Ben Hildred: Journey To A Million

Ben Hildred attempts to climb 10 million feet in 100 days on his SRAM equipped MTB

BEN’S 500K CHECK-IN

How does the body feel?
Body is feeling great, I’m amazed by it’s ability to continue day to day, I’ve been very aware I can not afford to fall into any sort of deficit, especially with the body, as soon as I incur aches and lingering pain it’s a downward spiral, no time to heal, rest or recover have a few old injuries from other big missions, nerve damage and things, I’ve been super conscious of them arising again. Luckily I’ve had amazing support from Remarkable Physios here in Queenstown, with a weekly deep tissue massage, the loan of some recovery boots and regular check ins, keeping the machine in top condition.

How does the mind feel?
My mind is the thing that takes the biggest amount of strain on a daily basis, this whole bike ride is about my metal capacity and effort, it has very little to do with my physical state. Each morning I still feel physically sick until I start pedaling, I think this is my mind overruling all instincts my body has and what my gut is telling me to do. It’s tough some days, although I’m learning and more capable day to day of switching my mind off and only feed me positive and progressive thoughts to pull me through. This is the challenge I love.

"Each morning I still feel physically sick until I start pedaling, I think this is my mind overruling all instincts my body has and what my gut is telling me to do."

How does the bike feel?
Bike is awesome, I’ve used the Santa Cruz Tallboy for most of my missions, I still think it’s the most versatile, do everything big out there. I’ve gone through a fair few wear parts, tyres, brake pads, bearings etc, although that’s expected. It’s never let me down.

What has been your best day so far?
It’s hard to say what’s been my best day, the past 50 days have all merged into one big conglomerate pedal. There past week I’ve witnessed some extraordinary sun rises, one of which, I was the only person on the mountain, seeing the sun hit Ben Lomond and the vibrance of colour, it felt enormously special. Times like that can pull me through the whole day with a smile on my face. Sharing laps with friends is also wonderful.

What has been your worst?
Not sure on the worst day, the worst moment though was a particularly wet day, where the climbing road turned to peanut butter, the elevation was coming very slowly and at my coldest and most miserable point I got a puncture, the only one in 50 days and half a million feet! That was a hard day to complete, although most rewarding.

Are you going to change any of your strategy for the second half of this challenge?
My strategy currently has revolved around trying not to get heat stroke during peak NZ summer, this has meant 4am starts and being as efficient as possible with my laps. This however may changer over March as the days start getting cooler and I can diversify the riding and start at a more reasonable time, but we’ll see, I quite enjoy finishing at mid-day, especially with work taking up some of my time too.

Any shout-outs to anyone?
Would love to say a big thank you to Heather and Pete at Remarkable Physios for their help so far, and everyone who’s come for a pedal with me, the company means a lot in an otherwise quite isolating time, namely Jamie McKay, Tom Lamb and Rob Lyons, they have been out on multiple days, plugging away! Also Paul and Pro-Flow suspension, helping keep my suspension running perfectly and all the companies who have seen value in helping me out on these rides, it’s all so-so greatly appreciated. 

Questions by Peter Matthews / Images by Callum Wood