Can A Cycling Novice Climb Alpe D’Huez? | Make Your World Bigger

In this episode, we find out if a novice cyclist can take on the massive challenge of climbing Alpe D'Huez. After some intense training and getting tips from the pros, Fred starts the long difficult climb up the mountain!

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[DiscoveryTV]

All the training and cycling in this video is 100% real – Fred put in a lot of hard work for this challenge! For those interested in his level of fitness prior to training, he had a general level of fitness which included gym and football once a week, but is a complete cycling novice, having never even ridden a road bike before! He was lucky enough to have a bike loaned to him by Canyon to help with the challenge, and we hope that this video has inspired some of you to try out something new which you might not have done otherwise. Let us know what you’d like to see him try next?

[markmccall]

Proof that Zwift, no matter how brilliant, is nothing like the real thing. Wind, heat, bike handling, the fact that you can't just lock into a constant rhythm on real switchback routes... etc. Great effort though.

[cyclingforaview]

I did the climb to Alpe D'Huez ( see the video on my youtube channel Leon Echeverri) in 2017 when I was 65 years old. The feeling and the sense of accomplishment at the top, compensates all the suffering of the whole climb. Great video and keep on cycling is a great sport. Long Live cycling!

[mitchellsteindler]

I cant believe the negative commentary on this video. The cyclists I've been exposed to in my several years of training and racing have been nothing but supportive and inclusive. Everyone from a broke student on a 3rd hand used bike with downtube shifters to the $100MM business owner riding one of his 10 top of the line bikes is treated the same. Because of this, I assumed the stereotype of cyclists being condescending, exclusive, snooty, etc, were false accusations. Unfortunately I have been proven wrong by many of those in the comment section. I hope you can all realize how deprecating your behavior is to cycling, and change it for the better.

[Dr.Schlitz]

Kudos. 4 weeks of training is just a drop in the bucket, so you should be proud of yourself for finishing. Well done.

[benwilliams]

It's always great to see more people taking up cycling! Congratulations on making it up Alpe D'Huez Fred, that's one hell of an achievement. I hope you have managed to keep on cycling since, it's a sport which becomes even more fun the more you do it!
P.S. one tip, use smaller gears next time, it will take the strain out of your quadriceps if you can spin a lower gear :)

[Cederlind]

thank you for posting this... and congrats on the ride. Accomplishing this climb is still one of my top ten things in my life. And, at 53 y/o, I did it after, over 11 years of training and hundreds of long rides across US and, it is very, very hard. Almost quit at that first 14% upgrade. I was training on 9 % hills at home, of which the longest was about 1/2 mile... up and down. One of the guys in our group, lived in Florida, and he trained on interstate entrance ramps. The only uphills he could find. Of course, he was 26 y/o. I contend age makes a difference. And, now after 30 years on a bike, I have never heard any negative comments .... from anyone... about me and my two wheels.

[robinbhairam]

At (almost!) 57, I’ve just taken up cycling as my running days are coming to an end. I stumbled across this video whilst researching how to climb hills (I live on top of one, so no alternative for me!). I found your journey very inspirational but all I could hear myself say was “How the f*** has he done that!” - Brilliant dude ... I’m just off to ride my bike and make my world a little bigger! 😊

[alleywatson]

Kudos to him. He’s built more like a rugby player

[anthonymorris]

I’m 70 on 9th September 2020 and along with my younger brother 62 we aim to cycle 6 mountains in the Alps in 6 days the last day is Alpe D’Huez starting on the 5th of September at Lake Annecy Geneva No I have never done anything like this but I am training for it. Your video inspired me to believe I will not fail. Tony

[mcorbett]

Great video, very inspiring! Well done to Fred and the team.

My story is a cycling charity challenge. In February I signed up for a sponsored cycle ride from London to Paris, in support of the Alzheimer’s Society. I had done some cycling but wasn’t very fit and certainly hadn’t done anything close to 500km in 4 days. So I joined the local cycling club and got a gym trainer. I got fit, got the miles in my legs, and by July I was ready. My wife led the fund raising and we raised £1850. Sadly my mum, who suffered from dementia, died two weeks before the ride, which became a real tribute. The ride was very tough but brilliant and I arrived in Paris in the first group of four. Between us the 150 people who took on the challenge raised £250k. All of us felt a real sense of achievement and for 2019 I am planning two more charity cycling challenges.

[guymorris]

Hell yeah you absolute legend ! Job well done for reaching the finish line no matter how long it takes. I was cheering for you as I was watching this video in Texas.
In the early and mid 1970s here in Texas my friends had NFL heroes but my number one hero was Eddy Merckx though I had great respect for other pro cyclists. I'd tell my friends about the Tour de France, Giro d' Italia, spring classics and the legendary cyclists who competed in them.
I would get my friends together and we would have our own Tour de France. I would let them go out hard, ride tempo at a nice pace and decent effort. Then I would go Eddy Merckx on them, hammer hard, fly right by them, start riding harder and faster toward the finish line we created and raised my arms in victory as I crossed the line. They stopped when they finished but I kept riding on an on because cycling was my passion then, still is and always will be.
I moved from Texas to Colorado in 1984 after I graduated from high school in 1983 and got to do some world class cycling. I moved back to Texas in 2012 and miss Colorado.
I've always dreamed of one day getting to ride my bike on the same roads ridden on by pro cycling heroes in both the padt and present. I'm still dreaming because it hasn't happened and likely won't because I don't have a US passport, can't afford to take a nice long trip to Europe so I can do all the things I'd want to do and not enough vacation hours.

[jbratt]

I raced for over 20 years. I know how hard this is. Good on you! I really believe you have potential to be a really good cyclist.

[leeshirley]

I am competing in an 3 stage amateur race next July, one of the stages is time trial up Alp D'Huez, cant wait! Excellent video!

[lakelife]

Great challenge. Thanks for sharing. At 58 I road up Alpe D'Huez for the first time 3 days after you did... the day after the tour went through. I did have to stop and take in the beautiful vistas and catch my breath. Thank you for the great inspirational videos! Alpe D'Huez should be on everyone's list, especially if you are a cyclist or not.

[roblowe]

I agree with a few other comments. Well done but it would be so much more sensible and even easier with the right gearing. Grinding away at a slow cadence is not the way to climb mountains. It's guaranteed to knacker your legs.

[baskoomen]

The Zwift finish is the village finish. you finished the tour de france finish.. well done, but to compare times, take your time trough the village :)

[Breizh-lifh]

Well done young man. 90 kilograms up that climb is hats off in my book.

[silentsuffering]

*I really like the **Latest.Bike** . It is just amazing... very light weight so it is easy to take it upstairs in the apartment where I live. It looks great and it feels great while riding. I definitely recommend this bike. You won’t be disappointed 🙂*

[AnythingTwoWheels]

well done, a tough climb and minimal training... proves that attitude is everything in the first place. Kudos to you.