Having a visual way of representing the repeats required to accomplish your vEveresting helps you keep track to ensure you complete the vertical climbing height of your chosen vEveresting challenge.

Create a chart to visually represent this or keep track of the number of reps.

Cross off after each rep.

This visual tool will also give you a sense of accomplishment throughout your attempt.

A well planned Pain Cave is the key to a successful vEveresting!

You will thank yourself for it later when you have planned well and have all your required kit changes, nutrition and hydration within reach.

We suggest the following:

• Keep your laptop on charge
• Think about any entertainement requirements – an additional screen might come in handy to watch movies.
• Have a table setup with your additional kit, nutrition and hydration needs. The easier you have things accessible the less time you waste in breaks.
• Have a fan set up or a window that opens to create airflow. This will help regulate body temperature.

Handy things to have available at your Pain Cave setup

• Food
• Hydration
• Basic bike tools
• Changes of kit
• Towels
• Mat to stretch on
• Time schedule to keep you on track and moving
• Food and hydration for after attempt

The hydration and nutrition suggestions below are a guide only. Please note that individual requirements vary. We encourage you to consult your health practitioner or dietitian for individual recommendations.

Effective and efficient energy consumption on the day

Even with the best carb loading regime the muscles are capable of retaining only a certain amount of usable energy stores. This is where nutrition on the day to supplement the intake of carbs is important.

“Depletion of body carbohydrate stores may cause heavy legs due to glycogen depletion of the quads or ‘hunger flatting’ due to reduced blood sugar levels. While some cyclists are more affected by low blood sugar levels than others, all cyclists will benefit from preserving carbohydrate levels during long rides”. – AIS –

To prevent depletion of energy it is recommended to eat before you are hungry. Be prepared and ensure you have access to sufficient supplies. Setting up a base camp with access to a variety of foods and hydration will be essential. Aim for a combination of real foods along with sports bars, gels and sports drinks. Carbohydrate intake needs to start before you hit a hunger flat. Aim for about 30-60 g of carbohydrate per hour.

Commence carbohydrate consumption early on in the Everesting to avoid low stores in the latter stages of the ride.

Examples of 50 g Carbohydrate Intake:

• 3 medium pieces fruit
• 2 cereal bars
• 800 ml cordial
• 500 ml juice
• 50 g jellybeans or jelly lollies
• 1 jam sandwich
• 800-1000 ml sports drink
• 2 carbohydrate gels

On the bike, a range of solid and liquid forms of sustenance is recommended. Sports drinks are a great choice – providing both carbohydrate and fluid. Experiment with different sports drinks during training to discover what you like and can stomach over long periods of time. In hot conditions, when fluid needs outstrip carbohydrate needs, you may require additional fluid such as water.

Many previous Everesters will recommend eating on the descent phase allowing your body time to digest and process the kilojoules before beginning the ascent again. This also minimises time between laps having breaks which can significantly add up over the course of the day adding to total ride time. Portable foods include bananas, dried fruit, sports bars, cereal bars and gels.

It all comes down to personal experience and metabolism however many previous Everesters will express caution against the consumption of too many gels due to the dramatic sugar high and subsequent low experienced along with the effect they can have on the stomach. Some suggest reserving carbs with extremely high sugar contents for later in the day when “things start getting a little wonky” -Sarah Hammond-

It is a good idea to have a mix of proteins and carbs a few hours out from beginning the ride. A big bowl of rolled oats with honey and cinnamon and some scramble eggs with ham & cheese. Consider a top up 1hr before you start with a rice cake and/or banana depending how hungry you are plus a bottle of electrolytes/water for hydration.

Hydration

Beginning the day in a well hydrated state will allow your body to function more efficiently. This begins with good training practices keeping hydrated along with increasing fluid intake a few days out from the ride. It is also important to maintain proper hydration throughout the ride. Fluid needs will vary according to exercise intensity and environmental conditions. Fluid losses of approximately 300 ml/hr to 1200 ml/hr are reported in the literature but in some conditions, losses are expected to be much higher.

