Katy in a day Thursday Oct. 3rd 2013

On Thursday Oct.3rd I plan to attempt to ride the entire Katy Trail in a day. And shoot for the Fastest Known Time set by William Sharples June 22nd 2007 in 14h00min49sec. From Clinton to St. Charles. I plan to continue to Machens to be the first to ride the new 237 miles in a day. This is a tall order and I will need great weather, and an even better day on the bike. Here is my planed itenerary for anyone interested:
Start 5:00am from the Clinton Trailhead.
Crew Stop 1. Sedailia Depot/Trailhead aprox. 7:05am
Crew Stop 2. Boonville Trailhead/Depot approx. 9:17am
Crew Stop 3. Hartsburg Trailhead approx. 11:30am
Crew Stop 4. Portland Trailhead approx. 1:45pm
Crew Stop 5. Marthasville Trailhead approx. 3:45pm
Crew Stop 6. St. Charles Trailhead between 6:15-7:00pm. Will need to be there by 7pm to break record.
Finish Machens Trailhead approx. 7:30-8pm or later depending on how the day goes. The above times are based on 17mph and should be the earliest arrival times. My wife and 15yr old son (both redheads) will be crewing me and waiting on me at each of the following Crew Stops above. I will be riding a red Specialized Crux Cross bike, wearing black shorts and a blue and white Capp's Bike Shop Jersey. Come and and cheer me on or holler at me if you see me out on the trail. Happy Trails, Darin

Good Luck, Darin! We are excited for you! We want to wish your crew good luck, too. Will be watching for your posting. Have a very blessed day and ride!:)

I do wish you luck.


The rest of my comment is, uh, no comment.

Nice job, Darin! Congrats!

I am happy to announce that there is a New Katy Trail Speed record from Clinton to St. Charles. I left Clinton at 5am and finished in St. Charles at 6:50.27 for 13h50m27sec besting the old record of 14.00.49. I was averaging 17 mph thru mile 175 till some cramping slowed me down big time for 20 miles. I was able to recover and hammer down the last 25 miles to get the record. I half to thank my wife and son for crewing for me all day, they did awesome. It was really, really tough, but i'm happy to get the record. My plan to go on to Machens was spoiled. Our garmin would not find Machens and my directionally challenged wife could not find it without it. She said if I wnet on I would half to ride back to St. Charles or back to somewhere to give her an address to pick me up. Since it was also dark, and she can not read a map, I reluctantly agreed since I knew I would half to ride back and really didn't want to do that. I do have complete Garmin Data and video as proof. After spending the weekend in St. Louis with the family I will try and get it posted. Thanks everyone along the way for your encouragement.

Great Job...Riding part of the trail this weekend with KCMBC but won't be setting any records! I encourage you to try and set a record for the entire length another day!

Congratulations Darin! You're the man!

I'd like to ride the full length of the Katy sometime...in a matter of a few days. We did do a Century on the Katy a few years back. I'm guessing that you are a bit younger than I though.

About your Garmin...that's what that Favorites button is for on there! To preprogram before the trip and to have all the necessary locations and points of interest in the Favorites folder is golden. I usually know which direction is which, but don't always know which direction to go.

Again....Congratulations on your stellar accomplishment!

Way to go Darin!! Looking forward to your posting. Now maybe you and your family can leisurely ride the Katy and enjoy the scenery. Also, congratulations to your "crew"!!

Nice...

I guess I should have mentioned I'm 44 years old. Me and my wife have been out on the Katy for some nice easy rides. I did find a few more spots I would like to explore more. I'm planning next spring a long weekend of leisurely rides on the Katy. Now after some rest and trying to compress what I did, I'm really happy with my ride and working thru the cramping that slowed me down. I kept my head rebounded and was able to finish strong. The good news is, I see room for improvement and plan doing the entire trail again soon. I seen tons of people on the trail yesterday. I know some people were worried I would be a bother, but I can say I don't think I bothered anyone on the trail yesterday. I wouldn't tyr this on a weekend, but during the week I don't see a problem with it. I did slow down when aproaching trail traffic. And, apparently a lot of prople knew of my attempt. My wife talked to several people who knew what I was attempting. It was a good day and the entire trail is just amazing. I really enjoyed it.

Not sure if Anon is trying to be witty? Or is it Darin, Anon? Anyway, great job Darin, you are inspiring to many of us.

Congrats! On Monday just 4 days earlier my first try at cycling the entire Katy in one day was a bust due to losing nearly 2 nights of sleep in a row (Sat. and Sun.) and using a bike that was too new to me, so, I think it's great you set a new record on the very same week. I was on the Katy everyday last week except for Thursday the day you set the record. I was visiting relatives in Windsor. Had I known I would have watched for you and cheered you on. My uncle and I walked the trail from Washington street to the bridge west towards Clinton for about a quarter mile hike and we didn't see anyone else on the trail. You picked a great day for your historic run. Knowing how things were for me I know you had to buck up and overcome discomforts, so, great going, hope to cycle with you someday soon. pastor Bill Kruse bto cycling missionary

Big congrats for a big accomplishment!

