Rather than focusing on what you didn’t achieve, I’m totally blown away by what you did. Big goals won’t always be achieved, whatever area of life they are, however they take you to places you may never have gone. What you’ve achieved is nothing short of amazing, Mary.
I did my first everesting last year, on my journey recovering from covid myself. And despite it being prepared meticulously, I was suffering like a dog. Couldn't even walk when I got off the bike. I've done numerous everestings since. They get easier, but they never get easy. But it doesn't even matter if you're doing them in a month, a week, a single ride, if they take you 24h or if you're shooting for the world record. It doesn't even matter if you complete them or not. What matters is you're trying and you're challenging yourself. Which you did. Chapeau!
Ohhh, I needed this. I've stopped yoga and exercise the past two months. You just stepping up each day, and tilting for it - the least I can do is get my shoes on and go for a strut :)
That's a cool bike Mary. A very informative episode. I once overtrained to the point where I face-planted (literally) into a plate of curry during a meal after a session. Fortunately none of my training partners caught it on camera! I'm a below-average cyclist and it underscored the importance to me of adequate rest and recovery time.
Mary, as I only recently learned that not only are you an accomplished and published singer, songwriter, and musician (I am LOVING your CD), but also a fitness enthusiast and active cyclist, AND brave and willing enough to chronicle your disparate journeys on UA-cam, you are a Champion in every way, every day.
Hello Mary. Just when I thought I'd found the best channel in YT, (your music channel), I found Proof of Sweat. What can I say - you have serious courage. And you have what every athlete needs - determination and self love. Bravo Mary.
7000m is awesome! For a little perspective, people who actually climb Everest start from base camp at a little over 5000m. So you actually climbed quite a bit more than they do! 😉
That's incredible. Mary you're incredible. Most people couldn't do the first 1,210 meters. It takes guts to undertake what is perceived as the insurmountable. Like you, I love to set goals that are beyond what I normally can do to see what happens. I'm not a cyclist per se, but I love to run hills as a challenge for myself during my runs and I never stop until I reach the top. The same drive can be applied to life as a whole. Great job.
Cracking effort - i cycle a lot and like climbing. I live in a really flat area so the best i have done is ADZ 21 days in a row, but have no inclination to do an full one day everest.....lol. Glad your on the mend. However - Jack Ultra Cyclist is flipping amazing! The stuff he does is WAY beyond normal. Your right massive inspiration. The fact he is doing an full single day everest EVERY week PLUS another 12,000m elevation each week is just simply beyond belief.
It looks like you are well above average! This video shows just how big the efforts are that the professionals do. Like Francis Cade doing this challenge in 1 day on a bmx bike. I knew it was hard but this video makes me appreciate those accomplishments even more.
Mary, you did incredibly well and I hope that you are very proud of what you achieved. And I love your new bike. Do enjoy as you build back your strength. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Mary, you may not consider yourself an athlete, but you certainly think like one! So many great lessons in this video, including: (1) 90% of life (and especially physical training) is psychological, because it is amazing what human beings can accomplish with a positive mental attitude; (2) IMHO a large part of what makes life worth living is pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, which you certainly did with this attempt; and (3) "if at first you don't succeed ...", so hopefully you will take this "failure" as a foundation upon which to build your successful Everesting on the next attempt. BTW ... I'm not a cyclist, but I'm guessing that an Everesting attempt would probably be a lot easier without the camera work and vlogging. ;-)
This is awesome! I watch your other Channel and just happened upon your bike fitting video while looking for an answer to my hand numbness issues when riding. I like how when you said you weren't enjoying the riding you were still smiling ear to ear, Nice bike
Glad I've been following you for a while. I'm also into cycling and playing guitar. Everyone is cheering you on so keep working hard in everything you feel passionate about
Nicely done! 7000 is epic! I am glad you are back on the bike again! I will be cycling across Spain late in late September, San Sebastian to Cap de Crus in 7 days. I hope it is not cold! GPX files show it to be about 18,000 meters of climbing, but was supposed to be 12,000! Oops! We'll see! While going through Girona, I will not be cycling Els Angels, which I will speak to tour route guy about! Sometimes stupid stuff gives you the best stories!
To succeed at anything, first you have to "fail". I use fail in quotes because in reality, while you didn't reach your goal, you didn't fail, you did way more than you were accustomed to and so, pushed your body further than it's been and now it's grown/retrained to be more accustomed to that work load, keep at it and you'll be amazed. Don't think it was a bad decision to not call it on day7 when the weather turned to crap, despite getting sick from this, it was the overall general effort for the week, not just that one day, but it taught you and your body about persevering and suffering through the bad times. Looking forward to seeing your progress now since your bike fit and new steed. Set yourself a goal to do one of those big "races" or events, it gives you a goal to focus on and makes the training have meaning - I couldn't have done the 4 road/3 MTB rides a week in '07/08 without the Leadville goal.
