My Thoughts after Everesting for Black Dog.

8,849m. The height of Mount Everest. Riding it on a bike? You’re kidding yourself Gus?

Back to December 2020. I came across a guy on Strava named “Jono”, a medical Doctor living in Adelaide at the time. After scrolling through his activities, I quickly realised this guy wasn’t your regular weekend cyclist. It became apparent that “Jono” was undertaking a particular challenge each and every weekend of the year. I soon learned this challenge to be called “Everesting”. Everesting is an endurance challenge performed on a bicycle, where a cyclist repeatedly climbs a single hill until the combined elevation gain reaches 8849m, the height of Mt Everest.

Gee I thought, if a middle-aged man, cranking out full-time hours in the week can push himself to muster up an “Everesting” each weekend, surely I can give it a crack.

Sitting with my journal in the early days of January 2021, I set training and competition goals. One being to “Everest” on my bike. At the time, it seemed like quite a novel goal. A goal at the time which I didn’t really comprehend.

Fast-tracked to mid-year 2021. COVID-19 in full swing. Triathlon events for the summer season seeming unlikely. I still had the goal of “Everesting” but needed to act and plan this shit out. My original plan was to “Everest” solo, to complete it as a personal challenge with no strings attached. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I had the ability to make a real difference here. Why not attached this ride with a charity.

I remember vividly sitting at the front reception desk at work between patients, looking up online what charities were out there. I didn’t just want to choose one for the sake of it. I wanted meaning, purpose, and an intrinsic connection. Digging and digging, it became apparent that the Black Dog Institute was the way to go. The Black Dog Institute is Australia’s only medical research institute to investigate mental health across the lifespan. Their aim is to create a mentally healthier world for everyone. All fundraising donations go to research, which was key for me. The intrinsic connection for me was big. Mental health has a ridiculous stigma around it. If you have a sore Achilles, you don’t think twice about going to a medical professional to get it fixed. In contrast, you wake up and feel down, questioning your emotions. Why do I feel like this? This is embarrassing. You’re too tough for this. Just forget about it and keep moving on. Burying your emotions under the carpet. Unfortunately, there’s only so much room the carpet can hold before bumps and cracks begin to appear. This was the reality during mid-2020. When you have so much going on, there’s only so much one can genuinely cope with. Everyone has a different threshold, and mine was pushed to the extremes.

Looking back at this, I was hungry to raise awareness for mental health, and to show that mental health is no different from physical health. Without a healthy mind, you’re no good to anyone.

Black Dog Institute it was. I set the date of my event for the 9th of October. Funnily enough, it ended up being “World Mental Health Day.” Great co-incidence I say. I had roughly just over 3 months to prep for the big day. My plan was to ride at least 3-4 times per week, with one day on the weekend designated to hills. I took quite a long time to determine what hill I wanted to “Everest” on. I went from Red Hill to Mt Stromlo, to Mt Pleasant. Weeks and weeks went by and I still hadn’t chosen the right hill. I did some research, experimented on some more hills, and finally came to the great Mt Ainslie. I’d only ever ridden up Ainslie once in the past, with that effort bringing me to stopping twice from exhaustion. I calculated to conquer “Everesting”, I’d need to perform at least 38 full reps. That number seemed like an absolute joke. I was gassed after one, rep, how the hell am I going to do 38!

I started my Mt Ainslie Everesting journey with 3 laps, then 4 laps, then 8 laps. I gradually churned away at Ainslie, learning the knack of the hill. I quickly became familiar with all the small bumps and cracks in the road. Each rock, tree, corner, road sign. There were days where I really didn’t want to set up half my day to ride up and down Ainslie. Most training attempts were either cold or bloody windy, with nasty cross or headwinds. I used these weather conditions to my advantage. On the day, what if it was blowing a gale or raining? Joshua Medcalf, the author of “Chop Wood Carry Water” said, “Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That is why we train so hard.” These principles helped me enjoy the process of my training.

The most reps I completed prior to the day was 12. My Strava title for that activity was “I had to dig deep for that one”. I remember being genuinely cooked after 12 reps. Being only 6 weeks out from my “Everesting” challenge, I knew I had some work to do.

The original date for the challenge, the 9th, had to be extended back to the 23rd of October due to COVID-19 lockdown extensions in the ACT. I didn’t mind this, as it gave me more time to train and master to knack of “Everesting.”

I’ve suffered a lot in the past both physically and mentally. From the age of 19-20, I had four surgeries in the space of 12 months. For me, that process of being in and out of hospital shaped who I am today. I knew going into the “Everest” challenge, I had the mental grit to get me across the line. It was more whether my body was going to cope on the day.

