This is the question that the Montreal cyclist Charles Ouimet asked himself before launching himself the challenge to make the ascent by bike of the “Impossible Route” – or the Impossible Route in French -, located in Hawaii.
The said road, whose name inspires little confidence, is asphalted from sea level to the top of the Mauna Kea volcano.
With a total distance of 68 km, it has an altitude of 4200 meters. Our protagonist, who is obviously not afraid of anything, has also opted for the optional gravel road, which has 40 km and an additional 600 m of vertical drop. We’re talking about the most difficult gravel road in the world.
As if that wasn’t enough, he took the opportunity to produce his first feature film, Ocean to Heaven, which is scheduled for release on Friday on its YouTube channel.
This is my first great documented adventure in the world of cycling.
–
Charles Ouimet
–
In the past, Charles Ouimet raced for several years in the longboard World Cup circuit (longboard). In 2016, looking for an accessible sport that he could practice more locally, he discovered cycling. Four years later, in 2020, he launched his YouTube channel, which already has over 17,000 subscribers.
It was last September that he flew to Hawaii with his girlfriend. Initially, the idea was only to take a couple’s bike trip, so to cover 50 km per day.
“In the preparation, I found that I was missing a challenge, something legendary, that had not been done. This is where I remembered another YouTuber. ”
This youtuber is The Vegan Cyclist, or Tyler Pearce, his real name. He was the one who created the Impossible Route in 2020.
“I joined Tyler, we talk on social networks, says the 28-year-old athlete. He was really happy that I was the only person other than him and his partner to go on the road. This is even how the film begins. It is I who ask myself: “How impossible is the impossible road?” ”
Adventure
The great ascent took place on September 23. With 13,000 km of cycling accumulated since the start of the season this year, Charles Ouimet had organized it as it should. He enlisted the help of a former professional now guide in Hawaii, Chris DeMarchi, who accompanied him on his bike. A local, Dan, took care of driving the vehicle behind them, while his friend Julian was the videographer and his girlfriend, Gabrielle, made sure they were getting adequate food.
It was said above that the optional road was gravel. This means that it is made of rocks, craters, sand and steep slopes from start to finish. “Even on the paved road, 60% of Chris’s customers [DeMarchi] do not finish it. It was really quite a challenge. ”
As you can imagine, the Impossible Route does not offer a gift. For the first two kilometers, the cyclist had to take “the steepest paved road in the United States”, which leads from the beach to the top of a hill.
“What’s crazy about this is that we leave for an 11-hour day, but the first 10 minutes is a maximum effort, he continues. On an endurance day, you want to be as constant as possible in your effort, to spend as little energy as possible. There, the day starts with 20% to 30% at peak for more than 1.5 km. ”
After the difficult first minutes passed, steep field roads and poorly maintained four-wheelers followed one another. The higher he climbed the volcano, the more the altitude was felt.
Beyond 2000 m altitude, there is less and less oxygen, which means that the muscles have less and less power to push. […] It’s completely stupid.
–
Charles Ouimet
–
“The smells are incredible,” he continues. The higher you go, the more the vegetation changes. As you climb up the volcano, there are fewer and fewer trees until you think you are on Mars at some point when you get to the top, with the NASA telescopes. ”
After 11 h 39 min of cycling, Ouimet arrived at the top of the volcano with a smile and, surprisingly, still strength in his legs – thank you for the adrenaline. He is the third to achieve the feat. “I don’t know how I got there,” he said.
“Before I even kicked the pedal, I was like, ‘I’m going to finish no matter what. Whether there are injuries or not, I have to find a way to end it. ” Throughout the day, that was my only motivation. It was just to manage the effort to maximize the chances of success. ”
The film
In everyday life, Charles Ouimet is a professional photographer and videographer. In addition to being the protagonist ofOcean to Heaven, he found all his sponsors himself, managed communications and pre-production, took care of editing and distribution. In total, he devoted several hundred hours to the project.
“It’s a bit of a statement: with a small budget, sponsors, I managed to make a quality film that I distribute myself. […] I told myself that I was not going to wait for the others, the traditional media. I will do it myself. I’m doing it for myself, and we’ll see what happens. ”
The film presents the whole story of this great challenge that the cyclist embarked on under the hot Hawaiian sun. It is punctuated by funny, emotional and breathless moments.
“Everything that happens in the movie is really what happened,” he notes. There was no script, planned moments. It was really just finding the right moments in the edit, cutting the right things. ”
It is also at the very end of the film that he announces his next adventure, which we are careful not to reveal …
–
–
Katherine Harvey-Pinard
Press
–
This is the question that the Montreal cyclist Charles Ouimet asked himself before launching himself the challenge to make the ascent by bike of the “Impossible Route” – or the Impossible Route in French -, located in Hawaii.