That was a great video. Love the bike. You did amazingly well to cycling that much elevation in one week. Glad to hear you are on the mend. Look forward to your next cycling video. And music video of course.
Suffering….that’s a topic. I love challenges, do several each year. Usually end up in a questionable place. Indoor rower, 11:40 pm, trying to knock out the last 5K before the day. Doing the math and realizing I might not make it. Digging deep, rolling the dice, testing your metal. But it’s at that exact moment that you get a rare glimpse into your own psyche. That’s the real goal for me, enlightenment and understanding your limitations. Everything else is just pain and sweat. But those don’t really hurt, loosing out on enlightenment, now that hurts. Keep up the great content Mary! BTW, love that new whip!
I’ve never attempted Everesting but I have done another goal that I set for myself and that was a double century ride. I’ve done it three times now, (where I live each of those 200 mile rides only gave me only about 1/3 of Everest, not enough climbing in the area) but the important thing to point out is that it took me three attempts before I finally completed it for the first time. I’ve been dying to get on a new bike, mine is currently 16 years old and has been through many thousands of miles. So I can definitely identify with you when you say that moving on from your Orbea was a bittersweet moment. And yet it is a moment that I look forward to doing. I’ve delayed as I decided that I won’t buy a new bike without test riding it.
This was amazing to me. You did an incredible amount of climbing in a week. Go you. I guess you’ve learned a bit about your limits and that’s not a bad thing. Personally I feel motivated to get more climbing done myself so thank you. I love the Giant Defy too. Beautiful bike.
Great effort, Mary! I very much appreciated it. I identify as a runner (and occasional cyclist), having run in many ultra marathons including the Tahoe Rim Trail 100. But COVID left me with significant arrhythmia. Running became nearly impossible, with my heart rate skyrocketing. But, for whatever reason, cycling is not as bad. So, I've been cycling now for several weeks, and I'm entering a century next month! Keep up the sweat! (And rock on!)
7 days, 200+ miles and 7000m of climbing. That is so much more than so many people complete that you have absolutely NOTHING to feel bad about not completing an Everest! You at least gave it your all. I can remember myself doing a 400 mile month followed by 2x 300 miles months Jan thru March and then I was so tired that I took off the next 2 months. I worked in a grocery store that year and had a very physical job daily walking 8 to 10 miles per 8 hr shift but you continue to pedal thru. You are so much better!
Great stuff Mary , I stand in awe of your accomplishment !! Covid is nasty stuff ,glad you are better ! Covid has reeked havoc in Grand tours and effected a lot of pro cyclist ! Keep up the good work and encouragement! BTW ,love the Bike !
Sorry you git covid at the peak of your fitness. It is such a draining virus. Hope your recovery is quick. Your Everesting attempt and meters gained was incredible. Well done! And you have such a great camera presence; gorgeous, calm and a great voice! Thanks for making this video!
Sensational effort Mary. Hope you've recovered well - make sure you're all good before you start the big rides again. Learnt that lesson a few times :)
During my racing days (cross-country skiing) I eventually learnt to feel which days I definitely had to recover and not train - from the "taste in my mouth and feel in the nostrils". That allowed me to stay clear of colds and flues a couple of years, and those years with unbroken continuity of training I achieved the best results. You clearly did/stumbled into this challenge a bit randomly and aren't training for competition-purposes, but still... ...Mount Everest will be there the next week too.
Great accomplishment Mary! Fell in love with Girona after visiting a few years back. Would love to ride those hills with a badass cyclist like Mary. 🚲🏔 Keep on keepin’ on!
"Almost making it do not disqualify the effort that was actually achieved".. I took this approach to my fat loss journey by focusing on incremental short terms goals and fat lost, not what was remaining. In less than a year I got rid of 39kg of fat, not getting a nice round "40kg" lost does not matter and I am currently quite happy with an overall 35kg loss after gaining a few kg. Road cycling have been a big part of my health change (started riding in august 2021) and can now comfortably do 3-5hr endurance rides with energy left for the remaining day :) Did a similar "Everst" in June, IIRC it took me 9 days to accumulate 8848m of elevation! Happy riding!
good video. yes REST is an essential part of training. I do take one day off per week. that was a lot of riding to fit in around a work schedule. bravo, and stay safe
Giant De'fire'!! Such a good looking bike! Love the challenge, the insight, the honesty and the perseverance. Better than most and a super effort. Next time!