October 22nd. The evening before the big day. I finished work at 6 pm, picked up two Mookie Burgers with loaded All-Star Wagyu Fries, and drove home to eat on the couch. Stomach full and satisfied, Hannah arrived not long after with her bubbly smile. Hannah was swiftly making god knows how many PB and Jam sandwiches, while I triple-checked my list of items to pack. Chargers, lights, spare tyres, tubes, spare cycling clothes, sunnies, pens, paper, undies, you name it. And yes I had toilet paper.

A quick warm shower and into bed I was. Alarm set for 2 am. Goodnight and good luck I said. I struggled big time to fall asleep. I was alternately lying on my stomach, side and back for what seemed like weeks. My Whoop activity tracker said I slept for 5 hours, but I felt wide awake the entire night. Nerves, excitement. All the above. My alarm went off at 2 am, and I sat upright in bed like a possessed man. Hannah said she’d never seen me get up so quickly.

I consumed a big glass of water, showered, and got stuck into some light stretching. 2:15 am. Nearly go time.

I watched “THE 4 MINUTE SPEECH THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE by David Goggins. If that doesn’t get you going I don’t know what will. 2:30 am.

It was nearing 3 am, slightly behind schedule. Hannah and I packed the cars and off we drove towards the base of Mt Ainslie.

Dressed ready to go, helmet on, tires pumped, lights on. I was ready to begin. Hannah had kindly made a sign which read “Charity Event in Progress - Everesting 4 Black Dog”. We set up the sign on the rear of my car, hoping that across the day, passers-by would notice it and donate.

My handlebars had Physio tape wrapped around them, with two sentences on either side stating, “Keep Hammering” (a saying from Cam Haynes, an Ultrarunner and professional conservational bow hunter from the US) and “What would Goggins do? (Referring to David Goggins, ex Navy Seal and a downright madman who has no limits to pushing the human body).

I set off at 3:23 am and did a short warm-up lap around the base of Ainslie. Usually, when I ride here I’m getting swooped by a pissed-off magpie. I thought to myself surely that motherfucker is sleeping. I was correct.

My plan for the day was to ride 2 laps every hour for the first 4 hours, totaling 8 laps. From there onwards, I wanted to ride 3 laps every 2 hours. With the goal of finishing smack bang on 24hrs, or 3:30 am the next day.

I set off on my first lap, then my second. Two laps ticked off in the first 1 hour. 4 am came around and another cyclist had just begun cycling. I thought to my self what the hell is this savage doing up this early? Wait a minute I said. Says me whose been here since 3:30 am. The cyclist passed me on the steep section of Ainslie on my 3rd rep. He said, “big day ahead of you”. “Yeah mate”, I said. “You’re Everesting I saw, nice one”. “Yeah it’s going to be a big one, it’s my first one. Have you ever done it before?” “Yeah quite a few times on Ainslie, and at Red Hill, Black Mountain and Dairy Farmers Hill.” “What the fuck I said in my head. This guy is a cycling version of David Goggins.” “Wow I said, that’s huge. “Just keeping a steady pace and you’ll be right he said.” “Thanks mate, enjoy your day! I’ll see you across the day.” Yeah good luck mate, see you soon.” Off he rode into the distance. It was like he had an engine on his bike. He looked familiar from previous times I had been out here training. I wonder if each time he had started at 4 am? Who knows I thought. Either way, he’s a savage and I’m a savage. Let’s both get after it.

2 hours had passed, 4 laps under my belt. Small glimpses of light were beginning to peak over the horizon. It was a crystal clear morning, not a scent of wind or rain. Random cars would pass me, and I’d think what the hell are they doing up this early. It was too early for sunset. Drugs, sex, and rock n roll probably.

Time passes quite quickly when you’re cycling, especially in the early hours of the AM. You quite often find yourself matching your breath with the cadence of your bike, taking up the whole road while it’s still quiet. Birds were chirping, and the sun was finally making its self known. At five reps, I stopped at the top and took in the view. How bloody grateful am I to be witnessing such beauty.

With more light, I upped my speed on the descent. The most rewarding part of hill climbing is yeeting back down again. Risky for sure, but the pure speed is exhilarating.

After each rep, I stopped to note my specific water and food intake. This was a must. I couldn’t afford to get hours into the day and not remember the last time I had eaten. Food and hydration was going to be critical to finishing the day. Hannah did a cheeky Macca’s run, bringing back hotcakes and a coffee for breakfast. Hell yeah I thought, I should Everest every weekend! Save the maple syrup I said to Hannah, I eat/drink it later on! She laughed, probably knowing it would sit in the car all day (she was right).

