I have done some challenges in Zwift. Riding 100km for 60 days straight, advent calendar totaling 3000km, etc. It’s always fun to come up with something new and test yourself.
This time I got an idea. Stupid idea. Great idea. What if I made a new Zwift account with a 7-day free trial and tried to earn the Tron bike?
On average that would be 7,143 meters of climbing a day.
It sounded bit scary, but also possible. So I made up my mind to give it a go. Made a rough plan how to make it work: nutrition, hydration, and pacing. Those were the things I thought about a lot before I started.
I contacted Mieli ry. Charity for children’s and youth’s mental health work and set up a fundraising account. Because if you are doing something like this why not help others as you destroy your legs?
Everything was set, and Wednesday, 15 December was go time.
First day was a normal workday, so I started with short 2k (vertical) morning ride and finished the day after work with the 5k left.
Second day was all about Alpe du Zwift. Climbed it 5 times and had a little break to get ready to race up it once. (It was stupid idea for sure, but I got the points to win a little all-Finnish series. Worth it.) 7th climb was a tough one after that.
Then it was time to get back to the Radio Tower, since it was the fastest way for me to get the elevation I needed. The climb is short enough you can push just a bit harder uphill and the descent is short so you recover but don’t lose your legs on it. One way to do an interval workout I guess.
The next few days were a bit easier, getting ready for what was still to come.
After riding a few days and seeing your nutrition is ok and pace is fine, you feel better pushing it a bit. And that’s why Sunday was the 12-hour day.
I have vEverested a few times, but trenching (descending 10,944m, the depth of the Mariana Trench) was yet to be done, so it was nice to get it done on this ride. It was 11h05min moving at NP of 210w. 184km with 11,597m climbed, and it sure was a trip closer to the limit!
Really tough day physically and mentally, true a learning experience.
Trenching put me ahead of the pace, so the last days were a bit shorter. But they still felt longer than I wanted, so mental games started and things got interesting.
No surprise, that next day was hard to begin. I was about 2kg lighter than 5 days earlier, and had done enough work to make the Duracell bunny sleepy.
So I did Monday in shorter bits to make it easier on for the tired legs and head.
At this point, everyone dropping into the livestream to chat or ride along on Zwift helped so much. This community is awesome.
Last day I had zero motivation left, but I was so close, so it wasn’t about that anymore. Just ride and get it over with. Keeping the pace was really tough physically and mentally,
but I didn’t want to make it a longer ride than it needed to be.
Last 1000m and finally the final push started.
Then it was over. Just like that.
I picked the two colours that matched my Wahoo-Le Col kit. Â
- 50 hours 11 minutes moving time.
- 50,051 meters climbed. Average normalized power somewhere between 200w-210w.
- Legs pretty much done.
- Some free trial left.
This exercise taught me more about my limits and myself. Cycling is about compromises.
Go easy and sit longer or push a bit harder and recover longer. Just find the balance you are OK with and have fun with it.
Questions or Comments?
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