I'd like to Everest

pep.fermi

I love climbing and I'd like to go for Everesting.

I live in an extremely flat area. My biggest hill (in fact, my only hill), without driving a few hrs, is half km in length. So my training is actually a long series of hill reps, standard is 59km 2000m (including to- and from-). I don't do any other form of cycling because with no hills I can't be bothered. Just don't like it.
I won't Everest on such a short hill, so I'll have to combine it with a family holiday in a suitable area.
Including flat and short commuting, I ride ca 10,000km and 130,000m per year. Plus leisure running and swimming.
I did rides of over 4000m of climbing, during holidays, and always felt good (very tired of course).
I understand some everested on even less volume (but maybe they had a past as sub-elite athlete or something...)
I'm 50, been doing endurance sport basically all my life, used to be better-than-most marathon runner but my competitive days are beyond me.

I can't be bothered with formal "training plan", don't like it. I cycle uphill as much as I can because I like it so much. Period. Don't want to hassle with Watt, Watt/Kg, Zone2, Zwift, HRM, BMI, RPM, kcal, bla bla bla, just no thanks.
I understand Everesting, being so long, is not really about bare fitness. It's more about grit and determination.

Anyone here did it?
Any comments?
Thanks a lot,

pep.fermi

Just to add: I'm 177cm, now 50yo, and never been outside the 64-66kg weight range since my teens.

ugo.santalucia

You need mates for company and matybe a bit of moral support… it is a freaking long day

pblakeney

Just for perspective, to do Everesting on Alpe d'Huez means doing it 8-1/2 times.
That means 11 hour 20 mins of cycling if paced at 1:20:00 per climb.*

*If done virtually since you'd have to descend IRL and that'll take an extra few hours.
Basically, it is a freaking long day.

pep.fermi

Yes, very good point.
Thanks a lot guys.
Alberto

photonic69

I'd like to Everest too...
However, my wife says I peak too early....
.
.
.
(I'll get my coat...)

katani

There have already been threads on this forum about everesting:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/12986238/everesting-a-personal-account
and one with some training tips:
https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13023475/training-for-an-everesting-attempt

pep.fermi

@katani
I had visited those 2 old threads already. Thanks nonetheless.

pep.fermi

Training wise the (only) sensible thing seems: do a lot of hills.

ugo.santalucia

I have only ever attempted a half Everest and stopped at 3000 mt… after 16 ascents. Legs were not the problem, I had adequate gearing, but I got fed up and lost motivation. Choose the hill, choose a pace and a gear you are comfortable going for hours… if you use power and you have an FTP of 250, I would say find a gear that allows you spin 80+ up said hill at 180W, which should be something you can replicate for hours… make sure it is not your last sprocket, as you might need to drop lower. Seems silly, but think about how you plan to count the reps… working on cumulative elevation is prone to mistakes… basically be prepared

N0bodyOfTheGoat

One of the local talented youngsters around here, Harry Johnson, attempted to Everest the mighty south approach up Bwlch Y Groes a few years back. Gave up at ~50%, knackered due to poor gearing choices iirc, even though Midanbury's Dell Rd is on our doorstep and would give a very short insight into the steep section.

Edit: Just seen this insane ride up Bwlch Y Groes by Andrew Feather, a few months ago!
https://www.strava.com/activities/9634669893/overview

mrb123

It has been done on Hardknott which seems to me the definition of Hell on Earth.

MidlandsGrimpeur2

Not attempted it, but having read interviews with a few that have, the key seems to be getting the length x gradient calculation correct so you can have a climb that is steep enough to reduce the number of ascents and short enough to descend quickly, whilst ensuring it is not so short and steep that you end up choosing Hardknott as above 😂

pep.fermi

ugo.santalucia said:

Seems silly, but think about how you plan to count the reps… working on cumulative elevation is prone to mistakes… basically be prepared

Thanks for mentioning this.
I actually thought about it already. Plan to work out beforehand not only how many reps it takes, but knowing the segment also to what overall distance it equates to. So once the odometer reaches such mark, job done. After all this is what I do already on my usual route: 36 reps, 48km length, 2000m climb, I only ever check the km because I know I cannot count up to 36.

davidof

pblakeney said:

Just for perspective, to do Everesting on Alpe d'Huez means doing it 8-1/2 times.
That means 11 hour 20 mins of cycling if paced at 1:20:00 per climb.*

*If done virtually since you'd have to descend IRL and that'll take an extra few hours.
Basically, it is a freaking long day.