That's really cool! Other than the illness part, of course. It's impressive simply that you took on the challenge and you can be proud of your accomplishment.
Lol, it made me laugh finding this channel, I was like, hey... that looks like.... Oh It IS her! How awesome. You're such a badass, I go between inspiration and desperation following your work.
In Victorian Alps of Australia we have the 7 peaks challenge. You can do it over a few months or at whatever pace you like. I decided to challenge myself and see if I could do them in 7 days and succeeded. Ended up doing about 345kms with just under 10,000m of elevation gain. It was a life changing experience for me and by far the hardest multiday challenge I have ever done. To do it in my early 40's made it all that more special. Well done on you effort, I completely understand how hard it is for us mear mortals. I learn't so much from the experience. I lost 2 kg in a week as I didn't eat enough. Pacing is the biggest skill.
This got me going, Mary. 20 miles on Thursday and 35 miles on Friday... I'm busking all weekend but as soon as Monday cracks dawn, I'm out and on my less-than-ideal bike to see how far up Pacific Coast Hwy I can get this time. Maybe 50? Not much elevation, but definitely SWEAT!
Everesting is a massive achievement and for your first attempt you did great! Love your content, sad to see you lose the Orbea after James' bike fit, maybe it should be the winter bike :-) Welcome to the Defy club though, you'll love it!
I did the pacific coast between Monterey And Cambria in California. This is about 118 miles with (3350 meters) 11000 feet of climbing. I did this in one long day and all I remember is the pain, not the scenery. Yours is a serious challenge. I feel your pain…
I had a pretty good crash on asphalt a couple years ago. I had two pair of perfectly good Fox Dirtpaws sitting on a shelf at home at the time. My left hand took the brunt of it (I'm a righty) and now playing chords gets painful after only a few songs. I never ride or skateboard without gloves anymore- shoulda coulda woulda...
I can confirm, as an avid cyclist, that riding in the rain IS absolute rubbish, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But as much as we hate cycling in the rain, we love cycling more, so we do it anyway. I have much respect for you and your discipline. You've made a great accomplishment that can't ever be taken from you. It's an inspiration.
Mary, great cycling video. I am subscribed to your “Mary Spender” channel owing in great measure to your excellent “Sultans of Swing” cover with Josh Turner (I have watched the awesome Dire Straits Alchemy performance on YT many many times). It’s great to learn you are also an avid cyclist. I have been commuting to work on touring bikes for the past four years, racking up about 10k mostly commuting miles so far. Regards!
I know that you are an experienced cyclist, but that rain and fog seemed a bit dangerous to riding alone in. 7,000 m is a great achievement. Maybe not the achievement you were hoping, but hopefully, after some time for recovery and reflection, you see it as the positive it truly is. Ride well, ride safe. I absolutely love this channel. Very inspiring.
You set an ambitious goal, did your best and came up a little short, but I think for all practical purposes, you succeeded. Congrats on the new (not so new now) wheels!
Yeah, 7+K meters is nothing to sneeze at. Kudos for taking on your self-inflicted challenge! Another take-home for you is the importance of recovery days when training for a big events. Interspersed big efforts amongst easier endurance days and REALLY easy days will get you much better fitness with less chance of injury or illness or burnout. Repeated days of hard effort is actually immunosuppressive making you and easy target for infections of one sort or another. Also, continuously doing long hard rides is fatiguing for your spirit as well as your body as you well know. Your expression in the rain looked just like your expression in the rain in your LEJOG video ;-) Chapeau! on you achievement and congrats on the new bike. Very nice!
Congratulations on the new bike, big difference innit? Plus the new ones are just so nice, it’ll make you want to ride more. And that endorphin high you get after a hard ride is so addictive. Well at least as long as you’re not torturing yourself in the cold and wet.
Tremendous effort and I’m glad to hear you’ve recovered! If you haven’t already, you’d certainly have no problem doing the Rapha Rising challenge on Strava held each year. It comes with a nice roundel upon completion.
What I was trying to tell you about is that peak design who make some very nice vlogging tools have a tool are launching some interfaces between bike & camera at IFA2022
Amazing! Honestly, only mistake you made was ridding in the cold rain. Just alittle under 2,000 meters from your goal. Had you skipped the rainy day and rested you would have made the distance, just a few days longer than planned. Awesome job, I say give it a go again, soon. Maybe give yourself 10 days. Keep pedaling.
