Zee Rides Climbs (Alp update)

 I'm doing all the climbs this week, starting with Bel Filles, then Ski Lift, Hollywood Sign, and Easy Rider.

The Bel Filles climb was awesome. It has got some kick to it. It took me just over 25 minutes going very hard which got me to set a new ftp. I haven't done that in a while. It has a sharp pitch in the beginning and a real sting right at the finish.

The Ski Lift climb is sort of broken. You must choose 50% climb to do the actual full ride. Right now, the 100% selection gives you a 200% elevation and gradient. Since this climb has a lot, a whole lot of 10-15 % roads, you will be doing 20-30%, with one section at about 40% with a peak of 49%!!! I was sprinting to just keep moving. It has waves or levels, so I could go hard until the crest and rest for 30 seconds before tackling the next red zone. There was a lot of red zones. I should have just restarted at the lower level but something stubborn in me just let loose and I rode the whole thing at 200%. Don't tell me it can't be done. If you are super-man, try for the 125%, I'm sure that will kick your donkey.

Hollywood Sign climb: Yes, this is a good one and it is ready to release. It is the perfect 'sawtooth' profile I was asking for. Great job, Zwift gang! I was basically riding intervals on this one. It seemed more like small jagged ridges to climb, while the Ski Lift was massive peaks to power over. 20:28 was my time.

Easy Rider climb: This was just a quick ride on the first test model of climb portal. It is only two minutes long and almost all blue roads. I was a bit tired and just came to look at it. I thought it was much longer, like 12 km instead of 1.2.

Edit: As of April 2024, I have used this ride for maximum xp, gaining 11950 xp in one hour. I was going for ten thousand, including a 500 weekly bonus. Amazingly, I had 16 of the 250 xp bonuses. It is hard to get easy rider portal climb to ride, but it is the most points per mile easily. I'm trying to hit level 99 by the end of the month, from 84.

I will at some point ride the Ski Lift at 50% to do the official height, but after some more training. I just need to recover before I tackle another climb at full power.

Yes. The Ski lift at 50% is the real 100% and it was a great climb. You need to sprint to get over a peak, then rest very briefly before the next peak. There are probably a dozen on the way up. Here's my list of peaks and %....21, 24, 29, 17, 43, 15, 24, 15, 27, 17, 13. When I saw 35%, it really freaked me out.

Sli Lift climb time: 25:41. The caption on my Strava says "best portal ever."

The Stelvio is HERE!!! I got to test this one out on April 17 2024. It was plenty hard and has some bumps similar to Ski Lift climb. While the visual beauty of the Stelvio is missing, it is a real beast to be tamed. I started at a simple hour pace (85 minutes? Go faster.) Soon, I was going hard to see if I could get the eta under 60. (Yes, if I sprint for a minute or so.) I got it to sit around 70 after I started to race all of the red sections. I had no clue what was to come around the next corner. But, there was red everywhere. I really over-did-it on this ride. It kept reading 1700 total elevation but it finished at 1610. After going down, I was over 1700. Yes, for some strange reason, I sprinted the small flat and uphill sections on the descent, around 19 minutes. (20 minutes for you non-racers on the descent.)

I wore my off-the-map pink kit for the Giro theme. I think my time of 69:09 will prove tough to beat. When the eta started to climb back toward 80, I just said I don't have 90 minutes to spare. What a challenge. I'll be glad to do that little Alp of Huez instead. Riding this made me wish we added this to Bologna as a real visual treat. It's twice as long as the Alp. 

A little bonus at the top would be nice. Something like the Alp. Ventoux should have a bonus as well.

Addition May 25 2024

After a lot of training since my best Alp on March 19th, I started yet another Alp with fury. I have learned that I must ease into the ride, not starting with a very powerful punch and struggling to hang on for the final thirty minutes. I had a training run using my big gear (I think it is a 50 x 14). It builds up the strength I need to ride in the 50 x 15. Usually, I use the 16 and only the 17 for very long rides and light days and warm-ups.

So, I am watching a holo of myself where I had a decent first half but went weak on the second half. I was just keeping about even, then a little ahead. I decided that today was the day to go for it. Part of my just wanted to do a hard thirty minute effort. But, I didn't want to give up the attempt yet either. I strived to ride just above 250, knowing my first few minutes were under 250. Could I still finish hard?

I put in a few short spurts (15,37,33,29,33,17,15) seconds at 272. When you look later, it still averages about the same. I went from 249 to 253 overall. I knew when I hit the final turn, I could just about hit my 38 minute record. When I went into the final minute, I was cutting my time down to finish at 37:53. Anything under 38 was a victory. I didn't get one single power-up either. Four times with just a plus 10 points.

I got to the top and was not really winded. When I use the big gears, it is all strength and very little aerobic heavy breathing. I was shocked and exhilarated. I don't compare myself to Gardner. She is so very different, so light, so powerful with a much bigger gear. I said I would not do another pr attempt on the Alp. But, I love this climb despite being too long for my style. I have done it again. Forever?

