Everesting: Brutally Hard
Linked Insights:
“It’s a symbol for anything big and momentous in our lives””
- Andy Van Bergen
Pointless? Yes.
Trendy? Up for debate.
Bandwagon? Well, we well and truly jumped on it.
Alluring? Absolutely.
Let’s rewind two months. Our squad are embarking on a training day with the intention of climbing 3000m through repetitions of the hill we plan to use for Everesting.
Five repetitions into the segment – 4.32km long, 289m elevation and a 6.7% gradient – it dawned upon us that we need something shorter and steeper to stimulate us, physically and mentally. Collectively we learnt a lot, mainly that 6% is too shallow, eating up unnecessary kilometres and time. We weren’t setting out to break any records, but we still wanted to create the best conditions possible to take us forward in our training.
The training day served its purpose: it clarified what we were searching for. So, twelve repetitions later, sunburnt and fatigued, it was back to the drawing board.
Our essential criteria were as follows:
Minimum average gradient: 10%
Distance: 1.5-2km
Road surface: Good quality
Sharp turns: 0
Visibility at turnaround points: High
And our desirable:
Beautiful scenery
A straight, quiet road
A location on the M4 corridor, between Swansea and Cardiff
No previous Everesting completions
The recce rides and scouring of Google Maps and Strava began. Maerdy Mountain in Aberdare provided a good location for our basecamp (4424m) training day, but the gradient flattened at the top and traffic was heavy.
We continued to recce local hills but nothing hit the mark. Time was ticking.
Fourteen days to go.
A friend suggests a segment on Watford Road, Caerphilly. With tyre pressure checked and our fingers crossed so far as practicable, we rode.
In terms of our essential criteria, it was perfect. Some of the desirable list would need to be sacrificed but, hey, they’re things that are (quite literally) not essential. There was also the added bonus of a coffee shop at the top of the hill. Yes, the coffee was average but, amidst 8848m of climbing, our coffee snobbery would likely be diminished.
We were set. Planning and logistics were in place, individual climb strategies had been discussed and documented. All we needed to do now was carefully meander through the final few training sessions before the big day.
Ten days out.
Covid-19 throws us a curveball and Caerphilly County Borough is locked down. If you live there you can’t leave and if you don’t, you can’t enter. From our previous Insights you’ll know our approach to the pandemic - be responsible and mitigate risk.
Watford Road was no more.
Of course, this was an important lesson, synonymous with optimising human performance. Every journey comes with highs and lows. Linear progression is only true in folk law.
Once again, we went back to the drawing board.
There was always one hill that we reserved for contingency. In places the road surface is fit only for hardtail mountain bikes but, with ten days to go, we needed to look for solutions rather than focus on problems.
Individual climb strategies were altered, plans and logistics changed, and, after some analysis of the local coronavirus situation, it was settled. We would Everest on The Dark Side, Wentwood, Monmouthshire.
Segment: RÁS [Everesting]
Segment Ascent: 1.2km
Segment Elevation: 129m
Segment Average Gradient: 10.7%
Total Repetitions: 69
Total Ascent: 82.8km
Total Descent: 82.8km
Total Distance: 165.6km
Total Elevation: 8901m
We were back on track.
Despite changing plans and setbacks, the attitude of our athletes was terrific. There was no moaning or whinging, just excitement, enthusiasm and gratitude for an opportunity to join the challenge - wherever it was going to be. Throughout months of preparation, day after day, they showed a dedication to their craft that will, in the long term, give them the means to achieve whatever they set their minds to.
With the final few training sessions complete, an express taper prepared us physiologically for what lay ahead.
Rendezvous: Cadira Beeches car park, 1km north of The Dark Side.
04:30. Lights on. Spirits high. Fatigue low.
The support team headed off to set up HQ whilst we huddled for one final pep talk. This was it.
Courage was the theme of the day. It’s a word that means something different to everyone but, for the whole squad to climb that segment no less than sixty nine times, we each needed to find our own meaning.
Five beaming spotlights descended for the first time on what would be a long but magical day.
