Everesting World Record with Keegan Swenson – Successful Athletes Podcast 001

A look into the preparation and execution of the Everesting World Record by Stans Pivot’s and Monster Hydro’s Keegan Swenson.


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Pro athlete guessing his FTP…mmmmmm

I can’t read Keegen Swenson without automatically adding ‘friend of the podcast’.

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It’s a great idea and that first one was really interesting.
Future episodes are going to depend, to an extent, on the (On camera) personality of the athlete I expect. Perhaps that will be better when interviews can be done in person?
I look forward to seeing where this new format/idea goes. I do hope that the interviews can always have an segment whereby the topic/achievement/experience is related to normal amateur athlete/TR users. I.e. takeaway that we can use/apply/relate to, just like you do in the regular TR podcast with your own experiences.

Does anyone know what bike he was on? It doesn’t look like Pivot makes a road bike.

@Jonathan?

Yup, easy money it was a Vault.

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Is 0.7IF a normal goal for an endurance race pacing? And if IF = NP/FTP, would you aim for a higher power number to account for the descent?

Or is that all best kept for post event analysis?

That’s interesting given that it’s 18lbs for a stock medium without pedals. I wonder how much lighter it was with the wheel and tire change.

I was going to say, instead of a spreadsheet, just go to https://everesting.io but in the mean time Strava have removed API access to segments. Sigh.

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Enjoyed the podcast and insights

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Hi Tucker - You probably should include the charity they rode for in the show notes:

Thank you!

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Really good interview that. I enjoyed it a lot

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Generell yes, when you sit hours in your saddle you cant go to 0,80 or 0,90 . Aiming for 75% of the FTP uphill is a good baseline for everesting.

Loved the podcast,
Would love to hear inteview with Kevin Metcalfe & Adam Hansen and interviews his people who maybe didnt achived the highest demands, but are sucessful in their on way or against the odds.

Really like the idea behind this ‘new’ podcast! Off to a great start with Keegan “Friend of the Podcast” I’m looking forward to any thoughts/nerding on the elevation vs sea level thing–I’ve seen some guess about higher percent FTP vs thinner/less air resistance etc but would love to hear the TR brain trust thoughts

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There’s definitely something to that, you just have to look at some of the Track Cycling World Records from a few years ago. I think the effect dwindles pretty quickly the higher the Aerobic component of the effort. It would be an interesting discussion on the Ask a Cycling Coach pod for @chad

Yes. This was a pleasant surprise to find the show in my feed!

But those faster times at altitude are due to lower air density at altitude, and thus less body/bike friction through the thinner air…I believe.

He’s climbing at what, 8mph? Not that much air friction. Descending at 55-60mph for 2 minutes a pop isn’t going to yield much time savings either in thinner air. I have a feeling the added aerobic capacity/power ability at lower altitude may have a pretty significant impact on the total time.

It was a fun podcast to listen to. Absolutely nuts his FTP is 370 at 140lbs.

That was kind of my point. I don’t think you’d perform better at altitude in an endurance event, you can however move faster through the air. I agree with what you are saying, that’s why I made the point about track cyclists traveling in excess of 60km/h. Apologies if I wasn’t clear.