This will be the 6th time I've attempted to go for an Everest. They're always hard, and it can be hard to train well for one, as subconsciously your body knows that you are really going to hurt it really badly, and it can be hard to get motivated to train. More often than not I just bum around on the week before hand.
For this Everest, I coordinated with Stryder to team up for our second Everest. Many suggestions were thrown around, and was difficult to decide on a climb. Neither of us are in super shape so it was decided to look for nothing over 6% and eventually David Hill Road got put out there by Stryder. This was on my short list for my original Everest, but at that time it was far too long for me to consider, and I ended up shelving the idea. We are Everesting the first steep bit which is 1.5km's @ 5%. Several pinches hit 9%, but there's nothing on this climb that will give me grief.
https://www.strava.com/segments/3235026
How I came to do this Everest........ A couple of months ago I was getting burnt out @ work, and decided to take a week off to ride, but the earliest time I could justify taking time off work was in February. I had several epic rides I was considering doing, but of course doing an Everest came to mind. Colby Drive & Olivebank Avenue really hurt me after, and I figured with a couple of rest days on either side, I could use this as a launching pad to get back in shape. As a bonus, I heard that there would be a group Everest on Mount Donna Buang on the Saturday and a Domestique ride planned around it. I worked out that if we knocked out a 10,000 vertical Everest on the Wednesday, and recovered well enough to do a lot of laps on Donna on the Saturday I could be in for some serious vertical for the week, and smash my record of 12,500 vertical in a week.
I went and rolled 19 laps of David Hill with Geert before work on 24/01/2015, and it felt right. Each lap blended itself, and the laps seemed to end just as I was getting to enjoy myself. The descent is a real beaut as well. You can take most of the corners at full speed, except for one technical corner which took me awhile to work out the right line into it.
https://www.strava.com/activities/245082613
Traffic will be a concern, as its a narrow road without a shoulder, and there is a school at the top of climb, and I have reservations over what doing an Everest will be like around school drop-offs & pick-ups. We plan on having a forced break between 8:30am - 9:00am & 3:00pm - 3:30pm to accommodate for this, and possibly consider shortening the climb, by about 200 metres around the school period to avoid traffic, and possibly plan on riding single file from 7:00am until the traffic dies down. The plan is to start at 6:00pm on Tuesday 3rd February, & finish before it gets dark on the Wednesday. The weather will be so-so, and there's a 30% chance of rain. I've thrown in a lot of wet weather kit (after my experience on Olivebank). I'm looking forward to the overnight section, which has a warm 13 degrees forecast. I've never had any luck on any of my overnight runs, and very much overdue for some luck.
Honestly I'm not feeling confident, but I know once I get riding and into a rhythm I'll be right. As long as I've got someone riding alongside me I'll keep going. Stryder emphasized the importance of pacing ourselves as we are aiming at 10,000vm, and making sure that we are eating throughout the day. It will great starting so early overnight, as we will be likely to have over 200km's knocked off by the time it gets light on the Wednesday. We'll be nice & tired when our support shows up, but that's what an Everest is all about.
To be continued..........
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