Two of us had previously cycled the hill but for the other three it was a completely new experience. Given that the road surface was less than ideal, we might have (or might not have…!) circled the numerous potholes with spray paint to avoid any unnecessary spills.
Let’s briefly explain the segment.
It can be broken into four sections:
400m - Spin and build [gradient 8-11%]
500m - Manage your effort [gradient 11-15%]
100m - Brief respite [gradient 8%]
300m - Strap yourself in [gradient 11-16%]
The first ten repetitions passed with little drama. Conversation flowed and we rode as a group until the seventh repetition – bespoke strategies determining separate rest stops. Darkness masked the challenge that lay ahead and it was somewhat tranquil; zero traffic and no artificial light, except for our headlights.
It was magnificent. A solid start to what was going to be an epic day.
The support crew were the glue that held us together and they quickly found a rhythm in providing us with our nutrition and hydration, as our individual plans dictated.
Repetitions eleven through twenty saw us leave behind the early morning darkness and ride underneath the rising sun. There’s a break in the trees about halfway into the segment and the view beyond is breathtaking. This is why we do what we do; freedom from the rat race and the world that exists outside of our endurance pursuits.
The squad are still in high spirits, but there’s an obvious attrition which accompanies each repetition. An ascent takes roughly 8 minutes 30 seconds; descents are now 30 seconds quicker than in the dark, dropping to around 1 minute 30.
We talk about chunks of ten repetitions without context. In reality, this represents 1 hour 40 minutes (give or take) of threshold intervals.
And if you know, you know.
Repetitions twenty one to fifty.
“F*%k this is getting tough”, echoes from the voice of Richie.
This is where frailties, both physical and psychological, start to become exposed. You’ve been riding long enough for fatigue to start creeping up on you, but you’re still hours from seeing the summit.
We always considered the fiftieth ascent to be a milestone, and it was. It was the point at which risk of failure had passed and we could bully our bodies into cranking out another nineteen efforts, however long that might take.
Without a doubt, we wouldn’t have reached that point without our support team. They were integral to the challenge and the day wouldn’t have been possible without them. From setting up camp at an unspeakable hour, to keeping us fed, physically and mentally, throughout.
Friends and family also stopped by at various intervals to break up the monotony, some of them even joining us for a few repetitions, restoring our motivation and renewing our resilience.
“everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth”
- Mike Tyson
Fifty one to sixty are best described as a wreckage of ambition.
Strategy goes out of the window. We’d trained and planned to the best of our ability but the last minute change of location meant we were Everesting on a steeper gradient than we’d specifically trained for.
In these 100 minutes we suffered collectively. Cadence plummeted and muscle fatigue soared. This shit was real, but it was what we were all looking for.
Repetitions sixty to sixty eight were an acceptance of suffering.
“There's suffering, then there's Everesting” uttered Dan, briefly trying to explain how he was feeling.
We were almost drunk with fatigue which, when you consider we were repeating one climb until exhaustion, isn’t surprising.
Sixty nine. The last dance.
It came at different times of day for each of us; some in daylight, others in darkness. But for each of us it was special. We’d each found our own, individual courage and were about to join a community that had experienced the emotions that we were now – the Everesting community. Crew got crew, as they say.
Max, lay motionless on the floor. Legs obliterated, hands blistered and with his lower back slowly seizing, responded beautifully to a question softly spoken by his Mum, “But why, Max?"
"Because this is living, Mum."
Some of us started the day with intentions of hitting 10,000m elevation. Those ambitions were well and truly shattered by The Dark Side of Wentwood. Even a cursory glance up that road was now like looking into hell. Climbing it another eight times was unthinkable.
So, what does it mean?
Like most things, nothing to many. But to a few? Everything.
We made the most of a turbulent season when it would have been easy to let it pass us by, written off, with little athletic progress. Instead, each of these athletes will benefit immensely not only from their physical efforts, but also from the psychological resilience that they built to endure 8901m of climbing.
But this isn’t just about performance improvements. It’s an accomplishment, a boundary broken and a personal triumph that will live with us all forever.
Life is about capturing special moments. Everesting was one of them.
Keep striving.