Well done Mary!! I didn't realize you cycled in addition to being a lovely singer/artist. Subscribing here too plus trying to follow you on Strava. I'm sure if you took a week after the long training before you attempted Everest, you would've succeeded. Hope you do this again next year!
After almost 15 years not cycling I recently started again (at 58 years old and weighing 105-110Kg), I hate climbing and can only manage a few hundred metres in a week. Over 7000 metres climbed is outstanding! Well done! Hope you continue to recover from CoVID.
I admire that you have tried something that hard. I would probably quit afer fiest day finding an excuse for one day break, than another and another. Same thing with practicing my guitar or bass. I wonder how people actually find inner strangth to do it on regular basis. I practise mainly when playing with my bandmates once every week or two.
Had no idea you were a cyclist. That Giant is an amazing bike. Living in a mountainous area, every ride is a climb. Always liked the 'Everest' concept as it's a real challenge for a cyclist. Next time you'll nail it.
I'm sorry you missed your goal of Everest but increadibly well done on Denali in a week that was incredible :) I'm glad your doing better, being ill sucks and the fitness lost during those times always suck. Keep it up Mary!
My American brain wasn't comprehending the altitudes until the very end of the video (I didn't sleep enough last night, yeah that's it). 7000 METERS! Wow, well done! Nice bike btw. :)
Great job on the cycling, your efforts are more important than reaching that final number. That said now you can retry whenever you see fit to reach your goal.
Hi Mary, I know that your Everesting week was a few months ago and I trust you know by now that you are not an "average" cyclist. You are a cyclist. You are climbing serious amounts of vert in fairly short miles. No "average" cyclist does this type of climbing. You are the real deal. And, I want to ride those roads some day. Boston, MA is flat and I am jealous of the mountains. Be well and keep the videos coming.
That's very amazing to watch you through another hobby. Impossible for me to follow your Guitare level, singing level, but please let me more space level with biking 🙏
Beautiful rig you have there and to get as far as you did makes you a beast anyway. I'm just getting back into it and ten miles is enough for me to start questioning my decisions. But I also live in Texas so that's nothing new. 🤣
I don't know if I could "Everest" where I live. I'm along coastal North Carolina and I'd have to drive 6 hours to get to the nearest mountain and 3 hours to find something that resembles a "hill". But I would give it a shot.
Wonderful achievement, no doubt learning first hand about preparation and recovery. Really dig your new bike with its sensible stem and bar no doubt fitted to James’ spec. Rest up and enjoy the saddle time. Oh you got a left sided power meter? Helps me massively. 4iiii or Stages
To be fair, 7048 metres is impressive and instead of doing an Everest like everyone else, you did a Nyegyi Kansang, which makes you a trail blazer and therefore better.
I recently listened to a podcast with former pro cyclist Jens Voigt, who did an Everest attempt on a 100m hill by his house so his kids could watch. It took him almost 24 hours.
7000+ meters is *immense*. Congratulations Mary!
Rather than focusing on what you didn’t achieve, I’m totally blown away by what you did. Big goals won’t always be achieved, whatever area of life they are, however they take you to places you may never have gone. What you’ve achieved is nothing short of amazing, Mary.
Well said!!
I did my first everesting last year, on my journey recovering from covid myself. And despite it being prepared meticulously, I was suffering like a dog. Couldn't even walk when I got off the bike. I've done numerous everestings since. They get easier, but they never get easy. But it doesn't even matter if you're doing them in a month, a week, a single ride, if they take you 24h or if you're shooting for the world record. It doesn't even matter if you complete them or not. What matters is you're trying and you're challenging yourself. Which you did. Chapeau!
Ohhh, I needed this. I've stopped yoga and exercise the past two months. You just stepping up each day, and tilting for it - the least I can do is get my shoes on and go for a strut :)
That's a cool bike Mary. A very informative episode. I once overtrained to the point where I face-planted (literally) into a plate of curry during a meal after a session. Fortunately none of my training partners caught it on camera! I'm a below-average cyclist and it underscored the importance to me of adequate rest and recovery time.
Mary, as I only recently learned that not only are you an accomplished and published singer, songwriter, and musician (I am LOVING your CD), but also a fitness enthusiast and active cyclist, AND brave and willing enough to chronicle your disparate journeys on UA-cam, you are a Champion in every way, every day.
Hello Mary. Just when I thought I'd found the best channel in YT, (your music channel), I found Proof of Sweat.
What can I say - you have serious courage. And you have what every athlete needs - determination and self love.
Bravo Mary.
