Hannah Otto on the ‘Hardest Climb in the World’

Hannah Otto has been reeling off an impressive streak of mountain biking FKTs over the past few years, and now she’s added a road bike one to the list: the 14,000’ climb up Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. So we brought Hannah back on the show to tell the story behind the effort, discuss the differences in FKT culture across disciplines, and a whole lot more. Note: We Want to Hear From You! Please share with us the questions, topics, or stories you’d like us to cover on Bikes & Big Ideas. You can email us at: info@blisterreview.com RELATED LINKS: Hannah on the Whole Enchilada FKT (Ep.143) Hannah on the Kokopelli Trail FKT (Ep.232) ‘Chasing the Triple Crown’ (Blister Cinematic Ep.49) Blister Mountain Bike Buyer’s Guide BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered TOPICS & TIMES: Taking on Mauna Kea (2:17) The route & elevation profile (6:43) Choosing which FKT to attempt (10:11) The Mauna Kea FKT history (13:15) Weather concerns (14:41) Pre-riding & prep (18:59) Pacing & power numbers (25:08) The turn & getting back on pace (28:25) Bike setup (33:06) Road vs. MTB FKT culture (35:13) Training on a road bike as a MTB / gravel racer (47:17) CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS: Blister Cinematic CRAFTED GEAR:30 Blister Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Hannah Otto on the ‘Hardest Climb in the World’ is an episode from Bikes & Big Ideas by BLISTER.

This episode is 54:10 long.

This episode was published on Apr 30, 2026.

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