CYCLIST Rick Calvert will attempt to climb the height of the world's highest mountain with repeat rides in Brown Hill this week.
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The Everesting challenge is fast becoming a global trend with riders, and some runners, picking a hill or mountain and climbing it over and over again in a single ride until tallying 8,848 metres in elevation to match Mount Everest.
No Sherpa required.
The steeper and bigger the climb, the fewer repetitions needed.
Calvert aims to climb Longs Hill Road, near his house, in Brown Hill this week. To reach the summit, Calvert must complete 137 climbs.
"This is my hill. I'm riding up it all the time," Calvert said. "I like climbing, some of my mates hate it, but this is a reasonable slope and I'm not going to ride fast, just steady."
Calvert completed the Mont Ventoux challenge in Provence, France last July: cycle up Mont Ventoux three times in a single day, 4400m climbing.
This is where he learnt about Everesting and the idea piqued his interest.
"It got me in a bit and 'm going to do it on my own," Calvert said.
"Before I did the ride in France, I wouldn't have contemplated doing anything like this."
They reckon you make three-quarters of the way based on your training, the rest is a mental challenge.
Calvert has focused his training specifically on this challenge the past six weeks. In a ride last week, clocking up 50 climbs along Longs Hill Road, Calvert tested his new lights and technology. He is assured by the vast range of gears his bike is sporting.
To get some more kilometres into his legs, Calvert ride to Lorne and back, adding in two laps of the lake to ensure he reached 300km.
Calvert is a member of Eureka Cycling, Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club and Thinking Man's Bunch. A strong band of cycling friends plan to keep him company towards the end of his journey, but this is one ride that Calvert preferred to keep low-key - like many Everesters.
He was unsure whether he would conquer Everest but said it was all about trying.
Calvert's efforts are to promote Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute in Ballarat. The internationally-recognised institute is also Australia's only regional cancer research centre.
FECRI has 10 senior scientific staff and nine Federation University PhD students. Key research areas include: potential new immunotherapy targets for ovarian cancer, an immune cell subset in histiocytic disorders, immune studies into various cancers and leukaemia, methods for isolating new viruses.
Calvert had two family members with breast cancer and a cycling friend with prostate cancer who each had positive treatment results he said were possible from research.
A FECRI fundraising page is here.
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