Everesting is the new Hour Record. Yeah, right. But it has become hotly contested in the Covid-19 era. Records are falling left, right, and center.

Actually, if there’s a direction the records are falling, it’s up. Everesting is the act of climbing the height of Everest in a single ride. That’s 8,848 meters. And since we can’t ride up Everest, there’s a lot of prep work in finding the right climb to focus on, completing endless (editor’s note: not actually endless) repetitions to reach the fabled height.

Everyone is at it. Your club mates are climbing Hardknott Pass thirty times. A pregnant woman did it on Zwift for Reddit karma. Your boss has ridden up and down his driveway 60,000 times and tagged it as a recovery ride.

And the pros are doing it. Lachlan Morton is the latest, setting a record time of seven hours, 32 minutes, and 54 seconds. Although he possibly did it with a dodgy Garmin 1030. Regardless, it’s a fantastic ride, so chapeau to him.

It’s a strong record, and it could still yet be broken again as we head toward the cycling season restarting. Actually it kind of already has:

Though we have a sneaking suspicion that this record, at a 160km/h average, might not actually be legitimate. The jury is out.

Here’s what EF Education First have to say about their man setting new records:

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Lachlan Morton breaks Everesting record

Initially, Lachlan Morton thought he’d have a go at the Everesting record Monday, June 15. 

But last Friday night at a BBQ, he and his dad, David, got to talking. His dad had to work Monday, so why not give it a try the following morning? Nothing like a last-minute Everesting attempt.

Lachlan was feeling rested enough from breaking the record for the fastest known time on the Kokopelli Trail a few weeks prior, and had recovered from a bout of food poisoning that foiled his initial attempt date last week. And once he got to the climb and started rolling… he didn’t stop until he was the new record holder. All told, he climbed 29,029 feet in 7 hours, 32 minutes, and 54 seconds over 42 laps up the backside of Rist Canyon.

Hear more from Lachlan in this interview.

What is Everesting, for people who don’t know?

Climbing the height of Mt. Everest on one hill by bike. It’s a tough day out.

How does one prepare for something like that?

I prepared by riding my mountain bike up high in the Rockies, having fun and spending a lot of hours out. Finding a climb that’s steep and straight is also important. I wanted something local, so having a look around was a big part of preparing. I didn’t do any specific training for it. I’d ridden five and six hours the days before, then made a split-second decision to do it over a Friday BBQ with dad.

Tell us a bit about your setup for this. Anything special?

Just my Cannondale SuperSix EVO training bike with a set of tubeless wheels I borrowed from JV. I had ‘cross wheels in it for a big gravel loop the day before. Love that thing.

How’d you come to pick the climb you did?

I remembered it from when I was young. I actually won my first pro 1/2 race there. It’s steep and straight. The altitude makes it hard but I’m trying to stay close to home. There was an option to make it a bit shorter and steeper that was probably more economical, but the turnaround was blind and I needed to sight cars myself, so I opted for the longer one when we got there.

So you were initially thinking about doing it earlier this week, then got a stomach bug. Then Saturday, you were just going to scout it, but you ended up giving it a full go?

Yeah, I had food poisoning but bounced back and had a few big days on the bike and felt ok. I was thinking Monday, but dad was working so we decided on Friday night that we’d go have a look the next morning. I like things low key so just having dad there with some bottles felt right, so I just kept going.

Some rides feel longer than they are, I think. How long did this one feel?

The first three hours went really quick. The middle two felt about normal. The last two and a half really dragged.

Will you do it again if someone breaks it?

I think there’s some other things I’d like to do first. It’s fun, I know someone will go faster, that’s the point. Put a mark out there, have someone think… “Yeah maybe I can do that.” It’s a progression; anyone can have a crack at it.

Kokopelli, now this. This is like the season of Lachlan Morton. What’s next?

Going to ride Rollins pass with my dad in the morning. One day at a time at the moment. I’m really hoping to be back racing with the whole team soon, though.