Fiendishly simple, yet ❝ brutally hard. Everesting is the most difficult climbing challenge in the world. everesting.cc
❞
Friendly flags… Naish hill turned the red and gold colours of Bristol South CC as the Sunday Club ride showed up to offer support and encouragement Photo © Joe Hawksworth
rubbish. Crossing the exposed motorway climbs and focusing on the descents to bridge, which makes up a section of the stay safe, fast, and claim back any time I’d climb, meant steeling myself against lost at the turn due to traffic. I remember gusty crosswinds and driving rain. The reps 56 and 64 being particularly hard. descent is fast and scary enough as it is, On 56 I had a friend riding with me, without the threat of being blown across encouraging me to just keep turning the the road! Ideally I’d have waited for a pedals and to keep drinking and fuelling. better day, but with a cycling calendar full On 64 I was alone. I was feeling very of commitments it was now or never. sick and I’d been too hot for the past ten Thankfully, when the weather was at its hours. The temperature was only around worst, I was joined by supportive Bristol 19 degrees but I was climbing hard – South Cycling Club members who took it averaging a heart rate of 175 on each in turns to ride beside me acting as ascent. I’d been sweaty or soggy all day windbreaks. The support from the club and my head was feeling horrible in my was amazing, with more people than I can helmet. The next break felt ages away name turning out to ride a few laps with and despite having ten hours in the me, or just shout at me. That really helped. bank, I started to question what I was Joe said he couldn’t tell how much I doing. I stopped caring about the pace was suffering because I was smiling when and tried desperately to keep clocking I came past. It’s impossible not to smile the reps. I was on the verge of tears. when you roll past friends cheering you That was when my best friend Lucy on. The truth is, I suffered a lot. Just staying called. She’d gone to the wrong hill and focussed for that long was exhausting. was worried not to find me there. I A friend indeed… Sore, tired, sweaty and out of coffee but with an enthusiastic best friend to cheer me on The ten minute breaks weren’t negotiated with myself to do two reps Photo © Joe Hawksworth relaxing, I was watching my splits on the before she arrived and could look www.aukweb.net
35