Considering an Everesting attempt
Discussion
Are you trying to find a hill that hasn't been done, do you want to be the first? I think its harder to find a "fresh" one in the UK, but logistics are an issue. Being only a few km from home would be a big plus, probably outweighing a busy road, for me anyway. However bear in mind you'll be tired beyond belief at times, and that's when you make mistakes, so it's a compromise you'll have to work out.
Start time? If I do another, I'd be tempted to not start early. We started at 5 am, I think I got up at 3. It means you wreck that night's sleep, especially if you struggle going to sleep before because you're excited or nervous, and you'll probably have to ride through the night or at least the hours of darkness. Another choice that you'll have to decide what's best for you.
I drove home after mine, it's only 40 minutes. I had hard no trouble staying awake during the challenge but that drive home was a real struggle. I would be tempted to ask a friend to drive me home after if I did another
Start time? If I do another, I'd be tempted to not start early. We started at 5 am, I think I got up at 3. It means you wreck that night's sleep, especially if you struggle going to sleep before because you're excited or nervous, and you'll probably have to ride through the night or at least the hours of darkness. Another choice that you'll have to decide what's best for you.
I drove home after mine, it's only 40 minutes. I had hard no trouble staying awake during the challenge but that drive home was a real struggle. I would be tempted to ask a friend to drive me home after if I did another
moonigan said:
32T Cassette will work fine with normal Ultegra rear mech with either 50/34 or 52/36 but you will have problems if you try and change into big/big with either combo. The 34t cassette requires the new long cage Ultegra rear mech.
What do you mean changing into the big/big? Using the 52T and the 32T at the same time? No way I'd do that if that's what you mean.... Plus di2 won't let me! I've set it so I can use the big ring and 3rd gear... If I try to shift down into an easier gear it'll drop me into the small ring and up a couple of gears at the back. Dannbodge said:
E65Ross said:
Where exactly do you mean? I don't venture that side of the hill much....but I know the Cosham Roundabout. The Hill has to be a Strava segment, and the route up and has to be the exact same as the route down.
The hill up past QA may be a good option......any other thoughts on this one?
https://www.strava.com/segments/935024
Thank you! I'll definitely bear that in mind!
Southwick hill road is quite a nice hill, bar the lights at the bottom.The hill up past QA may be a good option......any other thoughts on this one?
https://www.strava.com/segments/935024
Thank you! I'll definitely bear that in mind!
Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 17:01
Plus it has a pavement so when you are knackered you can always ride on that.
This one is London road:
https://www.strava.com/segments/7568919
Might struggle with the same route up and down though.
or Down end Road:
https://www.strava.com/segments/2420315
Daveyraveygravey said:
Are you trying to find a hill that hasn't been done, do you want to be the first? I think its harder to find a "fresh" one in the UK, but logistics are an issue. Being only a few km from home would be a big plus, probably outweighing a busy road, for me anyway. However bear in mind you'll be tired beyond belief at times, and that's when you make mistakes, so it's a compromise you'll have to work out.
Start time? If I do another, I'd be tempted to not start early. We started at 5 am, I think I got up at 3. It means you wreck that night's sleep, especially if you struggle going to sleep before because you're excited or nervous, and you'll probably have to ride through the night or at least the hours of darkness. Another choice that you'll have to decide what's best for you.
I drove home after mine, it's only 40 minutes. I had hard no trouble staying awake during the challenge but that drive home was a real struggle. I would be tempted to ask a friend to drive me home after if I did another
Not specifically trying for a new attempt, although it would be nice and I think I have the option. Would definitely get someone to drive me home if I don't use the road less than 1/2 mile from home! Start time? If I do another, I'd be tempted to not start early. We started at 5 am, I think I got up at 3. It means you wreck that night's sleep, especially if you struggle going to sleep before because you're excited or nervous, and you'll probably have to ride through the night or at least the hours of darkness. Another choice that you'll have to decide what's best for you.
I drove home after mine, it's only 40 minutes. I had hard no trouble staying awake during the challenge but that drive home was a real struggle. I would be tempted to ask a friend to drive me home after if I did another
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?
Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 19:35
My attempt was just over two years ago. I was lucky in that I used a hill that's literally a minute's ride from my house. Its average gradient was just over 4% but with some 10% slopes. Not too technical but it was a very narrow lane so descending wasn't as relaxing as I'd have liked. I didn't count the amount of reps I did, I merely went on elevation. In the end it was about 134 I think, and just over 18 hours of virtually non-stop riding at an average speed of 22.9kph. Just over 400km covered in total.
E65Ross said:
What do you mean changing into the big/big? Using the 52T and the 32T at the same time? No way I'd do that if that's what you mean.... Plus di2 won't let me! I've set it so I can use the big ring and 3rd gear... If I try to shift down into an easier gear it'll drop me into the small ring and up a couple of gears at the back.
