Video: Ben Hildred Climbs 55,000 Vertical Metres in 30 Days While Working Full Time in 'True Story'
Ben Hildred has spent years in search of the eternal summer. A native of Lincoln, England, he milks the Northern Hemisphere’s warm months in places like Whistler, British Columbia, before absconding to Queenstown, New Zealand, to make the most of the Southern Hemisphere summer. Ben’s quest for the endless summer has allowed him to explore the world’s premier riding communities on his constant source of ground transportation—his mountain bike.
He’s never owned a car, opting instead for two-wheeled freedom, whether commuting to work or simply riding his favorite trails. Ben’s daily bike time is sacred, offering space for relaxation and reflection, as well as serving up a perpetual series of self-conceived challenges. These challenges are anything but ordinary. In 2018, he successfully “Everested” the agonizingly steep Skyline access road to the Queenstown Bike Park, climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest’s 8,848 metres in a sleepless, 19-hour sufferfest.
Having conquered Everest, Ben last year set his sights on an arguably bigger challenge: To climb 55,000 vertical metres in only 30 days, using his beloved Skyline access road as the principal conduit—all while holding down his full-time bike-mechanic job at Queenstown’s Vertigo Bikes. This meant dedicating December of 2019 to burning the candle at both ends, waking each day at 5 a.m. to grind out a minimum average of 1,834 vertical metres of ascending before opening the bike shop at 7:45 a.m. to work a complete shift. Over the course of 30 days, he climbed the Skyline access road 111 times—a feat that was rewarded with 111 blistering descents on the steep-and-rowdy bike park trails. For Ben, the challenge was its own reward. But bombing all those sweet downhills was the icing on the cake.
More about Ben's big month here.
We hope our storytelling can help you escape current events, even for a few minutes, and bring some positivity to your day during these strange times. For those inspired: we ask that you respect your region’s legislation towards COVID-19 and only ride when appropriate.
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But the real question for me was: How can you do this so early in the morning ;-)
For me its the other way around, go out riding late afternoon and come back when its dark. I love the transition from dusk to night.
Nice work, awesome achievement!
Hightower looks good - are you running it with 650b?
Strava current average: 19 hours on the bike, 4 hours running.
I have a few doubts regarding how elevation is calculated on the trailforks app. I used the app last year on a big ride that had alot of climbing. No numbers ever added up, as from the lowest to the highest point there is less of an altitude difference than what the app says I climbed, 1637 vs 1788 meters to be exact. For some reason, when I uploaded the ride, it gave me the 2k Epic Climb Badge, which, when I looked at the badge, claimed I had climbed 2,559 meters.
This is wierd given that on the the ride details menu it never said that. I looked at the page explaining possible differences between apps, but this doesn't apply given I only ever used the TrailForks app. I understand the method used well, but it still doesn't make sense.I re-scanned elevation, and rescanned badges and suddenly lost the 2k Badges as well. I don't really care for the badges, but I do care about accurate climbing stats, as me and a couple of friends want to try everesting a bikepark. The difference between 2559 meters and 1788 is huge. I am unsure if this is because I effectivley climbed 2559 meters and the climb stat only considers meters climbed with a certain steepness, and not those on flat distance, or if the 1788 stat is some sort of difference between elevations but the 2559 meter includes the ups and downs inbetween, etc.
When I look at the elevation over distance chart it seems like 2559 meters is a possible figure, as it seems (to my naked and hopeful eye) each time the line goes up, or has a positive slope, adds enough vertical value for it to be this figure. But I must be realistic and consider it can be alot less.
It would be of great help if you could explain to us which value represents exactly what, as we currently have a difference between 3 and a half laps or 5, which is way too big of a margin.
Thank you very much,
Javier
Are you running the Hightower on 650b or is it just my bad eyes?!