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Sussex cyclists aged 13 and 14 in Ditchling Beacon ‘Everesting’ attempt

Lukas Nerurkar and Tom Pughe-Morgan are raising money for the Nepal Youth Foundation

 

Two young cyclists from Sussex will next week attempt to ‘Everest’ Ditchling Beacon by riding up and down the South Downs hill until they have climbed the equivalent height of the world’s tallest mountain.

Lukas Nerurkar, aged 13, from Hangleton and Tom Pughe-Morgan, 14 and from Plumpton Green will have to ride more than 60 times up the West Sussex climb to beat the height of Mount Everest, which is 8,848 metres.

To comply with Everesting rules, they will have to do it in a single continuous ride, with no loops involved, meaning that each time they reach the summit the pair will have to go back down to where they started and turn around for the next ascent.

According to VeloViewer, the typical ascent of Ditchling Beacon has an elevation gain of 154 metres, and elevation change of 133 metres, and an average gradient of 9.1 per cent.

The youngsters are aiming to raise money for the UK charity Nepal Youth Foundation, which supports impoverished children in Nepal.

On their Just Giving page Tom, who has secured sponsorship from Hassocks-based Proper Cycling & Coffee which is supporting the challenge, said:  

“We wanted to set ourselves a gnarly cycling challenge for a good cause. We decided to do the Everesting Challenge which is a well-recognised club cyclist's challenge but usually undertaken by adults.

Tom Pughe-Morgan.jpg

Tom Pughe-Morgan

“It involves riding repeatedly up a single hill until a total climb equivalent to the height of Everest is achieved.

“We have chosen to ride Ditchling Beacon where 60 climbs will take us just over the summit of Everest.

“Although we are both fit youth cyclists it is going to be a significant challenge – we have done a practice run of 25 reps which we managed OK, but another 35 on top of that is really going to test us!

“We have chosen to donate the sponsorship money to Nepal Youth UK as it means supporting our own age group in the country where Mount Everest is located.”

He added: “We are hoping to raise a total of £500 and would be really grateful for anything you are able to donate to support this excellent cause. Thanks a lot for your help.”

Their challenge takes place next Wednesday, 30 August.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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A good 2 and a half minutes down on Nordhaug and Kwiatkowski, more training needed!

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cjwebb | 6 years ago
0 likes

Great job Tom, and even had enough left in the legs for a few extra reps to be on the safe side!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1162067064

Chapeau!

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srchar | 6 years ago
1 like

Well done lads. £1500 raised too!

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cjwebb | 6 years ago
2 likes

Here's pic of Tom this evening, still going strong after 50 reps, even able to have a conversation all the way up. Probably be finishing any time now.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 6 years ago
2 likes

I'd need supplemental oxygen, myself. And a team of sherpas.

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MandaiMetric | 6 years ago
1 like

I rode up ditchling beacon the other week, for the first time in more than 20 years (been living overseas). It sure felt steeper than it used to  1  

Good luck to them.

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Rapha Nadal | 6 years ago
1 like

Lukas sometimes joins us (Brighton Mitre) on our club rides.  He's got no issues with going uphill fast!

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Sleekspook | 6 years ago
0 likes

Brilliant effort lads. Good to see.  Come on Road.cc. Couple of freebies for the lads by way of encouragement.

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avdave | 6 years ago
1 like

They'd be a lot better off shifting the attempt to Firle Beacon where they'd have a tiny fraction of the traffic to deal with. I guess Ditchling is better known due to the London to Brighton ride and may get more publicity but it's horrible to ride up when there is a lot of traffic.

 

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Leviathan | 6 years ago
1 like

I hope their legs are as strong as their sock game.

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guildwheeler | 6 years ago
1 like

The very best of luck to them. Everesting certainly is a gnarly challenge. I completed one last year & at the age of 45 can safely say that it was the most gnarly of challenges I've ever undertaken! Glad I did it but never again! I've never known physical exhaustion like it. So fair play to you lads. Don't try to push too hard early on, settle into a rhythm. Also eat little & often really is the best piece of advice. Good luck

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hughsain | 6 years ago
1 like

99% sure I saw these two when I rode to Brighton a couple of weekends ago. Good on 'em, they weren't breaking a sweat.

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