Hypno Toad

I'm planning to take on the Zwift Everesting Badge this spring.

You done it? How long did it take? What climb did you pick? What power to weight were you able to hold? ... Did you complete or crash & burn?

I plan to ride Alp du Zwift to work on the Masochist badge too.

I've completed the Alp in under 60 minutes, and at the end of the Über Pretzel finished the Alp in 90 minutes. I'm not the fastest in Zwift, but solid old zwifting nerd.
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spelger

never heard of the Everest badge. is thi snew? i too am under an hour for the alpe. have you done that big hill in france? i am under 90 minutes there. it is a tough under 90 minutes i will say.

atwl77

I tried last year and DNF after 5 repeats on Alpe du Zwift. I was going by vEveresting rules, so 100% trainer difficulty and no sleep during the attempt. Unfortunately I started too early in the morning (because I wanted to try to finish it before evening) and was extremely sleepy halfway; also at 100% trainer difficulty it was still tough work pushing the pedals at my bike's lightest gearing.

If you're not making an official vEveresting attempt, I think adjusting the trainer difficulty (or your actual gearing) to make the climbs easy on the legs would make a big difference (i.e. spinning vs grinding). Also important to have a good nutrition plan and have plenty of food and liquids nearby for easy access.

Also, a tip: Alpe du Zwift is the most popular vEveresting route because once you reach the top, it's a solid 10+ minutes downhill where you can just get off the bike to recover/stretch/eat/etc. With the other monster climb (Ventoux), there's a slight dip somewhere in the middle of Ventoux which stops you from being able to just freewheel all the way to the bottom for the next repeat.

I think some people have done it on Box Hill, but that's a hell lot of repeats to hit 8848m (or whatever the new value is).

unterhausen

I know someone that did it recently. He had an impressive amount of food lined up next to his bike.

Thomas15

The most Alpe climbs I've done in one ride is 3. Took a break after each one. I would do it again and probably will do it before the snow melts. Not sure about the 8.5 Alpe climbs for VEveresting, it seems like it would be a 20 hour commitment. But a great goal and accomplishment for the hearty!

On a unrelated note, after 15 months on Zwift, level 37, 6500 Zwift miles, 451,000 feet of climbing, this weekend during a social ride I finally achieved 500 watts, got the Sprinters Apprentice badge. Funny thing I wasn't really trying that hard, was during a sprint and was on-it but still surprised.

Hypno Toad

I don't recall when they added the Everesting Badge, but it's kinda new.

There are a lot of good blogs out there: https://zwiftinsider.com/everyday-ron-veveresting/ (I'll post a blog too, but no commitment that'll be good )

I still need to ride the Ven-Top route ... it's on my to-do list before the roads dry out.

Side story: this Toad loves winter riding - but hates spring melt riding. It's not the cold/wet stuff that bugs me, it's making a bike stupid-messy every ride. So March and April are my big Zwifting months.

unterhausen

I didn't know about those badges, going to go back to doing sprints again. At least there doesn't seem to be an amount of time you have to hold the max power.

Hypno Toad

Check out zwifthub.com for a list of badges and route achievements. I'm a total sucker for this nerdy stuff, it's keeping me motivated and challenged to stay fit.

unterhausen

zwift has a decent explanation of what you have to do to earn each badge
https://support.zwift.com/en_us/gene...dges-ryutAU_VH

surak

Did AdZ as an official vEveresting within the rules last year. Stayed in Z2, ascents averaged slightly less than 80 min @ 2.5 W/kg. Food was a challenge and in retrospect I should have held off on Clif bars early on to not "spoil" my stomach. That is the only aspect that didn't come up when I did a Basecamp (half Everest, typically people doing AdZ would do 5 ascents).

AdZ is by far the most recommended route for vEveresting because it is sufficiently steep to accrue elevation at a good clip, have a long descent that you can get off the bike for regular breaks, has the handy switchback overlay to keep from getting bored, and gives out a bonus every ascent from the prize wheel.

If you just want the badge, it'll be a lot easier since you can lower the Zwift difficulty to make it feel like a flatter ride, and as long as you stay logged in you can take as much time and as many breaks as you want (including sleep).

Hypno Toad

Great info, thanks!

I really like the pacing info, I was planning 80 to 90 minutes per AdZ climb. I'd like to keep difficulty to 100% ... make it official.

I see this challenge as a great training ride for some real-world challenges for 2021 and coming years. I'll be headed to Gary, SD in August for my third (& the final) DAMn ... and having completed it twice with a typical gravel bike, I'm gonna challenge myself by riding my drop-bar Pugsley in '21.

Hypno Toad

Way overdue update! Back in March I made my vEversting attempt (spoiler alert: it was a major fail). If you enjoy mediocre blog posts, this is for you:

https://bikesbeersstuff.blogspot.com...ivs-oh-my.html

atwl77

Ouch, that sounds like a nasty experience. Glad you've recovered. Good luck in your next attempt!

ksryder

Jesus. I hate climbing anyway so I have never had a desire to Everest but I'll use this as all the anecdotal evidence I need to not do it! Glad you're OK bud.

spelger

coming up a hill and a half short stinks. at least you got a hospital visit out of it.

better luck next time.

surak

Food and hydration are really tricky to get right for a vEveresting, bummer that you got so close. I'm sure when you try again, you'll have a better handle on it and pacing.

unterhausen

I'm surprised you didn't have gastric issues on the bike. When I have too much water, my body lets me know relatively quickly.