Yep exactly that. Also if you are considering putting 34 upfront don’t worry about the issues when changing to the big ring. Just stay in the small one all the time and coast when you spin out going down.mcelliott said:
My attempt was just over two years ago. I was lucky in that I used a hill that's literally a minute's ride from my house. Its average gradient was just over 4% but with some 10% slopes. Not too technical but it was a very narrow lane so descending wasn't as relaxing as I'd have liked. I didn't count the amount of reps I did, I merely went on elevation. In the end it was about 134 I think, and just over 18 hours of virtually non-stop riding at an average speed of 22.9kph. Just over 400km covered in total.
Fookin ´ellCould have done it when you were younger, like this youth
http://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/5205/i-just-like-rid...
http://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/5205/i-just-like-rid...
E65Ross said:
....
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?
Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 19:35
I was worried about this for a couple of reasons, I have a Garmin Forerunner which doesn't have a barometer, it gets the height from the track off the satellite info, or something. It's in the Everesting rules as a no-no, but I had emailed Andy before and because we were attempting a group effort, I think he let me off. Some of the crew had those old school clickers, like bouncers sometimes have, or people on the gate at country events, when they want to count the amount of people coming in.
I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.
If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...
Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Tuesday 13th November 13:33
Daveyraveygravey said:
E65Ross said:
....
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?
Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 19:35
I was worried about this for a couple of reasons, I have a Garmin Forerunner which doesn't have a barometer, it gets the height from the track off the satellite info, or something. It's in the Everesting rules as a no-no, but I had emailed Andy before and because we were attempting a group effort, I think he let me off. Some of the crew had those old school clickers, like bouncers sometimes have, or people on the gate at country events, when they want to count the amount of people coming in.
I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.
If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...
Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Tuesday 13th November 13:33
Daveyraveygravey said:
I was worried about this for a couple of reasons, I have a Garmin Forerunner which doesn't have a barometer, it gets the height from the track off the satellite info, or something. It's in the Everesting rules as a no-no, but I had emailed Andy before and because we were attempting a group effort, I think he let me off. Some of the crew had those old school clickers, like bouncers sometimes have, or people on the gate at country events, when they want to count the amount of people coming in.
I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.
If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...
Forgot to ask....did you have a specific strategy in mind? for example, did you think "right, I'll stop every 10 laps" or was it a case of "I'll ride until I fancy a break"? I'm kind of thinking it's better to have a strategy which will help break the ride up, when you're feeling a bit worse for wear, and fancy getting off, rather than getting off you can think "no, my scheduled stop is 2 more laps....". And did you schedule how long you'd stop for etc? The longest thing I think I've ever done was a Sufferfest Knighthood which was around 9 hours of riding time (and that is literally 9 hours of pedaling time, since the recoveries still had me pedaling) and had roughly 5mins every 50-60mins or so.I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.
If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...
Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Tuesday 13th November 13:33
Thanks again
Before hand, I had it broken down into 4 bouts of 16 laps - although I should really have thought of it as 4 bouts of 17!
I knew if I went for a pb, I could probably do a single rep in 12 minutes, so I was honestly hoping to do the first 16 laps in four hours, and maybe finish in 20. Looking at my sheet, at best I just about scraped 4 reps in an hour, at worst I barely got through 2 reps an hour a few times.
On top of that, with the amount of us doing it, I assumed a lot of it would be social, but even on a hill as easy as Boxhill, it quickly became clear we would all be going at our own pace, which would change as the day wore on.
I had nothing else to go on, I think I had done a few hundred milers over the years, but nothing like this.
I remember the first half seeming to drag, each rep it felt like I had hardly gone anywhere, still got all of it left. The second half was the opposite, it seemed to pass much quicker. Maybe at this point, the tank was so empty I knew I just had to keep turning the pedals.
It might be an idea to have the car or base camp 5-10 minutes away from the route. The car park was literally next to the turnaround point at the top, it was too easy to find a reason to pull in and faff about.
I knew if I went for a pb, I could probably do a single rep in 12 minutes, so I was honestly hoping to do the first 16 laps in four hours, and maybe finish in 20. Looking at my sheet, at best I just about scraped 4 reps in an hour, at worst I barely got through 2 reps an hour a few times.
On top of that, with the amount of us doing it, I assumed a lot of it would be social, but even on a hill as easy as Boxhill, it quickly became clear we would all be going at our own pace, which would change as the day wore on.
I had nothing else to go on, I think I had done a few hundred milers over the years, but nothing like this.
I remember the first half seeming to drag, each rep it felt like I had hardly gone anywhere, still got all of it left. The second half was the opposite, it seemed to pass much quicker. Maybe at this point, the tank was so empty I knew I just had to keep turning the pedals.
It might be an idea to have the car or base camp 5-10 minutes away from the route. The car park was literally next to the turnaround point at the top, it was too easy to find a reason to pull in and faff about.
Thanks for that. Admittedly, I've never done anything like this before, but I have done some very hard things over the years and generally, if I'm going to do something and have a plan in place, I do it. I had no issues psychologically doing the sufferfest Knighthood.....9 hours on an indoor trainer in a day. It hurt, yet, but it didn't phase me that, after 3-4 hours in I wasn't even half way.
