Time to Start Training
It's been a wild idea floating around in this here mind for quite some time. Most call me nuts when I mention it, and I would venture to say not to many people have accomplished it. I want to ride the entire Katy Trail, all in one day. Total miles from Clinton to St. Charles is 225 miles. I think there is 240 total, but for some reason they don't give the miles to the last town. For those of you not familar with the Katy, is it basically a fine gravel trail that runs from one side of the state, to the other.
That's a whole lotta ridin, and just by pure judgement it's probably going to be 20+ hours of saddle time. That's alot of pedal strokes. We'll be dropped off at Clinton early in the morning, and then ride the train back when we reach St. Charles the next day. There's only one other cat crazy enough to do this with me as of now, and that's Dishman.
I welcome anyone to come and ride it all with us, but only with the understanding that we will not stop. No matter what we will put it all on the line to complete it in one day. I know Dishman will be able to hang, he's got an Ironman under his belt, and a few half ironmans. He attempted this ride a few years ago, and failed miserably. But that's what you'd expect when the longest ride before hand was 14 miles. He's got a bit more experience and training now, so he should be good.
Me on the other hand, well I'm going to need some training. The plans have just begun to take form, and we're shooting for late June as a date. That gives me two months. Throw a couple of centuries, a 150 mile ride, and hopefully a 200 mile ride and I should be good to go. Every time I think of this ride, I cringe. It's going to be epic, it's going to be hard, and it's going to leave us with one hellava story. So, here's to riding my little arse off for the next two months...
Search
 |
That is hell
I have never done it (obviously), but I know a few things about it.
First of all, the trail is not in great shape everywhere. Some places are softer than others, and none of the trail is really much like a gravel road (it is softer than gravel).
Second of all, there are no real hills. This is not a good thing.
Pete has ridden half of the trail (JC to St. Lou.), and it took several attempts for him to conquer that one. His last attempt (which was successful) nearly ended in failure due to a paralyzing case of boredom.
You will definately need some good things to talk about, and may be a speaker set for your MP3 player. That trail can get pretty boring at times.
The concept you have there is really cool though. I think riding there then "training" back is really a neat idea. With train schedules as they are these days, you might have more adventure than you expect.
Keep us posted.
You guys should do this
You guys should do this together. One long day and you'd have it rocked. Plus I can't think of a better way to spend the hours than to have someone else along. Doing this solo might just drive you crazy.
I know next-to-nothing about
I know next-to-nothing about the Katy Trail, but was once talked into attempting to break the unofficial record for a 1-way transit of the C&O Canal Trail in Maryland:
http://www.bikewashington.org/canal/
Our attempt failed when first one of my friends (the fellow who holds the record and organized this attempt to break it) crashed and injured his shoulder (in the middle of nowhere, of course), then another destroyed his front wheel by T-boning a small child riding a bike in the opposite direction who crossed into his path. In any case, based on that experience some considerations that you might want to, well, consider:
1) Lights. We lost lots of time in the early morning hours due to lighting problems, so having something bomb-proof and sufficiently long-lasting is key.
2) 'cross bike with the widest possible tires, or MTB bike with really narrow tires? Which will be faster will depend on trail conditions, of course, but for the C&O Canal Trail it was a bit of a toss-up.
3) Aerobars? You may not be going that fast, but being able to lay down on the handlebars instead of having to hold yourself up can make a big difference over the long haul.
4) Time of year? Heat is obviously your enemy, but so is lack of daylight...if it were me, then, I'd opt for some time later in the year, but not so late that you'll be slowed excessively by riding in the dark, or run into problems with the trail getting soft due to fall rains (October strikes me as the best time).
Anyway, possibly not things that haven't already occurred to you, but I thought I'd share 'em anyway...
Good Thoughts
Two-old, yes I will be doing this with another person, Dishman. No way would I want to spend 20+ hours straight on the Katy trail solo.
Unit, you say the Katy has no hills... I say your wrong, while they may not have hills you can see, there are false hills galore. But why do you say it's a bad thing that it has no hills?
