Just nine months after bone surgery on both feet, an Altona woman has completed a bicycle feat equivalent to scaling Mount Everest.
Leah MacGibbon completed a challenge known as Everesting, a global phenomenon with fewer than 300 successful attempts worldwide.
She did it by riding her bike up Mount Wallace, west of Melbourne – not once but 64 times, starting at 4.45am and finishing the next day at 2am.
Everesting was founded by George Mallory, grandson of his namesake, who is believed to have been the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest. The criteria for Everesting is to notch a minimum ascent of 8848 vertical metres – the altitude of Mount Everest – in a single ride.
Ms MacGibbon also claimed a place in history by being the first known cyclist to have everested her particular mountain.
“It is one of the toughest climbs around and forms part of the race called, Hell of the West,” she said.
“Many blokes are known to get off their bike and walk it, it is that steep … and I had to do it 64 times.
“It is short and tough – a bit like me. This was going to be my climb.”
Ms MacGibbon said she loved a challenge and believed people could do anything they set their minds to.
“I’ve only been back about four months after having bone surgery on both feet in April,” she said. “I prepared by riding mountains: Mount Buller, the Alpine climbs (Falls, Hotham, Buffalo), and the Brisbane Ranges (Anakie through the Stieglitz historical town to Meredith).
“When I hear myself say: ‘I don’t mind if you fail as long as you give it a go’, I know deep down that I can do it, and trust my gut.
“That, coupled with an unbreakable cameraderie and encouragement from riding friends, gives me strength to keep going. I heard one friend, Les Voros, say: ‘She will do it, just keep her legs ticking over’. This played on my mind throughout the day and night.
“I am also an animal advocate and I think a lot about factory farm animals suffering. A little pain for a climb is nothing compared to what they endure every second of every day.”
Her next goal is to ride around Australia.