At four hours, I had completed 8 reps. My plan now was to ease back slightly and perform just the 1.5 laps per hour. I wasn’t feeling too bad, and decided to stick to the schedule of 2 per hour. This gave me approximately 15 mins of rest every 1 hour. I was banking on fatiguing at some point, and when that was coming I wasn’t sure. I just needed to take one rep at a time.

Reps were going by. 8 am. 9 am. My dad and his girlfriend Nadezhda rocked up in their cycling clothes, bikes at hand. I updated him on how I was feeling. Pretty high spirits to be honest. It was great to see them, and even more, seeing them conquer Ainslie on heavy mountain bikes! Not an easy feat.

The morning was flying by. 10 am. 11 am.

Friends and work colleagues were rocking up smiles and all. Damn it was good to see them. Talk about boosting my spirits. One of my best mates Lachie and his girlfriend Alysha turned up to crank out some reps with me. Lachie and I started our friendship back in the uni days studying Physio. He is one of the greatest characters I know, always boosting the mood of any situation. The three of us set out to get another rep, with Lachie’s Bluetooth speaker jammed into his water bottle cage playing some filthy drum and bass. What a time to be alive.

I was starting to get decently tired around reps 12 - 14. I felt I really needed to get some sleep under my belt.

Seat back, Hannah’s pink eye mask on, and Lachlan’s bike chain kept my bike safely attached around my car wheel as I attempted to get some shut-eye. I probably managed a few minutes of sleep but was kept alert by a noisy minor bird chirping for some worms. I rose from my “sleep” and actually felt pretty decent. Bit of a kick in my step.

Alright I said, 6 reps to go until I’m at 20 reps down. Compartmentalising the efforts into achievable chunks was crucial. I'd be lying if I said I didn’t say to my self “Holy shit, 20 reps to go, that’s going to be a push.” But I ensured the majority of my thoughts were focused on the present.

Trust. The. Process.

My mate Travis from F45 came along for my 19th and 20th rep. The day was starting to warm up, with a noticeable difference in temperature from the bottom to the top of the climb. Sweat was starting to pour, and my HR was reaching the mid 170’s. I knew from my training sessions that 170 plus BPM was going to be hard to sustain, working close to redline. My 20th rep was definitely the hardest I’d done so far. Riding alongside Travis was uber helpful, and without the chat and pacing, I’m sure it would have been even harder. I remember thinking to myself as I rode the steep section, I honestly feel like I’m going backward. I was riding at 5km/hr, the slowest ascending speed I had ridden yet. My eyes weren’t even looking up, I purposely kept them looking straight down at the road, one millimeter at a time.

Rep 20 done. Thank FUCK. I’m hot, tired and need a serious pick me up.

I rode cautiously back down the hill, enjoying the temporary relief from climbing.

I was greeted by at least 12 friends and family at the bottom. Spirits immediately raised. In the space of 30 minutes, I down a cold cyclone icy pole, iced coffee, and a choc thick shake from Maccas. I’m not sure what was in either of those three sweets, but I felt like a new man after them. Looking back on it, I was probably very close to overheating if I didn’t get those cold drinks into me. Cooling my core body temp, lowering my HR, increasing my fluids and blood volume, paid huge dividends.

I was ready to keep cranking reps. I did some quick maths to work out how many reps I had left.

To my surprise, I still had 20 reps to go. 2 more than what I had originally calculated. I wasn’t sure if I had miscalculated in the planning, or if my Wahoo ELEMNT head unit had underestimated my elevation. Either way, I needed to hit 8,849m regardless.

I set back out on the climb and stuck to 2 reps per hour. I was feeling good.

Hannah did a rep with me at around rep 24. Legend of a girl. She mentioned that at the top there was an ice cream and cold drinks van! This was too good to be true. A quick pitstop, a can of ice-cold solo, and back to work.

Reps 20 to 30 seemingly flew by. It was a combination of elevated energy levels, seeing my friends and family, and the weather gradually cooling that really made a difference.

5 pm hit and I was starting to think about the evening ahead of me. The mind games were well and truly at play now. Angus, you have 12 reps to go, that’s 6 more hours at a minimum of cycling to go! That’s still a shit load to go. I tried to be indifferent to these thoughts. You are what you think. I wasn’t going to let the inner monkey brain let me take the comfortable option. I had a mission to complete and nothing was going to stop me.

By now, the guy (whose name was Alex) I had met earlier in the day was still riding! I asked him how many reps he had and he said 48! Yep, I heard that right. 48 reps. SAVAGE! Not long after, he drove past while I was having a rest at the bottom, and gave his best wishes for me in finishing my event.

The thing that stayed with me the most was when he said, “Once your body gets tired, it sort of levels out and you can’t get much more fatigued.” As long as I kept my food and water up, it was largely a mind game from here onwards.

