Everesting

 

Date: 26 November 2021

Distance: 237 kilometers

Elevation Gained: 8,896 meters

With: Pritish

Weather: Very favourable for most of the day

Road surface: Rough with a lot of small stones on the road on account of the rains, however, can't complain on the surface too much as its better than what is there is other places

Everesting, put in simple words, it's about climbing the equivalent height of Everest (8,848 meters) on any hill by completing repeats in a single activity.

Very easy as the concept is stated in a single short sentence. Executing it though is a different story. Breaking up the requirements of everesting into the following components:

1. Find a hill

There are many hills around Bangalore. The popular one being Nandi Hills, then there is Basavanabetta, Devarayandurga, Ghati Subramanya, Markandeshwara Betta, Antargange, Avalabetta and so on. Many of the hills are closed for public during the night and as such being able to complete the ride in under 12 hours was not possible at my end. So the search for a hill was an ongoing process since my requirement was to do it on a hill near Bangalore and within Karnataka.

Byatarayanaswamy Betta:

In September 2021 when out on a ride with Pritish near Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), we saw a temple atop a hill and on exploring found that there was a paved road to the top of the hill. The road surface was decent, the climb was a short and steep climb, just 2.1 kilometers in length and a gain of 153 meters on the climb and 3 meters on the descent. The factors going for the hill were, decent road surface, breaks in the gradient giving time to recover. The negative for the hill is that it is a remote location with nothing available nearby and we would have to travel at least 11 kilometers to KGF for supplies and the approach roads to KGF are in bad shape.

 

2. Hill repeats to ascend 8,848 meters

Climb 8,848 meters is a simple statement, however, what is the preparation that is required to be able to do this. A simple statement again, have to be prepared physically and mentally. Physically get stronger and mentally be ready to suffer without breaking. In my effort to get ready physically, I suffered an injury in the left forearm and lower back in May 2021 which set me back a few months. The plan was to attempt Everesting at Antargange hill at this point. Although the recovery was not complete, with aches in the lower back and left forearm to a milder extent, started riding the bike regularly from October with the target being to attempt Everesting in early November. The rides at this point were to try and get as much rhythm back as I knew that I would not be able to get into the required physical shape. The early November plan also fizzled out and had to push the date by a further 3 weeks with things not working out since we had to re-plan how the ride was going to be executed. This push in dates gave time for further physical tuning, however, it was not sufficient to be pain free. Remembered a dialogue from the movie Invictus "No one goes in fully fit", so I was ready to go in even though I was not fully fit. The questions of  "whether I am ready to do it" or "Will the body hold" can and would be answered only when I attempt it and keeping this in mind decided to go ahead with the ride.

3. Do the climb in a single activity

Another simple statement for Everesting, it has to be a single activity. Sleeping during the ride and pushing the cycle are not allowed. There is no restriction on the number of breaks and the time taken for each break, only sleeping is not allowed. However, every break will add time and from previous rides know that the time flies during the breaks and before we know it a lot of time will be lost.

 

The hill had been decided, the date was set as 26 November 2021, Pritish and I would be attempting to Everest the Byatarayanaswamy Betta.

The Climb:

Total distance: 2.1 kilometers

Elevation gain: 153 meters on the ascent and 3 meters on the descent - total 156 meters

It starts as a small descent before the road begins to climb. A gradual climb and then the gradient goes up to 6%-7%. Then a small break in the gradient before it shoots back to the 11%-12% range and we reach the first hair pin of the climb. The road is not good and a road hump has to be negotiated at the turn, The gradient eases up after the turn for the next 20 meters until the next hair pin bend. The gradient kicks up to 12%-13% range from the hair pin bend. The next section I named as three steps since it is like climbing stairs, gradient in the 9%-12% range and then the gradient eases up to the 2% range. This repeats 3 times and then comes the main kicker on this climb. A section of 200 meters where the gradient is 13% - 15% with the road being bumpy. Get past this section and the gradient drops to 2% for a few meters giving us a breather and then it again picks up to the 6%-7% range and peaks at 11%. Make a wide turn with the gradient at 9% and a few more meters at a relatively easy gradient of 2% to make it to the top of this climb.

