The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pedal power boosts SAMH by £4,000 after Everest ‘climb’
A group of Angus cyclists denied a warm-weather trip to the Mediterranean have instead completed a coronavirus lockdown virtual climb of the height of Mount Everest.
Members of the Montrose-based Montvelo Cycling Club took on a Virtual Everesting Challenge to compensate for missing out on the Mallorca 312, a 200-mile race around the island of Majorca which was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Andy Inglis, Douglas Glen and Steven Fyfe, all Montrose, were joined by Matt Gibson, Laurencekirk, as their combined pedal power saw them climb a total of 58,624 metres to raise more than £4,000 for the Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH).
Club chairman Andy explained: “Everesting is a challenge to climb the height of Mount Everest (8,848m) over one ride by repeating repetitions of the same hill.
“The group used the technology of Zwift to recreate this indoors, ascending the Alpe du Zwift which mirrors the famous Alpe Du Huez in every way, except for rain and headwinds.
“The concept, which has been created by Hells 500, took the first group around 12 hours each to complete.
“They were cheered along the way through a Zoom call which saw other club members join for some of the ride.
“Lockdown has caused a huge void in sport with so many annual events cancelled and club rides on hold,” added Andy.
“This fundraising event was a personal challenge for us all, but it also united fellow members, friends and family as they encouraged us along the way.”
Inspired by the show of determination from the first group and seeing them raise valuable funds, fellow club members Rich Ballantyne, of St Cyrus, Brian Slessor, Auchenblae, and Paul Dailly, Arbroath, were inspired to undertake a similar gruelling challenge six days later.
Paul completed a half Everest (base camp), Brian climbed the full height and Rich went one step further to achieve 10,000m.
Rich said: “It brought us all together and made us feel part of something bigger.”
The club, which has been encouraging members of all capabilities to join virtual weekday and weekend activities using Zwift and Zoom technology, attracts people from across north Angus and south Aberdeenshire.
It was set up three years ago and now boasts 140 members. The club has also hosted MoX for the past two years, with the event – sadly cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic – due to act as a Scottish Championship round later this year.