A young West Lothian cyclist has smashed the Scottish record for cycling the height of Everest and raised £4000 in the process.
Alex Ball, (19) cycled up and down Kingscavil Hill in Linlithgow 130 times to reach a total of 8848m, the height of Mount Everest, to help raise funds for the ProjectGo charity.
He completed the mammoth challenge in nine hours, 39 minutes and 59 seconds of non-stop cycling, which bests the previous Scottish record by half an hour.
After the challenge Alex, who stays in Linlithgow, said: “It’s the hardest cycling event I’ve ever done. So many people had donated so I knew I had to complete the challenge and I had to keep pushing all the time because I wanted to make sure I was inside the record.
“The hardest bit was hours four to six because my legs were hurting and I thought it would only get worse from there.
“Because of the effort I couldn’t eat solid food but I perked up in the last few hours after being given a double espresso and some energy drink from my coach James McCallum.”
The challenge attracted cyclists and supporters from the local area who came to watch, despite the rain.
Alex said: “The support on the hill really kept me going.
“I was cheered on all day and it kept my morale intact.”
The weather deteriorated during the day, with mist shrouding the climb, adding an extra dimension of difficulty to the challenge’
Alex continued “This test is about defying gravity, but the rain soaked my clothes through adding extra weight to my effort.”
Half of the funds raised will be donated to Project Go, a charity which is associated with Alex’s current team Vanelli-Project Go.
Project Go was set up by Nick and Kirsty Ohly, and aims to raise awareness and funds to help find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy after both their children were diagnosed with the disease. The other half will go towards covering the costs of Alex living and racing in Italy with Zappi Racing Team next year.
To donate, go to https://gofund.me/0e1a1bf0
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