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The concept of "everesting" in cycling is quite simple: One needs to ascend and descend a given hill until they've climbed a total of 29,029 feet. As of July 20th, 2020, the fastest known time to complete the challenge was a mere 7:04:41 by Irish cyclist Ronan McLaughlin.
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Topically, Payson McElveen's time of 19 hours doesn't seem impressive by comparison, but takes on a different character when considering that he completed the ride on high-altitude singletrack. McElveen decided to Everest on Colorado's Jones Creek Trail as part of Rebecca Rusch's Giddy Up Challenge, which raised money for pandemic frontline workers.Instead of smooth uphills and casual downhill cruises during each of his 16 laps, McElveen had to contend with rough trails, dust, and all of the other factors which make mountain biking a different beast than road cycling. It's an achievement worth celebrating, especially when done to fundraise for COVID relief.
