Africa seemed determined to push Danny and his colleagues to his limits. Waking at 1am to begin their assault on the summit, Danny, Hans Rey and Gerhard Czerner were met by six inches of snow. Having hidden their bikes half-way to the summit the day before, the early part of their last test was made without additional burden, but even this was demanding. When they reached their machines, the combination of altitude, heavy snow, and an extra mechanical ‘backpack’ provided the toughest challenge yet.
“Climbing a zig-zag path, basically just a scree slope, with an extra 15kg of bike on your back as well as kit, made for very, very hard work. Because you’re not planning to stay at altitude, you can make an extra effort and push your body to the limit, but getting up to that limit was probably the hardest thing I’ve done, and I’ve been on rides at maximum heart rate with my legs burning.” – Danny