He Rode 1 Million Feet… And He’s Still Paying For It

What happens after riding 1,000,000 vertical feet in 100 days? In this episode of the Downtime Podcast, we sit down with Ben Hildred in Queenstown to talk about the physical and mental aftermath of one of the wildest endurance challenges we’ve heard in mountain biking. Ben became widely known for climbing 1 million vertical feet in just 100 days on his bike, a relentless challenge that pushed him into constant fatigue, disrupted sleep, and a level of exhaustion he’d never experienced before. Reflecting on the experience now, he explains what the challenge actually did to him physically and mentally, and why he still feels the effects long afterwards. Beyond the endurance side, this episode also dives into Ben’s unconventional life in Queenstown, from building a career around bikes to unexpectedly working within the TV and film industry as a mountain bike liaison coordinator. This is a fascinating conversation about obsession, endurance, creativity, injuries, adventure, and building a life around mountain biking in one of the sport’s most iconic locations. #MTB #MountainBiking #Enduro Podcast Stuff Listener Offers Downtime listeners can now get 10% off of Stashed Space Rails. Stashed is the ultimate way to sort your bike storage. Their clever design means you can get way more bikes into the same space and easily access whichever one you want to ride that day. If you have 2 or more bikes in your garage, they are definitely worth checking out. Just head to https://www.stashedproducts.com/downtime and use the code DOWNTIME at the checkout for 10% off your entire order. And Just so you know, we get 10% of the sale too, so it’s a win win. Patreon You can support the podcast to help it keep going and improving by heading over to   / downtimepodcast   Merch If you want to support the podcast, and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that's using renewable energy. So check it out now over at https://downtimepodcast.teemill.com/ Newsletter If you want a bit more Downtime in your life, then you can join my newsletter where I’ll provide you with a bit of behind the scenes info on the podcast, interesting bits and pieces from around the mountain bike world, some mini-reviews of products that I’ve been using and like, partner offers and more. You can do that over at https://www.downtimepodcast.com/newsl... Are you enjoying the podcast? If so, then don’t forget to follow it. Each episode will get delivered to your device as soon as it’s available and it's totally free. You'll find all the links you need at https://www.downtimepodcast.com/follo... You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google and most of the podcast apps out there. Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at https://www.downtimepodcast.com/episo... #mountainbike #downtimepodcast #mtbpodcast Chapters: 00:00 Ben Hildred joins the podcast 02:00 The challenge explained - what 1,000,000 feet actually means 05:30 Everest pacing - the brutal daily target 10:00 Physical exhaustion and nervous system overload 15:30 Why Ben decided to attempt the challenge 21:00 Mental battles - motivation, fatigue and routine 27:30 Nutrition, recovery and surviving 100 straight days 33:00 Riding through injury, illness and bad conditions 38:00 Life outside riding - balancing work and normal life 43:00 Queenstown life, filming work and MTB opportunities 47:00 The MTB liaison role on a major TV production 51:00 Lessons from the challenge - mindset and perspective 55:00 What’s next after climbing a million feet 57:00 Final reflections and wrap-up