Everesting – Climb the Equivalent of Mt. Everest
I still have the email that Andy van Bergen wrote to the Hells 500 group in 2013, suggesting that we turn George Mallory’s notoriously epic training regime into a permanent cycling challenge. I was up for the bike ride but quietly skeptical that it would become a lasting phenomenon. In Andy’s words:<p>&gt; “This epic is tough - but it will form the springboard for a new wave of endurance riding around the globe.”<p>Still, as part of the launch of Everesting as a standing challenge, I cleared six solo, unsupported repeats of Australia’s Mt Hotham in February 2014.<p>Then I slept for a week.<p>Fast forward to today, and it’s evident that I was wrong and Andy was right. There are nearly twenty-three thousand Everestings documented in the official hall of fame, and no doubt more unrecognised besides. I guess it’s a combination of being just-about-achievable, with constraints that help focus the effort without compromising the difficulty, plus the enjoyable imagery associated with the branding.<p>Will I do it again? Probably not, but if you’re interested, then let it be known that no great athletic gifts are required, and with adequate preparation and mindset a very average cyclist (such as myself) can pull it off.