You’re fast approaching D-Day and the clock is ticking.

Let’s be honest, 7 or even 14 days out you’re not going to gain any additional fitness but you do risk a) injury b) fatiguing your legs and body c) damaging your bike.

Take your time instead to start putting together and laying out your kit and supplies: clothing, food, batteries, lights, music, etc and make sure you have spares of everything,

If your Everesting attempt is to take place on the Saturday, make your last big (in terms of distance and/or elevation, NOT in terms of smashfest) ride 8 or 9 days before and then 7 days out do a gentle spin, followed by a gentle spin of the legs 5 days out and depending how you feel, 3 days out and then do nothing but stretching until the Saturday when you start.

Remember that unbridled enthusiastically energetic refreshed feeling when you got back on the bike after a week’s holiday forced you off it? That’s what you want to have on the day of your Everesting.

Stretch, stretch and stretch some more for at least 20 mins every day for at least the 2 weeks leading up to your attempt and go to bed early.

Your body won’t thank you enough.

Use the foam roller, do pilates, have a swim, carry your largest bidon round with you all day every day at work and make sure you refill it 4 times throughout the day.

Think hydration, hydration, hydration.

Again, your body won’t thank you enough for it and it’s one of the smaller details whose significance and impact you will never actually know unless you don’t do it.

Avoid alcohol for at least 3 weeks prior to the attempt but certainly for the last week and cut out caffeine for the same period – you need to sleep well.

Avoid sweets and processed foods, eat pure foods and fruit and vegetables and the added benefit is that you will most likely drop a few kgs thereby increasing your power to weight ratio and saving yourself about US$5k in carbon.

Try to make your final week as sedentary as possible.

Postpone non-essential dinners and social engagements and head home and lounge around and stretch after work, while lying in if possible to ensure you get as much quality sleep as possible.

If you haven’t already done so, cut out soft drinks and drink as much water as you can.

With 3 days to go, begin incrementally carb loading but don’t go crazy. You need to feel comfortable, not bloated when you begin and do not try any new dietary technique.

You should however now go into overdrive with your water consumption, aiming to smash down a consistent 3 litres per day at this stage.

Monitor the weather forecast and do not hesitate to pull the plug and push your attempt back if conditions are looking anything but optimal: you’re going to need all the stars aligned for this one, so make a bold and honest call on the weather front or if you’re recovering from a last minute bout of the flu.