7000m is awesome! For a little perspective, people who actually climb Everest start from base camp at a little over 5000m. So you actually climbed quite a bit more than they do! 😉
That's incredible. Mary you're incredible. Most people couldn't do the first 1,210 meters. It takes guts to undertake what is perceived as the insurmountable. Like you, I love to set goals that are beyond what I normally can do to see what happens. I'm not a cyclist per se, but I love to run hills as a challenge for myself during my runs and I never stop until I reach the top. The same drive can be applied to life as a whole. Great job.
Fantastic video! Dealing with setbacks is all part of the climb!
I had covid in 2020 and my blood pressure been off the chart and I kept cycling well done keep going Mary 💪
As a fellow sister suffering cyclist and guitar player I too have learned a lot about me on the bike. In a couple weeks I get to do Tour de Tahoe.
Does playing the guitar affect your cycling ?
Cracking effort - i cycle a lot and like climbing. I live in a really flat area so the best i have done is ADZ 21 days in a row, but have no inclination to do an full one day everest.....lol.
Glad your on the mend.
However - Jack Ultra Cyclist is flipping amazing! The stuff he does is WAY beyond normal. Your right massive inspiration. The fact he is doing an full single day everest EVERY week PLUS another 12,000m elevation each week is just simply beyond belief.
It looks like you are well above average! This video shows just how big the efforts are that the professionals do. Like Francis Cade doing this challenge in 1 day on a bmx bike. I knew it was hard but this video makes me appreciate those accomplishments even more.
Mary, you did incredibly well and I hope that you are very proud of what you achieved. And I love your new bike. Do enjoy as you build back your strength. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Mary, you may not consider yourself an athlete, but you certainly think like one!
So many great lessons in this video, including:
(1) 90% of life (and especially physical training) is psychological, because it is amazing what human beings can accomplish with a positive mental attitude;
(2) IMHO a large part of what makes life worth living is pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zones, which you certainly did with this attempt; and
(3) "if at first you don't succeed ...", so hopefully you will take this "failure" as a foundation upon which to build your successful Everesting on the next attempt.
BTW ... I'm not a cyclist, but I'm guessing that an Everesting attempt would probably be a lot easier without the camera work and vlogging. ;-)
This is awesome! I watch your other Channel and just happened upon your bike fitting video while looking for an answer to my hand numbness issues when riding. I like how when you said you weren't enjoying the riding you were still smiling ear to ear, Nice bike
Glad I've been following you for a while. I'm also into cycling and playing guitar. Everyone is cheering you on so keep working hard in everything you feel passionate about
go Mary go!!!! Never a mistake to do something hard
Nicely done! 7000 is epic! I am glad you are back on the bike again! I will be cycling across Spain late in late September, San Sebastian to Cap de Crus in 7 days. I hope it is not cold! GPX files show it to be about 18,000 meters of climbing, but was supposed to be 12,000! Oops! We'll see! While going through Girona, I will not be cycling Els Angels, which I will speak to tour route guy about! Sometimes stupid stuff gives you the best stories!
To succeed at anything, first you have to "fail". I use fail in quotes because in reality, while you didn't reach your goal, you didn't fail, you did way more than you were accustomed to and so, pushed your body further than it's been and now it's grown/retrained to be more accustomed to that work load, keep at it and you'll be amazed. Don't think it was a bad decision to not call it on day7 when the weather turned to crap, despite getting sick from this, it was the overall general effort for the week, not just that one day, but it taught you and your body about persevering and suffering through the bad times.
Looking forward to seeing your progress now since your bike fit and new steed. Set yourself a goal to do one of those big "races" or events, it gives you a goal to focus on and makes the training have meaning - I couldn't have done the 4 road/3 MTB rides a week in '07/08 without the Leadville goal.
That was a great video. Love the bike. You did amazingly well to cycling that much elevation in one week. Glad to hear you are on the mend. Look forward to your next cycling video. And music video of course.
Suffering….that’s a topic. I love challenges, do several each year. Usually end up in a questionable place. Indoor rower, 11:40 pm, trying to knock out the last 5K before the day. Doing the math and realizing I might not make it. Digging deep, rolling the dice, testing your metal.
But it’s at that exact moment that you get a rare glimpse into your own psyche. That’s the real goal for me, enlightenment and understanding your limitations. Everything else is just pain and sweat. But those don’t really hurt, loosing out on enlightenment, now that hurts. Keep up the great content Mary! BTW, love that new whip!
I’ve never attempted Everesting but I have done another goal that I set for myself and that was a double century ride. I’ve done it three times now, (where I live each of those 200 mile rides only gave me only about 1/3 of Everest, not enough climbing in the area) but the important thing to point out is that it took me three attempts before I finally completed it for the first time.
