My Virtual Everesting attempt was all in aid for the Coronavirus Pandemic that was affecting the entire world! I wanted to show my appreciation for the NHS as they are putting their lives on the line on a daily basis to save others, and defeat the virus; especially the intensive care units where I was admitted when I had my car accident and they saved my life.

Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world above sea level, situated in the Himalayas of southern Asia on the border between Nepal and China. The current official elevation is at 8,848m (29,029ft) and has claimed many deaths of people trying to summit the Mountain. 

What is Everesting?

Everesting on a bike is where you choose one hill and cycle up and down it until you reach the total ascent of Mount Everest. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you as you’re allowed as many breaks as you like, however you can’t sleep! It is challenging to say the least.

A virtual Everesting is almost the same apart from you don’t have the outdoor elements to compete with, and you can rest more whilst descending as your avatar simply rolls down the hill so you can grab some food etc. I used a program called Zwift which is an online game that you link up to an indoor smart trainer using Bluetooth or an Ant+ Dongle whilst your bike is attached to the trainer by removing the back wheel. This picks up your wattage, speed, cadence, and changes gradient to simulate realistic outdoor terrain and gradients. 

The virtual world has hills that are almost the same as the real world. I chose Alpe d’Huez but is called Alpe du Zwift in the virtual world which is 1144m high. It would mean riding up and down the virtual hill 8 1/2 times at an average gradient of 8.5 %,21 hairpins, and 11 miles in length. In total the whole ride was around 130 miles and would take me between 12 and 14 hours. I was in for a big day! Phew!

Why?

My virtual Everesting attempt was all in aid for the Coronavirus pandemic that was affecting the entire world. I wanted to show my appreciation for the NHS as they are putting their lives on the line daily to save others, and defeat this virus, especially the intensive care units where I was admitted and saved my life. 

About

On April 17th, 2020 at 6.30 am, I put on my lycra and shoes, switched on my trainer and computer, and started pedaling! I was quite nervous as there is always that feeling of failing. What if it’s too hard, what if I don’t fuel correctly and my body doesn’t cope, what if something goes wrong with my trainer or computer etc. Uncertainty comes with challenging yourself and it’s how well you deal with it.

It took me just under an hour of riding the first ascent and no doubt this would get slower the more fatigued I became. After every ascent, I made sure I had at least drunk one full bottle of SIS electrolytes mixture. I ate on every decent and topped up my fluids to keep my glycogen levels topped up which helped to fuel my muscles in order to complete the challenge.

I had the trainer set up in our garage, purely so I could get more ventilation and also watch the world go by. My mum suggested that we put a sign up at the top of the drive to address what I was doing and why. Also, we had a link for my JustGiving page. This helped massively for my morale as when people passed, they were shouting encouraging comments and waving to me. Some even donated! The kindness of others is an amazing thing. 

By my 4th ascent, I was starting to feel the fatigue and realise the scale of the task. I did a live stream on Instagram just to distract me and help my morale. Talking to others was a huge help. My mood changed in waves as by the 6th ascent I was in a very dark place. I remember just sitting in the house feeling completely broken. My body had enough. All I wanted to do was just sit down and sleep. After a couple of packets of crisps and a banana sandwich, I decided to face the virtual world once again.

Uh oh! Big problem! My trainer wasn’t registering with Zwift. It seemed like my dongle had gone to sleep. I was researching drastically what to do with my dad, we tried turning everything off and back on but still nothing! I had friends messaging me suggesting what to do and video chatting to me. Nothing was working! I was so close…my heart sank! 

I have a friend who is a mechanic and drove over from work. We fiddled around with the connections and then suddenly…. PING! Everything was on. The malfunction woke me up and gave me a burst of energy to finish. I had 2 and half more ascents. I can do this!

7 then turned into 8 and before I know it, I had riders who I knew leading me up the climb. My old lecturer from University, a couple of people from the cycling club. Then another friend of mine came over to cheer me on and wave cowbells. I tuned into Facebook live for the last couple of hundred meters. Allez,Allez,Allez is all I remember seeing as I climbed the last final meters. 5,4,3,2,1 achievement unlocked EVERESTED!

It’s difficult to put into words the amount of support I received, but all I can say is that it was overwhelming. I unclipped off my bike, stood there, and didn’t really know what to do with myself. It was a surreal moment as I had been at it for almost 14 hours and then it was all over. I checked my phone, lots of people had donated, messages on my WhatsApp and Strava were coming through. It was a bit mad for a couple of hours but one of those moments I will always remember.

There were times when I wanted to throw in the towel and call it a day, but it was the support from others that helped me push through. I want to say a massive thank you to those that helped and an even bigger thank you to the NHS staff. Nothing I will ever do will show my gratitude for what the staff of the NHS has done. I have raised £2,685 as this is a continuous effort from my previous fundraising where I cycled the length of the UK in 10 days for the NHS. For the Everest challenge, I started off with £1,700 and have managed to raise £955 in just short of 3 weeks!

Links below:

Yorkshire Post | Justgiving | Linkedin | Leeds Cares Charity