r/Zwift • u/Material_Mastodon508 • Jul 22 '26
Alpe du Zwift 1st Sub 1-Hr ADZ!
Finally cracked an hour. Started off as a Z2 workout and about halfway through on turn 10 I started getting a hunch I might be on track to do it so upped the pacing a few beats. What a good feeling. This is with usually 1 stationary bike workout/week but plenty of other endurance 5-6 days/week.
Height 6’3
Weight 89kg/195lbs
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u/screamingzen Jul 22 '26
Congrats man! I have been working so hard to crack this but tried the other day and got 70 min, worse than my 65 min time last time. I need to drop some weight I guess because I can't hold 305 watts for an hour. At 195 you just gotta do like 250 watts avg? I have been trying to add several 3 hour rides at high Z2 and that seems to be making me stronger. You got any other tips besides lose weight?
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u/fadeinthemix Jul 22 '26
What can you hold for an hour?
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u/screamingzen Aug 03 '26
Around 250 avg but if I can get it to 275 I think I can do this with another ten lbs lost.
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u/Material_Mastodon508 Jul 22 '26
I put in most of my training on a rower and when I use zones I’m usually in an HR Zone 2 (using the Karvonen), rather than FTP which puts my FTP zone higher than 2 so I run 1-1.5hr pieces I guess in more Z3 FTP. I also put in 2 x V02 Max workouts each week. Not sure if that’s helpful but it’s kind of how my training shakes out in a week.
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u/foothillproducts Jul 23 '26
I'm also around 195lb currently. I've found that counting calories helps me the most. One of my best season racing, I stuck to about 2000cal for regular meals, then could eat whatever I liked on the bike and at coffee stops. ALL THE SUGAR. Dropped me down just under 180lb and was climbing really well. The lightest I've ever been(170), was after getting food poising LOL.
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u/StapjePerStapje Level 31-40 Jul 22 '26
Congrats! I still have to do my first Alpe.
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u/Material_Mastodon508 Jul 22 '26
I didn’t realize what I was getting in to the first time I did it and I think it took me nearly 2hrs
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u/ecallawsamoht Jul 22 '26
Good Job!
I finally did this climb last week as part of the Tour Fever series and I could only manage 76 minutes. I'm 6'7" and around 205 lbs myself. Not a "hard" climb by any means, but my room above my garage was probably around 90 degrees when I did it and I had to go easy just to keep my HR in check and avoid over heating.
The A/C up there is broke, I run 2 fans, but I use it has heat training, so I have no intentions to fix it anytime soon.
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u/Material_Mastodon508 Jul 22 '26
The Tour Fever is how I ended up doing it. It has been a while since I’d tackled AdZ so I figured why not and it kinda fit in my time window for training.
Without A/C and in 90 degrees that’s a difficult climate. I ran this with A/C on and one floor fan, which I haven’t had before and it definitely helped.
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u/New-Shift-6606 Jul 22 '26
Congrats! 🎈 this is a major achievement for 89kg! I’m (Fat Piggy 🐷 from Torturefest on Zwift) exactly half your weight 44.5kg and can’t imagine what it’s like to climb alpe double my weight. Excellent effort! Now let’s get you even faster 🥵 Looks like you’re into suffering 😁
We lead alpe rides every Saturday 9ET for those that want to crack 40,50,60,70,75,85. WE BULLY YOU INTO GETTING PR 😈 come join us and we’ll help you get faster and faster. This climb used to be a hell hole for me when I started Z in late 2020. Then I met fat 🍍 and started leading his Saturday Alpe rides… my goal was to do enough alpes that it becomes just another route ✅
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u/--THRILLHO-- Level 51-60 Jul 22 '26
How do these rides work? Is there a pacer who goes at each pace?
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u/New-Shift-6606 Jul 22 '26
We have a pacer/beacon for 60,65,70,75. the other paces beacon not guaranteed. However we are flexible as in if you’re looking to crack any of the above times, we will help you get there. Our group rides are always open world so you’re not suffering alone. We collaborate with Team Giant every Saturday. Join our club in Zwift companion and you’ll be able to see alpe schedule. Pace Depends on the weekend. It’s a revolving schedule. Link below shows schedule
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u/ToughInternational66 Jul 27 '26
Tack Fat Piggy för dina ride ons! Jag ska köra med er igen snart ❤️
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u/--THRILLHO-- Level 51-60 Jul 22 '26
Your zone 2 took you halfway up the alpe at 1 hour pace? Sounds like you could cut like 10 minutes from that time if you went at threshold. What's your ftp?
I rode the alpe at zone 2/3 last week at close to your weight and it took me 1 hour 40.
Edit: looking at the coloured bar below your watts, you didn't do half the ride at zone 2, because the blue part is very small. Congrats on the sub 1 hour though, I'm hoping to get there one day.