7 pm, and it was me, Hannah and my dad remaining. When I got back down after my 30 somethingth rep, Dad and Hannah said a guy named Sam was out doing reps and stopped after seeing my sign earlier in the day. he said he was planning on doing two Ainslie reps then finish off with a 50km ride.

He stopped after one rep and said he would come back at midnight to help me finish my reps.

When I heard this, I was quite shocked. A total stranger to me, out of the kindness of his heart, wanted to come back at midnight! and help ride the final hours. Wow.

Knowing he was coming back later in the evening fueled my desire to keep going. I had to keep Sam, myself and the Black Dog Institute accountable.

7:30 pm was dinner. Crust Pizza specifically. Fuck yeah. What a treat that was.

Darkness was setting in, the road was getting busier with cars hooning to the top. Great I thought. The large majority of the cars passing me were ego-fueled males who love their cars. Whatever floats your boat I guess, just don’t hit me, please.

I was still feeling decently strong with 10 reps to go. I felt like reps 30 to 36 felt quite similar to reps 22 - 30. I wasn’t complaining about this, and maximised how I felt by cranking out a few three rep efforts in a row to make up time.

The highlight of the evening was when a car drove by, stopped, and asked us if we were selling cherries. I said "Cherries? Do you mean charity???” They were like “Ohhhh we thought you were selling Cherries, sorry!” And they drove off. Hannah, Dad and I look at each other and cracked up in laughter.

10 pm. Darkness fully set in. The roads were quieter. The hoons were slowly going home.

Across the day, I tried to keep music to a minimum. I quite enjoy cycling with no noise, just being content with my own thoughts. This however was next level solitary riding, so I put on some Avicii. Easy listening music with good beat to match with my cadence.

I was halfway riding up, and got a message from Lachie saying “On my way over to support!” By the time I got back down, he was there. What a guy!

Lachie and I set out together, revolution after revolution, ascending for yet another rep. By this stage, I had roughly 8 reps to go. I needed to hit 42 reps plus some extra to reach the goal elevation. This was four reps more than my original 38 reps. 4 reps in the grand schemes of things was nothing. I had this.

Midnight came around, and I was thinking of Sam who said he was going to come back. I was resting in my camp chair alongside Hannah, Dad and Lachie, when Sam drove in and parked.

“Angus, he said.” Sam, I said. Nice to meet you. Thank you ALOT for coming out, I REALLY appreciate it.” “Mate no worries at all, I know how hard it can be during these early hours of the morning, and you’re doing this for such a great cause.” I later found out that Sam donated $395 to my charity page. Was he an angel from the heavens? A truly special man.

Lachie, Sam and I set out with 6 reps to go. We were like the three Amigos. I had approximately 3 hours of cycling left. At this stage I was on track to finish at smack on 3:30 am, right on my 24hr goal.

Sam and Lachie took turns in riding with me. Having their support was beyond appreciated. I couldn’t put to words how much their support helped me in getting up that hill.

5 reps to go.

4 reps to go.

3 reps to go.

Alright, it’s showtime. 40 reps down. 2 reps to go. I was genuinely getting tired now. My legs were slowing, and I was craving my bed for sleep. Don’t stop yet Angus.

Sam, Lachie and I set out as a team to conquer the last two reps together. We were in high spirits.

8600m - 248m elevation to go. I couldn’t believe how far I had come.

It seemed like hours ago when I had just done 4 reps and was chatting with Alex.

One lap to go.

We all reached the start of the steep part of Ainslie together. I decided to crank the watts, and push the final stretch towards the top.

I reached the top, hitting 8800m elevation. 48m to go!

I descended a short distance, then climbed one final time.

My eyes were fixated on my Wahoo ELEMNT headunit.

Metre by metre. Second by second. Revolution by revolution.

10m. 8m. 6m. 4m. I was counting down out aloud.

3 - 2 - 1.

8,849m.

I reached the top carpark section of Mt Ainslie, and rode extra until I reached 8,852m, just to be sure I reached the target.

Sam and Lachie caught up and greeted me with their congratulations.

I gave myself a pat on back. Well done Gussy. You made it.

23 hrs, 52 minutes. Right under my goal of 24 hrs. Hallelujah!

The three of us made the final descent down Ainslie, taking in the moment.

Lachie pulled one last celebratory mono (how he managed to do that at 3 am in the morning, in the dark, I will never know).

We slowly got closer to the carpark where Hannah and Dad were standing. I could see Dad’s camera light on his phone from 400m away.

300m, 200m, 100m.

Done.

Over $4,600 was raised for the Black Dog Institute.

That was my Everesting journey.

?