The bike:

Bike: Trek Alpha 1.5

Tires: Continental Gatorskin (done 6,800 kilometers prior to start)

Front Chain Rings: Compact (50-34)

Rear Cassette: 9 speed 11-32

Latest upgrade to the bike: Rear Derailleur upgraded to Shimano 105 long cage to be able to use the 32 tooth ring on the cassette without any vibration. The vibration on the earlier Shimano Tiagra rear derailleur was a lot and using the 32 tooth ring for long periods was risky and the ride was uncomfortable.

Ride partner:

Pritish is a runner and cyclist. He runs half marathons in under 90 minutes and has done the 2,020 kilometer ISAN ride in Thailand in 170 hours. Very steady rider and is very consistent on the climbs. He paces himself very well during his rides and I was fortunate to have him as the ride partner.

Key Metric - VAM:

On the earlier rides, the metrics which mattered were the distance and the time available to complete the distance. On this ride the metric to keep track of was Vertical Ascent in Meters  (VAM). VAM is the meters climbed in an hour. To elaborate, if I can maintain a VAM of 700 then I would be spending about 13 hours to climb 8,848 meters, add the hours for descending and for breaks and the estimated time for the Everesting can be computed. A higher VAM means less time spent on climbing. Target for this ride was to keep the VAM above 700. Worst case was to drop it down to 600.

Basic Plan

We came up with a plan for the ride to have an idea of what we need to do during the ride and what we required in terms of nutrition for the ride. Given that the location was remote and getting supplies would be an issue, we had to carry everything we needed before we commenced the ride. Pritish would get his car, we would load our cycles into it and load the car with water, banana's, boiled eggs, oranges, apples, cream buns, salted ground nuts, chips, gels. In addition Pritish had got Electral and I had carried table salt as a remedy for cramps.

The Ride Day

Since the plan was to start the ride at 4:00 am, and the hill being 100 kilometers from home, we preferred to stay closer to the hill on the night before and found a hotel in KGF. We started from Bangalore on 25 November evening at 6:00 pm and by the time we reached the hotel and had dinner it was already 10:00 pm. We got chapatti's and vegetable curry packed so that we could have it for breakfast on the next day. Sleep was at 10:30 pm with the alarm set for 2:00 am.

We woke up at 2:00 am and got ready, lost a little time in waking up the security guard to unlock the gate and headed towards the hill. We reached by 3:50 am and then setting up the bike and having a banana and half boiled egg (was supposed to be fully boiled, but I had screwed up and the eggs were half boiled) and getting to the base of the hill (since we had parked about half a kilometer ahead), the clock had ticked to 4:18 am.

And We're Off:

We started the ride at 4:18 am. Still dark with almost 90 minutes for day break. The temperature was cold, which was not a concern since we were climbing. The road surface had deteriorated due to the rains, there was a crack in the road with the gap wide enough for the road bike tire to go into and we would need to watch out for this on the descents as this was risky. Further, there were a lot of small stones on the road on account of the rains. On the first climb itself, we knew that we would have to concentrate hard during this ride as the descents would be risky as the road surface was not great.

Fresh legs and fresh mind:

We were in for a long day on the saddle and in the same location. There was going to be no change in the terrain, it was going to be a day spent climbing and descending on the same hill. A monotonous task, which required us to stay focused. I set smaller targets and broke the day into smaller segments. Wrapping my head around 50 + climbs was proving difficult and so I had considered 4 climbs as 1 lap and I would have to do around 14 laps to get to 8,848 meters. The plan was to take a break only after a lap and not before. With this in mind, I started the ride and was also keen of taking advantage of the fresh body and mind. Tried to ride quick but just under the limit so that I don't burn out too quickly. The cold weather was not a deterrent as the body warmed up very quickly on the climbs. However, early morning mist was proving to be difficult since the visibility was low and descending was a problem. Had to be extra watchful and a lot of braking to keep the speed in check and make it safely down the hill. In spite of having done 3-4 climbs, it was still difficult to judge the turns and invariably, there was a little time being lost on the descents. The climbs were being done well and the time lost on the descent was being made up on the climbs. Having Pritish riding served as a marker as well and it kept me motivated to keep pushing. We would acknowledge each other whenever we crossed. However, after about 7-8 climbs when the body began to tire a little, we would mostly have our heads down and were focused on climbing and descending.