The said road, whose name inspires little confidence, is asphalted from sea level to the top of the Mauna Kea volcano.
With a total distance of 68 km, it has an altitude of 4200 meters. Our protagonist, who is obviously not afraid of anything, has also opted for the optional gravel road, which has 40 km and an additional 600 m of vertical drop. We’re talking about the most difficult gravel road in the world.
As if that wasn’t enough, he took the opportunity to produce his first feature film, Ocean to Heaven, which is scheduled for release on Friday on its YouTube channel.
This is my first great documented adventure in the world of cycling.
–
Charles Ouimet
–
In the past, Charles Ouimet raced for several years in the longboard World Cup circuit (longboard). In 2016, looking for an accessible sport that he could practice more locally, he discovered cycling. Four years later, in 2020, he launched his YouTube channel, which already has over 17,000 subscribers.
It was last September that he flew to Hawaii with his girlfriend. Initially, the idea was only to take a couple’s bike trip, so to cover 50 km per day.
“In the preparation, I found that I was missing a challenge, something legendary, that had not been done. This is where I remembered another YouTuber. ”
This youtuber is The Vegan Cyclist, or Tyler Pearce, his real name. He was the one who created the Impossible Route in 2020.
“I joined Tyler, we talk on social networks, says the 28-year-old athlete. He was really happy that I was the only person other than him and his partner to go on the road. This is even how the film begins. It is I who ask myself: “How impossible is the impossible road?” ”
Adventure
The great ascent took place on September 23. With 13,000 km of cycling accumulated since the start of the season this year, Charles Ouimet had organized it as it should. He enlisted the help of a former professional now guide in Hawaii, Chris DeMarchi, who accompanied him on his bike. A local, Dan, took care of driving the vehicle behind them, while his friend Julian was the videographer and his girlfriend, Gabrielle, made sure they were getting adequate food.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARLES OUIMET
Chris DeMarchi and Charles Ouimet
–
It was said above that the optional road was gravel. This means that it is made of rocks, craters, sand and steep slopes from start to finish. “Even on the paved road, 60% of Chris’s customers [DeMarchi] do not finish it. It was really quite a challenge. ”
As you can imagine, the Impossible Route does not offer a gift. For the first two kilometers, the cyclist had to take “the steepest paved road in the United States”, which leads from the beach to the top of a hill.
“What’s crazy about this is that we leave for an 11-hour day, but the first 10 minutes is a maximum effort, he continues. On an endurance day, you want to be as constant as possible in your effort, to spend as little energy as possible. There, the day starts with 20% to 30% at peak for more than 1.5 km. ”
After the difficult first minutes passed, steep field roads and poorly maintained four-wheelers followed one another. The higher he climbed the volcano, the more the altitude was felt.
Beyond 2000 m altitude, there is less and less oxygen, which means that the muscles have less and less power to push. […] It’s completely stupid.
–
Charles Ouimet
–
“The smells are incredible,” he continues. The higher you go, the more the vegetation changes. As you climb up the volcano, there are fewer and fewer trees until you think you are on Mars at some point when you get to the top, with the NASA telescopes. ”
After 11 h 39 min of cycling, Ouimet arrived at the top of the volcano with a smile and, surprisingly, still strength in his legs – thank you for the adrenaline. He is the third to achieve the feat. “I don’t know how I got there,” he said.
“Before I even kicked the pedal, I was like, ‘I’m going to finish no matter what. Whether there are injuries or not, I have to find a way to end it. ” Throughout the day, that was my only motivation. It was just to manage the effort to maximize the chances of success. ”
The film
In everyday life, Charles Ouimet is a professional photographer and videographer. In addition to being the protagonist ofOcean to Heaven, he found all his sponsors himself, managed communications and pre-production, took care of editing and distribution. In total, he devoted several hundred hours to the project.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARLES OUIMET
The Mauna Kea volcano
–
“It’s a bit of a statement : with a small budget, sponsors, I managed to make a quality film that I distribute myself. […] I told myself that I was not going to wait for the others, the traditional media. I will do it myself. I’m doing it for myself, and we’ll see what happens. ”
The film presents the whole story of this great challenge that the cyclist embarked on under the hot Hawaiian sun. It is punctuated by funny, emotional and breathless moments.
“Everything that happens in the movie is really what happened,” he notes. There was no script, planned moments. It was really just finding the right moments in the edit, cutting the right things. ”
It is also at the very end of the film that he announces his next adventure, which we are careful not to reveal …
Watch the movie trailer Ocean to Heaven
–
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