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Keegan Swenson smashes Phil Gaimon’s Everest record by 12 minutes

Phil Gaimon's Everesting record beaten by Pro mountain biker Keegan Swenson. Gaimon vows to take it back!

The retired American pro climbed the height of Everest 29,029 ft (8,848m) in 7 hours and 52 minutes, beating the previous record by over 37 minutes laet week.

4 days later, along came Pro mountain biker Keegan Swenson, 26, from Utah, who rode a stretch of road just south of his home in 7 hours and 40 minutes, taking 12 minutes off Gaimon's record.

Swenson opted for Pine Canyon Road in Wasatch Mountain State Park, right outside of his hometown of Heber City, Utah. The 1.82-mile segment of road averages an 11 percent gradient and maxes out at a killer 22.9 percent gradient, with an overall elevation gain of 1,023 feet.

Swenson aimed to average a power output of 270 to 280 watts for each hill repeat, which he had to do 29 times.

Swenson cycled 105 miles (170km) in 7 hours 51 minutes altogether, averaging a speed of 13.4 miles per hour (21.6 kph) averaging 263 watts.

Swenson said afterwards, “Yesterdays Everest FKT attempt was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done on a bike. On par with White Rim for sure! It took about 13-14.5min and I tried to average about 270-280w each rep. Then I’d flip around and rip that same segment, fastest descent was 2:10 and my max speed was 58.6 mph"

Swenson was joined by fellow cyclist Ryan Standish, whose chosen section of road was a bit longer for the attempt. Standish wasn’t out to set the record, but he still rode an equally impressive 31,489 feet over 120 miles.

Both Standish and Swenson were riding to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Standish’s father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 2012.

Here's his attempton Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/3457100604

Photo: Swenson (left) after his attempt with his dad (right), waiting for Standish to finish.

Photo: Swenson (left) after his attempt with his dad (right), waiting for Standish to finish.

Phil Gaimon jokingly said,"First of all I want to thank everyone who sent me the direct messages and comments telling me I lost my Everesting record"

“The previous record stood from 2017, I took it by just under 40 minutes and I kept it for a whole four days, I hadn’t even finished drinking the champagne yet. It was taken by Keegan Swenson, I want to hate him but he seems like a nice guy.”

“I hadn’t even finished editing the video documenting my ride when I lost the record so it really ruined my whole parade to where I was thinking do I even post the videos or do I just crawl up in the fetal position and cry for a few days. The answer is I did both.”

But Gaimon hasn't accepted defeat and has started searching for another hill in Los Angeles, “I won’t go down without a fight, I don’t know where I can find ten minutes…I need to find a better hill. The only way I’m going to beat this record is if I find a steeper, longer hill, so I’m asking for your help. What I’m looking for in the hill is it needs to be straight up and down, so no hairpins on the downhill, no braking, if you’ve got something that’s 20 per cent – awesome.”

Phil Gaimon jokingly said,"First of all I want to thank everyone who sent me the direct messages and comments telling me I lost my Everesting record"

“The previous record stood from 2017, I took it by just under 40 minutes and I kept it for a whole four days, I hadn’t even finished drinking the champagne yet. It was taken by Keegan Swenson, I want to hate him but he seems like a nice guy.”

“I hadn’t even finished editing the video documenting my ride when I lost the record so it really ruined my whole parade to where I was thinking do I even post the videos or do I just crawl up in the fetal position and cry for a few days. The answer is I did both.”

But Gaimon hasn't accepted defeat and has started searching for another hill in Los Angeles, “I won’t go down without a fight, I don’t know where I can find ten minutes…I need to find a better hill. The only way I’m going to beat this record is if I find a steeper, longer hill, so I’m asking for your help. What I’m looking for in the hill is it needs to be straight up and down, so no hairpins on the downhill, no braking, if you’ve got something that’s 20 per cent – awesome.”