The plan was to start the ride at 4:00 am and since we had started at 4:18 am, I was chasing the clock from the beginning. The first climb was done at a steady pace and it was more like a warm up and to make markers along the route and the ride started from climb 2. With the initial part being a descent, I sped on the descent and then churned the big ring on the smaller gradients. When the gradient kicked up I changed to the small ring and the chain slipped. I had to get down and get the chain back on. Precious seconds lost and as soon as I got back on, I tried to get going in a hurry. Could not clip in and my weight was on one side of the bike, so down I went. A fall right at the start, although at a very slow speed. Back up quickly and a quick check to see that the RD and chain were not damaged, back on the saddle and pedaled with renewed vigour.

The first stop was after 8 climbs or 2 laps to refill water and to eat banana's. I wanted to stay ahead on the nutrition front and the plan was to eat before I get hungry or rather to keep myself topped up and not run out of energy. Being prone to cramping, I had started off with salt water in one bottle and made sure to sip a little salt water before starting a climb. With this in mind, I stopped after 8 climbs to top up on water, ate a banana and carried one in the pocket for the next climb. 8 climbs were done in 2 hours 12 minutes, clock was at 6:30 am and the weather was very good. Daylight had streamed in around 6:00 am and with visibility not being a problem anymore, descending was quicker. Things were going great with the climb speed being consistent for the first 10 climbs and the time taken for descending reducing.

Things began to slow down a little from climb 11 and even though the struggle was setting in, having Pritish on the hill kept me going. Based on the progress, I had planned to stop after 16 climbs for breakfast, however, things began to spiral downwards rather quickly after climb 10. I was losing time on the climbs. The time which was hovering around the 12 minute mark was dropping and had reached 14 minutes. I had begun to cramp as well from climb 11. I did not need any device to tell me about the gradient, every time the gradient would go into double digits the right and left leg would cramp. More on the right leg. I would try to massage the legs during the pedal stroke and ease the pressure a little and the breaks in the gradient helped the leg recover a little. Since the cramp was getting worse with every climb, decided to stop earlier than planned for breakfast and hoped that the rest would help the body recover. 14 climbs were done when I stopped to have breakfast. I ate 2 chapatti's with curry for breakfast, a boiled egg, an orange, a unived gel, refilled on water, increased the salt content in water and stuck to consuming salt to overcome cramps rather than opting for Electral as suggested by Pritish.

Elevation gained in 4 hours 13 minutes was 2,200 meters. I was at halfway to halfway of the ride. Kept the break under 20 minutes and resumed the ride.

The Suffer fest begins:

When I began the ride after the break, I was feeling very flat and it was evident very soon that the body had not recovered. The cramps were still occurring, I was labouring on the climbs and the focus was on managing the cramp and giving the salt time to act so that I could recover. The climb times hovered in the 14 minutes per climb and I was dreading the steep part of the climb. The weight had to be on the front of the cycle in this part, any weight towards the rear of the cycle and I would definitely cramp up badly. Ride on the saddle and the hamstring would cramp and if I tried riding off-saddle then the muscles on the top of the thighs would cramp. It was a balancing act between in saddle and off saddle riding.

At this point, 8,848 meters was too far off and I had revised the target to 4,424 meters. Would take a call on continuing on how I felt after 4,424 meters. Having Pritish for company, kept me going. I was in envy of his pacing and was wondering if I had pushed too hard and should have taken it easier at the start. Few more climbs and the body was showing signs of recovering, however, it was slow and I wanted the recovery to be quicker. Was determined to keep the breaks to a minimum and tried hard to stick to the lap concept for taking breaks. So a stop for water or refreshments were taken only after a set of 4 laps. By the time I got over the 20th climb, the climb time was now at 15 minutes per climb.

