KNYSNA NEWS - Co-owner of Bespoked Bike Shop, Tyrone van Rooyen will soon be attempting to ascend 20 000m on his bicycle, with Mount Ventoux in France lying in wait.
Three years ago, Van Rooyen caught wind of something called the Everesting Challenge, which was started by a group of climbing-crazy cyclists with the aim of providing the toughest challenge they could find.
The Everesting Challenge is fiendishly simple: a cyclist must pick any hill anywhere in the world and ride repeats of it in a single activity until they climb 8 848m – the equivalent height of Mount Everest.
When Van Rooyen – who was born and raised in the Cape – caught wind of it he knew he had to tighten his cleats and grit his teeth and take it on – but not for nothing. "I figured if I was going to slog away up this mountain I might as well do it for a cause," he said. Hence, Van Rooyen chose Knysna Animal Welfare Society (Kaws), which is where he adopted his dog Piper five years ago.
So, it all started in 2016 when Van Rooyen elected the unforgiving Outeniqua Pass as the hill which he would take on for 8 848m of climbing while raising money for Kaws. It took him 19-and-a-half hours and 308km on the road to reach a total ascent of 8 854m, raising R21 320 for Kaws.
But, he didn't quite get his fix and decided to go a hell of a lot of steps further the following year by deciding to climb 10 000m up De Vlugt, once again in aid of Kaws. This time around, it took Van Rooyen 33-and-a-quarter hours to ascend a total of 10 165m over a distance of 373km, raising R32 220 for Kaws.
This year however, he aims to go 10 000 steps further as he has eyes set on the infamous Mount Ventoux, which is a truly gruelling and unforgiving climb by bike and has featured in the Tour de France 15 times since 1951.
Van Rooyen is not unaware of the challenges he will be facing, though. "The weather is going to play a serious part as the top of the mountain is 2 000m above sea level and the conditions can drastically change between the top and bottom of Mont Ventoux," he said.
He jetted off to France on 3 June, and before 15 June he will pick the best 48-hour window period in which he will attempt the ride.
If you would like to donate to Kaws in support of Van Rooyen, you can find their banking details on their Facebook page and when making the payment, simply use "20 000m challenge" as your reference.
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