New Zealand rider Ben Hildred has taken on a crazy challenge. Climb the equivalent of two Everests on his bike in a single outing.
Some time ago, we introduced you to the craziest ascent records by bike. Until now, Portugal's Tiago Ferreira held the 24-hour record, having covered a total of 17,753 meters of ascent over a distance of 247.5 km. The European XCM (cross-country marathon) champion set this benchmark in July 2020, and the record has stood ever since.
It's finally on the other side of the planet that a rider has managed to do a little better, with one small difference... New Zealander Ben Hildred lives in Queenstown and works as a mechanic at Vertigo Bikes. It's a job he's passionate about, and where he rides his Hightower Santa Cruz every morning. The area is renowned for mountain biking and considered one of the most beautiful spots in the country. Ben Hildred recently came up with the idea of racking up as much positive vertical drop as possible on a single outing.
To do so, he chose a trail on Ben Lomond, a mountain near Queenstown whose highest point is 1,748 meters above sea level. Setting off in the early hours of the morning, the New Zealander made one round trip after another on this loop (18 in all), for a final vertical drop of 17,925 m (equivalent to two Everests), over 277.5 km. But unlike Tiago Ferreira, who stopped after 24 hours, Ben Hildred took 33 hours to achieve this performance. The Portuguese's record still stands, but Ben's performance is no less remarkable for having achieved it on a Santa Cruz enduro mountain bike, not necessarily the lightest when it comes to climbing. His sponsor, Sram, has released a film about the feat, which you can watch in full below.