I’ve been dying to get on a new bike, mine is currently 16 years old and has been through many thousands of miles. So I can definitely identify with you when you say that moving on from your Orbea was a bittersweet moment. And yet it is a moment that I look forward to doing. I’ve delayed as I decided that I won’t buy a new bike without test riding it.
This was amazing to me. You did an incredible amount of climbing in a week. Go you. I guess you’ve learned a bit about your limits and that’s not a bad thing. Personally I feel motivated to get more climbing done myself so thank you. I love the Giant Defy too. Beautiful bike.
Great effort, Mary! I very much appreciated it. I identify as a runner (and occasional cyclist), having run in many ultra marathons including the Tahoe Rim Trail 100. But COVID left me with significant arrhythmia. Running became nearly impossible, with my heart rate skyrocketing. But, for whatever reason, cycling is not as bad. So, I've been cycling now for several weeks, and I'm entering a century next month! Keep up the sweat! (And rock on!)
7 days, 200+ miles and 7000m of climbing. That is so much more than so many people complete that you have absolutely NOTHING to feel bad about not completing an Everest! You at least gave it your all.
I can remember myself doing a 400 mile month followed by 2x 300 miles months Jan thru March and then I was so tired that I took off the next 2 months. I worked in a grocery store that year and had a very physical job daily walking 8 to 10 miles per 8 hr shift but you continue to pedal thru.
You are so much better!
Great stuff Mary , I stand in awe of your accomplishment !! Covid is nasty stuff ,glad you are better ! Covid has reeked havoc in Grand tours and effected a lot of pro cyclist ! Keep up the good work and encouragement! BTW ,love the Bike !
Just found your channel. I like your attitude and honesty. Great job with your everesting attempt!
Sorry you git covid at the peak of your fitness. It is such a draining virus. Hope your recovery is quick. Your Everesting attempt and meters gained was incredible. Well done!
And you have such a great camera presence; gorgeous, calm and a great voice! Thanks for making this video!
Wow! Glad to hear you are recovering from that monumental effort and your ill health afterwards.
Sensational effort Mary. Hope you've recovered well - make sure you're all good before you start the big rides again. Learnt that lesson a few times :)
During my racing days (cross-country skiing) I eventually learnt to feel which days I definitely had to recover and not train - from the "taste in my mouth and feel in the nostrils". That allowed me to stay clear of colds and flues a couple of years, and those years with unbroken continuity of training I achieved the best results. You clearly did/stumbled into this challenge a bit randomly and aren't training for competition-purposes, but still...
...Mount Everest will be there the next week too.
Kudos dear Mary! What you have done is not easy. It also really gives us the perspective of the mind blowing achievement these athletes do.
“I gotta keep doing this…making circles with my legs.”
Yes, indeed!! 😄
Hey you need to put that bike in a box for when you are in LA great climbing and great weather. New bikes are great motivation that one looks great.
Great accomplishment Mary!
Fell in love with Girona after visiting a few years back. Would love to ride those hills with a badass cyclist like Mary. 🚲🏔 Keep on keepin’ on!
"Almost making it do not disqualify the effort that was actually achieved"..
I took this approach to my fat loss journey by focusing on incremental short terms goals and fat lost, not what was remaining.
In less than a year I got rid of 39kg of fat, not getting a nice round "40kg" lost does not matter and I am currently quite happy with an overall 35kg loss after gaining a few kg.
Road cycling have been a big part of my health change (started riding in august 2021) and can now comfortably do 3-5hr endurance rides with energy left for the remaining day :)
Did a similar "Everst" in June, IIRC it took me 9 days to accumulate 8848m of elevation!
Happy riding!
good video. yes REST is an essential part of training. I do take one day off per week. that was a lot of riding to fit in around a work schedule. bravo, and stay safe
I freaking love it when you post a cycling video, keep em' coming
Giant De'fire'!! Such a good looking bike! Love the challenge, the insight, the honesty and the perseverance. Better than most and a super effort. Next time!
I actually discovered your other channel because of this one. Subscribed to both 😄
Awesome, think I'd be struggling everesting in one week too.
The new bike's totally 🤩🤩🤩
That's really cool! Other than the illness part, of course. It's impressive simply that you took on the challenge and you can be proud of your accomplishment.
What you achieved that week was really impressive. You should be very proud of this.
Love your videos, looking forward to so many more 👍🏼❤️
Lol, it made me laugh finding this channel, I was like, hey... that looks like.... Oh It IS her! How awesome. You're such a badass, I go between inspiration and desperation following your work.
