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Just as she’s done the past four summers, Kelsey Regan plans to pedal one leg of next week’s RAGBRAI — the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.

She initially purchased a bike five years ago from Healthy Habits in Bettendorf to participate in the weeklong event, but she never actually has tagged along for the entire stretch.

That’s neither her style nor her pace.

Last weekend, the 25-year-old Davenport native ventured to southern Illinois with a support crew for her third consecutive and longest cross-state record attempt yet.

She rode the length of the state from Cairo north to Warren, a 427-mile trek, in 25 hours and 20 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 18.8 mph.

This is the same athlete who made headlines as a standout runner in 2006 when she helped lead the Davenport North girls cross country team to its first state meet in school history. Following a stellar high school career, she received a scholarship to compete at Iowa State University.

The longtime runner turned to cycling after her freshman year in college when a sidelining hip injury ended her running career.

“I knew nothing about bikes at the time,” a recovering Regan recalled earlier this week from her home in Dubuque. "I didn’t really like it at first; it wasn’t as easy as putting on shoes and going for a run.”

Record-setting transition

In 2012, however, Regan's mindset practically changed overnight.

Inspired by a friend’s bike touring stories, an inexperienced Regan rode from Davenport to Lake Superior and back by herself — a 1,000-mile ride that took her about three weeks to complete. Upon return, she was hooked.

“Once I got up there, I wondered what other sorts of challenges I could take on," Regan said. "Even though I had never biked more than 70 miles in a day, I wanted to become the first woman to bike across the state of Iowa in a day."

In 2013, she did just that, riding 280 miles from Council Bluffs to Muscatine in 19 hours and 24 minutes, a record certified by the UltraMarathon Cycling Association. She followed suit the next summer by biking 380 miles from Wisconsin’s southern border near Beloit to Red Cliff on Lake Superior in 22 hours and 4 minutes.

Although the UltraMarathon Cycling Association has yet to certify her most-recent cross-state record, no other women have attempted the same feat, according to Drew Clark, records chairman for the organization.

“Iowa was definitely the hilliest, but in some ways, Illinois was harder than Iowa and Wisconsin,” Regan said.

She had hoped to finish in fewer than 24 hours, but battled 90-degree temperatures and a “horrible thunderstorm” that forced her off the saddle for 50 minutes near Mount Carroll, Illinois.

“It’s hard to bike all day in that, let alone stay awake for 24 hours,” Regan added. “All things considered, I’m feeling pretty good.”

Ambassador for the sport

Prior to her attempts, only men had scored certified records in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Clark, who oversees every official ultracycling record attempt in the world, called Regan a “trailblazer” for the niche sport in the Midwest.

“We do see more men than women making these attempts, and that’s true around the world,” he said. “It’s a difficult sport, and a lot of people don’t realize how long it takes to ride across Illinois, for example.”

The men’s record in Illinois was set in 1989 by Kevin Zelenka, who rode from Cairo to Warren in 19 hours and 54 minutes.

In Wisconsin, Regan came close to matching the men’s best time of 21 hours and 25 minutes, which Zelenka also set in 1989.

Once a state record is established, male and female riders must use the same end points in subsequent attempts, but can take any route they want.

To make it count, competitors also are required to recruit two officials, who observe the entire ride from start to finish.

While Regan stopped for bathroom breaks and red lights along the way, she didn't rest to eat or drink. Instead, her three-person support crew, including her mother, Mary, fed Regan water and snacks from their vehicle, which accompanied her every mile, while her father, Larry, met everyone at the finish line.

Clark went on to praise the young ultracyclist for her ability to plan and organize her attempts, saying she’s “mastered the details.”

Long-term goals

Next summer, Regan hopes to set a cross-state record in Michigan and every other state in the years to come until she “collect(s) all of them.”

For now, she is trying to figure out how to support her cycling endeavors, which also includes hitting every town in Iowa. So far, she’s crossed 343 of the state’s 1,500 communities off her list.

Last year, she earned a master’s degree in agricultural engineering and sustainable agriculture from Iowa State, but she said it’s hard to manage cycling and farming at the same time.

One thing’s for sure, though. Regan doesn’t plan on buying a new bike anytime soon. She wants to continue riding the aluminum-frame Specialized Dolce she bought in college for $1,000 and since has logged almost 50,000 miles on.

“Doing this kind of event on a cheap bike shows that you don’t always need expensive gear to make something like this happen,” she said. “It's all about how much work you put into it, and I'd rather spend my money on adventures like this one.”

Editor's note: Look for reporter Jack Cullen's Notes @ Noon Tuesday through Friday online at noon. He captures various sides of life in the Quad-Cities. Contact him at jcullen@qctimes.com or 563-383-2363.

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