By climb 24 the climb time dropped further to 16 minutes and I was feeling flat. I had to take a break, however, taking a long break would add to the time and also break the rhythm, I was ok to climb slowly as long as I kept moving. Also, being close to the 4,424 meter mark I was now pushing to get to the half everesting mark. I coaxed myself to keep going and knowing that I would stop for lunch after reaching the 4,424 mark, a long break was in the horizon, so it was about pushing for some more time. Some more time here being over an hour as I had to get 5 climbs done. This was a slow phase with the climb time dropping to 17 minutes per climb. Still feeling flat and things were slow, the elevation number on the garmin ticking towards 4,424 kept me going.

I was on climb 29 when I hit the 4,424 mark. It was 1:20 pm. I had taken 9 hours to get to the Half Everesting Mark. A definite improvement compared to the 12 hours that I had taken a year ago, however, today the target was different and I was disappointed that I was struggling at the half way mark. However, I had just over half of the climb to complete and then I would be stopping for lunch. I planned to take a slightly longer break and hoped that the body would recover. It took a further 16 minutes to complete the remaining climb and descend the hill and come to the car. Pritish was also taking a break, the Chapatti's and vegetable curry from the previous night had survived thanks to the cool weather and this served as lunch for us. The Sun had barely peeped through the clouds till now and we had favourable weather through the day.

Elevation gained in 9 hours 48 minutes was 4,544 meters. I was at the halfway mark of the ride. I still had about 4 hours of daylight remaining and estimated that I could get a further 1,500 meters in by the time it got dark. Keeping this as the next target, the plan was to ride till it gets dark and take it from there. I took Pritish's suggestion and switched to Electral as salt had not worked. Moreover, drinking salt water was making me feel pukish and hence decided to switch to Electral.

Get 4 climbs done at a time:

The rest had served its purpose and I had company to keep riding. Pritish needed to get a few more climbs done to get to the halfway mark. Both of us started at the same time post lunch and we got out heads down to getting 4 climbs done at a time. There was a marked improvement after lunch, the cramps had ceased and the climb time had dropped to the 15 minute mark. The Sun was trying to peep through the clouds and the slight gain in temperature was sufficient to make things a little uncomfortable. Took an hour and half but got 4 climbs done and took a break for refreshments. Pritish was also done with his Half Everesting at this point.

Things go wrong for Pritish:

We started after the break, I started slightly before Pritish and headed to the base. When I made the turn and headed back towards the car, saw that Pritish was pushing his bike back to the car. Got to know that he had hit a stone and the front tire was punctured. He said that he would fix it and continue. I continued with the climb and when I got back to the car  saw that Pritish was still near the car. Got to know that the side wall of the tire was cut. An inspection of the tire showed that there were many knicks and cuts on the tire and it looked like the tire had aged a lot over the course of the ride. We inserted a Rs 100 note and pumped to 40 psi and tried to get Pritish going.

I completed another climb and on my way down, Pritish was pushing his bike back to the car, the tire had gone flat again and the side wall had opened up further. His ride was done and the disappointment of not being able to continue was evident. He was gracious enough to say that he would support me through the rest of my ride, but it was very disappointing that he could not continue. On the positive side this happened just after he had completed his half everesting, at least one milestone had been reached by him. He had plenty left in the tank as he had paced himself beautifully

Motivation begins to dwindle:

With Pritish not riding, there was no company on the hill, further him having to stop his ride under the circumstances was very disappointing. The focus wavered and the motivation to keep going was dwindling. This was not the plan and me riding while he waited in the car was not very pleasing. The fatigue was getting to me as well at this point and I was considering stopping the ride as we had planned to do this together. However, Pritish kept encouraging every time he saw me and kept telling me to keep going. This was also the phase where I still had about 3,500 meters to ascend and as the mark was far, the mind was playing games. I had to get a few more climbs done and if I get to the 6k mark, I knew that from that point on the thoughts about stopping the ride would cease.

