Sunday, July 19, 2020, was one of those brutally hot mid-summer days in Pittsburgh: temperatures in the lower-90s and a heat index soaring around 98F degrees. While many cyclists chose to ride in the cooler, early morning hours and finish before it got too hot, our club member, Giorgio, was already deep into his Everesting attempt on the steep, winding climb up 18th Street that connects the South Side and Mt. Oliver.
This was Giorgio’s fundraising event for VeloSano, an organization that gives 100% of its donations to the Cleveland Clinic for cancer research - over $21 million since its first ride in 2014. Typically, VeloSano hosts a “Bike to Cure” weekend every July. However, like many events in 2020, the weekend ride went virtual rather than hosting thousands of cyclists together, so Giorgio planned his own solo fundraising ride in Pittsburgh.
Everesting has become one of the most popular cycling challenges in 2020 as cyclists both pro and amateur look for a new training goal close to home and without the worry of traveling or riding in big groups. The premise is to do repeats on one climb without stopping (short breaks are ok) for a climbing total of 29,029 feet (8,848 meters), the height of Mt. Everest. For reference, a typical Pittsburgh ride by a fit cyclist might be 60 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing. In professional races like the Tour de France, the big mountain stages might include 125 miles and 12,000 feet of climbing. A cycling Everest attempt is more than just a physical effort. It becomes a challenge of the mind as well as the rider digs deep into discovering what they can accomplish, beyond the limits of what is considered achievable….hence the ultimate challenge.
The Everesting Plan
The official Everesting website has all the guidelines and rules to authenticate the ride and it is recorded on Strava for verification. In addition to the full Everest climb, there are also options for 10K (10,000 meters, 32,808.4 feet) and Half (4,424 meters, 14,514 feet) climbs.
The website offers all the tools to plan for Everesting attempts in advance. Giorgio’s was calculated to require almost 70 trips up 18th Street and ride 153.1 miles to complete the full Everest:
And perché non (why not!), he also planned out the 10K Everest, which included almost 79 trips up 18th Street and 173 miles:
Dedicated efforts like this don’t happen without detailed planning, so Giorgio calculated the number of laps per hour he would ride throughout the day, beginning at 4 a.m.:
Pittsburgh Fire Station 24 is located on the South Side at the bottom of the 18th Street climb. They graciously offered Giorgio to set up his basecamp nearby and to keep an eye him through the day. There’s nothing like having a whole fire station on your support team and providing a safety network when there are so many unknowns ahead. Luckily no aid was needed!
How It Went Down (more importantly, up)
Here is Giorgio’s report in his own words.
VIRTUAL/EVERESTING VELOSANO DI GIORGIO (July 19, 2020)
Given the weekend’s forecast of hot weather (>90F), my preparation needed to be perfectly executed, especially attempting to conquer the 29,000 feet of climbing Everesting challenge. So when I woke up early Saturday morning (July 18), I weighed all of this and appropriately went back to sleep. Not ideal but a wise move because I woke up Sunday morning (July 19) feeling much, much better.
As seen in the table/picture above, I planned to ride six (6) laps per hour but only four (4) laps per hour during the hot part of the day (noting that one lap would be one time up and down 18th Street in Mt. Oliver). Breaks to eat and rest would be taken every hour at my base camp, which was the fire station at the bottom of this hill. If I executed this plan, I would finish the Everesting challenge between the hours of 5:00-7:00 PM and the Everesting 10K challenge between the hours of 7:00-9:00 PM (i.e., I would not ride past 9:00 PM).
Given below is my Sunday ride lap count. While the conditions were perfect in the morning, I got a late start (started riding at 4:30 AM) and needed more time to setup my base camp. That put me behind right from the start and by 12:00 PM, I was a 18 laps down! Yikes but the good news was that I was feeling strong and consuming just the right amount of food and drink. So I was hopeful that I could increase my afternoon laps to five (5) laps per hour. However, the heat was about as unbearable as one would have predicted and even though my good riding compatriot Matt stopped by to provide some needed encouragement, I fell behind another eight (8) laps by 6:00 PM. It was at this time that we made the very, very difficult choice to end the Everesting attempt. Having committed to a hard stop at 9:00 PM and nearly getting side-swiped by a car the last lap out, it just wasn’t meant to be. Worse yet, when I ended the ride on my bicycling app Strava, I could tell the recorded ride was messed up and would not have been verified as a successful Everesting ride.
Based on my count, I rode 46 laps which translates to an elevation of approximately 17,526 feet. So the good news is that I made it past a half-Everest (~60%) and learned a lot from this experience (fun facts given below).
Fun Facts
Drink intake
One large bottle of ice, ½ Gatorade (I know not ideal), and ½ water per hour
One bottle of ice, tablespoon of organic sugar, water per hour
One camel back of ice and water (used for both hydration and cooling off) per hour
Cup of espresso, hot water, and sugar every two hours.
Food intake
Cliff bar (non-frosted) and banana per hour in the morning
Small sandwich of Hawaiian bread, honey, cream cheese, turkey (no spices) per hour in the afternoon
One shot of pickle juice per hour in the afternoon (and yes this is a food)
Noting that I only ate during my breaks at base camp
Clothing
Hi-Vis (high visibility) socks (morning) and ankle socks (afternoon)
One pair of cycling shorts
One undershirt
One Hi-Vis jersey
Headbands (dosed in cold water every break)
Two pairs of cycling gloves
Miscellaneous
Number of rest room stops: too many to count
Number of times I got stopped by the traffic lights: only about a handful of times
Number of times I almost hit a car going downhill: twice (same darn corner by bakery)
Number of times I almost got hit by a car going uphill: once (soft left turn by bar)
Amount of cramping: only when I sat down during breaks.
And while I did not complete either of my two Everesting challenges, I am so, so happy to see that many of you still contributed monies to the non-profit organizations associated with these challenges. God bless you and may your blessing return back to you 1,000 fold.
Lastly, if anyone is interested in Everesting here in da burgh, please consider joining the newly formed Everesting Pittsburgh Strava Group.
Blessings, Giorgio
P.S. And yes, I hope to Everest this darn hill some time in the near future :-0
Final Thoughts
Bravo, Giorgio! This kind of effort has tapped dry even professional cyclists. To attempt this effort with the relentless mid-summer heat bearing down and on a heavily used city street, that takes a special kind of fortitude. The Half-Everest of +17,000 feet of climbing in one day is an accomplishment on its own. We have no doubt you will succeed with the full Everest next time.