It is important to hydrate with a variety of fluids including sports drinks and water. Where possible it is better to begin drinking early in exercise and adopt a pattern of drinking small volumes regularly rather than trying to tolerate large volumes in one hit. Most athletes can tolerate 200-300 ml every 15-20 minutes but tolerance will vary according to the exercise intensity. (AIS)

Summary of Fluid Guidelines from the Australian Institute of Sport:

Begin drinking early in the exercise session and continue to drink small amounts regularly. Sports drinks or water are the best options. Replace any residual fluid deficit after exercise. You will need to drink 150% of any fluid deficit in the 4-6 hours after exercise to account for ongoing sweat and urinary losses. When fluid losses are high and/or rapid rehydration is required, sodium replacement may be required. Sports drinks, oral rehydration solutions and salty foods can all contribute to sodium replacement. To calculate an estimation of your fluid loss during exercise go here.

Begin each exercise session in fluid balance. This requires drinking regularly throughout the day leading up to training or competition. Have a drink with all meals and snacks.

Immediately, before exercise commences, consume 200-600 ml of fluid.

Develop a plan for fluid intake for all exercise sessions longer than 30 minutes. Aim to match previous fluid losses as closely as possible

The advantage of completing a vEveresting on Zwift is you can often find someone to ride with and chat to if you choose. Friends can drop in very easily to ride with you, and you’re guaranteed to make new friends along the way. Thanks to people riding all around the world you’ll always have company on a vEverest.

If your virtual Everesting is being performed at home you can have the support of your family and friends.

There is going to be a lot of support out there on the mountain. You will find yourself needing it at times, and then later the exact same thing will drive you insane.

• Know in advance that no one is there to intentionally irritate you
• It’s important that you know you can tell your support folk to ride more slowly, to speed up, to stop talking, to start talking, to let you listen to tunes, to leave you in peace, or to get your riding buddies around you.
• They need to be tough enough to pull you out of the pain cave if need be.
• They should be able to talk without asking for conversation in return. You don’t want to be talking when fatigued, you will need all available energy to ride and focus in the dark.
• You’re gonna get pretty weird after multiple hours on the trainer, embrace it!

Your own headspace is the most important thing, don’t compromise that for the sake of being polite.

Don’t underestimate the challenge, it will push you to your physical and mental boundaries. Good physical and mental preparation will give your legs the extra distance.

The infamous everesting ‘death zone’ (above 7,000m), exhaustion, lack of sleep, descending in the dark

• Physical and mental exhaustion. Due to the length of time you are likely to be out on the bike you will inevitably encounter exhaustion. It is possible to plan for and minimise this.
• If you can start your vEveresting attempt in the early hours of the morning, your first stint will hopefully see you through to morning without experiencing too much tiredness and fatigue.
• When the sun comes up naturally your body clock will kick in and fatigue should not be an issue.
• By the time the following evening hits and normal bedtime comes around hopefully you will have the finish line within sights spurring you on despite looming fatigue. The earlier you can start the vEveresting the less likely you will still be on the bike when nighttime fatigue hits.
• It is critical to minimise breaks throughout the day as this time accumulates adding hours of pushing on through darkness and fatigue at the other end.

We advise going into your Everesting attempt with a pacing strategy. This will help you get the most out of your body and ensure you last the distance for such a demanding endurance event.

This will likely be quite different to anything else you have paced for before due to the length of time you will be on the bike.

• Aim to stick to your pre-planned time schedule.
• Go into it thinking about sticking to the time allocated for your breaks as this is an area time can blow out a bit.
• We recommend building in a bit of fat into your pacing times, this will make you feel good when you are ahead of schedule.
• In general it is important to know this is an endurance event so we recommend that you set a pacing strategy that will get you through the entire challenge.

• Continually monitor the battery on the device you are running the virtual platform on. They have a tendency to chew through the power even when plugged in.
• To conserve power we suggest turning the screen brightness down, ensure no other programs are running in the background, reduce the CPU load in Zwift settings.
• We suggest you take pictures of your stats throughout the ride. History has shown that data can fail, either on the bike or in the upload. Data is important, but we understand sometimes tech issues happen. So long as you can sufficiently prove the ride we’ll accept it.

If for any reason the recording is interrupted, continue the vEveresting attempt as a new activity and we can adjudicate based on the combined Strava activities.