A Knight To Be

 And so, just ten days after the 10K vEveresting, I set out to conquer a Basecamp challenge IRL. A mini redemption. As it happened, my friends from the club I ride with on/off were planning a cumulative group Everesting challenge tagging it "Neveresting." Sort of like relay, but not. The idea was to split into groups, and each would tackle their portion of the required 20+ ascents of the proposed climb. So groups of 3 would have each rider do seven repeats, 4 would do five each, etc. The nice thing is that they all start together, and the club-ride feeling is maintained because you're continually passing your guys going up and down. This was also a fundraiser, so all the better. As I also happen to be the first international 7Summiting member, I set my goal on the "Mt. Vinson" climb challenge, a mere 4892m. So the plan was to tag along to the "Neveresting" challenge but do my own thing - and that is hit 5000m in total ascent. We hit off at 5 am, in 100...

It had never occurred to me to consider what this Cloud was all about. Now I know. It's not about climbing above the clouds, or other astral aspirations. It's not about being high, or similar altitude-related (or dopamine) ambitions. It's certainly not about anything light and soft that carelessly floats where the wind might randomly blow. No, none of those. It's about Winter. It's about Pain and Misery and Agony. It's about Dedication and Consistency and Determination. It's about Commitment and Single-Minded Focus. It is Winter. Dark and cold. The Cloud is a lightning-charged, rain-loaded, heavy cumulonimbus. The sort that rides in slow from the sea, so massive that light cannot penetrate to its base. Looming darkness, low and steady, thunder rumbling far in the distance, as if trying to catch up with the floating behemoth. As it clears past the shoreline, the floodgates open, and rain falls in thick sheets, seeming to flow from an infinite well. The Keepe...

Some things must be done. Some things only you can do. Some things can only be done one way. As a Knight Of Sufferlandria , our glorious Nation, I must continuously improve and seek Glory. The path is painful, challenging, and miserable - but I won't have it any other way. Seeking perpetual improvement demands higher and higher goals. And now, at the foothills of my personal Mt. Sufferlandria, a lumpy mound awaits. This bump in the road, a virtually snow-capped knoll of sorts, goes by "Alpe du Zwift" in the patois. And, on June 9th, I'm going to ride it no less than 10 times. Such a feat will get credit both for a vEveresting , as well as a 10K Everesting, AKA "High Rouleur's Society". These past 12 weeks I've been training for a 100 mile (160km) race with The Sufferfest. As part of this plan, I've ridden multiple centuries, imperial and metric, and spent over 6 hours on the longest rides.  So far, the training program I started towards the end o...

The Tour Of Sufferlandria is just around the corner. One week to go. I've decided that it's going to be easy, so I have a much, much better idea. I'm going to ride into a Knighthood on the last day. See? Now, this is an excellent idea, just like winning the Most Aggressive Rider's Award on that snowy Giro mountain stage from ISLTA. The last day of the Tour is 3-stages long. So, if I'm going to be around 3 hours in the saddle anyway, then why not push on for another 7 hours or so? A Knight of Sufferlandria is on my todo list for H1 this year anyway, and the 3-stage jump start is just what I need to give me momentum to keep going. So what I'm thinking is to ride the Tour backward upon completion. Here are the stages:  https://thesufferfest.com/pages/tour-of-sufferlandria-2020-the-stages So I'll start with the 9th and last stage: "Grunter's Gran Fondo" - Power Station + 2. Angels + 3. Thin Air Then, backtrack, replacing workouts f...