It’s called ‘Everesting’ and Kelowna’s Jacob Rubuliak rode into the record book on Sunday.
The Okanagan resident climbed 8,848 metres to match the elevation of Mt. Everest on his bicycle, part of what’s called ‘The Everest Challenge.’
“Thirty-eight-and-a-half laps of Knox Mountain,” Rubuliak told Global News on Wednesday.
Climbing 29,000 feet is not your average Sunday ride in the park.
Rubuliak spent nine hours and 33 minutes in the saddle to complete the ride.
“At the moment, I’ve got the Canadian record,” said a smiling Rubuliak.
Rubuliak’s time crushed the previous national record of 10 hours and 26 minutes.
“I really had some great legs, was really focused the whole time,” Rubuliak said.
According to the 17-year-old cyclist, the toughest part of the climb is a section known as the ‘Knox Wall.’
“It’s about 300 metres long, the steepest part of the climb,” Rubuliak said.
“Every lap, that was the biggest challenge, just to get over that,” adding “it was definitely one of the hardest things I have done in my life.”
Rubuliak lives and breathes cycling, and he’s done some gruelling rides of late.
“I did a 500-kilometre ride two weeks ago that was about seven hours longer that,” he said.
‘Everesting’ has become a bit of trend of late, as many people look to accomplish solo sporting achievements during the coronavirus crisis.
“Because of the whole COVID-19 pandemic, this has been a very popular thing to do this year,” Rubuliak said.
In June, another Kelowna cyclist, Meaghan Hackinen, cycled up and down Knox Mountain 43 times for a total elevation climb of almost 10,000 metres in 19 hours and 14 minutes.
“My father borrowed and e-bike, so he came with me for the last couple of laps to keep me company,” Hackinen told Global News at the time.
‘It was just beautiful to see the lights of the city,” Hackinen added.
For Rubuliak, repeatedly climbing Knox Mountain was another way to change his riding routine, and perhaps help find a ride on a professional cycling team.
Rubuliak says he’ll continue to train, but that he won’t be returning to Knox Mountain anytime soon.
“Give me a couple of weeks here, I’ll need some time away from Knox,” Rubuliak said laughing.
But should someone else break his Canadian ‘Everesting’ record, he may just try to return as king of the mountain.
“Maybe give it another shot,” Rubuliak said.