So if you wanted to do the ride in daylight you'd have to do it in summer, where it would be scorching hot hell on earth from midday !

I understand Everesting, being so long, is not really about bare fitness. It's more about grit and determination.

8800 meters? That's a lot of grit and determination. I'm sure with the number of km/V+ you are doing you are up to it though.

DeVlaeminck

5¾ of Ventoux from Bedoin sounds nice.

I'd want to pick a hill with a decent descent - I wouldn't want to pedal but I wouldn't want a hill where I had to be on the brakes too much on the way down either.

photonic69

A guy I know Everested this stretch of road in West Wales. It used to be the main A40 but they since bypassed it and it has become a very quiet yet wide and straight road. It is short and the average gradient is around 6% but in its favour the hill runs from West to East and with prevailing Westerly winds it helps. There is a petrol station at the top for snacks and drinks plus a lay-by at the top and bottom for easy turning. The descent is straight and fast with no corners to worry about and that would help a lot.
Yes, it's not the most exciting or pretty route but it gets it done and that's what matters.

https://www.strava.com/segments/3996917

mrb123

photonic69 said:

A guy I know Everested this stretch of road in West Wales. It used to be the main A40 but they since bypassed it and it has become a very quiet yet wide and straight road. It is short and the average gradient is around 6% but in its favour the hill runs from West to East and with prevailing Westerly winds it helps. There is a petrol station at the top for snacks and drinks plus a lay-by at the top and bottom for easy turning. The descent is straight and fast with no corners to worry about and that would help a lot.
Yes, it's not the most exciting or pretty route but it gets it done and that's what matters.

https://www.strava.com/segments/3996917

6% average makes it a long day in terms of KM. Roughly 300 including the descending?

DeVlaeminck

The two guys I know that have done it - one picked Beeley and one Sir William Hill - both in Derbyshire.

photonic69

mrb123 said:

photonic69 said:

A guy I know Everested this stretch of road in West Wales. It used to be the main A40 but they since bypassed it and it has become a very quiet yet wide and straight road. It is short and the average gradient is around 6% but in its favour the hill runs from West to East and with prevailing Westerly winds it helps. There is a petrol station at the top for snacks and drinks plus a lay-by at the top and bottom for easy turning. The descent is straight and fast with no corners to worry about and that would help a lot.
Yes, it's not the most exciting or pretty route but it gets it done and that's what matters.

https://www.strava.com/segments/3996917

6% average makes it a long day in terms of KM. Roughly 300 including the descending?

It did help that he was a World Record holding Ultra-cyclist

ugo.santalucia

The full Everest thing has crossed my mind a few times and has always been put to rest. The main thing is that I would be too late to the party... I should have done 15 years ago... there is nothing ground breaking or unique anymore... in fact, it is arguably difficult to find any tarmac covered hill that has not been Everested already. So then the question is... can I do the same thing that bloke did? Which is the same as saying can I go through the perilous journey of climbing mount Everest, that has already been climbed by hundreds if not thousands of people before... is there anything remarkable and memorable in that? The answer is obviously no, so I then turn to things which I find more rewarding and less of a hassle. The main issue here is that the memories you will carry with you are that of a shit day on the bike... If I wanted that kind of drudgery, I would probably do the Bryan Chapman Memorial again (which is about 8K of climbing too), or attempt London-Edinburgh-London... at least there is a sense of adventure and I would get to see new places, in return for the pain invested...

wallace_and_gromit

A mate of mine once did a Half Everest (not that he was aiming for it; he just climbed 4,500m in the ride) on a single hill close to home whilst in the latter stages of Marmotte training a few years ago. He was on call that weekend and needed to be able to get on site within an hour if needed, which he could do if he never strayed from the chosen route. Don't think it would have qualified as a Fractional Everest as he rode laps rather than a strict up-and-down. Even so, I was impressed with his stupidity!

ugo.santalucia

For what is worth, this is my attempt to do a half, which turned out to be a third... admittedly we (W12lad managed to do the half) could have chosen a better date than December, but in the summer I did prefer to do more enjoyable things

https://www.strava.com/activities/4475094635

pangolin

You thought the BCM was a censored day on the bike Ugo?