X-ING.

I have got this idea to cross the Southern Alps in one day in a different route than the traditional c2c course. Hokitika - Browning Pass-Wilberforce - Rakaia river- Rakaia. 223km. I don't even know if its possible to do it in one day. But you don't know until you try it.
Are you keen to join the pioneer group? Let me know.

Dates -  weather depending, but either 14.,15.4, or 21., 22.4.
If we can put together a group of 3-4 keen people it would be great.

THE EQUIVALENT OF EVEREST IN A DAY

THE EQUIVALENT OF EVEREST IN A DAY

It’s 3:45 am, two days before Christmas and my alarm clock goes off. I usually don’t use it as my circadian rhythm adopted over time to 5am wake up-train-breakfast-work routine quite nicely. But this morning is different. I need that extra hour. I have set myself for a challenge – to climb on mountain bike the equivalent of the height of Mt. Everest in continues effort.

The challenge that has its origins in another virtual conquest of the Himalayan peak; as the crux of his Mt. Everest training regime, George Mallory, grandson of the early Everest explorer, cycle-ascended its equivalent elevation on Mount Donna Buang, Victoria, Australia in 1994. Though that achievement went largely without fanfare, two decades later Australian Andy van Bergen transformed the concept into Everesting, an endeavour that would fix imaginations of cyclists the world over, daring those able to ride to an effective top of the world.

I have roped my partner Lucy to be my part-time support. She is up early too, preparing my “fuel” for the first 6 hour, while I load the gear into the car. It’s only a 10 min drive to my “mountain” and at 5:00 I push start on my Garmin – here we go! The challenge is on. Over the last 10 years racing I have found my niche – laps. I do like multi-laps racing. Mtb XC races, solo 6, 12, 24 hr races or challenge like this one. It is maybe analogue to life – day after day / lap after lap. And every day/lap trying to improve, take better line, better my lap time or staying 100% focused and don’t let my mind drift away.

And what prompted me to take on the challenge - and the necessary preparation? I believe, as humans, we get comfortable. We’ve got everything we need. We are so comfortable, it’s not common to get into an uncomfortable zone, but that’s the place where you appreciate the comfort more. That’s the underlying theme.

Sun comes up. One lap = 52min, 470 vertical meters. I have all my fuel & water prepared nicely lined up on the tailgate of my car. Moving time counts. Few friends come over to ride a lap with me and cheer me up in middle of a day. I hope that my Garmin computer is not going to run out of batteries – I do have an external databank, but I don’t want to stop and muck around with it. 8000m - It is getting darker. Neighbouring farmer and his family come out on a quad bike and all four of them drive up behind me, lighting my path up. I ride the last lap up in almost complete darkness. But I am in a flow, really enjoying it and don’t want to stop. Maybe I can do it under 17hrs. I push hard and the legs are hurting. What a feeling when I see the numbers 8848 on my computer. 16hrs 59 min.

Full of adrenalin I ride down the forestry logging track in complete darkness – I should now the way by now J.

And what did I eat?

I knew that if I want to enjoy it, solid nutrition will be important in this challenge. I have contacted Rachael from Hammer Nutrition and she helped me tune-in my fuelling plan. She is a big advocate of “less is more” strategy, when it comes to fuelling. I was trying it out during my training and I was starting to get convinced. So what did I actually eat? Nothing. I had no solid food over the 17 hrs. Liquid food only. I used one bottle of Hammer Perpetuem per hour. That took care of my water and calorie intake. On top of that every hour I took electrolytes- Hammer Endurolytes Extreme. That’s all.

WORLD 24 HR SOLO MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS

WORLD 24 HR SOLO MTB CHAMPIONSHIPS

FEB. 2016, ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

…. And this is my lesson for next time: never fiddle with your bike setup few days before a long ride like this one! I will get to it later.

             This was a race I was really looking forward to. I have planned my whole summer around it – the races leading up to it, our family holiday, and said “no” to offers I would normally take. This was a chance for me to have a ride with the best athletes in the world. It was a chance for me to do something I knew I will push myself to limits. So six month earlier, I’ve signed up.