Andrew, sorry to hear about your mishap. How did the fellow crash? It would be pretty hard to crash on the Katy, its all flat with no technical spots to speak of. I guess if you got super tired and fell asleep then wiped out. We'll both be on cross bikes, seems to do well with this trail. The lights are an issue we've discussed, and I'll probably have to borrow some extra batteries from friends before we go. I do like your idea of the aero bars though, never thought of that. Time of year is another toss up, but hopefully we can catch a Saturday in late June in which the temps will only be 80 or so. If not in June we'd definenetly have to wait till September or October and I'm not really wanting to wait that long... Thanks for you ideas guys!
Crashing is easy!
First off. Hills are a good thing on long rides for a lot of reasons. One is that they provide a reason to change gears, position, and effort. Second, they offer some rest when you coast down the backside of a hill (coasting provides a great opportunity to stretch tired muscles). The changes that hills make are huge. Hills are one reason why Computrainers are preferred by many over regular trainers for endurance training (they simulate hills, and provide mental "noise" to help you forget that you are bored and tired.
False flats are a step in the right direction, but they rarely will allow for a little coasting which is nice on a ultra-endurance ride. I suppose if you are a truly elite athlete you will not allow yourself to coast ever, but for mortals like me it can be nice.
Crashing is a lot easier than you think on the trail. If you ride there with any frequency you will see many crashes. It is worse than the MS 150 in that it mixes people of all skill levels.
I intentionally use the word "people" instead of "cyclists" because some people you encounter are hardly cyclists. I am not being elitist when I say that. I can not classify a person with training wheels as a cyclist, nor would you mistake a jogger with headphones on as a cyclist...but neither will likely respond to your announcement, "on your left!", and if they do, their bodies will follow their heads into your path as they turn to see you.
Toddlers swerving into your path, wild animals, trail washouts, and debris covering soft-spots or outright holes in the trail are among a few great causes of crashes. After 15 hours on the trail, a stick the size of your little finger could cause you to initiate crash sequence, and your deteriorated mental capacity will not bring you out of it. This ride (and training/prep for it) will tax you in ways you may not comprehend at this point.
how to crash on the C&O trail
Unit actually mentioned the cause of both crashes in his comments:
"**Toddlers swerving into your path**, wild animals, trail washouts, and debris covering soft-spots or outright holes in the trail are among a few great causes of crashes. After 15 hours on the trail, **a stick the size of your little finger** could cause you to initiate crash sequence..."
Specifically, the first crash happened when I didn't see a small (~1-1.5" diameter) branch buried in the leaves in time to warn my friend, who was drafting closely behind me. He hit it, veered off the path, and tumbled down the embankment into the woods (unlike the Katy Trail, almost all of the C&O Canal Trail is entirely tree-sheltered...we therefore regretted putting our record attempt off to late in the year, as it meant we were riding through fallen leaves, sticks, etc., most of the way).
The second crash happened as we were approaching one of the most popular access points, where there's enough foot traffic that a speed limit of 10 mph is enforced by park rangers. Despite being "good boys" and riding easily through that section, one of my buddies had the misfortune of having a young boy ride so quickly into his path that he couldn't react. The boy was slammed down to the trail, whereas my ~200 lbs friend and his ~30 lbs rig went ass-over-tea-kettle through the air. Amazingly, neither one was seriously hurt, although my friend's front wheel was caved in half-way to the hub.
BTW, have you considered reversing the direction of your trip? That way you could ride the section through St. Charles early in the a.m., when fewer people would be around, and also wouldn't have to face a long train ride home when you're tired from the adventure. I don't know enough about the Katy to know what sort of accomodations might be available in Clinton, though...although much of it runs through wilderness, the C&O Canal Trail in Maryland is popular enough that there are bed-and-breakfasts along the way that cater to summer hikers and cyclists, a shuttle service that you can hire to transport you along/to the route, etc.
Another thought: suspension stem and/or seatpost? I used a borrowed 'cross bike with road-worthy tires initially pumped to 80 psi for our trip, figuring that would be the optimal compromise between speed and comfort. After a couple of hours, though, I lowered the tire pressure to 60 psi, as I was just getting too beat up. Using a suspension stem and seatpost would provide isolation from the shocks and vibration, while allowing you to run higher pressure, thus lowering rolling resistance. (Of course, this is just overthinking things, as your real goal is obviously just to have an adventure...which sounds like as good as reason as any for the trip to me!)
Post new comment