My progression was 38:56, 38:47, 38:26, 38:00, and now 37:53. I think I had a 39:59 in there as well. It takes a special effort and a great day to break 40 minutes. I'm sure in a few months, 40 minutes will seem like a dream. But for today, I have conquered the Alp....242 times. Yet, I know I will be back in some fashion. I will hit my million meters of climbing here, possibly right at the top! (I'm at 963K right now.)

Crash and Conquer, the Untold Story

Two head-shaking rides, one off then two days after the Zwift Championships, a goal-reaching personal record. How? Stay tuned. 

So, when I planned to retire after the Academy, I had the idea of trying an all out watt bomb on the Alp. Stupid for a sprinter with not so great endurance. Usually, I can go in a big gear if it is a steady effort, definitely not in a race. The day came and I hit a beautiful ride (after much training) landing December 17 at the top of the Alp at 38:47, a monstrous effort. A lot of times, I don't ride with a heart monitor. Often, I hate the feel of it, hate the distraction of it, and sometimes worry when it is too low or seems too high. I know I am going hard as I can and using 100% real watts. My benchmarks were Illi Gardner at 38:21 and Sarah Gigantie at 38:34. So then, 38:47 is a perfect third place.

I considered the goal for 2024 of riding the Alp to hit one million meters having nearly 900,000. But as I started doing a lot of climbing, Zwift announced an elite race for the Alp. Oh, the juices started to flow. It would be live, so if I rode the course at the same time, I could use them as my competition, but I would not have any draft. I targeted Illi's time, hoping to shave off 30 seconds to beat her. (in my mind at least). Either way, I planned several weeks of training.

I realized that I can do some serious watts as intervals, even over-unders where the low is at ftp or if I just have 30 seconds of mild pedaling. In training on two good days, I had a 38:56 and finally a 38:26 leaping ahead into second overall. Surely, I thought, I'm ready for the Epic Zwift Games event, a historic first. Of course, there was a World's Championship in 2019. It was planned last minute (although I was part of planning it much earlier) and poorly addressed to Zwifter's. I skipped the long road rides (70+km women's and 97 km men's) and won the women's time trial. The up and down hilly course suited me perfectly. I rode way beyond what I thought I could do.

So, here I am five years older trying to go against the top riders on Zwift. I know I have the watts. Race day and I have done all the race run-up and set-up. We hit the start of the Alp and I am just totally flat. Well tested? Yes. Well rested? Yes. Well caffeinated? Oh my, yes. My watts are 230 when I want 250 or even a little higher to start and nothing is going up. There's a small pack ahead of me and Illi is rocketing up the mountain. She is quickly out of sight, an entire turn ahead. Just gone. I didn't know her watts or estimated time, only where she was up the road. I get to the top just a second ahead of Lou Bates at 40:59 with Bates at 41:01. It is Gardner (37:16), Belforth (38:51), Guerra (40:08), Kryder (40:59), Bates (41:01). For me, I feel a failure. I still don't know what went wrong. Three minutes off my pace? Illi Gardner with an amazing time. She holds the real life outdoor best time on the Alp.

Tuesday, I'm determined to train some more until I can do another attempt on the Alp. As I start at nearly ftp, I crank it up, making myself suffer. Instead of a 30-60 second planned rest every ten minutes, I keep up the pace. Now I'm thinking to put in a hard thirty minutes and just pedal moderately up the rest. But, I press hard, riding as close to 250 as I can. I average around 248 and blitz the finishing minute at 370. I nearly didn't make the last 200 meters as I was at my limit in strength and speed. I saw the seconds go down from :03 to :00 to :59, then :01, but I hit the line at 38:00! 253 watts. That is just about what Illi was doing. She went super hard for seven and a half minutes, then maintained a hard effort the rest of the way. I can not do that without dying. We estimate that I lost about 40 seconds in that time. When looking at the top half of the Alp, I thought we were about even, but I was wrong. Actually, I was down 19 seconds at the last corner (59 seconds overall). I still had a good finishing kick and caught back 15 seconds, finishing 44 seconds behind. Of course, Illi didn't need to sprint at the end as she was 90 seconds ahead of her closest rival. She has well-earned the title Queen of the Alp. 

I'm ecstatic about hitting 38 flat. I could never get to 37:16. In fact, I could only hope to take off five or ten seconds at best, if ever. I am finally satisfied. I can easily settle for second best behind an absolute legend.

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One Week Out

 I've been training anew for a month now, heading to my big race up the Alp. I had a stunning workout, finishing the Alp less than a minute of goal pace. Then, yesterday I rode a hard interval effort at one minute red, three minutes orange for 30 minutes. I was one minute ahead. Insane to stop at that point. But I was at 28 and felt disaster was near with a finishing ten minutes to go. (Maybe a timer would help from those climb portals.) I finished with a minute sprint. I started the Alp a slight bit on the sore side. With my schedule set, I can't reschedule. So it is blast of pass.

I have one tough workout ahead yet. A long workout, and a repeat of yesterday that we are dropping. I have the shape that I need. No reason to over do it so close to the day. I'm looking forward to concluding this epic journey. I hope is satisfies my relentless pursuit of what I can do. I'm more concerned with me beating me, a personal best, than I am about anyone else. It just provides a benchmark to beat, nothing more. Illi and Sarah, even Passio and Barkley are pros, no need to race against them.

Let the fun begin.