Cyclists’ ultimate summit – in their backyards!
It was a matter of ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’ for two cyclists from Stanford Lake College as they respectively took on immense challenges during the lockdown.
POLOKWANE – Two Gr 11 learners from Stanford Lake College recently decide to make the most of the lockdown by testing their physical and mental endurance and stamina through gruelling challenges.
Herman Fourie and Jarryd Gosling embarked on two very different, but very extreme cycling challenges and all without flouting the lockdown rules. These challenges took place over the past weekend.
Using a virtual cycling app called Zwift, Herman entered the app’s hall of fame by ‘virtually Everesting’ or ‘vEveresting’, completing the equivalent elevation gain of Mount Everest, all in the name of charity.
Herman realised that his mammoth challenge could be a good opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause and so set about getting sponsorship, raising money for food parcels for the less fortunate. The Stanford community came together and within the space of 48 hours, a sum of over R6 000 was reached. Sponsorships are still coming in, so the exact amount is yet to be calculated.
“The next step is to put the food parcels together, which will then be distributed among those in need, in the rural communities close to Stanford Lake College.”
Herman explains: “vEveresting is when a cyclist finds a climb and keeps riding it virtually until they have climbed the height of Mount Everest. I cycled the Alpe du Zwift a total of nine times, reaching a total elevation gain of 9 380 metres. Mount Everest is 8 848 metres. I did all this without leaving the house. The Alpe du Zwift is a massive climb that is modelled after the iconic Alpe d’Huez, a true legend among road cyclists and probably the most famous cycle climb in the world. Zwift created this route using GPS data to perfectly match the incline and distance of the storied climb with its 21 hairpin turns.”
While Herman’s cycling trainer wanted him to complete the Alpe du Zwift only five times, Herman knew he wanted to get into the vEverest hall of fame. Even after he reached the equivalent elevation of Everest after 8,5 summits of Alpe du Zwift, he pushed that bit harder and summited nine times, all within the space of 12 hours and 40 minutes.
“The challenge was conducted on my turbo trainer that was set to the maximum difficulty to make it more realistic. The hardest part was that even before I got on my bike, I had no idea what the challenge would entail. Giving up was never an option. Before I started, I prepared myself mentally for the challenge, and throughout the ride, I had so much motivation to finish from my friends, family and with people joining sections of the ride, that also helped a lot.”
Herman struggled on the second to last summit, about 190km in and 05:30. But that is when a friend, Gordon Noel joined in. “This got the whole family excited and took my mind off any pain I was feeling as I could already see all the Stanfordian values in Gordon.”
Jarryd Gosling was inspired by Herman and decided to set himself his own challenge.
Testing his grit, determination and commitment, Jarryd chose to take on a non-stop 24-hour cycling challenge in his back garden.
“I chose to do this challenge to push myself beyond what I knew I could do. I started at 16:00 on Friday and only stopped for meals and comfort breaks. During these breaks, I paused my watch and did not finish cycling until my watch said a full 24 hours was complete. In total, I completed 351 kilometres, cycling laps of my back garden.”
Jarryd said he never thought of giving up, although there were hard times. “Between 02:00 and 06:00 was a very mentally challenging time because everything is quiet and the world seems lifeless, but you just have to focus on short achievable goals to get you through the night. This was a true test of physical and mental stamina.”
He added that completing the challenge taught him that he can push through every challenge that he attempts. “I also learnt of the vital importance of good nutrition and how it can keep you energised and motivated.”
The Stanford Lake College community is extremely proud of both of these learners. They are both the epitome of true Stanfordians and have motivated so many more learners to climb their own mountains, whatever they may be.
For those who are struggling during the lockdown Herman and Jarryd have the following quotes:
Herman says that when a million things can bring you down, find one reason to keep you up.
“It is only a lockdown. There is so much you can do, and it is only what you make of it. This is a great opportunity to improve on something you really like.”
Jarryd belives you are much stronger than what you think you are.
“You will come out of this stronger than what you came in. Stay motivated, do your work, and everything will fly by. Soon we will be at school or work again and this will all seem like a distant memory.”
maretha@nmgroup.co.za
