Longest Day 2023: vEveresting on June 21st

May 21, 2023

LAST UPDATED May 15, 2023

For some time now I’ve been off kilter. Specifically since August 10th of last year. Why August 10th? That’s the day my dad died. Dementia took him. It was horrible to watch.

Everybody deals with grief differently. I know this. I never realized it would affect me this way. Up until his health began to decline I was active. I was motivated. I was doing. Since? meh. It’s had a profound effect on me. I’ve found myself retreating to my own corner of the world. I feel like I’ve alienated myself. I’m unmotivated. I’m going through the motions. I’m phoning it in as they say.

I hear of so many people who have a close bond to a parent. A mom. A dad. A grandparent. An uncle or aunt even. A really tight bond. Best friends, some would say. I don’t think I had that with my dad. Or at least I didn’t think I did. Don’t get me wrong, the relationship I had wasn’t contemptuous or distant. Just not buddy buddy. My dad just wasn’t that type of person anyway. But I find myself missing the various interactions we DID have. I miss being able to talk with him and teach him about the Tour de France. I miss being able to tell and show him the new installs on the RV or the latest gadget I discovered. I miss the quirky way he always answered our weekly Sunday phone calls. I just miss him.

When he died, I told him that I would honor him in some way. I vowed that, in 2023, I would do something, anything, to memorialize his struggle. On June 21st, the longest day of the year, I will do just that. I’m going to push myself physically and mentally harder than I’ve ever pushed myself before. My dad struggled for months. I can struggle for one day.

I’ll be vEveresting beginning at 4am on June 21st, riding my bike on my indoor trainer and climbing the equivalent of Mt. Everest in a single activity. 8,848 meters. That’s 5.5 miles of going up. It WILL take me the better part of the longest day to complete. The official Everesting website has me completing it in about 15 hours – only an estimate.

I’m by no means the first to attempt/accomplish this and will not be the last. I’ve known about this challenge for years now, but have never had the interest in completing it. Until now. You see, the Alzheimer’s Association has “adopted” the longest day of the year as their day of fighting for this terrible disease – “The day with the most light is the day we fight®.”

Yes, it’s a fundraiser, but I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. Mainly, my dad. Secondly, I think I need to push through this wall I’ve created and come back. Back to work. Back to the world. Back to myself. You can certainly donate at any time, but more importantly, at least for me, join me. Join me in the fight. Join me on the ride itself. If you’re on Zwift, find me, follow me, ride with me.