In Victorian Alps of Australia we have the 7 peaks challenge. You can do it over a few months or at whatever pace you like. I decided to challenge myself and see if I could do them in 7 days and succeeded. Ended up doing about 345kms with just under 10,000m of elevation gain. It was a life changing experience for me and by far the hardest multiday challenge I have ever done. To do it in my early 40's made it all that more special. Well done on you effort, I completely understand how hard it is for us mear mortals. I learn't so much from the experience. I lost 2 kg in a week as I didn't eat enough. Pacing is the biggest skill.
This is an amazing effort! Glad you are on the mend now.
Wow, this was motivational to see! You set the goal and got to a lot achieving it. Be proud on what you accomplished 💪👊
Both inspiring and a cautionary tale, good video!
This got me going, Mary.
20 miles on Thursday and 35 miles on Friday... I'm busking all weekend but as soon as Monday cracks dawn, I'm out and on my less-than-ideal bike to see how far up Pacific Coast Hwy I can get this time. Maybe 50?
Not much elevation, but definitely SWEAT!
So nice that you are not only a good musician but also a motivated cyclist!
Its ok. We have all been there. Goals are not to be met universally, but to be aimed at........GOOD JOB!!!!
Look into under the saddle bags, those long ones used for trips. They'll definitely give you better aero than that bulky front bag.
Everesting is a massive achievement and for your first attempt you did great! Love your content, sad to see you lose the Orbea after James' bike fit, maybe it should be the winter bike :-) Welcome to the Defy club though, you'll love it!
I did the pacific coast between Monterey And Cambria in California. This is about 118 miles with (3350 meters) 11000 feet of climbing. I did this in one long day and all I remember is the pain, not the scenery. Yours is a serious challenge. I feel your pain…
I had a pretty good crash on asphalt a couple years ago. I had two pair of perfectly good Fox Dirtpaws sitting on a shelf at home at the time. My left hand took the brunt of it (I'm a righty) and now playing chords gets painful after only a few songs. I never ride or skateboard without gloves anymore- shoulda coulda woulda...
I can confirm, as an avid cyclist, that riding in the rain IS absolute rubbish, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But as much as we hate cycling in the rain, we love cycling more, so we do it anyway. I have much respect for you and your discipline. You've made a great accomplishment that can't ever be taken from you. It's an inspiration.
Mary, great cycling video. I am subscribed to your “Mary Spender” channel owing in great measure to your excellent “Sultans of Swing” cover with Josh Turner (I have watched the awesome Dire Straits Alchemy performance on YT many many times). It’s great to learn you are also an avid cyclist. I have been commuting to work on touring bikes for the past four years, racking up about 10k mostly commuting miles so far. Regards!
I know that you are an experienced cyclist, but that rain and fog seemed a bit dangerous to riding alone in. 7,000 m is a great achievement. Maybe not the achievement you were hoping, but hopefully, after some time for recovery and reflection, you see it as the positive it truly is. Ride well, ride safe. I absolutely love this channel. Very inspiring.
You set an ambitious goal, did your best and came up a little short, but I think for all practical purposes, you succeeded. Congrats on the new (not so new now) wheels!
Well done chuck great decision on the bike just treated myself to a Giant Revolt Advance Pro absolutely love it. Keep pedalling.
Rich
Yeah, 7+K meters is nothing to sneeze at. Kudos for taking on your self-inflicted challenge! Another take-home for you is the importance of recovery days when training for a big events. Interspersed big efforts amongst easier endurance days and REALLY easy days will get you much better fitness with less chance of injury or illness or burnout. Repeated days of hard effort is actually immunosuppressive making you and easy target for infections of one sort or another. Also, continuously doing long hard rides is fatiguing for your spirit as well as your body as you well know. Your expression in the rain looked just like your expression in the rain in your LEJOG video ;-) Chapeau! on you achievement and congrats on the new bike. Very nice!
Congratulations on the new bike, big difference innit? Plus the new ones are just so nice, it’ll make you want to ride more. And that endorphin high you get after a hard ride is so addictive. Well at least as long as you’re not torturing yourself in the cold and wet.
Tremendous effort and I’m glad to hear you’ve recovered! If you haven’t already, you’d certainly have no problem doing the Rapha Rising challenge on Strava held each year. It comes with a nice roundel upon completion.
i am literally inspired with what you are doing! great! inspired from Malaysia!
I had no idea you rode bikes, I know you through Beato’s channel! I was confused when I saw this, but it’s very cool!
