Ronan McLaughlin said he had targeted, and prepared for, his Everesting ride of last weekend for months during the lock-down and when the time approached to finally have a go at the challenge his groundwork intensified.
The Donegal man is a former Irish international who rode for the An Post-Chainreaction team and also represented his country in the elite men's road race at the World Championships in 2012; alongside Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche.
While now aged 33 years and having stepped back from full-time racing several years ago, McLaughlin has remained very competitive on the home scene, winning the Shay Elliot Memorial for the past two years.
That background, coupled with his very professional approach to his cycling, meant that once he decided he was going to launch a serious attempt on the Everesting event, the Irish marker was almost certain to fall.
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A new Irish record was set last Saturday - by Diarmuid Kavanagh - but McLaughlin wrote a new script the following day on Mamore Gap. He put in a storming ride of 8hrs 9mins for the minimum 8,848 metres of elevation on one climb required to meet the Everesting criteria.
"I literally never get nervous for cycling events anymore but I was definitely nervous starting the Everesting,” he said of the days leading into his ride last weekend.
“I had no evidence or data to suggest or prove I was definitely able to ride up Mamore Gap 62 times so this was always playing on my mind.
“It’s amazing to break the record and to set such a great time, I really never expected to go so quickly,” he said, adding he didn’t go into it with a view to putting the Irish record out of sight.
“When I was starting on Sunday morning my only goal
beyond completing the attempt was to go sub 10 hours.
“It really wasn’t about records or timings, the
Everesting challenge gave me a focus and a goal to work on over the past few
months when all other events and targets had been cancelled.
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“It was also the chance to raise funds for the Community Rescue Service which was more important than the actual finishing time.”
However, the Dan Morrissey-MIG- Pactimo rider said once he decided he was going to do it, some months ago, he set about it properly.
“I’d been planning an attempt at an Everesting since lock-down started in March. I had very good condition then but it would have been very irresponsible to head off on my bike for what I thought would be around 10 hours at the height of lock-down.
“I’ve been focused on it for the past two months roughly. I’ve been really focused on it the past four weeks, searching for the right climb, waiting for the right day, working out fuelling strategies, stripping down my bike to be as light as possible, testing different tyres, different setups, testing clothing choices.
“Although the challenge and the charity was the most important thing, I understood this is a seriously difficult challenge and I wanted to be sure I left no stone unturned.
“I hadn’t announced I would attempt it until on Saturday
evening I was sure the weather was going to be favourable.
“However, from the moment I did announce it on social media the support I got really blew me away. I didn’t think anyone would really care but people from all around the world dropped me messages of support."
McLaughlin was backed on the day by his parents - Carl and Sandra - as well as his sister Caoimhe and her boyfriend Tiernan as well as Alan Harkens and Andy Deery.
"They were on hand all day to hand out bottles, keep track of the number of laps completed, timings, nutrition, boil spuds, find espressos and help with traffic, I could not have even finished it without their help," he said.
“I had a few difficult moments in the final hour or two but I was so close to the finish at that stage the motivation of finishing it gets you through.”
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