Everesting World Record Attempt

[L46]

Good luck - I admire your courage in making the attempt

 

Just to be clear, it's not me and I don't know Paul.. I will be sitting on the couch probably eating some biltong as part of my non-vegan diet while he goes up and down that hill fueled by cabbage... But make no mistake, he is a super strong rider and should know what he is capable of, so I wouldn't be surprised if he comes close.

[dave303e]

Only complete laps count, even if it sucks at the time, that's the rules!

I did mine with a buddy, we rode with each other the whole time, but our GPS's gave slightly different readings.  We decided to push on and keep going until the lowest reading was beyond 9000m just to be safe.  After analyzing the graph afterwards, my buddies elevation graph was 'growing' slightly with each repeat (especially from about halfway onwards) showing slightly more climbing than there was.  Hang on, I must find the picture, it'll make more sense...  Two graphs attached below - mine on top and my buddies at the bottom.  Notice how his low point elevation is creeping up with each lap. 

Both GPS's had barometric altimeters but one was a dodgy Garmin

After being on the bike for around 21 hrs at that point, this decision to keep going when one device said we'd done enough wasn't met with happiness and enthusiasm

It's not called a challenge for nothing!

 

 

Temperature does also affect pressure and this can be corrected for. 

 

Like I said- measuring with a gps device is not really a strong enough arguement if you are claiming a record. A professional surveyor and an official counting laps would be as easy and far more trustable result in my honest opinion. You don't even need a surveyor if you find a pair of town survey marks or a hill with a trig beacon at the top...

[Pure Savage]

seriously a whole other rep. can you not just go to the 8848 point and turn around? (ie. part of a lap)?!  that must be soul destroying!

 

i would think a barometric altimeter is a given for everesting, and calibrate when/if out of sync

 

kevbenk and wimpie both on 9 each it seems.

 

race on for double figures!

 

Yeah, we did an extra one with him, was lekker as his wife arrived at his last lap and Calvin woke up from the support car. 

 

Looking to do another, the problem is finding a hill that has not been used. Would love to do Constania Nek but pretty sure would die. 

 

Maybe Ou Kaapse, full red hill, even price drive is free still

[dirtypot]

Looking to do another, the problem is finding a hill that has not been used.

 

Maybe Ou Kaapse, full red hill, even price drive is free still

 

Full Red Hill has been done.  I did the half Red Hill to the third switchback.  Wimpie did the full earlier this year. 

 

I'm also thinking about this madness again.  

[Stretch]

 

 

Altitude

 

 

First thing I thought about when I saw it was in pta

[Popit]

I thought about doing it , then lay down for 10 minutes .... Feel much better now !! 

[Quagga]

Here's a video of how he will be preparing for the attempt with some notes from the video;

 

It's a straight climb with only one intersection on a quite route

 

Gearing 36 back 39 front...

 

Takes him +-4W/kg to get up there every time to climb 1000m/hr

 

Weight to drop from 71kg (current) to 66kg before the attempt.

 

Interval training and training time to +-20hrs per week

 

Off the bike training to planking for 10mins

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uja_1dyu2Hc&t=305s

Road rules???????

[Pure Savage]

Full Red Hill has been done. I did the half Red Hill to the third switchback. Wimpie did the full earlier this year.

 

I'm also thinking about this madness again.

Interesting, on the map it does not show it..

[dirtypot]

Interesting, on the map it does not show it..

 

Maybe that's just your IT skills... 

https://everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/#/hill/2022094078

[Pure Savage]

Maybe that's just your IT skills...

https://everesting.cc/hall-of-fame/#/hill/2022094078

I will turn it on and off again

[dannygirl]

How much distance will he have to cover?  My gut says that's where the crux lies...

 

Choosing a hill that is steep enough to get you over the height-line in the shortest distance possible, BUT taking into account power required / possible, minimising time 'wasted' on turnarounds etc.  

 

But then again shorter laps will provide more recovery time, resulting in average faster pace up the hills?  

 

Would be interesting to see some 'reverse' Enduro style measuring for Everesting attempts, i.e. only counting the time spent actually pedaling uphill?

[Shebeen]

Yeah, we did an extra one with him, was lekker as his wife arrived at his last lap and Calvin woke up from the support car. 

 

Looking to do another, the problem is finding a hill that has not been used. Would love to do Constania Nek but pretty sure would die. 

 

Maybe Ou Kaapse, full red hill, even price drive is free still

tokai mast, that would be bad ass (and require some permission)

[Fat Boab]

I've asked him on Facebook, what the deciding factors were in choosing the hill, and if there was any science in it? Will feedback if I get a reply...

 

Paul replied to my query on Facebook, regarding the choice of hill. For those interested:

 

"Hi, there is some science to it. I chose this climb because the steeper you go the less wind resistance and therefore the more meters per hour you can climb. Another reason why I chose this climb is because it is straight. The more braking you do the longer it will take you to complete an everesting. Finally it's also suitable because of the extremely low traffic density, especially on a Sunday."

[Quagga]

Paul replied to my query on Facebook, regarding the choice of hill. For those interested:

 

"Hi, there is some science to it. I chose this climb because the steeper you go the less wind resistance and therefore the more meters per hour you can climb. Another reason why I chose this climb is because it is straight. The more braking you do the longer it will take you to complete an everesting. Finally it's also suitable because of the extremely low traffic density, especially on a Sunday."

He does not seem to care much about traffic anyway looking at his other video on Youtube, skipping red lights and stop streets

[Craai]

Paul replied to my query on Facebook, regarding the choice of hill. For those interested:

 

"Hi, there is some science to it. I chose this climb because the steeper you go the less wind resistance and therefore the more meters per hour you can climb. Another reason why I chose this climb is because it is straight. The more braking you do the longer it will take you to complete an everesting. Finally it's also suitable because of the extremely low traffic density, especially on a Sunday."

 

I think any potential wind resistance gains you get from the steep hill will be negated (and then some) by the number of times you have to turn around at the top and the bottom of the hill. Every time you turn around your speed will drop to 0 momentarily. Also, low traffic density yes, but there are still cars around which you have to slow down for or stop when they cross in front of you

[Fat Boab]

Paul replied to my query on Facebook, regarding the choice of hill. For those interested:

 

"Hi, there is some science to it. I chose this climb because the steeper you go the less wind resistance and therefore the more meters per hour you can climb. Another reason why I chose this climb is because it is straight. The more braking you do the longer it will take you to complete an everesting. Finally it's also suitable because of the extremely low traffic density, especially on a Sunday."

 

 

So after Paul's reply, I started wondering whether some basic VAM - W/kg calculations would add to his suggestion that steeper climbs are more effective...

 

Using the VAM = fn( W/kg and % gradient) calculation which you can find on google (this calculation is an application of some v basic Newtonian mechanics together with a gradient correction factor seemingly attributed to Dr Ferrari):

 

The relationship between VAM and relative power output is expressed as follows:

 

Relative power (Watts/kg) = VAM (metres/hour) / (Gradient factor x 100)

 

This gradient factor ranges between 2.6 for a gradient of 6% and 3.1 for a gradient of 11%. To work out the gradient factor take 2 + (% grade/10).

 

I took this relationship and speculated using a fixed W/kg = 4.0 (as an example), as to what VAM you could achieve for differing gradients. See graph below.

 

 

 

And it does appear to suggest that you can achieve higher VAM on steeper gradient climbs, for a fixed W/kg. A caveat is I don't know what restrictions are applicable to the gradient correction factor.