What I was trying to tell you about is that peak design who make some very nice vlogging tools have a tool are launching some interfaces between bike & camera at IFA2022
Amazing! Honestly, only mistake you made was ridding in the cold rain. Just alittle under 2,000 meters from your goal. Had you skipped the rainy day and rested you would have made the distance, just a few days longer than planned. Awesome job, I say give it a go again, soon. Maybe give yourself 10 days. Keep pedaling.
Yeah, but I know for sure when you are biking you want to push yourself and not give in.
7:38 Phrasing!
Third time you say? 😂
💪
Well done Mary!! I didn't realize you cycled in addition to being a lovely singer/artist. Subscribing here too plus trying to follow you on Strava. I'm sure if you took a week after the long training before you attempted Everest, you would've succeeded. Hope you do this again next year!
Great effort Mary! 7000m is really impressive.
After almost 15 years not cycling I recently started again (at 58 years old and weighing 105-110Kg), I hate climbing and can only manage a few hundred metres in a week. Over 7000 metres climbed is outstanding! Well done! Hope you continue to recover from CoVID.
awesome video. Inspiring !
I admire that you have tried something that hard. I would probably quit afer fiest day finding an excuse for one day break, than another and another. Same thing with practicing my guitar or bass. I wonder how people actually find inner strangth to do it on regular basis. I practise mainly when playing with my bandmates once every week or two.
I've been on a Giant Defy since 2019. Great bike! Great way to break it in!
Came here because of Mary and Leo - Sultans of Swing, staying because of the bike content; had ZERO idea Mary rode!
When you said 'fail' I was expecting a pathetic attempt you did amazingly well and only just shy of your target. That was a win in my book.
Had no idea you were a cyclist. That Giant is an amazing bike. Living in a mountainous area, every ride is a climb. Always liked the 'Everest' concept as it's a real challenge for a cyclist. Next time you'll nail it.
I'm sorry you missed your goal of Everest but increadibly well done on Denali in a week that was incredible :) I'm glad your doing better, being ill sucks and the fitness lost during those times always suck. Keep it up Mary!
That new bike looks ace 👌🏻 I’d also be delighted with this amount of elevation gain in a week!
Any plans to catch some of La Vuelta in person Mary?
Enjoy all of your work, Mary! This was a good one. Thanks for the inspiration!
My American brain wasn't comprehending the altitudes until the very end of the video (I didn't sleep enough last night, yeah that's it).
7000 METERS! Wow, well done! Nice bike btw. :)
glad you're on the mend. i love you.
Nice one Mary 💪 that's a massive week and you'll bounce back.
Great job on the cycling, your efforts are more important than reaching that final number. That said now you can retry whenever you see fit to reach your goal.
Hi Mary, I know that your Everesting week was a few months ago and I trust you know by now that you are not an "average" cyclist. You are a cyclist. You are climbing serious amounts of vert in fairly short miles. No "average" cyclist does this type of climbing. You are the real deal. And, I want to ride those roads some day. Boston, MA is flat and I am jealous of the mountains. Be well and keep the videos coming.
That's very amazing to watch you through another hobby. Impossible for me to follow your Guitare level, singing level, but please let me more space level with biking 🙏
Missed you here. Good messages. Nice bike. Keep it up.
Beautiful rig you have there and to get as far as you did makes you a beast anyway. I'm just getting back into it and ten miles is enough for me to start questioning my decisions. But I also live in Texas so that's nothing new. 🤣
I don't know if I could "Everest" where I live. I'm along coastal North Carolina and I'd have to drive 6 hours to get to the nearest mountain and 3 hours to find something that resembles a "hill". But I would give it a shot.
Hey my buddy did this in scotland, he’s an endurance athlete and managed it in a day I think but he’s pretty much a freak of nature…
Wonderful achievement, no doubt learning first hand about preparation and recovery. Really dig your new bike with its sensible stem and bar no doubt fitted to James’ spec. Rest up and enjoy the saddle time. Oh you got a left sided power meter? Helps me massively. 4iiii or Stages
Kudos for the determination, don't lose heart, another cycling guitar player here, I'd get some lighter tyres, ditch the bar bag, and ride on!
Keep the rain tires, and the snacks, and ride on. Not everyone needs to be a racer. And every racer doesn't need to critique other cyclists.
To be fair, 7048 metres is impressive and instead of doing an Everest like everyone else, you did a Nyegyi Kansang, which makes you a trail blazer and therefore better.
I recently listened to a podcast with former pro cyclist Jens Voigt, who did an Everest attempt on a 100m hill by his house so his kids could watch. It took him almost 24 hours.
carbs are key! With enough sugar and water we can do all day and night if we pace it right.
That's an insanely big ask now that I think about it. 1264m of elevation per day is nuts. You did so well to top 7000m :)