Lockdown hit and there was no domestic or professional cycling. Rather than feeling sorry for himself Max Stedman used this team to challenge himself through a unique format of cycling known as Everesting.
“Everesting is pretty simple you find a hill any hill and you ride up and down until you get the same elevation and height as Everest.
“So 8848 metres if you ride it 84 and a half times, essentially to get the height gained.” He told the Telf Talks podcast.
A gruelling challenge requiring the highest level of power and endurance.
“It is pretty horrible and savage and by far the worst thing I have done on a bike,” Stedman said.
On his top speed he said: “My peak 30 second speed during the half was 103 km/hr. My peak speed was 114 km/hr, so we are nudging 70mph.
“I think on my most recent one 108 was my peak so over 65mph which is nuts when you think about it on a push bike.”
Stedman was rewarded by breaking the British record with a time of 7 hours and 32 minutes. Which has since been beaten his friend Archie Cross with a time of 7 hours 23 minutes.
The bar was upped, and Stedman in October went all out to smash not just the British record but the world record.
Round two didn’t go as planned.
“I blew up in massive fashion when trying to get the world record. At the time I was pretty naive in terms of gearing, equipment and what I needed.”
He described the moment his body gave in: “At 6100 meters my legs just went bust.
“The problem with the record now, is that as it is so fast you need to commit three months fully to it.
“In lockdown I had six weeks prep to go for it,” Stedman said.
In both his success and failure he was thankful for the opportunity Everesting provided in a tough time for all cyclists.
“A lot of athletes are lost without goals or something to target.
“It is something completely different to racing I can control almost all the variables apart from the weather. It is more like a personal challenge.
“Finishing it was massive, I have finished hundreds and thousands of bike races and half the time in bike racing your finishing and thinking great I got round that,” Stedman said.
He has not finished just yet with Everesting but it is not in his upcoming plans for 2022.
“I don’t know if there will be an opportunity in 2022 to be honest with the calendar.
“Everesting will always be there, the climbs and the roads will always be there so it is always something I can go back to at any point.”
Keep on eye out over the next 18 months for round three of Max Stedman’s Everesting career.
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