Members of the Medway Velo spent a combined total of 66 hours in the saddle on Sunday in order to raise nearly £1,000 for the Kent Air Ambulance.

Using the online platform Zwift, the riders connected up their smart turbos and power meters to virtually experience mountainous terrain, climbing a total of 42,183 metres between them.

The plan was to complete the ascent of 8,848m, equivalent to Mount Everest, but the team obliterated the target, managing just under five times that target.

Resistance was applied to the bike to give the same feel as if the riders were going up a real hill.

The most distance covered was by Rob Kennison, who rode 248kms, taking in no less than 10,001 metres of climbing, with a total time of 13hrs 18mins 25secs.

There was also a big effort from Steve Smith, who only got back into cycling when lockdown was called. He climbed the 8,900m in 15:28 hours, covering 216km.

Tom Knight only decided to have a bash at the mountain on Sunday morning, 12hrs 28mins later he had ridden 210km and climbed 8,900m.

Steve Melia-Chamberlain, who came up with the Everest plan, made it past virtual base camp riding for 8:51hrs, climbing 5,219m and covering 130km until a painful knee forced him to retire.

Other riders popped up throughout, including Phil Terrett, completing his stint from his home in Spain, making it a real coming together of friends without them actually having to physically meet.

Also supporting the endurance squad were Matt Nunn (3:40hrs, 2,246m and 60km), Jon Graciano (3:37hrs, 2,030m and 50km), Andy Smith (3:20hrs, 2,281m and 45km), Andy Hawes (3:15hrs, 1,469m and 70km) and Sally Smith who rode for 2:02hrs, 1,137m and 38kms.

Melia-Chamberlain, who coordinated the effort said: ‘We wanted to do something epic whilst we are all locked away and raise funds for a cause that as a club we have historically supported. As we may not have the opportunity to do this outside this year, we felt this was an ideal solution.”

At present the money raised for the charity stands at £995 and the team would be delighted to top £1000. If anyone would like to support the effort visit their fundraising page here.

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