Everesting and Marginal Gains

Hi Guys.

I’m a regulur listener in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. I was interested in the history at the start of the Everesting podcast because I did it in 1986!

Back then I had a little gang of mates in the local cycling club and we used to challenge each other to progressively more extreme endurance rides.

There was a chap who worked for Aberdeen University called Andrew Manwel, he came up the idea of climbing the height of Everest. I wasn’t an athelete, I was just a skinny 21 year old club level cyclist who could go uphill well – so that particular challenge came my way!

On the west coast of Scotland there is a pass called ‘Bealach na Ba’ which rises from sea level to 2056 feet then drops straight back down to sea level on the other side. One side is 5 miles, the other side is 7 miles. The plan was to use alternative sides but it was quite windy on the day and climbing the 5 mile side into the wind was very hard so after 2 times I just rode the 7 mile side.

This use of alternative sides of the pass means the ride would not qualify for Everesting under the current rules but the objective was certainly achieved in terms of the height gain.

I was not trying to set any particular time, just seeing if it could be done. Including food stops it was about 19 hours. I don’t own the bike I did it on any more but it was a Reynolds 531 framed Mercian with Campagnolo parts.

I still ride a steel framed bike – a Colnago now – but still with Campag parts, it is the bike I couldn’t afford when I was 16!

I can back up this claim with paperwork if required.

Keep up the good work – the podcast is really interesting – although I am firmly in the ‘retro’ camp so do not practice most of what you talk about. I’m sure there is a marginal gain from just thinking about it though!

Cheers.

Bill Rawles

Turriff

Aberdeenshire. Scotland

Hi All,

Loving the podcast and the videos! I have two questions for you:

1. I’m currently running tubeless on my gravel bike wheels and I keep having slow leaks after two to three months due to the rim tape peeling off, thus compromising the airtight integrity. Is this normal from your experience? How much time should I generally expect from a tubeless rim tape? What can I do to prevent this from happening?

2. I watched your recent video regarding cleaning chains in an ultrasonic cleaner, and I was wondering for the final cleaning step whether it was possible to use rubbing alcohol, something like 91% isopropyl alcohol from a drug store, instead? What’s more important, the concentration of the solvent, the solvent structure, or both?

Thanks so much!

Nice podcast! Minor correcetion: my 10 laps of Donna Buang (10 840 m of ascent) in November 1994 took me 22h45m. In October 2012 I rode 8.5 laps (8848+ m) in 15 hours. Thanks. George Mallory

You say “all but the very fittest of us in the world are going to be doing part of this in the dark”. In addition to fitness, that also depends on the latitude. :)

Currently, in Southern Finland (~60°N) the sun rises at around 04:00 and sets at 23:00, so you’d got 19 hours between dusk and dawn – and in addition it doesn’t get really dark even after the sunset. And in the Northern Finland (~70° N), the sun sets next time in the end of July…

Of course, we don’t have any long climbs to speak of, so picking Sweden or Norway would be probably a better idea, if someone is planning on selecting the location based on the available daylight.

Great listen! Although attempting an “Everesting” is something I’m highly unlikely to attempt due to me being somewhat “gravity challenged”, in thinking about the course selection I came to the conclusion that not only the straighter the course, the better…but also the steeper, the better. It really all comes down to gearing. Find the steepest, straightest climb you can find, and then gear appropriately so that you can ride it at your preferred power level and cadence. If it means putting on a super-granny-gear, so be it. And, if it’s steep and straight enough, you don’t even have to worry about downhill gearing :-)