Three days before the race I got off the small plane in Rotorua – and it rained, as it was for the whole week. My pit crew were due to arrive next day so I have used that day to put my two bikes together, made sure everything worked, sort out my race food and cloths. That was the time when I fiddled with my brake levers setup and with my front suspension setup. I should not have done it. In the evening I went to Q&A evening with Jason English - current 24hr world champ. I was so glad I went there – Jason was talking about how he adjusts his diet before the race so that he does not have to make any big toilet brakes. Good point – as I have not realized this. As a vegan I eat mainly fruit and vegetable – lots of fibre. So what can I eat in time leading up to a race? Immediately I was on the phone to my partner Lucy who is a guru in plant based diet. I was searching the web for ideas. Few hours later and trip to a supermarket I was sorted. Fibreless vegan diet – miso soup, shakes, smooth nut butters,… I definitely could not live on that for long! But it worked, and I was so glad to attend that evening.

Next day, still raining, when my pit crew arrived (my two traveling Czech mates living in a Bongo van) I went to have my first ride on the race course in Whakawara Mountain Bike Park. I got back an hour later. This is definitely not sort of riding terrain we have in South Canterbury – I was expecting a T-Rex walking out of the giant ferns. While hosing off mud of my glasses and my bike I was feeling very unsure. The tracks received 190mm of rain in the last week. I was sliding on the track at every corner and had to go very slow on those steep descends. Slippery tree roots were the worst – I did not have any control of my bike on those. So a quick trip to a bike shop to change my tire was next. I was so glad that I have swapped my front narrow slippery tire for grippy wide 2.2 beast.

I don’t know why, but I was not nervous before the race start at midday. I knew that I have done everything I could to earn my spot here. Getting up at 4 or 5am seven times a week. Juggling family a work. Getting help with training from Matty Graham - a friend and someone I trust. Making many compromises. All the pieces of this puzzle just came nicely together on the day. The gun went off. With my coach Matty we had a plan – to ride strongly during the first 4 hrs, then settle into a good aerobic pace and make it through the night and pick up the pace again next morning. But because this was my first 24hr I knew that there are going to be changes. I was surprised how fast everyone started. I felt like screaming – C’mon guys, its 24hr race, not a 30km XC blast! First lap is always hard – but after that you find a place where you belong. During the daylight I was riding definitely harder then I wanted for a 24hr race but I felt good and was in the mix with the guys in my age group. My plan was not to stop in the transition until I needed lights. That is why I have chosen liquid food (Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition) so I can just grab another bottle from my support crew without stopping and keep on riding.  That worked really well as I made up some time on guys I was riding with who usually caught me again on technical single-tracks. Another reason why I like liquid food is the simplicity –it was very easy to school-up my pit crew on that.  My fuelling plan was simple- I have divided the race into into 5hr blocks : every 5^th hour I changed from Perpetuem to Hammer Bar or couple of gels as reward.

After continues 13 hours in saddle every part of my body hurt. It was a strange feeling – as I did not mind the pain and was enjoying the moment. I even did not want to know my placing – I rode to my limits so what else matters! It was probably thanks to caffeine in the Caffe-Latee Perpetuem that helped me to make it through the night. I usually train in the early hours of morning – so come 5am, my body probably recognised this time, I caught a second breath and took it up a notch. What a great feeling. I was even awoke enough to avoid riding over 3 possums, wallaby and a hedgehog. With 3 hours to go I found myself in a deep hole. Maybe I got too excited with the first rays of sunshine and rode too hard. My feet were burning in the shoes. Every molehill felt like climbing Everest.  I had to dig deep during my last lap –focusing on the track through my fogged up contact lenses and trying not to crash. My right hand wrist was sore from never ending shifting and braking (I should not have fiddled with my brakes levers!)  What motivated me on my last lap was that I did not want to be passed.

I crossed the finish line after 24:09:59, 370km, 6000m + of climbing with a grin on the face.

Many thanks to my sponsors: