Cyclist completes 6,900-km bike race in 24 days
Meaghan Hackinen says final overnight push of Trans Am Bike Race was ‘a blur’
Meaghan Hackinen’s introduction to the Trans Am Bike Race came two years ago when she watched Inspired to Ride, a documentary chronicling the first edition of the gruelling 6,900-kilometre race from Astoria, Ore., to Yorktown, Va.
Despite having graduated from daily commuting to long-distance bicycle touring — including trips across Canada and down the Pacific Coast — to punishing “randonneur” rides, the Surrey native who calls Saskatoon home was unimpressed.
“I thought it was stupid,” Hackinen said with a laugh. “I was like, these people are crazy. Why would they do this? Why don’t they tour and enjoy themselves? Why are they wilfully suffering? I don’t understand.”
Now she understands. On Wednesday, the 32-year-old finished the fourth running of the unsupported race in 24 days, 22 hours and one minute — the thirdfastest time posted by a woman and 27th overall. There were 131 entrants and the winner finished in 17 days.
Hackinen, who works as the volunteer co-ordinator at Saskatoon’s Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health, said her decision to enter the race was part of a natural evolution, and an ongoing desire to test her limits as a cyclist.
After spending two years riding faster and farther, she said, “I was like, I kind of am curious about what (the Trans Am Bike Race) would be like — riding with little sleep and minimal gear and covering those distances.”
Hackinen also credits Lael Wilcox, who won the 2016 edition with a total time of 18 days and 10 minutes, with providing the necessary inspiration. Wilcox, she said, is “a really inspiring, strong, female athlete … She just rides and rides and rides.”
Founded in 2014, the Trans Am Bike Race follows the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail through 10 states. The clock runs non-stop and riders are not allowed to have outside support or access to supplies not commercially available to every entrant.
Hackinen figures she slept an average of four hours per day. The rest of the time was spent in the saddle, pushing her Canondale Synapse up the Rocky Mountains, across the Midwest, and through some “absolutely terrible” hills to the finish.
At one point, she and several other competitors were forced to hole up in a cheap motel to avoid Tropical Storm Cindy.
Hackinen’s goal was to finish the ride in less than 25 days, which she and another competitor accomplished by riding for 24 hours straight to the race’s traditional finish line, the towering Yorktown Victory Monument.
“Everything was kind of a blur,” she said.
Hackinen stopped short of describing the race as “fun,” but said there were many of enjoyable moments, including her dawn arrival at the finish line. Asked what the experience means to her, she paused before answering.
“It taught me that I can trust myself a lot more. I hope that continued on to other realms in my life as well.”