- Morning, Trainiacs.
It's supposed to be just a short
50-minute ride and a 25-minute run.
But Alpe du Zwift came out on Zwift,
simulating the Alpe d'Huez.
And when I have a chance to ride Alpe d'Huez,
you better believe that Coach Pat's workouts
are not gonna happen the way that he wrote them.
Sorry, Pat, but you didn't write in, "Go do Alpe d'Huez."
Let's do it.
(upbeat music)
Alright, so what we're gonna do here
is we are going to ride Alpe du Zwift.
I'll cut it up and bring you along.
We'll tell you just how awfully it's going.
Alright, so as I warm up, let me give you a preview
of what Alpe du Zwift is, i.e. Alpe d'Huez.
Okay, so Alpe du Zwift is an expansion on Zwift,
released March 29th, 2018.
And it simulates the famed Alpe d'Huez climb.
It is a 12-kilometer climb with 21 hairpin turns.
And the Zwift version matches the tourist version,
which is actually around two kilometers shorter,
with 40 meters less climbing
than what's done in the Tour de France.
There is a verified Strava segment for the new route.
(laughing)
You have to be level 12 and up on Zwift to get there.
And they've added a whole bunch of new features.
And as you go over the climbs and do all the hairpin turns,
it gives you checkpoints at each turn.
Average gradient is 8.3%.
Let's go do this.
And I'm gonna need some pump-up tunes for this.
30 minutes in and just about to start.
And I think it's gonna end up being about a one hour climb.
I might, depending on how I'm feeling,
still try to do a 25-minute run after.
So I'm gonna need some calories.
(crunching)
Alright, nice and warmed up, here we go.
No excuses, not to let it all out,
except for a giant mountain in my way.
Here we go.
(upbeat music)
You can see all the hairpin turns coming up on the right.
Sign right there, 12K.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Gonna see if I can average somewhere over 250 watts
for the hour, so that it's gonna take.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Build into it.
So the easiest way to get here is to do the route,
when you're starting the ride, called Ride to the Sky.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
First of 21 hairpin turns,
and the grade levels out to about as low as four.
Also you see, further over on the right,
just under the map, that it marks off your checkpoints.
So I've done one of 22 checkpoints.
And I guess, I think each turn is a checkpoint.
And then probably one at the finish line.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
So make sure to follow me at T,
and then the last name riathlontaren,
if this is the first time you're meeting me.
Cool, ride on.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
After that second hairpin turn, cranks up to 13,
14, 13, 12.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Scenery's just beautiful.
They put a ton of effort into this.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Third hairpin turn, mellows out down to five.
Fourth hairpin turn, levels out to zero.
Oh, that's nice.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Either I'm starting off really well
or these people know something about pacing that I don't.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Fifth hairpin turn, 9.8 kilometers left.
Mellows out to about 5%, 4K in or so.
4%, that's a nice break.
After the sixth turn, there's a long,
steady stretch through a town here.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
"90% mental, 10% legs" written on the ground.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Seventh hairpin down.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Eighth hairpin turn levels out to four.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
At 5K in, it starts getting into
snowy areas of the mountain.
Some logging built into the side, it's so cool.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh, some logs overhead.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Ninth hairpin turn.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
"Where's the oxygen," it says on the ground.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh, up to 13, 14%.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
14% just before the 10th hairpin.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
I'm about halfway done, just before the 12th hairpin,
at least, distance-wise.
23 minutes in, six of about 12.3 K down.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
11th hairpin turn.
11 more markers to go.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Some gusts of snow coming right there.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
12th hairpin turn.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
And it is right up there in the mountains.
There's nothing but snow up here.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
13th hairpin turn, eight left to go.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Starting to get into the fog and clouds,
this high up on the Alp.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
(groaning)
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
14th hairpin turn.
seven more to go.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
15th hairpin turn.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh, and a big, long stretch through the tenting area.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh, after the 15th turn, this is a long stretch.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Just banked on each side, like snow.
It's like real Winnipeg here.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
40 minutes in, power's really starting to be a struggle.
Hands are starting to fall asleep here.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
17th hairpin turn.
Looks like we got a bit of reprieve with some flats.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Down to 2%, 0%, minus 1%.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
And just that quickly, starts climbing again,
back to seven,
eight.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
17th hairpin turn.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Whoa, come on, power.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
18th hairpin turn.
(upbeat music)
"Bag some bragging rights," it says on the mountain.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
You can see all the radio towers there, satellite.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Tried a drafting boost
and it doesn't help anything right now.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
19th turn.
(upbeat music)
And now we've got snow blowing
over the road's surface there.
This is so realistic.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Hashtag not a Zwift ad.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
20th hairpin turn, one more turn left.
(upbeat music)
And then the finish.
(upbeat music)
(groaning)
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh my god, I'm at 55 minutes.
Somebody's already done a 37-minute climb.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Alright, big finish for the cameras.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Gotta push it if I want to get under an hour.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Here we go, here we go.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Oh my god.
Holy shit.
Oh no.
(heavy breathing) (upbeat music)
Alright now, cool down a little bit.
Because I'm a smart triathlete, do a 25-minute recovery run.
(upbeat music)
Alright, so that total ride was hour and 40 minutes.
Just went 31 kilometers.
How would I rate my experience today, Zwift?
Five thumbs up.
Add a comment?
"Ride on."
Alright, there you go, Alpe du Zwift.
It's good, it's really good.
Follow me at first name T, last name riathlon, space, Taren.
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Now we run.