Climbing Everest

[Racing roadkill]

'Everesting' I don't get it, but fair play to those who do it, nutters the lot of 'em.

 

[raleighnut]

You brake on descents ...?

On the (Steel) Ridgeback with about 17kg of camping gear (last time I crossed the 'Cat and Fiddle' ) you bet your bippy I do.
There was quite a smell of hot brake blocks/rims by the time I got to Macc. (on route to Mums in Knutsford)

 

[ColinJ]

I reckon for this challenge, steepish climbs would be the best bet. Very steep climbs would probably kill your legs, but maybe something like a steady 10%. My thinking is that you would be going so slowly that nearly all of your power would be used in lifting you and the bike through so many metres, and hardly any lost to air resistance. Also, you would be able to freewheel all the way back down to recover between efforts ...

The kind of thing I am thinking of is the Otley Chevin climb which is almost exactly 10% all the way up for ~1.6 km, gaining 160 m. You would have to do it 56 times, but you would 'only' have to pedal for about 90 kms and would cover 180 kms in total.

 

[nickyboy]

I reckon for this challenge, steepish climbs would be the best bet. Very steep climbs would probably kill your legs, but maybe something like a steady 10%. My thinking is that you would be going so slowly that nearly all of your power would be used in lifting you and the bike through so many metres, and hardly any lost to air resistance. Also, you would be able to freewheel all the way back down to recover between efforts ...

The kind of thing I am thinking of is the Otley Chevin climb which is almost exactly 10% all the way up for ~1.6 km, gaining 160 m. You would have to do it 56 times, but you would 'only' have to pedal for about 90 kms and would cover 180 kms in total.

You're spot on Colin. Serious "Everesters" are doing it on steep hills cos they realise it ultimately needs less energy as you say due to less wind resistance. I think this is actually a really hard challenge. 70 minutes per ascent sounds easy (even I can get up C&F in about 35 minutes and back down in probably 15) but you're going to get much slower during the day. And if it's a brisk Easterly on the day it'll be a nightmare

 

[moo]

I've read a number of post-ride Eversting reports by those who failed the first/second time. They all come to the conclusion that 6-8% chosen for their successful attempt was the better gradient. Steeper gradients are quicker (10-12 hours) but you'd need to be a strong/light rider. You also need to consider descending a steep gradient after 12 hours in the saddle and completely exhausted

 

[ColinJ]

I've read a number of post-ride Eversting reports by those who failed the first/second time. They all come to the conclusion that 6-8% chosen for their successful attempt was the better gradient. Steeper gradients are quicker (10-12 hours) but you'd need to be a strong/light rider. You also need to consider descending a steep gradient after 12 hours in the saddle and completely exhausted

I confess that I found Otley Chevin hard enough doing it just once!

I did think about the question of steep descents when tired - 10% is steep enough to get to scary speeds without a lot of braking ... Maybe spare brake blocks would be needed after all!

 

[G3CWI]

An annoying aspect of the CF route is that you cant freewheel all the way down. At least I have never been able to.