Here is my Garmin Data for my ride.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/387503948

Wow, Garmin got a little confused at the end of your ride (with a max speed of 108.4 mph) but overall it did a fair job of logging your ride.

I've been known to approach that speed in that last mile before the cooler of beer.......

You gotta be careful around that 88 mile an hour mark though.

Thanks for posting the Garmin info. Tell me more: What kind of bike? tires? Mechanical problems/flats? What did you eat? --your Garmin estimates that you burned 19,000 calories--I can't imagine eating that much in a 14 hour period......and that leads to the next question, What about bathroom breaks?

My Bike was a cross bike. A 2014 Specialized Crux Comp Carbon. I ran a Panaracer T-Serve Protex 32mm tire. It was a good choice of tire, I had no flats or mechanical problems all day. I fueled with Oatmeal Cream Cookies, Candy Bars, Nature Valley Energy Granola Bars, GU Roctain, GU Chomps and Coke and a couple Turkey and Cheeze roll ups on a tortillia. I used water and Poweraid in my bottles. One of each. I estimate I took in between 2,500 and 3,000 calories. I only had a couple (3) bathroom breaks to pee, all but one was at a trailhead where I met my crew. I'm also a competitive ultra-runner, and have completed and won nuemerous ultras from 50K to 100 miles. So I am not new to ultra-endurance events. However, I have only been biking since Feburary of this year. Finished the Dirty Kanza 200 (my first bike race) and a couple 100 mile Gravel Grinders this year. I have plan to do it again next year only next time continue to Machens and hopefully improve on my time.

Congratulations Darin on an amazing accomplishment! I have added you to the list of riders who completed the trail in a single day. Truly awesome.

I'd like to know more about how you avoided bonking. I think the Garmin 19,000 calorie number is a bit high, and I think the actual number of calories you expended is more like 10,500 calories (750 an hour x 14 hours). Whatever the actual number was, that is still a TREMENDOUS calorie demand placed on your body, and well beyond its ability to pull those calories from fat.......and beyond the 3,000 calories you say you took in.

Many of us routinely go on 6 or even 8 hour rides, but we take breaks, eat lunch, etc. Then we go to sleep. So, how did you keep from bonking late in the day when available calories in your blood sugar were just not there?

You mentioned you cramped: Does that mean you got behind on your water too?

By the way, I think your October choice was a great move for the attempt. Well done!

Darin,

Congratulations on your amazing ride. I was westbound from Machens to Clinton and I believe we passed each other a couple of miles south of Boonville.

I had read your posts so I knew of your attempt and was keeping an eye out for you. I waited for a storm to pass over Rocheport before I headed out that morning and was wondering if the rain was going to force you to pick another day or at least slow you down.

Having spent 19 hours over 3 days to complete the same distance, I tip my hat, raise my beer and say "Cheers!"

Kenny,
I agree the Garmin calories are a bit high. I was figureing 600x14=8,400. I have always been a low calorie runner/rider and routeinly go out for 5 to 6 hour rides or runs on very minimal calories. While saying that, this will not work for everyone. I think I have trained my body to burn fat efectively, however there has been a time or 2 when becoming calorie deprived has bit me in the ass also. I did have some minor cramping that slowed me down, I don't think it was from getting behind on my hydration. Rather I think it's from pushing that hard for that long. In several of my run races, the times cramping has got me it also was from going to hard for too long and generally in the heat. I seem to be able to push thru harder and longer in cooler temps -70 deg. It has been a trial and error thing learning this. I have been running ultras since 2009.

My guess is that when the Garmin lost track of you towards the end (when it calculated your max speed of 108.4 mph) it probably affected everything else including the calories burned. It takes a heck of a lot of calories to go 108.4 mph.

Congratulations!!! My attempt this year was hindered by lack of training and time. I'm hoping to attempt it next summer solstice. - "I have plan to do it again next year only next time continue to Machens and hopefully improve on my time." - If you're up for some company by chance, have the admins here connect us via emails, and we can converge on a plan. Again congrats, and best of luck in your future endeavors!!! - Reno

Reno, Darin may have a good point for the time of year in Oct for reduced temperature instead of the summer solstice which is high temps and humid for MO. However, Darin how many hours were you in the dark in the AM and PM? 3-4 hrs? Not too many problems with trail light and crossings with traffic especially in Sedalia?

I was only in the dark for about 2.5 hours in the morning and arrived in St.Charles right at dark. Reno, yes I do plan to do it again and make an attempt to improve on my time. I would like to do the entire trail at a much more leasurly pace, and would love to have some company for that.

New record?

http://www.strava.com/activities/156500390

Anon, it looks like we have two records now with the addition of Machens. July 17, 2014 Dru Dixon did it to Machens in 13:51:16 secs. Looks like its to St. Charles in 12:42:51. 12.6 miles is the difference ? Your guy could have broke the full distance based on his speed. The post is under "24 hr Ride".