Richie Barry, lreland's eSports national champion, and Dubliner Luke Birrell of Racing Without Borders, are this weekend set to take on the challenge of Everesting on Zwift to raise money for children in need of hospital care.
The duo will go about their mammoth task at their homes in Campile, Co Wexford, and Clondalkin, Dublin, and both expect it will take at least nine hours. You can donate at this link and back the massive effort the two lads are making.
Though Barry has enjoyed success at the eSports National Championships, Birrell is the more experienced rider when it comes to epic challenges on a home trainer. Late last year he rode for 24 hours on Zwift for Children's Health Ireland Crumlin.
This time around, Birrell will again raise funds for Crumlin hospital while Barry will ride for Temple St Hospital. Both riders have young children who have recently undergone treatment at the Dublin hospitals.
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"I'm going to be honest, it wasn't my idea," Barry laughed of the extreme challenge the duo will undertake on Saturday. "Our youngest son was born premature and he has spina bifida and a lot of his care is up in Temple Street.
"So I felt doing this was the first time since he was born nearly three years ago that I had a chance to give something back."
They will climb the necessary 8,848 metres - the height of Everest - by riding up Alpe Du Zwift 8½ times.
"I'm hoping to do it in about 9 hours, which is a lot of time," said Barry. "But if I blow up spectacularly, it could be a bit longer. I expect to finish it, but there's an element in this challenge that really depends on what happens on the day.
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"This is not like doing for a three-hour ride and knowing that you'll get around in 'about three hours'. This is definitely a step into the unknown. And I think if you go into it believing it's a foregone conclusion, that's where you could crumble mentally.
"I think I'll have to go into this knowing it's going to be a big day on a bike, a really big effort. But what gets you through, hopefully, is what you're trying to raise the money for and really pushing yourself based on that side of it.
"There's no donation too small. If people gave a Euro, two Euros… We've seen the best the hospitals have to offer and also the resources that they really don't have up in Temple Street and Crumlin."
Barry believed the longest session he had done on Zwift in the past was about 3-3½ hours. That's a big change for him since the onset of the pandemic, when riding - especially racing - indoors really took off.
"I know it sounds crazy to people, but at this stage I wouldn't have any problem doing 3-3½ hours indoors on the bike. If you were to tell me that five or six years ago, before Covid, I would have said you were mad.
"But it's just the way it's worked in the last few years, and the way I've gotten into the eSports side of things. It's not really a big deal anymore. But nine hours is gone to be a stretch.
"The great thing about Everesting on Zwift is that when you're going downhill you don't have to be on the bike. The avatar is going to go down the hill anyway, at 70k an hour.
"But, at the same time, you don't want to be off bike for too long and get cold. I'll probably take 10 or 15 minutes every three hours and we'll see how we go. You want to get into a rhythm and keep at it, and keep on top of the fuel - it'll be a fueling competition."
- That link, again, for donating can be found here