Get your head down:

It was time to get a few climbs done and I went about it as best as I could. The time I took on the climbs did not matter, just getting closer to the 6,000 meter mark was on the mind. The clock was ticking towards 6:00 pm and I got myself back on track towards getting to the 6k mark  by 6:00pm. Cramps was not a problem anymore, however, fatigue and monotony was setting in. Made slow progress, however got to the 6k mark by 6:00 pm. Reaching a small target in time was sufficient to keep going, after a couple of climbs, Pritish left to get me hot food for dinner. There was food in the car and we could have managed, however, Pritish wanted to get me hot food as it would be better than having bread and jam and also help with the cold weather. I ate a few refreshments and then stocked up with a biscuit packet and groundnuts and water so that I could keep going till he got back.

Alone:

It was dark and visibility was low again. Descending was slow again and it hit me that this would be the case for the remainder of the ride. It was an eerie feeling to be the only person on the hill. No one around, only me and the cycle light to focus on. The gradients were not visible, however, by now the tree's and stones on the climb were the markers where the gradient would kick up and the signals were I would have to get off the saddle to pedal. Get another 1,500 meters of climbing done before I stop for dinner was the target.

Till the time the car was at the hill, I did not need anything from it, however, the minute Pritish left, the mind wanted fruits and chips and cream buns and everything else which was in the car. I realised that it was more to do with me being alone on the hill and I was distinctly uncomfortable with it, I just needed someone to be around at this time. Told myself that I could do little other than to keep making progress lest I leave too much to be done after 10:00 pm.

Got past 2-3 climbs, however the body and mind were fatigued by this stage. The mind was constantly asking for breaks and just churning the pedals was becoming difficult. I took breaks mid-climb where I would get to see the city lights, eat a few biscuits and groundnuts before continuing. This was being done to break the monotony and also to get a quick rest before hitting the max gradient section. To make things a little more difficult, there was a drizzle which made the road surface wet, not slippery though.

The climbs whittled down slowly and so did the food and water supply. I could manage one more climb with the stuff that I had and then I would have to stop and wait for Pritish if he didn't make it back by then, fortunately he made in just as I started the 46th climb and the thought of hot food, got me going and managed to get the climb done relatively quickly.

Hot Parotta with lentil curry was perfect. It filled me up and I had fruits and chips as well. The clothes were wet and I was getting worried to get back out and ride on the wet roads. Braking was becoming difficult and the fingers were hurting and cramping from the incessant braking. I had to do 11 more climbs to get to 8,848 meters, to break this down, it was under 3 laps if I could do 4 climbs at a go.

17 hours had elapsed and I had done 7,200 meters of climbing. I still had 1,600 meters remaining and it was still too soon to start a countdown and I was still adding climbs rather than counting down the remaining climbs.

A little extension of the break to wait for the rain to stop, helped as it stopped raining and I was able to get back onto the road without having to worry about the rain water getting into the eyes. The cap under the helmet had been done away with as it was wet and I did not want to wear a wet cap with the temperature dipping.

Keep climbing:

Don't worry about the time, keep climbing, temperature has dipped, so cramping will not be a problem, however, the further I stretch this into the night sleep and hallucination might become an issue, so keep riding and the target will only get smaller was the thought when I got back on the saddle. Didn't want to think too far ahead and looked at smaller numbers like getting to 7,500 meters and then think of getting to 8,000 meters. Climb times were hovering in the 16-17 minute range, I was not looking at the time and was looking forward to getting to 50 climbs and then take it from there. 50 came and a 15 minute break followed where I ate fruits and a gel.

Got back out and was feeling good that I had to do only 7 climbs. I was looking at doing this at one go without a break. I was sure that if I got past 4 more climbs I would be able to do a further 3 without stopping. However, when I was doing the 54th climb, I was running empty and was hungry again. I could have pushed on, however, the drizzle was back and I decided to stop and eat while I waited for the drizzle to stop.

