Science? 
Well, I achieved the vEverest badge on Zwift on Monday. Did it via 8.5 reps of Alpe du Zwift using the Road to Sky route. Touch over 11hrs and 216km. Felt good right up until the middle of the 8th rep up the Alpe and also that last 1/2 rep. They were mentally challenging and physically I was getting pretty tired but pushed through and got the job done - andddddd demolished my own body weight in pasta at the end. Got the ride recognised by Hells 500 and am officially in the Hall of Fame! Happy to have achieved the vEverest and very happy to not sit on a trainer that long again!
My best tips:
- Get your nutrition right on the day. I ate around 60-80g of carbs every time I ascended the Alpe
- Pace yourself right from the first rep up the Alpe
- Have family around you in the last 2 reps to help motivate you and support you
- A good playlist helps
- Set little goals along the way; 2k, BaseCamp, 5k etc
Happy to help anyone in the future who reads this and wants to chat further! Good luck to those who have a crack! It’s super challenging but super rewarding when you get your name in the Hall of Fame.
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Hey all,
Firstly, I’ve previously completed an everesting and know just how messed up it gets, so I need a bit more advice.
Coming off a mixed plan leading into a half ironman, race next weekend 6 June, so fitness is pretty good.
If I aim to hit an everest 5 weeks after the race, would the best bet be to just do 4, 5, or 6 hour rides a couple times a week with some 30/30’s or other over ftp efforts, or just do the back end of some of the more intense training plans like the polarised 8wk (I substituted the last 8 weeks of the ironman plan with this to good effect)
My current plan is to just do a couple 4 - 6 hour rides a week at around 75-80% ftp with some short sharp over ftp workouts to keep it interesting.
Cheers
I’m going to be attempting my first Everesting tomorrow at Beacon Hill in Leicestershire (off road on the bridleway).
I think I’m prepared as I’m ever going to be, it’s only a 18 hour ride…!
Wish me luck!
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Good luck! And don’t give up when you feel like quitting.
Please post a ride report when you are done!
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I did it!
106 laps of a local bridleway on my Pivot Mach4SL, 23 hours 49minute elapsed time, over 10000kJ burnt, no mechanicals.
Congratulations to anyone that has Everested, it is a brutal thing to do.
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Congratulations on completing it, impressive achievement, takes fitness and an awful lot of mental strength. Take it easy today and of course the rest of the week too…let those poor legs recover!
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Thanks Damo, I can’t tell you how true that mental strength but is! I came devastatingly close to jacking it in a few times but managed to rally and keep going!
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I will be attempting a vEveresting (actually going for the 10K) on Zwift’s AdZ (Zwift’s Alpe d’Huez) on 12/17. That’s 10 trips both up and down AdZ. I am doing it to help raise money to stop human trafficking. We suffer so those being trafficked don’t have to anymore.
-Human trafficking is one of the largest criminal industries in the world.
-It is a $150 billion industry and growing annually.
-There are currently an estimated 40.3 million people enslaved around the globe.
-71% of these 40.3 million victims are women and girls.
-1 in every 4 victims of modern slavery globally is a child.
This list, unfortunately, goes on, but that’s why we need to come together to put a stop to it and end modern-day slavery.
If you would like to donate, you can do so here: https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/4265762
If anyone wants to pop in and ride some laps with me (or pace me up) on the day, it would be much welcomed. My current Zwift name is “Major Dad Bod (OTR)” but it will most likely be “vEveresting” or something similar on the day. Seems Zwift re-introduced the “Join a Zwifter” function just in time.
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What I don’t fully understand in vEveresting is setting the rider’s weight. Mine is Zwift synced with my Fitbit scale but what if I manually put say 5 or 10kg less in my Zwift profile? I’d make my watts/kg way more favorable.
Yeah, welcome to life and ethics in gaming 
Weight doping (setting a weight lower than reality) is about the easiest way to cheat in Zwift. It’s followed closely by height doping (setting a shorter height than reality) which matters in the aero calcs that Z uses.
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Ok I see. I thought there was maybe some sort of check/verification of height weight but it’s down to one’s honesty. With themselves. Because how would a “successful” vEv accomplishment feel knowing that’s been cheated…
If your intention is to submit your attempt to the vEveresting Hell’s 500 site/HoF, then there is (apparently) a height/weight/trainer difficulty/etc, check. Not sure how diligent they are (if at all) however…
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Yeah, rules are only as good as the people who follow them. Again, life.
As mentioned, if you aim to follow the Hell’s 500, check out their site for the full rules and follow if that is of interest to you.
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When I have done it I took photos of my weight, trainer difficulty setting, video of the trainer calibration spin down etc but was never asked for any evidence when I submitted the info.
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Well it’s been on my list for a while - vEveresting followed by IRL Ev. Taking photos of weight, height, calibration etc sounds like a good idea though.
Just to pull this up
Started doing this in 2020 (COVID effect) doing 10 from juin till november and kept doing one each year after. Some are basecamps but Ive done several 10k and some ROAM either outdoor or virtual and collected all special badges (short, soil, significant, suburban). Just not in to doing a double or a triple because Im not crazy and autodestructive enough.
Ill do another next summer thats for sure.
What about youre plans?
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Here to help kick start this thread a little and see if anyone has been doing any Everests?
I had done a 1/4 previously and yesterday completed a virtual 1/2. Hoping to complete a full virtual by the end of the year and a full IRL next year with some friends. I learned yesterday that planning is crucial. I under-estimated the attempt, due to a couple of factors. I had to get my first ascent done before everyone else was awake, and then help with breakfast and school run. I was up a little later than planned and then ended with a much harder effort for the final 40minutes than expected. This put me on the backfoot endurance-wise, which I was mindful of and pulled off the gas a little for the rest of it - but I didn’t expect my nutrition to fail. I must have used up a lot more of reserves and needed more food than I have planned for. With about 2hrs to go I was properly mid bonk and had to pause, refuel and get back into the grove.
Managed it in around 6 hours of cycling, plus my stop for being a parent. Good to have these experiences to force your hand for the bigger challenges!
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I’m planning a full next year using Hogpen in North GA. Fingers crossed. I need to go up there and do some scouting but probably won’t do a 1/2, just go for the full minus a couple scouting laps prior.
I need to up my training to another level for this and just starting in base now. Planning to do reverse periodization, increase volume throw on vo2 and do more threshold/sst close to the attempt to help with muscular endurance for it.
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I’m aiming for a half next year (April time when the weather is warmer but not too warm 
).
Gives me time to cut some weight and develop my TTE at a slightly higher FTP than last year.
No big / long hills near where I live so have settled on a local short but steep climb that will require around 105 reps to get the half done.
A member of my cycling club did a full Everesting on the same climb during the Covid lockdown so I know it can be done - which psychologically is a massive boost for me
I’m gonna be sick of that climb afterwards 
Biggest risks to success I’ve identified for me are:
- Going too hard early on
- Failing to feed properly before and during the effort
- Failing to hit my target / optimum body weight beforehand
I learnt a lot about how my body responds to fuelling on long rides with lots of elevation gain last year, as I did multiple long climbing elevation gain ride efforts whilst training in advance of the Dragon gran Fondo (135 miles 11k feet climbing).
Basically:
- I can tolerate more than I expected (100+g of carbs an hour)
- Needs to be a mix of fluids and solids to keep things ticketing over ok
- Dropping body weight to a more optimal w/lg was transformational in terms of the unexpected beneficial impact on perceived effort - I really never thought it would make such a huge difference
Anyone got some tips on completing either a half or a full Everesting on a shorter climb that requires multiple reps as opposed to a more traditional longer climb?
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