Der AlpenTimer
Maybe you’re after the “Lift Off” badge for climbing the Alpe du Zwift in under an hour, or maybe you just want to beat your previous best time.
The problem with trying to beat a specific time up the Alpe is that Zwift doesn’t display an estimated finish time, so you can’t pace your effort. Are you falling behind pace and need to increase your effort to get back on schedule? Or are you ahead of pace and able to ease off and conserve your strength? There’s no way to know!
Until now.
Let me introduce you to the AlpenTimer: a simple one-button app that tells you how much of the climb you’ve completed, and estimates your finish time as you round each of the Alpe’s 21 switchback turns. It should format well on most desktop, tablet, and cellphone browsers.
As stated on the app, all you need to do is hit the big red button.
First, start the timer by hitting the button as you pass the KOM start marker. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL because ALL calculations are based on your start time, so DON’T GET THIS WRONG!
For a reminder, the KOM start marker looks like this:
After that, press the button each time you pass the triangular marker that marks one of the Alpe’s 21 switchback turns. This is how the app knows how far you’ve gone, from which it calculates and updates your estimated finish time.
If you’re after the “Lift Off” badge, all you have to do is keep an eye on whether that estimate stays below an hour. Or if you’re chasing a new PB, use whatever time you’re targeting instead. Now you’ll know whether you’re on pace or not, and can adjust your effort accordingly.
If you forget to click on a turn or two, it’s okay. Just click until the button caption reflects the next turn coming up. Your estimated finish time will be accurate again after the next turn where the turn number, the button caption, and your click are all back in sync.
Finally, if you click the button as you pass beneath the KOM finishing arch, the app will display your finishing time.
It will also show a list of the times you passed each of the switchbacks, in case you want to cut and paste them into a spreadsheet, like this:
That’s all there is to it! Give it a try, let me know if you have any feedback, and good luck nabbing your goal time!