Raising money for the hospital department that removed a brain tumour for me and saved my life will be my other "I must complete this, people will have put money down for this"....and lastly, I've literally JUST put it on the Fareham Wheelers cycling FB page, and already had a few people saying they'd pop along and ride with me through sections. I think the hardest part will be the last few hours.....Morning....not a problem as you're still fresh. Afternoon....fatiguing but not TOO bad and people will be around for support....it's getting late into the following evening when people go home for their dinners etc when it'll be hard I think. I will keep the base nearby, but I feel if I ensure I stop only when desperately needed or on "X number of laps" and stick to that, I shall be OK.
Roughly how often did you stop, and how long were the stops....or did it vary significantly through the day? Cheers
Raising money for the hospital department that removed a brain tumour for me and saved my life will be my other "I must complete this, people will have put money down for this"....and lastly, I've literally JUST put it on the Fareham Wheelers cycling FB page, and already had a few people saying they'd pop along and ride with me through sections. I think the hardest part will be the last few hours.....Morning....not a problem as you're still fresh. Afternoon....fatiguing but not TOO bad and people will be around for support....it's getting late into the following evening when people go home for their dinners etc when it'll be hard I think. I will keep the base nearby, but I feel if I ensure I stop only when desperately needed or on "X number of laps" and stick to that, I shall be OK.
Roughly how often did you stop, and how long were the stops....or did it vary significantly through the day? Cheers
When I did mine, I did at least the first three hours non stop. Mainly due to having a large breakfast and the excitement of doing it. By mid to late morning I had some company for a couple of hours or more, which I found helped enormously, even if I didn't talk much. By mid afternoon I was probably stopping every couple of hours simply to fuel and drink coffee, not really getting off the bike for too long as I felt restarting the reps quite difficult (to find the rhythm again). Fatigue really did start to set in mid to late evening - this is when I found the company invaluable, but again not really talking. One thing I should add - I did my effort in May and after 8pm the temperature really did plummet, and despite sweating and having extra layers, I found it quite difficult to keep warm. I have to say the last 2,000 metres were very difficult. I eventually finished my effort just before 1:30 a.m. Regarding schedules for stopping - if you're feeling strong and have food on board keep going. Rhythm is everything on this ride. Towards the end I was simply stopping whenever I felt like it.
idiotgap said:
Great idea Ross, I'd like to do an everesting one day.
If you've not watched Matt Barbet's video series on his everesting attempt on the cycling weekly youtube channel, take a look.
His biggest error highlighted quite a common ' why would you do that?' mistake; If you're doing it at a time / place where its going to be hot, start in the evening and ride through the night.If you've not watched Matt Barbet's video series on his everesting attempt on the cycling weekly youtube channel, take a look.
Starting mid morning when it's going to hit 35C is setting up to fail.
Looking back at my notes, I think I planned to stop every 8 reps which would I hoped to have been 2.5 - 3 hours. Although I stopped after lap 1 to get rid of some layers! Rain coming around half ten forced another unplanned stop. It looks like I was stopping every 4 reps through the night; the puncture at half 11 nearly stopped the show. I was near the bottom of the hill, so I had to fix it to get back up to the car, which is what kept me going. Luckily it was the front wheel, so I stood the bike on the forks and fixed the flat in the beam from the light, didn't have to take it off the bike. A rear puncture would have been much harder to deal with.
This was May as well, it got down to 6 degrees during the night, and I still had wet feet from around lunchtime so my feet were cold like never before. I think May is probably too early in the year in the UK; we had most variations of weather, and 6 degrees is damn cold when you can't just stop or go home.
Two mates came and joined me around 6 pm and did about 7 laps with me, which gave me a boost and those 7 laps went quickly. They also went into Dorking and came back with a couple of pizzas and a small bottle of beer, which might have been the all time high in terms of pizza and beer!
So yes, have a strategy and stay with it as long as you can, but don't let it get to you when you go off piste.
This was May as well, it got down to 6 degrees during the night, and I still had wet feet from around lunchtime so my feet were cold like never before. I think May is probably too early in the year in the UK; we had most variations of weather, and 6 degrees is damn cold when you can't just stop or go home.
Two mates came and joined me around 6 pm and did about 7 laps with me, which gave me a boost and those 7 laps went quickly. They also went into Dorking and came back with a couple of pizzas and a small bottle of beer, which might have been the all time high in terms of pizza and beer!
So yes, have a strategy and stay with it as long as you can, but don't let it get to you when you go off piste.
So, why am I doing this?
https://www.gofundme.com/hw565t
No pressure guys.... (or for me
)
If ANY of you would be so kind as to donate I would be massively grateful! Raising money for charity who are, shall we say, very close to home, will really help keep me going in those last few km, I'm sure!
If any of you are interested in my "story" then let me know and I'll put up a load of info about what I went through....it wasn't pleasant but I'm still here thanks to the guys at Wessex Neuro.
https://www.gofundme.com/hw565t
No pressure guys.... (or for me
)If ANY of you would be so kind as to donate I would be massively grateful! Raising money for charity who are, shall we say, very close to home, will really help keep me going in those last few km, I'm sure!
If any of you are interested in my "story" then let me know and I'll put up a load of info about what I went through....it wasn't pleasant but I'm still here thanks to the guys at Wessex Neuro.
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