On Saturday, I achieved setting a new Guinness World Record in Most Metres Ascended in 12hrs on a Bicycle. This basically required me to ride a course repeatedly to gain vertical elevation in metres. I specifically chose a small but steep hill to ride the repeats on. The course was less than 500m long, which had a vertical gain of 60.6m per lap (approx 13% gradient).
With Thursday and Friday before the atempt being miserable drizzly rain (you know the rain that only just comes down, not bucketing or even showering, just annoying), high hopes were needed for a good day Saturday. The heavens delivered with stars shining when I woke up, on a clear and nice temperature Winter Solstice. Quick setting up, some official housekeeping, then a quick spin to warm up, some last minute photos and I was away!
With the record set at 5000m, I needed to achieve at least 83 laps. The first few hours I was going well. Right on my target of around 900m per hour (15 laps/hr. Having done the required limit in training twice, (but not under GWR Guidelines), I knew it was going to be around the 6hr mark where I could celebrate. At 5hrs:40min I achieved the 83rd lap. I celebrated with a vegemite sandwich, some pepsi and a couple of jellybeans. After around a 10min break, I was back in the saddle grinding it out once again....now to make the mark as unsurmountable as I could.
This is the stuff I love. 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'. I was soldiering every lap. I got to 100 laps after another hour and a bit and started to do some sums in my head. With the initial goal of 10,000m slipping due to fatigue, I knew I had to start breaking the day into smaller chunks. I hoped off at the 110 lap mark for a quick breather and a goal reasses. The new targets were 10 laps and a small break. So off again to grind out 10 reps.
120, 130, 140 laps complete. At this stage the legs were cramping badly.....but there was a huge milestone coming up: The equivelent height of Mt. Everest from sea level to summit is 8848m, or for me, at the 146 lap mark. By this stage I was breaking it down to 2 laps in my mind. At the 11hrs:10min mark, I achieved that 146th lap! What a feeling! The crowd now at its peak were all now staying to the finish.
I managed just 7 more laps in that last ~45min. Those 7 laps I had tears welling up, my legs screaming, and my breathing laboured for oxygen. On the 153rd lap, at 11hrs:58mins, knowing I couldnt possibly make it back for another......I called it the end of the day.
Wow, what a buzz! The crowd, my family, my friends....all came out of the woodwork. Many were there for the days duration, and many came out several times to watch. The emotions of the day were sinking in....and so was a little pain. I managed a quick bite to eat, a small rub down and got to go out into the crowd of people. Amazingly I felt so much better in this small intimate crowd of mostly friends and family, than in the larger crowds at Ironman.
To quote Rolf on my wifes Facebook 'Behind every great athlete there is also a great woman' - He is so right. Actually I had two great women that day, with both my wife Liz and Miss. 9 daughter Kona handing me my nutrition every single lap of the day. I dedicated the day to them, as family is the most important thing in all our lives.
The numbers: 153 laps at 60.6m ascended gave me a total of 9271.8m ascended.
pinkboy.....thanks for listening!
With Thursday and Friday before the atempt being miserable drizzly rain (you know the rain that only just comes down, not bucketing or even showering, just annoying), high hopes were needed for a good day Saturday. The heavens delivered with stars shining when I woke up, on a clear and nice temperature Winter Solstice. Quick setting up, some official housekeeping, then a quick spin to warm up, some last minute photos and I was away!
With the record set at 5000m, I needed to achieve at least 83 laps. The first few hours I was going well. Right on my target of around 900m per hour (15 laps/hr. Having done the required limit in training twice, (but not under GWR Guidelines), I knew it was going to be around the 6hr mark where I could celebrate. At 5hrs:40min I achieved the 83rd lap. I celebrated with a vegemite sandwich, some pepsi and a couple of jellybeans. After around a 10min break, I was back in the saddle grinding it out once again....now to make the mark as unsurmountable as I could.
This is the stuff I love. 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going'. I was soldiering every lap. I got to 100 laps after another hour and a bit and started to do some sums in my head. With the initial goal of 10,000m slipping due to fatigue, I knew I had to start breaking the day into smaller chunks. I hoped off at the 110 lap mark for a quick breather and a goal reasses. The new targets were 10 laps and a small break. So off again to grind out 10 reps.
120, 130, 140 laps complete. At this stage the legs were cramping badly.....but there was a huge milestone coming up: The equivelent height of Mt. Everest from sea level to summit is 8848m, or for me, at the 146 lap mark. By this stage I was breaking it down to 2 laps in my mind. At the 11hrs:10min mark, I achieved that 146th lap! What a feeling! The crowd now at its peak were all now staying to the finish.
I managed just 7 more laps in that last ~45min. Those 7 laps I had tears welling up, my legs screaming, and my breathing laboured for oxygen. On the 153rd lap, at 11hrs:58mins, knowing I couldnt possibly make it back for another......I called it the end of the day.
Wow, what a buzz! The crowd, my family, my friends....all came out of the woodwork. Many were there for the days duration, and many came out several times to watch. The emotions of the day were sinking in....and so was a little pain. I managed a quick bite to eat, a small rub down and got to go out into the crowd of people. Amazingly I felt so much better in this small intimate crowd of mostly friends and family, than in the larger crowds at Ironman.
To quote Rolf on my wifes Facebook 'Behind every great athlete there is also a great woman' - He is so right. Actually I had two great women that day, with both my wife Liz and Miss. 9 daughter Kona handing me my nutrition every single lap of the day. I dedicated the day to them, as family is the most important thing in all our lives.
The numbers: 153 laps at 60.6m ascended gave me a total of 9271.8m ascended.
pinkboy.....thanks for listening!