thirst.
@BreakawayB
2 ай бұрын
Jim Hansen has spoken.
great video- can I ask you an advice question regarding this?
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Yes, please ask!
@BarryJHoffman
Жыл бұрын
@@BreakawayB I love your advice and was going to write out my best time on each of the 21 "bends" or segments so I could try to beat each one as I rode it. My best overall time is 58 min 15 sec. Should I use the PR of each segment going back to all the times I did the Alpe, or use the times on each segment from the 1 best ride I did up the Alpe (58 min 15 sec). I am thinking to use the times from the best ride (58 min 15 sec); if I grab every PR set time from the 10 times I rode the Alpe. I will prob have a task not possible to meet. thoughts? thanks
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Barry, First of all, congratulations on riding the climb in less than an hour, that’s a wonderful accomplishment. I don’t think you need to write out your segment times for your best ever attempt; I would suggest taking note of your average power, and strive to average ~one to three percent greater for the next attempt. For example, if your average power on your PR attempt was 250 watts, try to have every sector average 255-260 watts on your way up. Stay mentally focused on that goal, and after you pass sector ten you can assess your effort and turn it up another 5-10 watts if you’re feeling strong. Then do the same again at sector 15. Even if you don’t end up increasing your power throughout the effort, if you start with the goal of maintaining a higher power for the entire duration and prioritize smoothness/consistent sector averages: you will set a new PR!
@BarryJHoffman
Жыл бұрын
@@BreakawayB Thanks, I see your advice. It is a total power goal where I am focused on the power. I will of course do this. I did want to just have hanging up the times as well so as to see if that helps (I'll use from the best ride now that I think about it). I will try and experiment with your tips too. I know the average power of the entire best ride and I also know the avg power of each segment as well. This will be an interesting next month! thanks.
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
Good luck, Barry! Please keep me updated, I’m rooting for you. 👏
I normally climb the alp in 1 hr 30 mins, on Sunday I did a group ride and put out the same wattage I normally do and just stayed in the group , to my amazement I climbed the alp in 58 mins , which is not normal , that's a 30% increase on a group climb doing 7 to 8 mph going up. Draughting bonus of 30% at 8mph is totally unrealistic , I actually feel like I have cheated. It makes zwift unrealistic in this scenario.
@BreakawayB
7 ай бұрын
Oh wow, I’d never have known!
Trainer resistance???
@BreakawayB
4 ай бұрын
100%
Your ftp so much higher than me and I got 80 lbs on you 😂. I gotta lot of work ahead.
@BreakawayB
6 ай бұрын
Hey, no comparing yourself to others!!! 🤩Embrace your fitness journey, and keep me updated Patty!!!
I want this mountain in Forza
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
That would be legit!
@BreakawayB
11 ай бұрын
You’re a dang mountain goat.
So you went from 59 minutes 2 months previously to now 41.....
@BreakawayB
6 ай бұрын
🕵🏻59 minutes two months ago wasn’t a hard effort for me, just a random completion of the climb.
looks so painful
@BreakawayB
Жыл бұрын
It feels a lot better when you’re done, haha