The Star: November 04, 2021

© Elgas 2021
The Star Thursday November 4 2021
6
NEWS
NOT CONTENT with
completing a climb greater than
Mt Everest during a 24-hour
endurance test in Victoria Park,
Matthew Fairbrother is targeting
a marathon ride that is simply
out of this world.
The 17-year-old Shirley Boys’
High School student is now
planning to scale the equivalent
height of Olympus Mons, a
21,900-metre tall shield volcano
on the planet Mars.
Fairbrother revealed his next
goal after documenting the
August 7-8 exercise, climbing
10,119 vertical metres during a
257.38km ride through the city’s
premier mountain biking tracks.
He completed his first ‘Everest’
as a 15-year-old on a sealed road
and decided to push himself even
further on an S-Works Enduro
2021 as he eclipsed the height
of the world’s tallest mountain
(8849m).
Each lap spanned 9.9km and
included a climb at 389 vertical
metres; Fairbrother spent 20
hours and 25 minutes in the saddle,
and shed 6.4kg.
He set off at 7.30am after five
hours sleep, motivated by striving
for “that feeling of progression”.
“That’s what gets me going.
That’s what fuels the fire within,”
Fairbrother said, in a reader
story for the Pinkbike website.
“My mind was tense, a challenge
of this scale brings huge
uncertainty . . . scenarios were
flying through my head.
“I really lacked confidence
during the first few hours, but
about the fourth lap I actually
started to have fun. The laps
between 11am and 6pm just
cruised by.”
However, as daylight faded, so
did Fairbrother.
“With so much time to think
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Rider eclipses Everest, sets sights on Mars
EPIC RIDE: Matthew Fairbrother handles a downhill section of a mountain bike trip that
saw him scale the height of Mt Everest.
PHOTO: DOMINIC BRISSETT
readily at my hands on every
uphill, the beginning of these
dark hours turned into a grind.
At 7:30pm I hit halfway, feeling
very second-hand.
“At this point I broke it down
into sections; at first, it was two
laps at a time and then I’d allow
myself to have a sit-down and
that quickly turned into three
stops a lap. The pace slowed.
“Around 10pm, things were
getting really grim. I was by myself;
I was ready to call it a day. I
got to the top of what I thought
was the last lap, and I was willing
to accept defeat, only 14-and-a
-half hours in.”
Yet he rallied within the space
of five minutes.
“I took some pressure out of
my tyres and went for a party
lap to round things out. I wasn’t
done just yet. That descent was
one of the fastest laps I’ve ever
done, albeit in the pitch black,
and at the moment it dawned on
me that I wasn’t going to give up
this easily.
“One of the most exhilarating
parts of any physical endeavour
is when you’re up against the
wall, in so much pain, completely
bonked and almost defeated, and
then suddenly something clicks
unexpectedly, and you smash
through it with a grin on your
face. The high is unparalleled.”
There was another low point
around 3am when he punctured
but after a 45-minute rest and repair
job he powered through rain
and howling wind to the finish.
“At the end of the day, it was just
a number (10,119m) on a screen
but the journey that comes with it
is something I won’t ever forget,”
Fairbrother said.
“Despite inevitable lows, the
highs easily outweighed them.
My bike ran like a dream, my
body exhausted but not quite
wrecked. The hardest part was
the mental fortitude required for
such a task. The key is the power
of acceptance. Accepting that
it’s going to hurt, that it’s not all
going to be an easy road.”
Soon it will be uphill again for
Fairbrother as he ponders what’s
next.
“Olympus Mons, 21,900
vertical metres. One. Ride. Time
to get my head down. I’ve got
some serious work to do.”
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