A CYCLIST reached for the skies when he rode up the equivalent of Everest in one day.

The only way was up for Tom Cooling from St Briavels when he raised more than £1,200 for Cancer Research UK with Winscombe co-rider Mike Walsh by summiting Abergavenny’s notorious Tumble 23 times in one day.

They set out at 5am on their epic challenge up the Blorenge, which the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins have ridden in the Tour of Britain and the British Road Race championship.

But whereas the professionals had to do it just once, the duo had to do it again and again on Saturday, April 29, with 23 rides of 1,265ft up the Tumble equalling the 29,000ft of Everest.

Tom said: “We agreed to ride our own pace but regroup for the final accent, and as the ascents ticked by, our emotions swung from euphoria to despair as we urged our heavy legs to keep spinning.

“There is only you, a bike, a mountain and the feeling that you just need to keep going, again and again and again. 

“We worked out how many climbs we would need to cycle to get to Base Camp 17,500 ft (13 climbs) and Camp 4, which on the real Everest signals the start of the “Death Zone” at 26,246ft (20 climbs). This was to give us milestones to aim for.

“Mike had a really dark patch early on around climb six where he was rescued by two ice creams from a well placed mountain top ice-cream van.

“After climb 18 it was into what I like to call ‘Rocky land’, where everything hurts and you just need to keep fighting through.”

The duo gritted their teeth and finished at sunset in 12 hours, 21 minutes and six seconds.

‘Everesting’ is the challenge of summiting the equivalent of the world’s highest mountain, and this was a new record summiting the 132.2 miles of the Tumble which added both riders to the ‘Everesting’ Hall of Fame.

Tom said: “We were supported by my partner Jo and Mike’s partner, Sam. Also I would like to thank Rhys Knight for keeping me going in the middle of the ride and for Wild Trail Snacks for providing the nutrition to fill the 12,500-calorie hole that we both created.”

Tom is already ‘up’ for his next challenge, climbing 10,000m in a single ride as part of Everesting the Kymin in Monmouth.

To donate to the Tumble ride, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MICHAEL-WALSH17