Popular but not indispensable, many people opt for the encouraging motivation of ride companions coming along for a few laps, though the length of the attempt itself will probably mean that you will also have Sherpa-less periods.

If you do opt for Sherpas, make sure you brief them ahead of time and lay down some ground rules.

Warn them that they are coming to ride at your pace, not to set their own KOM and put you in the red before they head home for a nice brekkie/shower.

For those Sherpas who are planning on accompanying you anywhere beyond a quarter or a third of the way into the attempt, it’s probably best to pre-warn them that you will have a 5km Death Stare in place when they arrive and that any communication will be on your terms and will be mostly done in grunts and nods.

We didn’t use Sherpas for our attempts but did benefit from running into a few people who rode with us for varying periods ranging from 30 mins to 1 hour.

I found their presence to be an interesting diversion and change of scenery more than anything else, but I wasn’t keen on them talking.