How many of us have seen a movie where one of the characters is about to fall from a skyscraper, and a miraculous hand appears out of nowhere to save them at the last second?
What I experienced during my vEveresting’s 7th ascent of Alpe du Zwift on Saturday 29th January 2022 is proof that this sort of things also happens in real life.
Saved by Christian
As I was being swallowed by a mental black hole and ready to throw the bike off a Watopian precipice, Christian Wieland saw my struggle and decided to continuously write to me through Zwift Companion while maintaining a steady but affordable pace. It was just the time I needed to forget about the pain and rebuild some strength to overcome the last 2k of elevation. Christian stayed by my side until 8848m and created something bigger than just me against ADZ. From then I knew I had won. I just can’t thank him enough.
Why vEveresting, again!?
Back in October 2021, as most IRL Gran Fondo events I was supposed to race were canceled because of COVID, I agreed with my coach to prepare for a new vEveresting attempt, this time consciously preparing it.
(Last year in January 2021 I joined a group of riders attempting the challenge together. Although I did finish, I could not help but think that with better preparation I could do much better.)
With tons of Z2 hours and tens of thousands of meters of elevation accumulated in the last three months, I had hope that this time, my legs would be good enough to continue up to 10k elevation once the Everesting completed.
We agreed on a target power (3-3.2 w/kg) and also a nutrition plan. Taking into account that following my bypass surgery I have a reduced stomach we had to adapt carbs, proteins, and liquid intake. To make sure I was not dehydrating I would weigh myself after each climb. I started at 79.5 kg (175.2 pounds).
The Figures
Saturday 29th January: here we go. I summarized everything in a table:
You can easily spot the crisis during the 7th ascent, which required me to rest for a while.
8.5 ascents of ADZ, with a sub 60 minutes average per climb. I could not be happier. I pushed to 10k elevation in “cool-down” mode at 2.5 w/kg 😂.
Started at 7h30 AM, finished at 21h30. 14 hours overall. By then a lot of people were congratulating me saying I should feel proud. However, at 21h35 I rather felt like s**t.
Throughout the challenge, I was never by myself. I received tons of cheering messages, thank you all. Special thanks to Coalition riders joining me on ADZ’s slopes (Nils, Francesco, Maxime), and of course Christian.
Post Mortem: Will I Do It Again?
Sunday 30th in the morning I am surprisingly in good shape. I can almost walk as any human being would.
Looking back at the key success factors, without a doubt the preparation made me enter the challenge with a very solid physical capacity. Having a plan to stick to definitely helps.
Second success factor: having a community supporting you is a winner.
Third item: after Amanda (Kickr V4 Smart Trainer) and Hector (Kickr Climb), Walter the Rocker Plate has now joined the paincave family. And Walter is a life changer on longer rides.
Despite the preparation and everything you can imagine, in the end this is still a freaking crazy challenge. The conclusion is therefore super easy: I am never doing it again… am I?
wpDiscuz
