My Everesting Attempt

Everest is a super high mountain. That fact really hit me when I was halfway done with my bike ride and still had over 14,000 more feet to climb.

I decided to try to “Everest” Cleary Summit on Saturday, May 23.  To “Everest” you bike up and down the same hill in one go until you have climbed 29,029 feet, the height of Everest.  A month ago I found out that endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch, known as the “Queen of Pain,” was doing a fundraiser, Giddy Up for Good, on Memorial Day weekend.  You bike any of 4 designated elevation distances to raise money for COVID relief and other agencies. The lowest elevation was 5,295 feet. The highest was Everest. I started thinking about attempting it but wasn’t sure.  If I signed up, I had to go for the biggest elevation.  I had already “Denali’d” on Ester Dome a few years ago with one of my 100 Miles of Nowhere challenges . (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f22lQVBQi-I). 
Denali is 20,000 feet. But 9000 more feet is a LOT more elevation.  

Several other Fairbanksans committed to the challenge.  Tyson Flaharty had his hat set on Everesting on Ester Dome.  Janice Onorato and Moreen Fried were going to go for the 5,295-foot Baked Potato (Rebecca Rusch is from Idaho) on the back side of Cleary Summit.  Tom Dale was also going for the Baked Potato but planned on riding with me later in the evening.

Could I do it? Did I want to? I would be trashed for a while.  I had time off the following week. Would I rather go on fun adventures or challenge myself along with hundreds of others to help raise money?  And if I was ever going to attempt an “Everest,” sooner is better than later.  I’m only getting older.  But I hadn’t been doing that much riding or hill-climbing. And the effort would take about 24 hours. Was it worth it?  Should I? Shouldn’t I?  A week before the event, with the weather forecast looking perfect, I decided, what the heck, and signed up.

Food prep the night before

I chose Cleary Summit. It has about 1100 feet of elevation over 3.5 miles with an average grade of 6%.  Not too steep, not too long and paved.  To climb 29,029 feet would take 27 laps. I decided to start on my road bike and switch to my mountain bike (which has lower gears) when my legs got tired. 

Saturday morning was sunny though a little chilly at 37 degrees.  But the forecast called for 70 degrees with calm winds, perfect for a long day on the bike. I parked at the Pedro Monument at 5:30 a.m. and started biking.

How to describe my ride? Up, down, up, down, up, down. Lots of traffic on the road, but only one that passed uncomfortably close. Most of the day I consistently took 31-33 minutes to go up and just 8 minutes to go down.  I stopped every 2-3 laps at my car to refuel, rest, use the restroom, and change layers. 

Stuffing my face with potato chips

Adding a hashmark for each lap to keep track

Resting and eating more

I had lots of company.  Thank you to everybody who came out!  The Swensons (Mike, David and Leslie), Alisabeth Thurston-Hicks, Frank Soos, Anna Rix, Barb Creighton, and Jane Lanford (running instead of biking!) all did laps with me. Mike and David came back later and did a second lap with me (you guys rock!).  Tom did his 5 laps. I told him to ride his own pace, so while we didn’t ride together, he cheered me on every time we passed. Fellow bikers Brenda Elmer, John Estle and Beth Zirbes all cheered me on while out for their Cleary Summit rides.  Eric came out and rode 2 laps with me as I was falling apart near the end. And on one lap, Moreen Fried and I summitted from opposite sides of Cleary Summit at the same time. What are the odds of that happening?!

Anna Rix joins me for a lap

Jane Lanford keeps pace on the steeper pitches.  I did get to the top before her!

Moreen and I summit from opposite directions at the same time!

I felt fine most of the day.  My legs held up okay.  A couple of times I thought I might start cramping, but I had some chicken broth and that helped.  I tried not to think about how many laps I had left – that was too overwhelming.  I just took it one or two laps at a time. My attitude stayed positive. I was eating and drinking according to plan.  I listened to music on a few laps and even sang out loud to some of my favorite tunes.

Another lap done.  Ready to head back down

But I started losing my appetite at about the halfway point (lap 13). Nothing sounded good to eat.  After finishing lap 15 with the Swensons and Barb, I swigged some Coke and sat down to rest.  I immediately felt nauseated. That’s when I threw up—several times.  How nice that my friends got to watch!  I took a Zofran (an anti-nausea medication) and had some broth. My friends had planned on going home after that lap, but were worried about leaving me. I explained that this is fairly normal for me on big efforts and convinced them I was fine to continue on my own.  

With Mike, Barb, and David starting up lap 15. Photo by Leslie

The next few laps were okay but not great. I continued to feel nauseated, especially on the downhills when I was resting.  I was able to drink chicken broth and get a GU down every other lap but that was it. Just contemplating anything else made me feel like vomiting. I switched to my mountain bike on lap 17 and my uphill times really tanked.  It took me over 40 minutes to climb, but at least I was able to keep going.  I kept hoping my stomach would recover – usually it does with fluids and sodium – but not this time.  

On the mountain bike for lower gears

Evening came and the temperatures started dropping.  I had a hard time staying warm on the downhills, even with extra layers.  After my 19th lap, I contemplated stopping.  I decided to ride one more lap.  

I was even slower – 47 minutes to the top. I was shivering when I got down again.  I took another Zofran and had some broth. I felt worse instead of better.  I still had 7,000 more feet to climb.  I couldn’t imagine doing it on no calories.  Plus it was just going to get colder overnight. 

Drinking broth to try and recover

I decided to stop.  Eric had been with me the last two laps, biking and taking photos. I had him record my “defeat” video, which was a bit hard. I cried a bit but not too much.  I did 22,144 feet elevation in 145.2 miles in just under 18 hours.  We packed up and went home, first stopping to cheer on Tyson, who had started his attempt on Ester Dome earlier that evening. He was on lap 11 when we saw him. (He later finished after nearly 18 hours.)

Cheering Tyson on as he starts back up Ester Dome.  This is after midnight.

As I’m writing this, two days later, I’m a little disappointed.  I wasn’t in danger. I was just uncomfortable. I guess I didn’t want it bad enough.  Not enough to suffer through the night, riding for another 6-7 hours on no calories and feeling nauseated the whole time.  Is that good or bad?  I’m not sure.  

I don’t like it when I don’t accomplish my goals.  Could I have finished if I had just kept on pushing? I’ll never know.  Does it matter? I like to think we are tougher than we think we are, but this time I wasn’t. Does it mean I’m getting soft?  Or does it mean that this goal just wasn’t that important to me?  I guess I won’t really know until the next challenge comes along.   

Will I continue to challenge myself as I get older?  I’m not sure. And that uncertainty bothers me.  Challenging ourselves (in any way – not just physically) helps us grow.  Will I be okay with myself if I become more complacent? Is it okay to stop challenging ourselves as we age?  Why am I worried about this anyway?  

Sigh. One of the downsides of not accomplishing a goal is the angst that goes along with it. But I guess it wouldn’t really have been a challenge if I knew I could complete it.  So, I’ll keep processing it and see what happens.