'The correct amount of baked goods to eat is as many as you can': Cyclist sets 50,000m 'Five Peaks' challenge

A cyclist from Scotland has devised a new bikepacking challenge, which involves riding five of the tallest mountain passes in the Alps. 

Dr Donald Evans, brother of Olympian and world champion track cyclist Neah Evans, rode each of the highest Alpine peaks in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Slovenia last summer, completing his 2,428km route in 18 days. 

Now, he wants others to take on the same steep roads, and beat his time. 

“I know a lot of people can do it a lot quicker,” he told Cycling Weekly. “I slept nine hours a night and I enjoyed the whole bike ride.” 

“I would love it to be a challenge to do those five peaks. I would suggest you take any road between them, but you have to make sure it covers a minimum of 50,000 vertical metres, and around 2,500km horizontal.”

In descending order, the five mountains are: Italy’s Passo dello Stelvio (2,757m), France's Col de la Bonette (2,715m), Austria's Grossglockner High Alpine Road (2,504m), Switzerland’s Umbrail Pass (2,503m) and Slovenia’s Vršič Pass (1,611m). The challenge could be to cyclists what the Seven Summits are to seasoned climbers, or the Three Peaks are to British hikers. 

A former rower, Evans set out to ride the mountains solo last July, taking in the neighbouring climbs for good measure.

“I think one of my inspirations was my dad,” the 35-year-old explained. “He’s a diehard [cycling fan]. I remember watching the Tour de France with him when I was younger and he was loving the passes. He would watch them on the TV the whole way through discussing it, going, ‘Look at the hills. Look at the landscape.’ I wanted to do that.

“I did embarrassingly little preparation. I think it was like my third bike ride that year.” 

Evans rode a gravel bike for the trip, equipped with a large saddle bag, and slept in a hammock, which he set up among the trees when he tired in the evenings. 

For food, he stopped by bakeries, and left with as much as he could carry. 

“I was eating easily over 5,000 calories a day,” he said. “The correct amount of baked goods to eat is as many as you can. When you’re in Italy and France, that’s a really nice place to be for it. 

“I’ve got various jokes in my family WhatsApp group where I’ve gone in, ordered two cappuccinos, two sandwiches, maybe four pastries, and the person clearly assumes they’re for me and my friends. But, really, it’s one for one leg, one for the other leg.” 

Looking back, what advice would Evans give to those thinking about taking on his challenge? "The saddle is a dealbreaker," he said. “I have one of those strange, two-pronged road saddles that I got from my sister. 

“I tried it for one trip, and I did the whole thing in a single piece of lycra without saddle sores. That is a bit of gear that, if you do a bike tour, you want that in your life. When I rode from the top to bottom of Europe, I ended up having to wear two bits of lycra everyday, and being really careful how I sat down to eat my meals.” 

Evans began his five peaks trip in Austria, and finished in Switzerland. The full route he took is below.