Beginning at 4PM last Saturday June 24th, Daniel Perry, Fabien Le Gallo, Ben Sam Hager, and Aharon Elston attempted a double Everest of Norway Hill in Bothell. Daniel and Fabien successfully completed the double Everest, then Daniel kept going and logged a total of over 20,000 meters of climbing to also qualify for a double High Rouleurs Society.
In all, Daniel cycled an incredible 65,814′ of elevation gain over 473.2 miles during a total moving time of 44:33:55. Without sleep. His Strava activity lists an “epic” suffer score of 956, but I suspect the duration of his activity broke their algorithm.
An important goal for Daniel’s ride was to raise funds and awareness for the Obliteride charity that supports the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Please consider making a donation.
Although Daniel is in the limelight at the moment, he credits Larry Beck as one of his main sources of inspiration.
Larry was one of the first local riders to get into Everesting. Last fall he completed an Everest of Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island, which required 16 laps of that steep, slippery climb (and descent). Larry’s Mt. Constitution Everest was to benefit the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Larry has ulcerative colitis, and it’s an important cause for him.
On May 28th he attempted to Everest Tolt Hill Rd., but had to abandon due to dehydration after 11,470′ of climbing. That Everest was dedicated to the daughter of a friend who is suffering from a bad Crohn’s disease flare.
“I started off with a dead battery in my electronic shifters which delayed my start by about an hour. After that it went smoothly for a while until the temps started going up. I was already a bit dehydrated from a run in the heat the day before (yeah, maybe I should have skipped that) and it got worse around midday. When I’m down about 10 pounds of fluid, my hearing starts to get muffled from my Eustachian tubes collapsing and that’s my warning sign. Around 1:00 PM I knew I wasn’t going to make it and called it before I had to make a trip to the ER.”
“Since Tolt was close to home, I did it unsupported. I threw everything I needed in the car and parked at the base. My wife Holly came to check on me a couple of times. I had 3 friends come out and ride with me for various parts of it and a couple of my neighbors stopped by to cheer me on.”
“I’ll give it a go again in cooler weather. I’d also like to try to Everest Mission Ridge.”
Larry got into cycling and Everesting by way of midlife crisis.
“I was a runner and cyclist in my 20’s, but after my wife Holly & I got married my exercise decreased and weight increased. I got into autocrossing which was not a particularly athletic endeavor and I put on close to 20 pounds over a 15 year period. Right around the time I turned 40 I learned that my wife’s cousin had qualified for the Boston Marathon. I started thinking about the direction my body was headed, and started to exercise again. I subsequently did an endo on my road bike and broke my collarbone (first time of several at this point). Oddly enough, that ended up being the turning point for me. I couldn’t work on my car with the busted collarbone, but I could ride the bike on my indoor trainer. I gave up autocrossing and as I recovered, I started running and cycling seriously. I ended up qualifying for Boston around my 41st birthday while also training for my first Mt. Washington Hill Climb in New Hampshire. I’ve been running and riding non-stop for the 13 years since I turned 40.”
Larry mostly trains by himself or with a loose collection of fitness friends.
“When I started cycling again in my 40’s, I began riding with a local club in upstate NY. There were a few good riders, but I found that I could beat every one of them up a hill. That led to my obsession with the Mt. Washington Hill climb. Since I moved out here in 2008, I haven’t done more than a handful of club rides. I’m not crazy about the cycling team atmosphere, and I’m even less crazy about the thought of wrecking my aging body in a Cat 5 finish line sprint. I train mostly by myself, but I do a few organized rides between hillclimb races. I’ve made a lot of virtual friends through Strava, and I credit Strava for helping me find new ways to challenge myself.”
“The only group I’ve really latched onto is the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Team Challenge running group. Participants receive free coaching, race entry, and lodging for a half marathon race in a cool location in exchange for fundraising. I started coaching the team in 2011 and I’ve come back to fundraise and run with them almost ever year since.”
Larry is inspired to Everest by both the physical and mental challenges.
“During the first attempt you really have no idea what you’re in for. No matter how much prep you do, something unexpected always happens. Then you get to find out how committed (i.e., insane) you really are. I fell about halfway through my Mt. Constitution ride when a woman was pointing at what she claimed was a white deer. I looked where she was pointing, then proceeded to ride onto some gravel and fall on my side. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt too badly, but I never did see the white deer. If I was a little more clever, I bet I could construct a metaphor from that.”
I was curious about how the Everest fetishists are selecting their objectives, since the “obvious” ones like Sunrise, Artist Point, the east side of Washington Pass, or Hurricane Ridge aren’t appearing in the discussions.
Larry’s main factors for choosing a hill:
1) Safety. Needs to be in an area where I feel safe from vehicles, car prowlers, wildlife, etc.
2) Temperature. Since the Everesting attempt (for me, at least) is going to last 16-24 hours, the temperature can’t get too hot during the day or too cold at night. Related to my Ulcerative Colitis, I have a circulatory disease call Raynaud’s Disease which can cause my hands to go numb even in temps in the 30’s-40’s.
3) Bathroom accessibility. The Ulcerative Colitis makes things a little unpredictable for me.
4) Road conditions. Minimal potholes, cracks, etc.
5) Road grade. Steady ascent, steep but not to the point of burning out my quads, and a fast descent makes the whole thing go faster.
“For my first Everesting, I wanted to do one of the area’s iconic climbs so I made some exceptions. The descent on Mt. Constitution has a lot of potholes and twisty turns and I had to walk around the gate at the bottom after hours. Also, the temperature difference from top-to-bottom was pretty high and I had to add and remove layers twice per lap. This made the day go on much longer than I expected.”
“I had a friend try to Everest on Sunrise and he had to bail because it got too cold at night.”
Outside of Everesting Larry loves…hilly runs and rides!
“I love hills, so I’ve done plenty of hill climb races and other climb-filled centuries. My favorite races and rides include:”
—Mt. Washington (NH)
—Cycle to the Sun, climb of Haleakala volcano on Maui, 10,023′ climbing in 36 miles.
—Assault on Mt. Mitchell (NC)
—The Death Ride (CA)
—The Triple Bypass (CO)
“I love riding up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson. I’m destined to retire there. I’ve done RAMROD, and I’ve done the route solo or with a few friends as well. My favorite local ride is the High Pass Challenge from Packwood up to the Mt. Saint Helens blast zone.”
“Vaguely related: I found that my running and hill climbing skills combine perfectly for stair climb racing (known as “tower racing”). I’ve won my age group a few times at Columbia Center and I was the overall winner of the first Space Needle stair climb in 2015.”
Next on Larry’s to do list: a trip to NYC to run up the World Trade Center, and followed by a run up Mt. Washington at the end of June.