Mind Games:

Only 3 climbs to be done, but the toughest climb was the climb out of the car. It was still drizzling and the wait for the weather to turn was unending and the warmth inside the car had me in a nice cozy place. Why will I get onto the bike and put the body through the rigours of having to climb and then descend on wet roads with the risk being high when I can actually sit inside the car and wait for the weather to turn.

I am thankful that Pritish got me going with some stern words and motivated me to get out of the car. I had not realised that I had spent close to 45 minutes waiting for the drizzle to stop. Pritish said that he would follow me in the car so that I have additional light. This helped and I finally stepped out of the car and got onto the saddle.

Climb 55 was done, just 2 more climbs to be go, the steepest part of the climb was no more a concern, however, the start of the climb was becoming more of a problem. I had to get past a steep section of only 10-15 meters and this was proving to be much more difficult than having to do 13%-15% gradient for 200 meters. The body was not willing and the mind was on the verge of breaking. Pritish following and playing music helped to distract the mind and give some temporary relief. Another climb done and I was onto the last one.

The drizzle was slightly heavier, however it did not matter, just 2.1 kilometers to go. I was in rhythm and the climb was not very painful. although I took over 15 minutes for the climb, I enjoyed this climb. Just as I got to the top, the clouds opened up and it started to pour.

Were the clouds waiting for me to finish? Probably did, I was relieved that I had completed the ride and did not have to continue in heavy rain. The descent to get to the base on a wet and slippery surface is not something that I fancied.

The Numbers:

Category*	VAM	Number of Climbs	%	Avg VAM	Avg HR
Good	>700	12	21%	778	167
Base	600-700	21	37%	649	155
Poor	500-600	22	39%	570	142
Very Poor	< 500	2	3%	463	133
		57	100%

* Category based on personal ability

I had over 40% of the climbs in the poor category. Although I'm relieved with having completed the ride, I'm not happy with the way I have ridden. The way I have felt during the ride also was not great. I could have probably saved about an hour in climbing if I had climbed in the base category. Only the starting 12 climbs were good enough, however after the cramp set in it was damage limitation mode. Further 3.7 hours spent off saddle, which is broken up as below:

	Elevation Gain	Ride Time	Total Time	Off Saddle Time
1st half	4,440	8.33	9.00	0.67
2nd half	4,456	9.85	12.88	3.03
	8,896	18.18	21.88	3.70

Spending 3 hours off-saddle in the second half is too much. Clearly fatigued and taking unscheduled breaks has added time and I should have been watchful about this. There is scope for a lot of improvement and I will have to keep working to improve my time management and nutrition.

Conclusion:

In November 2020 I had completed half-everesting on Nandi hills in a total time of 12 hours. It's taken a year to get the Everesting done. Happy with having found a hill close to Bangalore to do it, however the ride could have been better. The feeling that if I had more time to get better physically I would have been able to execute this better, however, given the aches and pains with which I started the ride, I should be ok with how things ended up.

Thanks to Rakesh, RR cycles, Madivala for sourcing the Shimano 105 RD and getting the bike ready for this ride. The ride would not have gone well if not for this piece of equipment.

Thanks to Biju Kunnapada, Cycling Boutique for the Bio Racer Bib Shorts. Worked well on this ride and saddle sore was at a minimum.

Thanks to Pritish for supporting me and helping with the planning and executing of this ride. In hindsight, the only thing which we failed at was carrying a spare tire, both of us could have completed the ride if only we had one. Disappointed that he could not complete his ride due to tire failure, however, happy that he was able to complete half everesting before the tire failure.

Mohan Subramanyam and Bangalore Randonneurs have always supported and encouraged my rides and I am grateful to have their support.

Lastly, my tires are worne too on account of the rough road surface. Wondering would this have been able to take anymore climbs or were the tires also holding on till I completed the ride. Possibly destiny had a big role to play on this ride.