Gawn undertakes gruelling cycling quest

Many go to Bali, some to South America and there’s always a few partaking in Oktoberfest.

Max Gawn is doing his off-season a little differently.

The evergreen Melbourne ruckman is currently in the middle of one of sport’s most extreme endurance challenges.

Gawn is taking on an “Everesting” attempt – a gruelling cycling quest that demands its riders climb a cumulative elevation of 8,848m (29,031ft) – the height of Mount Everest – in a single, continuous activity.

Riders repeatedly ascend and descend the same uphill road to complete the challenge.

Gawn, with teammate Ed Langdon and fellow cycling enthusiast Hamish Blake, are currently slogging their way up and down Adelaide’s Old Willunga Hill Road, the iconic climb often used in January’s Tour Down Under.

Gawn, Langdon and Blake started their mission at 4am Monday morning. Observers believe it will take them around 30 hours and 40 ascents of the same road to complete.

Gawn this year earned a ninth All-Australian blazer and fourth Melbourne best and fairest.

He and Langdon often embark on bold cycling quests, including a Saudi Arabia desert race two years ago.