‘He decided to go big’ – Lincoln Gravel Worlds racer covers 150 miles without his legs | Local

Alex McKiernan was off track.

He’d began his day at 6 a.m. with roughly 1,000 different cyclists competing within the 150-mile Gravel Worlds race on the dusty, rocky roads surrounding Lincoln. And he’d ridden most of it together with his buddy, Adam Prochaska, who was navigating for the 2 of them.

However McKiernan had pulled away once they had been about 10 miles from the end line, and perhaps an hour from the 9 p.m. race’s cut-off time.

“I kind of acquired within the zone on a number of the hills, and I form of left him within the mud,” McKiernan mentioned. “I figured he’d catch as much as me.”

Prochaska by no means did, and McKiernan rode solo for a few miles. Then he stopped, appeared down — and realized he didn’t see every other bike tire tracks within the gravel.

He circled, tried calling his buddy after which tried pulling up the race route. No cell service.

“So I mainly sprinted the final hour as quick as I may. And that was fairly laborious. I’d see somebody’s mild forward and I’d attempt to chase them down and ask for instructions.”

He was lastly capable of get Prochaska on the cellphone, who gave him the ultimate instructions to the end line. However the 15-hour deadline was nearing.

“He informed me I wanted to haul ass. I simply kind of shouted by means of my tooth, ‘I do know,’ and hung up.”

He’s not joking. He shouted by means of his tooth as a result of he needed to: They had been clenching his cellphone as he rode the ultimate miles.

The 42-year-old suffered a spinal cord injury in 2014 that limits the usage of his legs, and he wanted each of his arms to maintain pedaling his trike.

McKiernan didn’t personal a automotive till he was 26.

“I simply had a bicycle. And so I at all times commuted by bike, and cherished driving a motorbike.”

However he couldn’t journey as a lot after he and his spouse, Chloe Diegel, began a household, after which launched Robinette Farms close to Martell in 2010. They’d livestock to boost and greens to develop and Farmers Markets to get to.

He was making a supply to Open Harvest in 2014 when he was hit from behind on U.S. 77 whereas stopped for a pink mild at Saltillo Highway.

His Subaru was crushed. McKiernan was flown to the hospital, spent two months as a affected person at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and returned there for the subsequent two years for remedy.

He felt like he was in devoted, understanding palms, he mentioned. “I’ve at all times been frequently impressed with Madonna because the first day I ended up there.”

The Madonna therapists helped him regain some use of his legs. He can stand and stroll with crutches or canes, however as soon as his legs are straight, they need to keep that method.

Which makes bicycling not possible. “There’s no method I may try this kind of reciprocal movement of pedaling a motorbike with legs. As quickly as that leg is straight, it’s important to drive it to bend, and you may simply hear my knees grinding.”

However his arms are robust. He nonetheless kayaks whitewater rapids. And he nonetheless rock-climbs. In 2018, utilizing an adaptive rope system and on his second try, he scaled the 1,800-foot Zodiac route up the granite face of El Capitan, in California’s Yosemite Nationwide Park.

He made it to the highest after six days.

Adam Prochaska was considered one of McKiernan’s legal professionals first, after the accident, however then the 2 grew to become mates — attending to know one another’s households, assembly for lunch usually.

Prochaska was awed by what McKiernan may do with restricted use of his legs.

“When he places his thoughts to one thing, that dude, he’ll do it,” he mentioned. “I at all times say that if I might be half the individual he’s, I’d be a a lot better individual.”

Prochaska began biking a number of years in the past, and he started urging his buddy to purchase a hand-cycle and be part of him, sending him details about upcoming races and rides they may enter collectively.

Earlier this 12 months, McKiernan bit, selecting the 150-mile Gravel Roads route.

Prochaska was stunned. Most first-time racers begin with shorter routes. Perhaps a 50k.

“However he determined to go massive straight away. I mentioned, ‘I’ll journey it with you, quick or sluggish, and we’ll end.’”

McKiernan had been researching hand-cycles, and their capabilities, since Prochaska first pitched the concept. However he apprehensive he wouldn’t have the ability to preserve the ten mph common required to complete the race in its 15-hour restrict.

He reached out to a pioneering hand-cyclist — a former U.S. soldier paralyzed in Grenada — who’d ridden one throughout Australia.

“And I requested him, ‘Is it doable to take care of that tempo for 150 miles on gravel? He mainly mentioned he did not assume he may do it. And if he couldn’t do it, then I in all probability would not have the ability to.”

However he discovered a Canadian firm constructing hand-cycles with electric-assist motors. Mixed, the 2 forces — the hand-pedaling and the battery increase — had been designed to roughly replicate the facility output of a pair of legs.

McKiernan ordered his trike in March and it arrived in the course of June, giving him little time to coach for the Aug. 20 race. He began with shorter rides, 30 to 50 miles, and labored his method as much as 70, his longest journey but.

He felt robust after that journey, however he’d nonetheless solely logged fewer than half the miles he’d signed up for. “There was nonetheless some gasoline within the tank, however I did not really feel like there was twice as a lot, or greater than twice as a lot.”

McKiernan had been so impressed together with his care at Madonna he ended up on the board of its fundraising basis. And this spring, he had an concept: Why not use the race to make cash for the hospitals?

He shared his plan with a basis officer. She mentioned: Good concept, however you’ll have to make use of social media.

“And I actually do not look after social media. However then a few month earlier than the race, I figured that it will be a wasted alternative. So I acquired again on social media and had my daughter train me easy methods to do it proper.”

He set a $15,000 purpose, and raised greater than $10,000 in pledges earlier than the race began.

And when the race lastly began, he was feeling good, unhealthy and apprehensive.

The nice: “It was enjoyable being round all these individuals driving, and there was a lot constructive supportive power. I actually thrive on that.”

The unhealthy: One thing about his trike triggered painful neurological signs, requiring him to cease and stretch each 25 to 35 miles. “That will assist calm the ache down.”

And the apprehensive: He introduced 5 batteries, however he realized at in regards to the 40-mile mark that wouldn’t be sufficient. If he rationed energy and relied extra on his arms, he couldn’t preserve the required 10 mph tempo. But when he tapped extra battery energy, he’d run out of juice earlier than the end line.

So he known as his spouse and had her take a charger to an upcoming checkpoint, Branched Oak Farm. He dropped off a few lifeless batteries there at Mile 58, realizing they’d be charged and prepared when he got here rolled again by means of at Mile 128.

That eased his nervousness, and he picked up the tempo. The primary 58 miles, he averaged 9.5 mph. The subsequent 70, 13 mph. And as soon as he picked up the 2 recent batteries, he averaged 16 mph for the race’s remaining 2 hours.

That’s not typical of those long-distance races, Prochaska mentioned.

“Usually, you get slower and slower towards the top. However he acquired quicker and quicker.”

Quick sufficient that McKiernan pulled away from his buddy and acquired misplaced. However he nonetheless managed to cross the end line with fewer than 4 minutes to spare, making him Gravel Worlds’ first Para Captain of the Gravel Seas, an honor that got here with a handcrafted pirate sword.

Of the 1,000 racers who began the 150-mile route, he was among the many 462 who completed.

A later — after he may carry his arms once more — McKiernan discovered he’d met one other purpose, too.

After the race, Gravel Worlds organizers despatched out emails and posted on social media, encouraging its racers to donate to the Madonna Basis.

Inside days, McKiernan’s marketing campaign whole had nearly doubled — to almost $19,000.