Late one evening I got a text from a good mate... it read "do you fancy Everesting with me next year?"... Without really understanding what Everesting was I immediately replied "yeh sure thing".
A quick google search later and the enormity of the challenge really sunk in...
To set the scene I'll jump back two years before Mike sent me this text...
I'd just found out some pretty earth shattering news...my Granddad had cancer. Not really knowing how to help I signed up for an event called Tumble Up 4 Life (https://tumbleup4life.wordpress.com/) to try and raise some money for charity.
This involved doing hill repeats on the infamous 'Tumble' climb (Abergavenny, South Wales) to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The Tumble is no easy climb, it features in the top 100 cycling climbs list and rightly so; the 2.8 mile segment averages 8% as it kicks up 1295ft.
The climb is a morale breaker; the first part is steep with two tight bends, the road straightens and continues to climb to the well known cattle grid that marks roughly half way. As the trees give way to open mountain top landscape the wind picks up and batter you as you churn away to the summit.
I used the TumbleUp4Life as a reason to start riding my bike more seriously. Prior to that I used to go out and do maybe 30 or 50 miles and think that was enough but now I had a motivation to push. With the company of a good friend, Stuie Morris, I made the 20 mile cycle from my home in Monmouth to the Tumble to make my preparations. This started as climbing it twice, then three times, then one day I managed 5 times. Its funny how having such a strong motivator makes poor weather and fatigue seem insignificant.
The day of Tumble Up 4 Life arrived and with a fully stocked car and an eager support crew I set about trying to summit the mountain 10 times. The first climb went without incident but on the turn around at the bottom I slipped and stupidly put my hand out... with a sore wrist (turned out to be a cracked Scaphoid) I pushed on. Fatigue was mounting and the wrist growing increasingly more painful as the climbs ticked by. After climb number 8 I knew that was enough. I was absolutely gutted not to complete my pledged 10 climbs but I still managed to raise nearly £1000 for Cancer Research UK.
Fast forward back to the text from Mike... My google search had confirmed what we needed to do.... we needed to climb the height of Mount Everest... on our bikes... in one ride... in under 24 hours... just let that sink in.
I enthusiastically tapped away at the screen on my phone and Mike got the following reply "WHAT?! you want us to climb 29,028ft in one ride? Mentalist! I'm in!"
The idea behind this event wasn't just about pushing ourselves; I had unfinished business with this climb after failing to make my 10 ascents two years before and Mike had the recently found out the sad news that his Nan had cancer. This is why cycling is so special, especially a Sisyphean task such as hill repeats; It can be a means of letting you process grief, anger or sadness. As a rule, I've never finished a ride feeling worse than when I started it. It really saddened me to hear that Mike's nan passed away last week. I'm so glad we got to do something like this Everesting that can be forever in our memory dedicated to her.
The 29th April 2017 came around, the day of our big push for the summit. Mike and I met at the foot of the climb at 5am ready to summit the beast 23 times. We had already raised over £1000 for Cancer research UK and with dawn approaching we kicked off.
After the noise and fanfare of racing Ironman this was such a weird day. Weird in that there is nobody shouting and cheering (well apart from our ultra loyal support crew!), there are no competitors to race...there is just silence and the constant thrum of your bike gears spinning over as you climb. I knew from Ironman that we had to take it slowly, any big efforts early on would be paid for 10 fold later in the day. Mike and I climbed at different speeds just because we were different sizes etc. We ended reaching a constant rhythm of passing each other as one climbed the other was descending.
YES!! 10 climbs banked! I had buried my previous challenge but was still not even half way. We had 23 climbs to do to make the height gain of Everest! I was lucky enough to have a visit from a good mate who agreed to pace me up a few of the climbs just to keep my rhythm going. Rhys' visit couldn't have been better timed as I went through a bit of a low spot between climbs 10 and 13 and he kept my pace up.
One thing I remember was eating SO much... Brioche with peanut butter, banana and strawberry jam as my snack of choice with pizza and chocolate as backup. This was all washed down with a curry that I pretty much fell asleep into at the end of the ride. Strava said I burnt a shade over 9000 calories so I think it was allowed.
The climbs ticked by as the legs grew heavier. Finally made it to climb 20! It was getting cold by this point so I took 5 minutes in the car to warm up. As Mike finished his 20th climb I jumped out of the car full of beans shouting "only 3 more to go!!!!"... he rolled over and showed me his Garmin, it showed he only needed 2 more climbs to make the Everest height gain! I couldn't believe it! Mine showed I needed 3! It was getting dark and I didn't really want to be finishing alone!
Luckily at a weight light enough for a stiff breeze to have me (68.5kgs) I climb fairly well. I set out and buried myself on the next two climbs. I managed to catch up with Mike who was half way up his final climb and we managed to reach the summit together.
Thank God that's over!!! Once my ride was uploaded to Strava and the HELLS500 website (www.everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/) I found out that I'd set a new fastest time for Everesting this climb. Needless to say, I was pretty damn happy with that!
A few bits of advice for anyone who fancies a go...
- Be Light Climbing on a bike is just simple physics... #P2W The lighter you are the less energy you have to produce to lift the weight up the hill. With this in mind don't turn up on deep section wheels with a heavy bike, a heavy toolkit, or litres of water. If you're supported you should really only take what you need to complete the climbs and leave your extra food, water and main toolkit in the car. Stop every few climbs for a resupply.
- Pacing Everesting is a marathon not a sprint. I found the Everesting Calculator (http://everesting.io) website really helpful to suss out how long it was going to take based on my climbing wattage and weight etc. This took the guess work out of how fast or slow I needed to go. Keep your effort level even and don't go too big or into the red. Keep to your target climb times even if you feel great. That feeling will pass.
- Nutrition You are going to be on the bike for probably 15+ hours. You need to keep eating. I always go for a little bit often and try to alternate from sugary stuff to savory to avoid getting an upset stomach from sugar overload. Also being outside constantly getting hot on the climbs and cold on the descents takes it out of you. Try and get a warm drink or meal into you if you can.
- Mindset This is a long, slow and tiring endeavour. No matter how fit or strong you are, or even how many Ironman races you've done, the fact you're repeatedly climbing the same bit of road over and over again will cause your mind to wander. Loss of concentration can lead to negative thoughts and its something you need to expect. Finding a reason that goes a bit deeper than just wanting to be awesome helps a lot. Raise money for charity, dedicate the climbs to someone so you feel like you can't quit on them. I always find it helpful to break each climb down into sections and trick myself with a food reward at the top. Basic puppy training right there.
[Get in touch if you have any more questions about Everesting or how to prepare. ]()
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